Mech

Well.. Most bikes, the gear-change lever does have a connection/linkage to the a clutch so when you change gear it self clutches.. as long as the clutch is adjusted correctly. This is a second clutch with plates in it, not the main drive/takeoff clutch which is a centrifugal one. You can test this disengage feature by shifting into gear but don't let the lever return to it's center position, keep holding it up with your toe, now give the bike a few revs(enough to start moving usually) and then let the lever down. The bike should lurch forwards as the manually operated clutch takes up. If that clutch is disengaging correctly, and at the right point in the gear-change operation, that is, it should disengage before the gears start to mesh/shift, which you can test for(very carefully), by giving the bike a few revs before trying to engage gears. If the clutch is adjusted correctly, the clutch will have disengaged before the gears try to mesh, and there should be no loud graunching if you engage gear slowly. It might clunk into gear because of a bit of drag on the clutch, but it should go into gear. If that second clutch, the manual one, not the centrifugal clutch that normally does the drive engagement, is ok and adjusted correctly, then yes you can change gears with the throttle open. It's always a better idea though, to throttle off momentarily, as with any vehicle, to save the clutches and prevent harsh engagement of the spinning gears.

My quad only gets used a few hours at a time and only actually running for a few minutes in those hours, a few times a week mostly, and never more than a mile or two away from home. So, even though(or perhaps because) I'm on solar power, I'd have one. It would be easy enough to load a tiny generator on the rack if I wanted to go up ninety mile beach, and I'd just have to stop and enjoy the remoteness while I waited to get rolling again. Or.. I could mount a big generator and run it like a hybrid.. haha.

Ok. Well.. The service manual explains where the engine number is. If you look there, the engine number should have the capacity as part of it. And if you download that manual from here, what differences do you see between your bike and the manual. If the manual's basically right for the model, all the major parts will be the same to look at. If the manual is basically right, then we can look at parts that vary from year to year or month to month or engine number to number, and by comparing things like carbies(yeah yeah I know your bike is fuel injected), or axles or brakes or bodywork and things that are easy to see and identify, and by seeing what combination of parts it has, we can tell to a few months when it was made.

The jets with letters are very accurate ones and have a standard of their own. They are mostly for countries that are worried about pollution.. If you get a genuine service manual to download, this site will probably have one, and look at the "supplement" section, you will find all the specs for the various models, and their carbies and jetting. I've swapped jets before and as long as you use all the sizes recommended together, it doesn't really matter what spec market it's intended for, it will be pretty good. So you can swap all the jets to the californian ones(if the carby allows it), or all the jets etc for the africa model, or any market, and it will be close enough balanced to run and be tuned.. It's important to swap the slide needle, and the discharge tube it fits into, and all the jets as a set. Floats and needle and seat can be left as they are. If you cant remove the air jets near the air-filter end of the carby, then you need to figure out what they are for and which fuel jet they are suited for, and then choose a market spec that has those air and fuel jets, and build a carby to suit that unremovable air jet Hope that all makes sense.. Ask away if not..

Well I may be wrong but I'm thinking that thing doesn't have a differential.. Even if it did have a differential, as you turn, the difference in turning radius between the inner edge of one side's tyre, say the inner set of wheels on a turn,and the outer edge of the other tyre on the same side of the bike, is enough to cause scuffing. Even having wide flat profile tyres causes too much scuffing I've found. And, if there's no differential, if you widen the overall width from one outer tyre to the other outer tyre, there is going to be a big difference between the turning radius'. The tyres scuff fighting against themselves, and it drags power and impairs traction quite often. Apart from that it strains the suspension and the wheel bearings, and, it makes it hard to corner..

When you get the manual, check in the back in the supplements for the variations between years. Also, that frame number says the check digit is incorrect.. The ninth digit should be a 3, not an 8. I always photo the plates and then enlarge and brighten them and things to be sure I'm reading them right. Everything else though seems right/feasible. 5 = England market S = Suzuki A = ATV A = ATV M = 400-499cc 4 = Four stroke single 6 = 6th model version A = 10th version 8 = Check digit.. Should be a 3. 8 = 2008 7 = Factory.. I'm not sure which factory. 1 = From here on is the six digit serial number of the bike. 0 0 7 9 5

The engine number, or a number at the bottom of the cylinder, should confirm it's a 450... The number on the cylinder might say something like 489cc.. It will be slightly less than 450. If it says 389, you've got a 400, or of it says 748, a 750.

Ok well my books say it's an English version, from 2008, and looking online checking the rear brakes, fuel injected and water cooled, it looks like what they call a... "LTA450X Kingquad 4X4 Limited" . I checked here.. https://www.motorcyclespareparts.eu/en/suzuki-parts/motorcycles There's a manual for that right here.. Check that and let us know...

Whether it's possible or not (and I'm sure it is), I wouldn't do it. It will be hard on the suspension and axle bearings, and make it hard to steer, not to mention the scuffing which chews up the surface and your tyres and adds huge drag to/on the engine/drive.. If you need duels, perhaps you should look at six wheelers ?

well.. you cold give us your frame number and we might identify it. Or.. Have a look at a few parts here... https://www.mickhone.com.au/partFinder/fiche/suzuki/2011/lt-a400f#next If you find a part that looks right, click on the arrow over on the right near the price, and it will show you what other models that part fits. You can deduce which model you have by comparing the parts fitted to the various models. You can switch years and model at the top of the page. That site is Australian though, and they, and us Kiwis, don't always get the same model in the same year that you Americans do.. Once you know your model though, and can identify it from the other similar models of different years or markets, you'll soon figure which manual you need. Check through the model years till you find the start of the fuel injected models, which can be identified by their fuel pumps. Then start refining the search to four-wheel drives and either sport versions or workhorses. Look at the suspensions and the drive-line. Checking brakes can be insightful too. If you can identify your model from that parts site, or any other parts site, we can probably direct you to the right manual to download for free.

