Maybe time to wake up an old thread?
My first automotive anything was a cheap little go kart with a 5 HP briggs that I absolutely loved. I kept it at my friend Marcs house cause my mother didn't want me riding it at our house and upsetting or elderly neigbors. After owning for les than a week, I went to by buddies house only to find he traded it to someone for a stack of Playboys and a butterfly knife, all of which he kept for himself!
I really got into quads shortly after high school, specifically sport ones as I grew up on Long Island and there are NO legal riding areas anywhere, so we needed agility and speed in case we needed to vacate the premise ASAP. My second ride out with my first ever quad, I was rocking a blaster and a friend of a friend had a FL350. While I let a close buddy of mine use my blaster, this other guy let me ride his Oddy, but I got ripped out of it when the cops showed up (I made it about 300ft, in a circle and was in love with this thing!). I hopped onto my blaster to find my buddy had broken the gear shifter and was stuck in second. I seized the
Engine as we were hastily traveling through the woods back to the trailer and had to get pulled to safety by a fellow rider and his banshee.
That brief time on the oddy got me hooked. I wanted one, but at that time there were few and they were expensive! I ended up getting a 1986 TRX250R, this machine was awesome! It needed some work, I had to rebuild all the calipers as the previous guy NEVER changed the pads (the pistons were rubbing the rotor to get it to stop! The plastics were scratched to hell, so I wetsanded and polished as best I could. The Engine was rebuilt with receipts, so I was good to go there.
Although my 250r treated me well, I still wanted and oddy. I was told there was a Pilot for sale at a local Honda dealer, I didn't know much about them at the time, but once I saw it I fell in love! I could only imagine the adrenaline you must get from a ride on one of those! I went inside to find it belonged to one of the mechanics there and was told he wanted $12000, yes I said $12K. I returned a few days later and bought a 450R. (did anybody think I would spend that much????!!!)
Fast forward 2 or 3 years, I found "a mint condition Odyssey FL350" for $1800 in upstate NY. Me and a friend went to go buy it. Looking at the pictures, it was all original, nice plastics, ad stated rebuilt
motor ((
Internal Combustion Engine ? )) ((Internal Combustion Engine?)). I get there, and it is NOTHING like the pictures! The seller placed pictures of someone elses machine. This thing had diamond plate fenders and a "rebuilt" Polaris sled Engine. I chewed him down to $600 and off I went in hopes I could restore this thing. He said it wasn't jetted right which is why it ran like crap. I took it for a drive and it did move undr its own power so I figured "how bad can it be?" I get home, the Engine had 105PSI of compression and was now smoking. I wanted to return it to the original Engine anyway. I went to check the tranny and there were large metal flakes in it, shame on me for not checking before I bought it. After getting it jacked up to check the rear suspension, I see the "custom motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )) ((Internal Combustion Engine?)) mounthad the bolts welded to the frame, and a very large crack in the frame where the Engine cradle are connects to the rest of the frame. I ended This was now way out of my league, so I sold it to someone with way more skills than I have.
Present day, I still want an Oddy or pilot, but now I'm married, have a 16 month old and one on the way. I still have some toys but have lost some along the way. Sadly, no more Hondas in my garage. I hope to soon fill that void!
You can only lurk for so long before the bug bites you and then you have pull the trigger on a Pilot or Oddy. Good luck