Well, I'm a little slow in getting around to posting, but better late than never.
I purchased this 1985 Odyssey FL350 in October 2008 from the 3rd owner in Mears, MI for $2500.

The Ody had an interesting history, having started out at a dealership in Fremont, OH (Schiets Motors BMW-Honda-Yamaha according to the sticker that's still on it). From there, it became a "rental beater" running the dunes at Silver Lake State Park in Mears ("Sandy Korners Rentals" for those familiar with Mears). The "Sandy Korners" guys did a few mods to it...... DG pipe, Supertrapp muffler, Comet clutch, and a gravity feed fuel tank. At some point, the top end was also rebuilt.

My first impressions....wheels and tires were in pretty rough shape, brakes were functional, but weak, the e-brake cable was frozen, and the right trailing arm and right tie rod were bent......indicating it had taken a tumble on the right side. On the other hand, all of the plastic was intact and in good shape, the frame was in good shape, other than a minor tweak in the roof area due to the "tumble", and the Engine had good compression and fired right up with both the starter or the pull rope.

I modified my utility trailer so it would haul an Odyssey or two dirt bikes, and got it home to Battle Creek a couple of weeks later.

Last year (2009) I got the following work accomplished:

- Downloaded a service manual !!!!!!
- Replaced the stock harness with a 6-pt harness
- Changed out the Engine balancer oil and transmission oil (and YES, I read the service bulletin and filled the Engine balancer oil to the low level mark!)
- Cleaned up the front brake drums, replaced the front brake shoes and adjusted the front brakes
- Replaced the bent right rear trailing arm and right front tie rod
- Aligned the front and rear wheels
- Soaked the e-brake cable and managed to salvage it.....adjusted the rear brake caliper
- Replaced the snorkel tube between the air cleaner box and the intake with a stock Honda unit
- Replaced all four stock wheels with Douglas Red Label wheels
- Replaced all four stock tires with Carlisles.
- Added a small digital tach/hourmeter to the steering wheel

I put about 7 hours on it last year in a series of 30 minute "blasts" around the property. The Engine starts and idles well, and pulls like a locomotive when it's WFO......however, the midrange is a bit soft and needs some attention.

One question I have is about the spark plug. It has a NGK BR7ES, which appears to be one range hotter than the "cold weather" plug recommended in the manual (NGK BR8ES) Since the plug appears tan after use, I haven't messed with it yet. I've got an EGT on order, and don't want to change anything until I get a baseline reading.

Anybody else out there running a FL350 with a NGK BR7ES plug? What would be the reasons for running a hotter plug than recommended?

Still to do.......

- Add an EGT meter
- Quiet down the exhaust so I can run it on the state OHV routes (I'm currently putting out 110 dB!)
- Modify the air intake system (dual snorkels)
- Fine tune the carb
- Replace current 3 gallon gravity-feed tank with 4.5 galllon spun aluminum gravity-feed tank
- Replace the stock shocks with "Works" shocks
- Crack open the Engine and see if anything needs attention

Pics to follow.......

Hello Rusty
Welcome to the site and nice ride...
the stock front rims do make it easy to adjust the shoes with the access they provide...
the tank you have now looks great and would be a keeper on my Ody... anyone can buy a spun unit..but yours is different... for the better I might add.
take a close look at your master cyl and if the fluid looks sketchy change it... can save you some down the line...
the works brand shocks change the Ody so much u will swear you are driving a different machine
Regards

Go Oddy....

Thanks for the feedback.

My stock rims were so beat up, I had to replace them.....looked like someone used a screwdriver and a
sledge to remove the tires one too many times! Thanks for the tip on the brake fluid. I checked it early on and it looked o.k.

I'm beginning to think the gas tank may have been a custom-fab job done by someone at the rental place. The
downside is that it only holds about 2.5-3 gallons, and I'd like a little more cruising range when I start running some
of the OHV trails in Northern Mich.

I found out yesterday that I'll have some work to do to get the exhaust quieted down before I can run it on state land. I checked out a sound level meter from work and measured 110 dB at 1/4 throttle Yeeeouch!

Hey Rusty,

Welcome.

Nice ride.

Also, post a few more pics of the Engine bay, tank & pipe. I'd like to see it.

Cheers.

Mozzy,

Here ya go.....fresh pictures, complete with some dust from running it yesterday. Let me know if you need anything else.

Hello nice ride

nice to see more west Michigan riders out there

I'm north of grand rapids

what did you do with your old rims if you still have would you like to part with them

I have stuff to trade with to


Speed

Thanks Rusty. Much appreciated.


Speed has some great things custom manufactured for the 350.

Your ride is confirmed as nice & clean by me. Excellent score from the pics.

Mozzy.....

Thanks, but I can't take much credit for the current condition other than replacing a few bent parts. I was fortunate to find one that had been taken care of over the years.

Speed....

The stock wheels are in pretty rough shape (see pic below). I swapped them out because I couldn't keep air in one of the rears. if you still want to make an offer, you can send me a private message.

Where do you run your Oddy? Silver Lake? State ORV routes? Back yard?