walhonding300

I have only posted a few times with a few questions,. but received great responses and help. Thank you I guess I will start a thread to update on the progress I am making with my 1998 300FW. I am calling it a daily driver because I want to "restore it" to a point that it runs great and looks OK. Not a show piece by any means. I have owned multiple ATVs, including 2 Hondas ('03 400ex and just recently an '88 trx125). I wanted a machine that met my criteria (reliable, easy to fix, inexpensive, and small enough that I feel comfortable with my 10 year old driving it). Need FWD and the ability to use it for firewood and still have some fun with it. I found it on marketplace. It was owned by an old farmer that passed. His family was selling it. They said it had not run until the grandson did a little work on it. It didn't run great, but it ran and the price was right. It looks like it was used on a farm. The frame and racks have surface rust from it just not getting cleaned and dirt/mud sitting on it. but nothing beyond that. Has not ever been mudded. Gas tank has very few scratches and other than 1 black fender flair, the plastic has no cracks. Now when I say the grandson had just worked on it to get it running, I mean he bought a Chinese refresh kit off amazon. Spark plug cable, solenoid, key and ignition, handlebar switch module and carb. It ran, but it ran like the choke was stuck on and the valves were off. I have a very, very good mechanic that works on older atvs in his spare time. He asked me to buy a used oem carb and a shindy rebuild kit along with a clutch cable. He rebuilt that carb, did a leak down test and adjusted the valves. Someone had tried adjusting the valves. They were way off, but open to far, which he said was a sign someone had tried to do it previously. After his work, it literally runs like it is brand new. I could not be happier. I will post more picks and progress as I make it.

I am doing a bit of a "daily driver" restoration on a 98 300fw. I think I will start a thread as well. Great to have all the information available here.

Yes it does. Thank you. I don't think I could ever get a winch anymore without synthetic rope. Once you've had it, your spoiled.

Triharder, How are you liking the Badlands winch? I am thinking about the same one. For the price, I can break it, buy 3 more before I buy one warns winch (which I am a fan of but cost is hard for me right now).

What a gem! I wouldn't have the patience to go that clean but if i got it that clean, I don't think I could take it out to the garage though.

Thank you. I made the adjustment and it's much better. Another question, if you don't mind. It doesn't smoke bad, but on start up and just sometimes if I let if idle, it does smoke a little bit more. Is this an issue or nothing to worry about?

Good Morning. First post. Glad to be here... I just purchased a '98 300 4x4. I have always wanted one and its the right size that my son can ride it around the yard. I am not new to atvs but have only owned 1 Honda (2003 400ex). When test driving it, it seemed to shift just fine but after driving it for a few days, going in and out of first and second can be very hard sometimes. Do I have a clutch issue? It just doesn't act like it wants to run well in those gears and winds out fast. I have not owned a manual quad in a while and maybe it is normal for it to work through those gears fast? It can even be hard to get back down into 2nd from 3rd. It idled OK at first but seems a bit rough at times. I think it just needs carb adjustment but not sure if that's impacting the sifting issues. Almost idles like a harley but goes when you ask it to. The oil temp light is not on when I turn the key on but it comes on almost instantly once it starts. The oil can't be hot because it hadn't ran. I am assuming this is just an electrical issue. I am just figuring this machine out so I am sure I will have a lot of dumb questions. As I do some random searches on parts, it seems there are tons of options for this machine and it does not seem very expensive to fix. My last quad was a polaris, so anything is cheaper than that.