Lucifer's upgrade thread
 

:evil:
well been about 5 months since i've ridden and now i'm going riding twice in the next few weeks, so it's time to get ole Lucifer ready.
immediately pulling in the shop i noticed a green puddle, so i guess i'm gonna have to look for a leak, hopefully just a hose. i might just make a whole new set because i noticed some pretty thinned out rub marks that i zip tied another piece of hose to for a rub guard. so maybe i'd be best off to change them out.
yhe big deal for me is the brakes right now. although they work, the issue is the second master for the polaris tranny brake. the rod system i made seemed clever enough but is flawed. if i adjust for more tranny brake the pedal is stiff and i lose the joyner wheel brakes. the opposite adjustment gives me more wheel brake but i'm doubtful the tranny brake is even working. so i'm going to eliminate it. the plan is put a 2nd joyner style master in the middle of the peddles and run a line to the tranny brake and run 2 extra calipers on the rears beings the joyner trailing arms have a 2nd set of ears. that way deploy the brakes it's all push and not push/pull. hopefully this will go as smooth as it does in my head.
we shall see.

:evil:
figured i'd stop because of a pounding headache but this is where i got so far. i think at least for this project the "removable pedal board"might go down as my greatest invention.

:evil:

Whats the reason for a tranny brake?

:evil:
it's the rear brake system that came on some models polaris quads, in this case a 98' xplorer. instead of the traditional axle brake like most quads, polaris mount the rotor on the output sprocket shaft. i just kept it so in essense i have 4 wheel disc and the output shaft brake or "tranny" brake. what i'm doing now is coming up w/ a better way to activate it than in the 1st pics w/ the rod and yerf dog master.

So you don't have 2 rear brake systems ?

:evil:
no it does/did. it's just that the system i came up with had the flaw of when i stepped on the pedal it was pushing plungers on one caliper while pulling a lever to activate another master. when i would adjust for more wheel brake ( the push master) the pull master would lose throw for the tranny brake. give it more tranny brake and the rod wouldnt allow the pedal to push in the plungers enough for the wheels. now i'll have 2 identical masters on either side so all brake are activated by push plungers.

I just don't see the need for 2 rear brake systems?

:evil:
hahahahahaha if you drove this thing you would!:drive:

I guess it's always better to have more than you need, when it comes to brakes.

:evil:
well they are all there and it would be nice to have the confidence to be able to throw it in a little harder. there is just a lot more go than stop.

:evil:
well got it finished up, painted and washed the ton of mud that was hiding under the seat.....next project might be side panels.
i did get it remounted and almost had a fit because i forgot about the steering shaft but it was a non issue. it just looks like a goofy place the chinese would naturally mount a master cylinder. was happy to see i had plenty of room and filling it should be easy enough. tomorrow i'll plumb it and bleed it. i might need to make pins for the new one so they work or come to the same ratio to the originals when the pedal is pressed. gonna find out tomorrow.

:evil:
well it's done and it works much better. one thing i discovered is that somewhere along the line the right front must've spit out a brake pad because during the 1st couple stop tests in the parking lot the right front was locking up and grinding. that because the piston was basically doing the job of the missing pad, ended up spitting a piston from an old caliper in the junk parts bin , cleaning it up and replacing the mashed piston. i had to do my best to polish up the gouged up rotor because i didnt have another handy. got it back together and it works like a charm. i have some water coming from the weep hole so i suspect the washer seal in the water pump is going so i ordered a rebuild kit. right now it's on the trailer w/ the crosshammer to get shaken down saturday at a new place that opened nearby. hopefully everything goes well, i get the water pump fixed, the buggy reloaded and it's off to windrock in 2 1/2 weeks.

:evil:
well just got back from the new riding park...........pretty cool!
basically the makings of a durhamtown plantation caliber park about 20 minutes away. did a complete shakedown and the brakes are good, gonna have to check the left front cuz it started grinding a bit the last few minutes i was riding which you can hear on the attached vid. basically before i trailered it i took it out on the parks UTV track and beat the poop out of it for a few laps. water pump is weeping a little but a kit is on the way. not losing much water but is losing a little none the less. basically the next 2 weeks will be fixing and checking things then it's off to windrock.

track vid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdxRf8CiezY

:evil:
well, going over things before i pack up to go to windrock. so far i found that all the trailing arm bushings are shot, no prob because i have another set. the front right caliper, has again, spit out the inner pad. i'm just gonna replace the caliper at this point. the front left limit strap is tearing so i ordered a new set. other than that i have a new water pump seal kit, but as long as it's leaking from the weep hole and it's not in the counter balance oil i'm gonna let that fly for now and keep adding water til i get back.

:evil:

well decided to check the counterbalance oil to determine if i wanted to take the chance on the water pump.......decision? let's just say a picture speaks blah blah blah!

All I can say is WOW
I love watching fabrication in action. Nice buggy

:evil:
well, got a trip planned for Durhamtown plantation the end of march so i figured i'd better get on preppin the Lucifer. on the agenda is a rack rebuild, cuz it's due & some motor work. the counterbalnce shaft has again torn up the water pump seal the it's coming out of the weep hole again so i am going to pull it and send a few out to be cut and resleeved. while the motor is out the top end is going to get rebuilt and any little nit picks while i have the space in the carcass i am going to try and knock out. i know i need to find a new caliper for the tranny brake because the bleeder is broke off inside. if i have time i might do a honda hub swap like i did on the crosshammer butbasically i just want to get it out of the way so it's not a last minute trip thing. lastly it's tire time so i am searching to try something new.
yanking the motor was a good thing because i also found a small hole in the pipe. i am going to try and patch it , but it might be time to start thing about making a back up. i have an HPD pipethat i have been saving for just such an occasion so time permitting i might knock it out before i put the old pipe back in.

