oh400ex

If you were closer I'd come detail it for you 🤣

Forgot to add what I do consider an essential step... Before I start the bike, hook the battery back up or energize the system in any way it spends overnight with a dehumidifier in my small shed. The dehumidifier will pull water from divots, connectors and wiring bundles helping to prevent a short. It will also fully dry any finishes or coatings too.

This is the answer essentially. The customers are used to the sound of their original starter on a bike with 5K miles. I would bet that brand new their starter was louder but also I think Honda gives their OEM starters a wear-in period as part of their manufacturing process. So this unit is brand new with no factory wear-in compared to a factory worn-in starter with 5K miles worth of starts on it. The original starter was in great condition minus the magnets. As I mentioned I was able to glue a few back in and get it to turn anyway but that's not a fix I want to stand behind. If I knew where to buy replacement permanent magnets or a center tube with magnets pre-installed it would have saved most of the old one. The brushes and motor were/are still in good shape. Your project is looking awesome! It deserves to look on the outside as good as it is on the inside lol Going to get further into it but a quick* version... Initial cleaning is with old gas and a black hard plastic detail brush to cut any super greasy parts. Next I use a cheap dish soap (usually Walmart's Dawn) through the pressure washer and coat any/everything in soapy water. I do this twice or three times and just keep adding more soap with the foaming tip until it cuts most of the dirt off. I use a fan tip to wash off the soap and a turbo nozzle on any areas that can handle it. I then use a leaf blower and air hose to remove as much water as possible and do this several more times throughout the process. I get a sprayer with soapy water and drill with ball brush attachment and get the rest of any spots that didn't come off with that combo. Rinse and blower again and at this point the bike is beautiful but needs to be restored and protected. If there are rust spots on a non-removable part I will wire brush, 91% alcohol and spray paint with shield. Any painted engine parts that are removable are taken off and prepped with paint stripper. Once that's done I do the wire wheel on grinder to get anything else. 91% to remove residue then engine primer and paint (Usually 6 layers total) The colored plastic parts I do a multi-part treatment on starting with a super fine sanding sponge wet sanding with the hose to remove haze. The next step is to use a buffing wheel or ball to polish the surface of the plastic back to factory shine. Finally and on all black plastics I use a mix of boiled linseed oil, mineral spirits and 91% alcohol at a 2/4/1 ratio (not exact science but less is more with the boiled linseed as it is the active ingredient) With that mix in a bucket and gloves on it use a microfiber cloth and coat the plastic with a liberal amount of the mixture. Once I have coated the entire bike which usually takes a few minutes I take a short (10-15 min) break and come back to start buffing it out. The buff out process is using one clean microfiber that is very slightly damp or dry to remove most of the reside. Once that is done you get yet another clean microfiber and wipe all the surfaces again. This will bring back the shine to any black plastic better than any treatment I have ever tried and done correctly leaves no sticky residue. Whew, we are almost done 😄 The last step for me is a coating. I use Turtle Wax Hybrid Solution Ceramic Spray Coating. It works so great you'll question every time you ever used anything else lol A great semi-permanent solution to bead water and protect from UV that can be sprayed all over the bike. That got long quick. I do plan on going into it further next time I get a detail job on a dirty one. Thanks for reading! Edit: Just wanted to add hand lotion on the grips and lemon pledge to black tires as those are two of my favorite tricks 😄

Definitely not any issues with the bike. I ended up putting a few of the magnets back in the original starter and JB welding them in so I could test start it before the new one arrived. The original starter is whisper quiet in comparison to the new one which is the same noise level as any previous aftermarket starter I have used. The noise I am speaking about is a whine and does sound like a normal starter sound. I would not be surprised to find out that some of the generic starters being sold on eBay are made by DB Electrical because they are very similar. Don't get me wrong, it was a great fix and everyone involved is super pleased with it, just sounds different from the Honda branded one. Thank you again for a great recommendation!

You are a wizard.

