Reminds me of a riding buddy of mine. First trip of the year, by the time I got to the dunes to meet the gang, Richard was already done for the day. Clipped a tree on his Predator in 3rd gear and snapped the end off the tie rod. The powersports shop at the dunes didn't have anything that would fit. So, his day ended before I even got there. The worst part was getting the quad back to camp with a broken rod.
Go to the technical articles area and check out the newbie guide (and give me your feedback on which parts suck most - I'll fix them).
Free or cheap mods/tweaks:
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- 12 1-inch holes in airbox lid (or no airbox lid, but some don't like that)
- Jet the carbs - Even with a stock airbox, precise jetting makes a difference
- Change the primary clutch spring - acceleration with the stock spring kind of hits a wall around 40 MPH, an aftermarket spring will wake it up a bit
That's really about it. The stock shocks aren't that good. If you shop around, you can find some used Elkas for half of new price.
My suggestion for progression of mods:
- Tie rods and maybe tie rod ends also
- Airbox mod (requires jetting changes)
- Shocks
- Aluminum bits (bumper, grab bar, nerf bars, etc.)
- Exhaust (requires jetting again)