30 years later, another Blaster

Tryin

Member
Nov 18, 2019
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Lumberport, WV
When I was 13 years old my dad bought me a brand new 1988 Blaster, I beat on that thing for years, it was all I wanted to do. Fast forward and my son just turned 13, I knew what I had to do. I found what I thought to be a good 2002 on it's original front tires, had title, original owner for $1100. When I went to get it, it was dark and I gave it as good of a look as I could, it ran, it leaked gas out the overflow, but I went ahead and took it, everything else I could find was pretty beat up in this price range. I should have held out for a 2003+ for the brakes! According the the owner, the motor has never been apart. I did a compression test and it is at about 115 so I guess will leave that alone for now. I'm in the process of doing a leak down test and haven't got past the reed cage yet! I'm thinking of just yanking the motor and stripping it down and starting over, cleaning the crap out of it, maybe paint the frame. The biggest issue I overlooked was the front suspension, it has positive camber on one side and negative on the other so something is bent but I've looked it over everywhere and don't see anything. I'm thinking of getting some Alba a arms since they are adjustable and I wouldn't let my son ride it the way it is. I've got a heated garage and it is winter so if it doesn't pass the leak down and needs new seals I think I'm just going to pull the motor and make this a winter project. My list of priorities are:
(I already rebuilt the carb)
1. Pass leak down test, if not pull motor and reseal not splitting cases
2. Clean and possibly paint frame
3. Reinstall motor after passes leak down
4. Address suspension
5. Address brakes, everything works now, one of the front brake lines is broke, still functions, but will rub wheel in a full turn, would really like to just start over here with hydro but not sure it's in the budget
6. Put back together, new plastics, teach my son how to ride a real quad. He's been riding a 90cc quadsport for about 5 years but it's time to move on.

It still has TORS hooked up, has oil injection that I plan to keep, full FMF pipe on stock jetting (will need jetted), douglas wheels (back) with itp holeshots, will need front tires. Biggest surprise was taking the stock air box off and no filter! Everything looks clean so I'm hoping it was just shot and previous owner pulled it, it does look clean.

Thoughts? Really wish I could have bought a new one for $2,000 like my dad did in 1998!
 
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What's up tryin?welcme to the forum.if you look around you can find info on back brake hydro setups.alittle fab and welding and it's done on the cheap.
 
What's up tryin?welcme to the forum.if you look around you can find info on back brake hydro setups.alittle fab and welding and it's done on the cheap.
Thanks for the welcome, there is actually a hydro setup on the for sale section I have interest in but not sure I can even PM yet. Really don't want to spend the money on hydro setup now but I really don't want to go through a rebuild and not address this issue. Funny, when I was ringing the piss out of these things in the 80's, I never noticed an issue with the brakes. I don't know how old you are, but I had one of the first blasters sold, I had two friends local to me that got one the same year, we spent all summers trail riding, drag racing, hill climbing, whatever, wish I could have one of those days back...
 
At that age for me good brakes wasn't as important as going fast.now it's brakes fist, speed 2nd.dont know what we were thinking.thats right we weren't:rolleyes:
 
Welcome aboard !

Hmmmm, needs brakes and lives less than 2 hours from me, might be a good time to dig out this roller I have that has both front and rear hydros, aluminum rims, Maier Plastics, plus some other goodies, minus an engine. I could probably let it go for less than you can do hydro conversions.
 
Well you have my attention. My wife will probably cut my head off but I'd like to at least see what you have in mind. When can I PM?? I'd really like you to see the bike I have and pick your brain some, you seem to know your away around blasters:D
 
Well passed leak down test after sealing up reed cage, wasn't expecting that! Now need to decide if I'm going to pull the motor and paint the frame anyway.
 
Well passed the leak down test! Wasn't excepting that. Still thinking about pulling motor and painting frame. Guess it's time to move this over to the full rebuild forum.
 
Around Reed cage. Is probably the most common air leak on these.poor thing gets over tightend all the time.hmmm to paint or not to paint?:rolleyes:
 
Around Reed cage. Is probably the most common air leak on these.poor thing gets over tightend all the time.hmmm to paint or not to paint?:rolleyes:
No kidding, I'm tempted to just put it together and run it, but I'm also tempted to get it right and hand over my son a new quad like the one my dad gave me... I think I'm going to do it!
 
I'm still clueless about the brakes. They work now, thinking about just buying a new left front brake line and rolling with it, unless AWK want's to hook me up with his roller!
 
Well I've been making some decent progress on the bike, I still plan to pull the motor and paint. I found out that the oil tank reservoir has a huge gash at the top of it, which explains why there was such a mess at the back! I started draining the oil out of it and the line was full of water, hopefully that is from where I pressure washed it before pulling into the garage, oil pump was full of water as well. Guess I'll put an add in the wanted section for new oil reservoir as I intend to keep it hooked up. It's obvious this quad took a pretty hard lick to the clutch side, pretty nice dent in the frame, top fender bracket is busted off the weld point, bottom fender bracket is broke into, only held together by the bolt, front shock mount is bent back slightly. I can't see anywhere where the frame is bent. The area that the dent is in is pretty high on the frame, about three inches up from the top fender bracket, there is pretty good reinforcement up there so I'm thinking the issue is somewhere in the front suspension, hopefully new adjustable a-arms fixes that issue. Not really wanting to put the mechanical brakes back on but with Christmas on the horizon may have to do it for now. Have to drain and clean the fuel tank, what a mess it is, obviously sat with old fuel in it for a long time.
 
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She’s getting naked! I noticed tonight that there are no chain rollers left, don’t think this bike has been paid much attention to for a while. Dog got sick this weekend, $750 today and she’s still alive, blaster funds decreased...
 
I’m out of town tonight but I’ll try and get something tomorrow, not really much to see really, there is about a 1/16” deep dent about 1” long on the main tube that runs up behind the front suspension and goes up around the bottom of the tank. It has reinforcements above and below the area so I’m pretty sure it’s not an issue. Main issue is front right wheel has positive camber and left wheel negative with no way to adjust. It will be a while before I paint as I’m pretty sure I’m not doing in my garage and it’s winter here now. Got plenty of tear down, degrease, and sanding before any primer goes on. Winter project. Thinking of just deleting oil injection as I’m already mixing gas for my kdx200. Really like having it though
 
Hey Tryin, Welcome.... its great to see that you are restoring the Blaster. I got mine AS A roller,( no top end or carb). I got it running with this Forum. Anyway, Im no frame guy, so any advice I offer may not help.I would lose the TORS and oil injection systems. From what I see and hear they can become problematic. All that removal stuff is right on this site. Just take your time,(and some pics , if needed) and all will be fine. Good luck!
And again, Welcome to the Forum.
 
Yes, TORS will be history , mainly because I want to loose the brick on the carb, already sick of working around it. Still undecided on injection, had it on my previous blaster and it worked great
 
Well I've run into my first obstacle. I've got the rear carrier out, trying to get the sprocket hub off the rear axle and I'm not having any luck. So far I've soaked it, heated it, and lightly beat on it. Guess I'll just keep soaking, heating, and beating! Hopefully some pic's coming soon. Need to start a new thread in the build section...