Hello everyone! I wanted to share a recent project and my experience with it. The customer described the original problem as the bike would not start after being in water. The more complete story is that after being exposed to water the starter begin to die and eventually stopped working entirely. After tearing into the starter I found that the permanent magnets were powdered and it needed to be replaced. The customer went cheap so on advice from Shade I ordered a replacement starter from DB Electrical and installed it today. The unit from DB installed like a dream and bike starts right up! The only drawback it that it's loud. It's the same as other aftermarket brands and much louder than the original starter but will likely quiet down with time. Overall, I am super satisfied with the purchase and the customer is ecstatic they are able to start the bike without giving the Honda shop nearly 10x the money for a fix. I will be buying from DB again in the future and would also recommend them as a great source of starters. Other than the starter fix, I changed the filters and fluids, cleaned the bike, replaced some clips and sent it on its way! My cleaning process is something I want to go into further detail in the future but the plastics always look great after a treatment. Some of you hate the zip ties which is understandable but I love them. Customer was a fan of the look and it didn't cost them anything so that sealed the deal. Same deal with the seat. Customer did not want to replace the seat cover so I will paint the foam just so it beads a little water and doesn't stand out so much. I apologize for no before picture but just imagine it really dirty with faded black plastics and you got it! Thank you for looking! oh400ex

As stupid as it was I can almost guarantee it is real. Changing colors in Photoshop isn't perfect unless you put in a lot of effort and by looking close at this picture I see no artifacts left over from that process.

I agree. Or maybe Shade is right again and you should have skipped this particular kit 🤣

Don't know a whole lot about that model but the ad stinks to me. Would just pass that up without a second thought after seeing just needs a "fill in the blank" Looks pretty nice though if the price is right anything is an option.

Howdy! As you mentioned it could be a number of things. I have never used a drum to disk kit so my experience with those is limited but in general your thoughts are correct, they should be stronger. Could be an installation issue. I would start with cleaning all the residue off and going from there. If there is any grease from manufacturing left over on the rotor it can make the brakes really slip easily. 91% Alcohol and a towel is a good place to start and see if the "bite" of the pads gets better from that. Another thing to consider that you mentioned is old brake lines. You said that the lever is not spongy so it's almost ruled out but if your lines are "ballooning" it can take up a bit of the pressure meant to be delivered to the pads. Start with cleaning though maybe. oh400ex

Everything is a matter of concentration. Did you know that you can remove the ethanol from gasoline by adding water? Adding enough water to ethanol rich gasoline will force the EtOH into the water layer which will separate nearly fully with a bit of time. The gas layer can be siphoned off and the purity will be increased lol Heet is also pure Methanol which will separate from the gas in a tank that is sitting. A way to see this in action is to pour some gas into a clear bottle and add a small amount of water and heet. Mix the contents of the bottle and almost immediately they begin to separate into a water/heet layer and gasoline layer. Not saying I'm laying all the cards on the table that it had something to do with water for sure just food for thought. Could be as simple as a contaminated batch of gas from whatever supplier fills your local station.

Being that it is happening down by the petcock could it be water? Water (likely a water/ethanol) mix would sink and create a layer at the bottom of tank right? Boiling point of gasoline is all over the place but the high-end is way over the BP of water. According to Google gasoline BP is from 100-400F, water is 212F and ethanol is ~175F so if your tank was ~200F it was potentially boiling the "heads" of the fuel, water and ethanol or a mixture of the three.

Welcome!

DTC and FS model? What do those acronyms mean? Diagnostic Trouble Code? Direct to Consumer? 😄 This bike feels like a FFS model :badjoke: Edit: FS is foot-shift isn't it?

The one I am currently working on is a 2008 TRX420TE If I'm not mistaken that would call for the A40 part number but I do not know the difference if anyone would care to explain.

Honda makes the best scooter money can buy. The metropolitan and ruckus are gifts to today's world like the original 50's were years ago. I know that 2-Wheeled stuff in general is not for everyone. If you are unconformable with the idea just stick to quads. Falling over hurts. I own two currently. They are the best combo of a reliable and reasonable priced street legal vehicle money can buy. This part will very wildly from state-to-state but in Arkansas... A scooter under 50cc can be driven without a motorcycle licence legally on public roads with the exception of high speed areas like interstates. Not only that but you do not have to keep insurance of any kind to be legal but that is still not all. You do not have to licence or plate the vehicle beyond the most basic registration so there is no reoccurring licence fees and nothing to expire frequently. All of that being said and it gets +50 mpg easily with a ~180 rider and a ~35 mph top speed. (This is on the Metropolitan. Ruckus is a bit slower) If you are looking for a two wheeled machine and are not in a hurry to get there, the Honda scooter line is a great option. Thank you for reading! oh400ex

