Okay, well got the bikes and as is usually the case, they are rougher than they appeared in the pics. And I expected that. The 470 had a nice blue seat in the pic but when he brought it to our meeting place, it had a torn yellow seat on it. Oh well. It looks like the bikes were kept outside as there is some rust on the steel parts and light corrosion on the aluminum parts. The plastic on the 400 is pretty sun bleached, the 470, not so bad. Both bikes have engine oil buildup under the engines and on the skid plates.
I was hoping for better, but they're both project bikes.
I was pretty stoked as the previous owner hit the start button on the 470 while it was still in the back of his truck, and it came immediately to life and sat there and idled. Unfortunately, it sounded like a box of rocks on the clutch side.
When I got home, I fired up the 470 and road a quick little loop around my yard and it felt good. Engine was responsive and it shifted and clutched well, only took it to 3rd. And again, it sounded like a box of rocks.
Pushed the bikes into my garage and proceded to ponder the source of the rattling. I did notice the oil was overfull and when I opened the oil fill cap to have a look at the cam chain, I was hit with the unmistakable odor of gasoline. Must have been getting past the needle and seat of the carb. while parked.
Anyway, I poked at the cam chain, and I was able to detect some play so, proceded to remove the cam chain tensioner after removing the muffler and mid pipe. I did remove the internal tension spring first. When I got it out, it was at full extension. Also, the aluminum end cap piece was beat to all heck. Okay, well, done there for now.
Didn't start the 400, however it does spin over off the estart and sounds as it should while turning over. The battery is too low and was not spinning it as fast as it should.
On a positive note however, both bikes have clean titles and are both registered, for off-road use. And to correct something I said earlier. He had told me that the 400 was a 2001 model with a 2003 engine, well, he was referring to another bike he has that is street plated. This 400 is a 2003 model.
Not sure what I'm going to do with these bikes just yet. They both need to be pulled down, inspected, and replace whatever needs replacing. The 470 probably needs an engine rebuild. The 400, I won't know until I monkey with it a bit.
Unfortunately, I do not have the time right now to do the work that these bikes need. So, what I'll probably do is just shove them in a storage shed here on the property until I'm freed up a bit. I may end up concentrating on building the 400 and possibly sell the 470. We'll see.
