Suzuki Eiger 400 2004 Rear Wheels Locked (Next Restoration Project)

[Mech]

You get the plastics looking good Gw.. Not something a mech ever does.. not this one anyway..  Nice !

[Gwbarm]

I think its from restoring all these years, i like for it to look good when i finish, wont stay that way very long, but that at least it looked good when i finished.

[Mech]

And you've got the photo to prove it !

[Gwbarm]

Had a few other minors projects come up, and hadnt been working on the Eiger much lately, decided today to try and get it back together. Got the backfender back on and got it all wired up. Waiting on my battery.

 

Went to put the rack back on and found another broken bolt, this thing had a hard life, getting tired of having to remove broken bolts. It was broken flush with the monuting flange, but underneath there was some bolt sticking out so i managed to get the bolt freed up fairly easily, but then had to work enough out cut a slot with dremmell and ended up working it out with a screwdriver.

It was slow going because i had messed up the threads on the oposite end trying to work it up enough to cut the slot. A little at a time back and forth it finally came out.

Starting to look like a quad again.

 

[Beef Candy]

Wow, this has been an interesting read; You're definitely getting that machine looking great. It's funny because I'll never forget when I was younger -- a kid we ran into on the trails had one of these same machines. And man did he have no business riding it! Absolutely abused that thing, trashed it crashed it and rolled it all in one ride. We rode together several times after that and it just kept taking the abuse. Unbelievably durable machine..

[Gwbarm]

I decided before i button up the front, i should go ahead and rebuild the Kie Hin carb i bought for it, started taking things apart and found a piece missing, the brass piece that sticks up into the venturi, more like a needle guide, i felt i needed it, went to order, out of stock, and it was 35.00 kind of pricy for a small piece of brass. Decided to check the aftermaket carb and see if it had one. I hadnt dismanteled it since i replaced it on my first eiger. Found out what was wrong with that carb, the top piece of the needle that holds it in position had broken loose and the needle had fallen down and stuck in the main jet, and it was running like this when i bought it , not sure how. So i took all that off and it did have the little brass piece i needed, didnt really expect it to fit, but it did. Since i had the carb all apart i decided to inspect it closely, it was very well made, very identical to the original, the only real differnce i saw was in the jet sizes the main jet was 125 and the eiger was 122 and i couldnt read the numbers on the smaller jets. Float looked good needle and seat looked good, it probably would have run ok once i fixed it, but i wanted to go back OEM.

 

The little brass piece i was talking about is number 17 on the diagram.

 

[Mech]

Ha..  Good spotting..

That bits important all right. They vary too, in diameter and in how the upper end is finished.

[Gwbarm]

When i took it out of the damaged carb i thought it was a little beefier than the other one, but the end was finished like you said, it will also only go in one way seemed to have a slight taper on the end that goes into the venturi, if you put it in wrong you cant screw the jet and emulsion tube assembly back in. I was really suprized that it fit, i think that aftermarket carb might have been one of the good ones, no markings of any kind on it.

[Mech]

Yeah even that little counter-sunk is important.. It gives finer atomisation.

[Gwbarm]

Thanks for the info B, nice to know they are tough, i have 2 of them , not as popular as the King Quad, heard it referred to as King Quads ugly sister, i just ride them normally, but my impression is it is a powerful massive beast.

[Mech]

"Absolutely abused that thing, trashed it crashed it and rolled it all in one ride.".

It's what they're made for..

[Gwbarm]

Time to change out the carb today, i debated about it since it ran with the one that was on it, thought i would run it around a little and see how it worked, but decided to go ahead and change it. First glance it didnt look too bad. Glad i went ahead and changed it float needle was stuck

 

Replacement went good no issues, comes right out on the left side without removing anything, choke valve looked good cable looked good , didnt even have to readjust throttle cable, usually the adjustment on aftermarket is different from OEM adjuster is usally adjusted completely all the way out.

 

 

 Did a few other little things. 

 

[Gwbarm]

Decided to try and reupholster the seat, this might get interesting.

[Mech]

Oh yeah..  We can't buy covers here.. not genuine anyway..

I've got a sack on mine. How much was that cover ?

[Gwbarm]

Ebay 34.00 not an original but looked nice. havent put it on yet was just sizing it up

[Gwbarm]

Cover fit fairly well they only missed it by a little bit. Back seam lined up good side seams lined up good front seam didnt quite go over the lip, but i still have to smooth it out. I used spray adhesive to the foam to hold it tight. The only problem i still have to work out is my staple gun(mechanical) wont shoot the staple in to the plastic very far it sticks but not deep enough to hold, may have to get a pneumatic one. Been wanting one anyway, i dont think the electric ones are any more powerful than the mechanical ones. 

The Suzuki logo lined up fairly well, but you can see the front seam is a little lacking on this test fit. Just looking at the photo it looks like the side seam could be stretched down a bit also, the logo is really good but they could have centered it a little better between top and bottom, but thats nit picky stuff. Overall im very happy with the cover, it worked out better than i expected, i dont do enough of these to be really good at it.

 

 

[Mech]

Looks ok in the last photo. Better than mu sack ! As you say, a bit tighter stretch might have been the go. Anything that stops a wet bum and the foam crumbling away though.

 You can get short staples for hard material. They used to be available from 6 to 12 mills long on the legs that go it.

[Gwbarm]

Still working on the Eiger, got the seat all finished got some T50 6mm stainless steel staples they went in better but occasionally i would get a misfire, but kept going, finally figured it out, i had 2 staplers one used T50 and the other used 112, guess which stapler i grabbed, the wrong one.

