Hi I just recently picked up two pilots for 1500. I took them both to the god father at atv racing for his blessing. One i kept all stock and the second received the Engine mods porting, polishing, over size carb, pipe and silencer and so on. I have one question for Hoser Ive read what happened to afastcar and his atvr experience what can i do to avoid blowing up my motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )) with the upgrades or is this something that cant be avoided? Ive spent so much money on these upgrades and cant afford to grenade my motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )), plus my wife will kill me.

NICE! and welcome the site.


Tim

I saw these pilot's there about a month ago... (I think) Luke the guy with the shaggy long hair told me about them! Great Find and at a great price! I had just bought one out the and had stopped to find some parts! Niel knows his pilots! Luke is a pretty smart guy and did some work on my FL350R.
I had some issues with them also,(The hose that runs the fuel pump came loose behind the clutch) just document everything! If you "change" something run it by Niel first...
The pilot I bought Atvracing rebuilt the motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )) and previous owner told me it had about 20 hours on it... no problems to date! As with anything this old and abused it could go PoofKaBoom!
Welcome to the site!

I like Neil I recommend them to anyone for fabrication or anything to do with the Tazcar but not PILOT Engine WORK.

that being said I will never use them again for anything, I paid three times for them to get my Engine right and they never did, my two friends had their engines built by him and one blew up the first time out and he got it right the second time and it is still running now, my other friends lasted five trips to the dunes and blew up.

After finding this site (do a search for ATVR Engine) you will find their are allot of people that have had problems with them. its a shame Neil is cool to talk to you cant help but like him but he should pay more attention to who builds his PILOT ENGINES its almost like he is tired of working on them and doesnt care anymore.

Also all this Engine trouble has happened at the dunes and we run our Pilots hard wide open for a full tank of gas I bet some of these engines would have lasted if you where just desert riding and putting around on flat ground. which is how most people ride in AZ, the dunes are hard on the engines and back East with hills and mud it is also hard on engines.

I would recommend for you to watch the jetting run it a little fat until it breaks in, make sure you let the Engine warm up before you ride it, I always wait until the cylinder is hot to touch and feel the tanks on the radiator and wait until they are warm to touch. also keep an eye on your water level if you loose a head gasket and pump all the water out, it cant register the overheating light on the wheel

I would drain the fuel tank and check the fuel filter if the filter is dirty you can back flush it with carb cleaner or brake cleaner (thanks Hoser) or buy a new one.
change the oil in the trans and Engine.
clean the gas cap with brake clean and blow out with air because it vents through the key hole. (1989 only)
check the brakes and flush the fluid, the rear caliper is discontinued and if the pads are worn the rotor is expensive.
check the CV boots for tears or cracks I would even take them apart and clean and regrease. replacement CV's are expensive.
check the rear wheel bearings because they will freeze on the hub and wear out the rear knuckle, they are discontinued so you will have to buy used or have Speedchaser fix them. http://www.pilotodyssey.com/PO/viewtopic.php?t=4813
don't run a K&N filter. http://pilotodyssey.com/PO/viewtopic.php?t=5491
have you seen the airbox mod? http://www.pilotodyssey.com/PO/viewtopic.php?t=3211
do you have a PB clutch? ifso mark the mounting bolt head to the clutch face with a strait line and keep a eye on it that way you can see if it moves. allot of people have ruined their clutch because the bolt came loose.
A arm bushings. http://pilotodyssey.com/armbushings.htm
use a torque wrench for the lug nuts I have seen allot of wallowed out wheels.
I recommend Amsoil HP 2cycle oil 32to1 (thanks Hoser)
use Service Honda for parts. way cheaper than the stealership.

Ask any questions on here the people on here have saved me thousands of dollars and even more important given me so many extra hours of seat time!

Congrats on your score............ and these things are well engineered if you do preventative maintenance they are pretty much bulletproof.

theres only one way and that is to NOT take it to ATVR on the first place. but if you must have them leave it stock!

lol maybe Godfather of time bombs with a 4 hour fuse

Thanks for the info Afastcar. I plan on doing the upgrades to the air box this weekend. And as for ATVR they all seem like great guys and Luke the guy with shaggy hair seemed to be very knowledgeable. I also wanted to add that I enjoy this very much. Thank you

Make sure you go up on the jet size when you do the airbox mod, more air= more fuel.