Find the frame number, perhaps on a metal tag welded to the left rear down tube of the frame, and use that to identify your model and year. If you post the frame number in here someone will help I;m sure. Or.. go to an online parts place, and start comparing parts for various years, with your bike.

Hi Steve. That, turning the lights on fixed the problem, normally points to a charge regulating problem.. First check is what voltage you have at the battery, then that it\s charging, then that it's regulating correctly.

Stale fuel... Change the fuel and drain the carby too. Get some pliers and heat the sparkplug tip up over a gas/cng/lpg burner till it's good and hot. Put the plug back in still as hot as manageable, and try to start it with new fuel..

Stale fuel or bad oil if it's two stroke can cause that..

Have you been taking the plug out and checking whether it's flooded or dry as I suggested ? Are you sure the plug is good ? Once a plug has been flooded they can get a fault where they are real easy to foul after that. They spark when you check for spark against the head, but the spark runs down the porcelain when there is compression making it harder for the spark to jump. I'd suggest getting a new plug, trying it and checking regularly whether the plug is getting wet or not. And.. suzukis seem to like to start up with very little throttle. If they are trying to fire as you wind them over, and you then open the throttle, you will hear it get more reluctant to crank.. Close the throttle right down to very little(I mean the tiniest bit possible), and they often burst into life.

Fix the choke cable, even temporarily by jury rigging a bit of wire bent to engage with the choke plunger so you operate it down by the carby. Check the starter is spinning the engine fast enough(which it sounds like it is since it fires occasionally). Then coax it into life with choke and very little or no throttle. The choke doesn't work if the throttle is opened much at all, so it sometimes pays when trouble shooting and starting a reluctant bike, to wind the idle speed down a half turn or so. If it doesn't want to start after a few winds and a bit of throttling, then take the spark plug out and check whether it's dry, or soaking wet. Then change your approach by either giving it no choke and some throttle, or choke and no throttle, depending.

Good to hear. Well done and thanks for the follow-up.

If it's done it after a long sit then you should check the fuel tap. Lot's of perfectly fine operating float needles, that work all day long in use, will allow the engine to flood overnight...

Yeah well it does sound like a flat battery problem, though Dave's suggestion it could be mechanical or fuel is quite apt: it's been known to happen. I trust this thing isn't overheating to near seize ? Some of your other observations suggest battery though.. A simple way to check your charging system is putting out enough(or some) current, is to connect your gauge to check the voltage, it should be above 12.4 after an hour off the charger and with everything turned off, then start the engine and check the voltage goes to the 14.5v at 1700revs after a minute or less, then turn your headlights on and check the voltage stays over about 13.5, if it drops below that voltage, give it a few more revs and see if it can get to 13.5 with the headlights on. If it can run the headlights and still keep the battery voltage up to the minimum charge voltage(13.5), then the charging system is working and should be fine when you aren't using any of the extras such as lightbar. It's also a good idea to check the voltage at different revs. Some bikes go up to 14.5 volts just above idle, then the regulator cuts in and regulates them to 13.5, and at anything above just about clutch engaging speed, they stay regulated. You may have a fault like that, but with a defective regulator draining or cutting all current at higher revs. If it can't keep the voltage up to 13.5, under the load of the lights, at all revs, then there is a problem with the charging. If the charging is fine, perhaps it takes about an hour before some electronic component gets hot and causes an issue. To test that, you could run the bike with the headlights on, and see if it runs flat quicker than the hour. If it stays running for the full hour, then dies with a flat battery, then it would point to the heat effecting the electronics. If it dies sooner with the headlights on, then it's not charging enough.

Probably, unless there's a fuel pump with a hole in it's diaphragm.. Does that have a fuel pump ?

The best way to identify your bike, if the number tag is missing, is look up an online parts site that has photos, and a feature that allows you to check what any part you look up, fits, other than the model you are looking at. This site is good. https://www.mickhone.com.au/ Once you have a part identified, such as that rear brake, you click an arrow over on the right of the parts list and it will show you what other models it fits. Then check some of those models and compare the fuel systems, emission controls, body etc.. After a bit you'll know your bike inside out..haha

First thing to check is whether your bike charging can handle all those loads. You need to use an amp gauge between the battery and charging wire, and check that there is still some charge going into the battery when things are turned on. You need to do that check at just above idle. If the amps fall below about a half amp when it's at driving revs, then you need to turn some things off.

Weird one ! The only thing I can think of is that the pawls are standing up too vertically when they lock, and get jammed up. Perhaps the pawl are worn on their ends, or the outer or inner race is the wrong diameter. Bad manufacturing or wear. I suppose you've checked the end-float clearance ? Not that that should cause those symptoms alone.

It's best to check the stator and trigger coils by testing their ohms. A lot of cheap digital meters don't record very short voltage waves such as you get when cranking the engine over. They might show nothing, or give really erratic readings. If you have an old fashioned analog gauge(with a needle), they are better for checking voltage outputs. It's best to get the book and get the correct ohm or voltage readings, but as a general rule, stators have very low ohms, perhaps one or two at most, and the trigger coils are mostly in the low hundreds, perhaps from about eighty to one fifty ohms. Those are general figures for all makes. Most of the time, if you check there is continuity, and no shorts to earth, and some voltage coming out of the stator and trigger, then you can assume for the time being that they are ok, and go on and look at the other things, such as wiring.

Drain or dip a bit of gearbox oil out.. look if it's got metal dust, chips or chunks in it.