 

 

 I have been driving it around doing very well with the shifting and rolling, very impressed with how the engine runs, very large and powerful, certainly more than i need. Found the plastic covers i ordered a year ago, that took a minute or two, and found a problem, the left side fit like a glove, the right side didnt fit at all.  I got to looking closer and found that they sent the wrong  footpeg cover for that side. I ordered them a year ago when i first got it. No problem, they will take it back its never been used. Went to order the correct one, and the foot peg cover has been discontinued by the manufacturer. Luckily they sent the wrong side cover that matches, the wrong footpeg cover, not sure its their fault sometimes getting the right part is tricky, they are always superseded by yada, yada, yada part #. Thought that would work until i put it on. Looks good right, the only problem is the foot peg is different on the automatic model so it didnt fit it right. Also the brake petal is now missing, it must be on the other side on the automatic model. Thats OK brakes are just a luxuary anyway, afterthought, i can use the rear handbrake. Still looking for the correct part, i can still get the correct side cover. Piddly stuff, but when i do something i try to do it right. It may only look good for 5 minutes but it will look good when i finish.

 

[Mech]

Yeah that does look good.  Not sure about this no foot-brake caper though..

You need that to get the park-brake on hard. And they need to be on hard around here.

[Gwbarm]

I know I’m going to have to cut it out to get to the footbrake .

[Gwbarm]

Did a little work on the Eiger today, decided to install a freshly rebult Kei Hin original carb, on it, got it on no problems, hooked up the throttle cable, then the problems started. The cable is too short, dont know if its an aftermarket cable, or not. I next went to the adjustments, it was adjusted to the max for the aftermarket carb that was on it. Got it adjusted all back to really no adjustment and it was still holding the throttle open a little maybe 1/4 inch. The video shows it running and it runs better than any junk machine i have had in a while, i was very impressed with it.

It is idling too high and i didnt even have the throttle hooked up, so i need to get that figured out, and with the adjustments all the way to 0, with cable hooked up it holds the throttle open even more. 

After doing further reasearch i found the carb that i put on it is a 2003 and the 2003 carb has a different cable # than the 2004, not sure if the carb is different internally, or if different because of frame differences. Also the 5,6, and 7 models also uses a different throttle cable, go figure, they all look alike. I have a 2004 carb i havent rebuilt yet i guess i will try that one, or either get a 2003 cable. 

 

 

I did look in thee throttle housing to see if there was anymore adjustment there and i had it all the way. Im sure i can work the high idle out once i get the cable situation sorted out.

 

[Mech]

Some KQ have two different cable fittings on the carb, one that screws in and one that just pushes in a short way then has an adjuster on that bit. I think it would be easy to spot on the parts diagrams.

Edited September 13, 2023 by Mech

[Gwbarm]

Got the 2004 carb out today to take a look at the throttle cable connections. They are definately different from one year to another. The one on it now was supposed to be from a 2003, but i suspect its from a later model. As you can see in the photo the one closest to the camera is supposedly for a 2004, this is what i was told when i bought them and the one attached is 2003 which has a half moon cable connection, the other one does not. Interesting so many variations between years. I was just looking at a new one online for a 2006 and its cable hook up was just like my 2004, so maybe my theory is flawed and the halfmoon one was from 2003.

 

[Mech]

Dang.. And the parts places don't show us that little detail.

And... the two different parts don't even look interchangeable, not without their own housings.

[Gwbarm]

I think i have it figured out, the half moon one goes on the 2005, 2006, 2007 models. The other goes on the 2002,2003,2004 models, but there are still throttle cable differences in the 2002, and the 2003 and 2004 models, nort sure why that is yet. Of course i would pick the wrong one to go on there, i had both and had not paid the throttle hook up much attention. I guessed the half moon one only because the Big Bear i was working on had the half moon design and it was a 2000, so i came to the logical conclusion that that was the older design, because like you said Mech the parts places dont show you that detail.

[Mech]

Parts mate, are the bane of a mechanics life.. 

You'd think the would only change the parts needed for the new models improvements, but no, they go and change a whole heap of stuff that looks the same and doesn't seem to make any improvement at all.. And they change things half way through a model run too.. 

I better stop now before I get really wound up !

[Gwbarm]

I finally got around to installing the correct carb for the correct year on the Eiger, cable hooked up perfectly, actually a little long now, i had to adjust it out at the handlebar. It cranked up ran perfectly, but it should, i just put in new parts. As allways with me ,alternate problems arise. While running i goosed it a couple of times, good throttle response no hesitation, but, the throttle would stick for a bit going back to the idle position, it would not completely go back to home, i could push it back the last 1/8 in but would not go back by itself. So got to pull the carb back off and see why the throttle plate is binding, not sure if its a weak spring or just plate not adjusted correctly, the joys of rebuilding someone elses junk carb. I remember checking it and thought it was a little sluggish right at the closed position but thought it would be ok, and it might after i run it a bit, not sure how long it was sitting before i got it, just a tiny problem, but i cant unknow that its there, so got to get it right. 

[Mech]

Not just the idle speed a bit too high ? I've seen things that idled high for two to five seconds after throttling off, then go to a reasonably slow idle, but once I wound the idle speed back to a slow idle, they fell straight back to the slower speed as soon as the throttle was let off.  No good reason why they should do that, but some do seem to do it.

[Gwbarm]

I have the idle adjuster adjusted all the way out not touching throttle plate at all. It is doing exactly what you describe, let off the throttle and. its slow coming to idle, and when it does its still a little high, and i can push the throttle plate all the way closed with my finger and it idles normal. Iv had others do this before and trace it back to the vaccum throttle slides being sluggish going down, but its not the case in this one.

[Mech]

Oh ok..  Bit more use perhaps, or a squirt of wd40 into the butterfly shaft.