Anyone in this thread wanna buy my bridge? 😁

Totally agree that a jump-box is a must have! I know I was rambling on a bit in the OP but the scenario I was speaking of is one where the starter died and the battery is either hot or you are carrying extra power. Unfortunately my friend found himself stranded in the exact scenario I described and had to take the ride of shame on the back of his buddy's dirt bike to get a tow machine. He had his box on the back which included a full toolkit and portable jump starter but still had to leave it. My current booster is an old Everstart model from Walmart that I replaced the original lead acid battery with a cheap Lithium drop-in and it never fails to start anything. oh400ex

I had no idea this product existed... For anyone also like me he is talking about a Recoil Start Conversion Kit that would bolt on and solve my complaint. Honda thinks of everything but may not implement it to save cost deal here I am guessing. Thank you again Shade! I'll be recommending this add on. oh400ex

You are right 😄 I would much rather not have to send something back and waste all the time/money rather than just cleaning and rebuilding the OEM Let's just say your position is you should 100% never get a carb from eBay mine is you should 70% never get a carb from eBay. It is always better to go OEM, no argument from me on that one. My own success rate is +90% with good parts from eBay and only having to deal with the headache side on at most 10% of it so it becomes worth it in certain citations. If the bike will not be fixed anytime soon because the OEM carb was mutilated by some idiot with a die-grinder (like the OP described) and a replacement OEM is either not available or not feasible due to cost, then yea go for the cheap one. I would much rather someone make the decision to buy a cheap replacement carb than let the bike rot because the OEM is too expensive. In summary we don't disagree but may have different perspectives on when and where it is appropriate. Thank you for sharing your opinion either way! oh400ex

I don't disagree that OEM rebuilds are the way to go don't get me wrong. China carbs do have at lease some value Shade 😆 The key for me is if you go to eBay and look for products that have a high number of "sold" under the listing for this particular product and doesn't have any recent terrible reviews it will be better than the listings maybe directly above or below it. I am a big fan of people being able to ride their machines and as I'm sure you know the OEM carb replacement option is cost prohibitive for a lot of folks around here so eBay becomes the next best option. Everything is a cost/benefit right? If you go on a single ride with the china carb while rebuilding the OEM and did not have to miss the opportunity to spend time with friends and family that day it was worth the $50 and half day of wrenching you spent on it. I would pay $50 in a heartbeat to rent a bike for the day if I didn't own one. Out of all the stuff I order carbs for from eBay (Mowers, Chainsaws, Weed Eaters, DR Trimmers, Generators, Dirtbikes, ATV's and even cars) I maybe have a 5% failure rate. If you order from a decent seller and use eBay's tools you can ALWAYS get your money back or a replacement. Goes back to the cost/benefit of how much is your time worth dealing with replacements and such but at 5% I'm willing to try. I always recommend OEM replacement as the first and best option. As the person who is ultimately going to fix it OEM parts are a dream to work with compare to aftermarket in general so I prefer them. It always comes back to cash. oh400ex

I wouldn't pay 2k for this bike in Arkansas. Snorkel means rust and who knows what else. I would bet a dollar that bike has rear brake and rear end issues. I just watched money change hands on a MINT 300 that was field and barn only with the original tires still on it for $2500 so it's not out of control but not reasonable either. That is a ~$1200 bike where I'm at oh400ex

I love our Honda as much as the next guy but everyone makes mistakes. (ES and EFI) I just don't like ES (Electric Shift) personally but at least there is a bypass. I really dislike EFI (Electronic Fuel Injection) in the form it was implemented into the Rancher 420. My biggest complaint is that there is no bypass to manually start the bike if the starter goes, even if the battery is still hot enough to run the EFI Is there a way to start the bike other than wheel start? Anyone spun the starter with a string as a makeshift pull-start? If you had a dead starter, your buddy is on a dirt bike and no ability to roll down hill could you get it going? (Assuming you have a jump-box and full tool set on you) Thank you for reading! oh400ex

This is some sage (someone who has been in the snow too long) type of advice that I think might be the most important thing said in this thread. Throwers are a dream to use and you said your surface is gravel right? It is going to be difficult with any plow to avoid gouging into the ground but a thrower doesn't have that concern and is so much more maneuverable. Used snowthowers that need a carb clean and oil change to be like new are available. Go to CL or FB market and just post your budget looking for a snowthower maybe? oh400ex

My $0.02... Buy a cheap eBay carb and get it riding while you clean/rebuild the OEM carb and have it ready when this $40 one fails 😁 A lot of folks choose to get cheap carbs and have good luck with them, some certainly don't but if you prepare yourself for either you will be happy! A rebuild kit and a bath in ultrasonic can fix pretty much any OEM oh400ex (Edit: Did not see that the OEM had a die grinder taken to it)