Mech

#7.. It's strange to have a bit of hesitation in first but not the higher gears.. Check the wheels/tyres are round and running straight, not buckled. That can cause a symptom just like very slight uneven running at slow speeds. And it goes away at higher speeds.

What year is this and have you looked in the manuals section on this site ? Can you tell us more about this bike ? Chain or shaft or direct from the engine drive, four or two wheel drive, how many speeds ? What's the electrical problem ? I have an LT160 and old LT250 manuals, and there are LT230 manuals that may be some help.

I've never seen a burnt inlet valve in my life. I've seen them distorted, and with distorted seats, and with tight tappets, but never burnt. Regardless, how did these machines with burnt inlet valves idle ? In my experience anything that causes compression to be forced back into the inlet plays havoc with the induction, and so the idle. Once there is a greater amount of, and faster, air flow the effect becomes less pronounced. And a spit back of unburnt fuel through the carb is not the same thing as a back-fire through the carb.

Just jack the bike up on one side to save draining the oil..

When I go near the woods I carry a handsaw, a machete, wedges, a snig and a regular chain, and a come-along. I've used the chains to move trees and to get me up steep hills/drops I'd foolishly gone down. It all fits in a fish bin that's fitted with flat steel hooks that tuck under the front rack so it can be a dumper. Then there's the shovel, spade, long handled slasher all bungied on one side.

For the record... If there's a problem with the inlet valve it shows up worse at idle than when the throttle's open or it's revving. Same with inlet/vacuum leaks, they show up bad at idle but become almost un-noticable once the revs get up. If either thing is so bad it can cause a miss or backfire at revs, then it will be bad enough to almost prevent idling.. Possible exception being a very weak inlet valve spring.. which is pretty much a thing of the past..

Hope this is right.. 2006sportsman400-500.pdf

Oh ok. I'm in N.Z. and anything polaris over here would be an arm and a leg I suspect. Good to have spares like that as a bit of test equipment though.. Like a spare cdi or regulator..

Good stuff. Glad it was that simple. The sscb looks like an expensive part.

Oh good news. We need some wins !

And can you remind me about the circumstances of this problem arising.. I remember the first thread but can't find it now.. You were out riding weren't you, everything going right, and then it just stopped shifting with the switches, is that right ? And did we do any diagnostics at that stage ? I don't remember being part of any such discussion.. but my memory isn't worth s##t..

haha.. Yes keep trying the gears.. How about jacking it up and trying it with the engine running and seeing if it will shift through all the gears.. And, this quad does roll ok ? It's not got tight brakes or faulty front diff or anything like that ? And.. have we checked the angle sensor thingy down by the electric shift ? That could cause bad electric shifts..Shouldn't trouble the manual shift as far as I know.. Maybe if it's broken though, and jambing things up or something.. Glad you are back on it Ej.. .

Lol.. going mad. I misread sportsman for sportster.. WTF..

Yeah it does seem strange. Roller bearings aren't prone to seizing like shell bearings, and especially not suddenly, without any noise, and while riding around the house. But even if the centrifugal clutch had seized/locked, the engine should try to crank the bike forwards. I agree though, try to figure what went wrong.. It may be something simple still, and after all this work it's not much more. The gear shift is still a mystery though. It goes right up and down through the gears stationary, but not while riding.. Hmmm..

You guys were spoilt. My mates and I started out on garage finds, things like James, BSA, Jawa, which we spent more time getting going than riding.

I'm not familiar with harley wiring plugs but most connectors (pins and plastics) can be bought. Over here I'd look somewhere like RSOnline, but you guys will have some industrial electrical supply place..

Sometimes you can detect clutch slip be going along some very slight incline, get it into the lower end of it's power band and then open the throttle suddenly and listen.. You might notice a slight rise in revs that doesn't seem right, or that slowly gets caught up with as the bike gains speed.

And I just saw they have the right manual for you in the download section..

Actually, that sscb is the place to start checking.. It's a solid state circuit breaker. Here's an explanation from the 400-500 manual. Not quite the same colours but it should help. 2006sportsman400-500.pdf

Ok.. Well this should be the diagram for you then.. That few seconds before the voltage drops sounds like it could be a dirty contact somewhere, and my first suspicion would be in one of those splices.. 2006Sporstman.pdf

Or the weight of the lever tried to shift gears for you on rough ground. I used to have an old 38 bsa 250 sidevalve that had been updated from a hand shift to a foot shift, but it was a real early box and didn't have a ratchet on the lever, you had to move the lever just the right amount to get the next gear, and it was hard tail with a sprung seat, so if it was a bit rough, which was everywhere around here, and the seat was bouncing up and down, you had to keep the your weight on the peg and shift real careful.. Those were the days.. haha.

Good one.

Is this the manual you are using ? There's four pages there.. (Just in case it doesn't scroll) And, have you checked all the stator resistances and pulse output right at the cdi unit, in case there's a broken wire ? output.pdf My manual says it's an AC cdi, not 12 volts.. That might be why it smoked ! My manual says that from 95 on it's a DC CDI. If you are sure it's a DC CDi then I'll post that system..

Doh.. forget the idea about turning the crank.. that was a brain fart. I was forgetting it's s later design.. haha.

Have you tried putting a socket on the crank and checking for play down there. I doubt it's going to come right but it's worth investigating what went wrong. It sounds like a seized engine, and I can only suspect it was a lack of oil, but the bearings in them aren't really prone to seizing suddenly, they normally get noisy first. It could be that the cam has seized, in which case the crank will move a tiny amount. If you get it into neutral, does it roll ?