:evil:

:evil::evil:

:evil:
well counterbalances are on the way, thanks to my main polaris guy Rick Ritter @ ritter cycle racing. in the meantime asked my buddy kevin who is a wiring guru to give me a hand cleaning up the wiring job on Lucifer.it was originally done in such a rush that looks were the least of the concern than getting it fired . so there was a ton of extra wire and zip ties. i wasnt familiar w/ polaris's at the time and so i just sat back and let it be done by G-ray which he knocked out pretty quick and never have had a wiring issue yet. so the plann was to just try and simplify and clean it up a little. we ended up running all of the dash wires through the cage tube and taking out and shortening any extra lengths of wire in the box. we also made sure that any plugs for the motor were outside the box so we wouldnt have to disturb anything to re install the motor. probably lost 2lbs of weight in wire and zip ties!

:evil:
well, once again.......trying to hump everything together for a ride.
tic toc tic toc :banghead:
whenever i need to get my junk going by a certain date the shop gets busy.
update.....
motor is together, new cylinder, piston, rings, crank, counterbalance and all of the appropriate bearings , seals and gaskets.
i was going to replace the floorboards under the seat w/ expanded aluminum for better drainage but because of time i opted to just slot them w/ my christmas present from the wife....plasma cutter!
i also used it to trim some fat that was in the way of maintenance from the engine cradle. i cleaned that up and gave it a fresh dousing of paint.
patched the pipe and fixed the pipe flange, the spring hooks were breaking so i made some and welded it up. still a bunch to do as well as overhaul my trailer for the trip... (not the huge one), but that is another project in itself.

:evil::evil:

:evil:
been a busy week and a half w/ life in general and of coarse once again trying to turn a trip into a deadline. motor is done and in the hole having a fuel issue so i order a new fuel pump and a rebuild kit for the old one. now it's just a matter of assembly and trying again to fire it up once the pump gets here, just alot going on and i just received a delivery of SSR bikes so now they are taking up space in the shop.....oh by the way did i mention i am overhauling my trailer?

:evil:

:evil:
well loaded her and the 800 up and took them up to durhamtown.
the only hiccup for the most part was the shifting. i broke a cable so Gray brought me one from his hammerlaris, i hooked it up but no matter what it would go from N to FWD no problem but once it was in reverse it would not come out, meaning basically i had to get out and grab it w/ a wrench and shift it back. a few times i got lucky and it went from REV to N but that was far and few between. other than that all was pretty good. new motor had plenty of power, took a few runs down the dragstrip and was able to take a win over an RZR800 and almost beat a 900 but the distance caught up w/ me and the 900 was able to get by by the end of the run. on the last day i heard a noise which makes me want to run things harder til it breaks, keeps me from having to guess what the noise was, hahahaha. the right rear hub bearing had gone and the wheel was basically leaning from left to right. i assume that the rotor has taken a major beating along w/ the brake pads as the calipers and rotor was the only thing really helping the wheel track. i got it back to camp and spent the rest of the day in one of Gray's kids ACES. pretty cool ride in it's own right. i have to say it was different and a blast. some of you have seen the 800 thread and it did really well.
so next time i roll Lucifer in the shop i am going to swap the trannys, replace bearings in all 4 corners , shift cables and anything else i have time for. next outing will be Black Mountain in kentucky, in july. i have plenty of stuff to get done to both bugs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNjCnXS1PH4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-r5Zbeml-E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KzZfKNtnDo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rai3WyizOB8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9x9S7vHqdIE

:evil:
well finally decided to push....yeah push lucifer in the shop.
apparently the solenoid decided to crap out while sitting outside in a parking space. he's probably just mad cuz he sat outside while the 800 was cozy inside.
took the right rear apart and pretty much what i /we figured while on the trail in Ga. bearings, in fact no balls at all left in the whole rear hub assembly. not a big deal except for the fact that everytime i roll this thing in the shop i want to tear into and change all kinds of stuff that would press time before the next ride, in this case july. so i am going to settle right now for changing out every chassis bearing and a solenoid. all 4 corners and the axle bearings. well it is the first trail failure and it did get me back so i guess i cant complain.

:evil:
well humping away again to get stuff done .....leaving july 4th for black mountain in kentucky. my plan was this shouldve been finished and all junk loaded and waiting in the trailer.
the week after durhamtown we went camping and amber took a bad step and fractured her foot. down and out for 3 weeks will give a woman alot of ideas while suffering from cabin fever so she decided let's
re do the back yard. which means me because one of us cant walk. lucky for me my father n law stay a few weeks to keep her company so at least i wasnt completely solo. well the end result turned out great at the expense of money , time and about 10yrs off my life.
meanwhile between customers i have ordered all parts i thought i needed for the 400 and what stuff i wanted to get done on the 800.
threw a different tranny in the 400 spent a good amount of time to get the offset/alignment and pulley distance correct, through it all together and changed the solenoid. well turn the key and click. replaced the batt because i thought it might have dropped a cell and click.........STARTER!!!!!!!!!!!
ordered a few so i could keep one in the shop and one in the trailerand got it replaced....so it all ended up coming apart again. just waiting for bearings and seals for the trailing arms and need to replace the shift cables and that should be a wrap!