New to me ATV

[thor452]

I am about to acquire a older Yamaha 350 something 4x4. it is tan plastic it says 4x4 and Yamaha on it. there is a front and rear rack it has a shift lever of sorts on the top of the front right fender. I have been told it is a 350 cc. it is a manual shift and it is older bike siting under a tarp for years. four flat tires but it pulls over has decent compression if you are not careful it will stretch your arms if you don't rotate it slow past the hard pull and was told it was running when parked so I do believe it is a runner. once I get it I can post up a pic but I would like help identifying it and also was told that it would drain the battery when sitting. I don't see anything on the machine that could be an electric draw as it has head and tail lights and 3 dash lights other than that its the starter and stator. I think it is an old big bear but I have not been able to find a picture of one in this color. Anyone have any idea or know of a know problem with them for draining the battery while siting?

 

[maim]

seen dirty contacts or a bad solenoid do that. have a sled that is doing that and i am chasing it.

anyways it sounds like a big bear 350 from around 1988

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://dygtyjqp7pi0m.cloudfront.net/i/22857/21225779_2.jpg?v=8D1E462F799CB90&imgrefurl=https://www.liveauctionworld.com/1988-Yamaha-Big-Bear-350-SN-JY42HRW04JC052209_i21225779&docid=-_yCxDB0BiVOaM&tbnid=_C0ySrcaupXC6M:&vet=1&w=1024&h=768&bih=730&biw=844&ved=2ahUKEwjn4PXIlLjkAhUwU98KHTLxCpQQxiAoAnoECAEQGg&iact=c&ictx=1
http://www.atv4sale.pro/detail/ca/ePobAdeReoMedssbRRA/Yamaha-Big-Bear-350-4x4-with-Winch

my grandmothers 88 bigbear kills the battery the same if it sits for a long time. running it every couple of months seems to keep it good even after i added the winch.

when i first picked up my grandmothers for my dad when she sold it, i had to add gas to it, check the oil and give it a boost from my truck for it to fire in the first 10 seconds of cranking.

i do reccomend a new carb joint from the carb to the head as they are known to fail. a good carb cleaning with a fuel tank flush would not hurt either as the filters are in the tank as part of the fuel straws.

anything else i can help you with just let me know.

 

[thor452]

seen dirty contacts or a bad solenoid do that. have a sled that is doing that and i am chasing it.

anyways it sounds like a big bear 350 from around 1988

https://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=https://dygtyjqp7pi0m.cloudfront.net/i/22857/21225779_2.jpg?v=8D1E462F799CB90&imgrefurl=https://www.liveauctionworld.com/1988-Yamaha-Big-Bear-350-SN-JY42HRW04JC052209_i21225779&docid=-_yCxDB0BiVOaM&tbnid=_C0ySrcaupXC6M:&vet=1&w=1024&h=768&bih=730&biw=844&ved=2ahUKEwjn4PXIlLjkAhUwU98KHTLxCpQQxiAoAnoECAEQGg&iact=c&ictx=1
http://www.atv4sale.pro/detail/ca/ePobAdeReoMedssbRRA/Yamaha-Big-Bear-350-4x4-with-Winch

my grandmothers 88 bigbear kills the battery the same if it sits for a long time. running it every couple of months seems to keep it good even after i added the winch.

when i first picked up my grandmothers for my dad when she sold it, i had to add gas to it, check the oil and give it a boost from my truck for it to fire in the first 10 seconds of cranking.

i do reccomend a new carb joint from the carb to the head as they are known to fail. a good carb cleaning with a fuel tank flush would not hurt either as the filters are in the tank as part of the fuel straws.

anything else i can help you with just let me know.

Thanks much I will most likely be leaning on you if I run into trouble. Thanks for the heads up on the carb joint. That looks about right for the bike that it is. is the lever for engaging 4x4 and low 4x4 ?

 

[maim]

the big bears of that era where full time 4x4 no matter what range they where in unless a warn 424 was installed on it. that lever on fender is to shift it between high range, low range and reverse. make sure you have it in neutral forward gear before putting in reverse or you will get a clunking while backing up. you will need to step on the foot brake to shift ranges or into reverse unless it had been modified or bypassed. both my 05 and the 88 big bear are modified so that i do not have to apply the brake to shift ranges.

 

[thor452]

Okay thanks. so there is no sticker up there I would assume all the way back (toward the rider) would be reverse then one forward would be high range and then all the way forward would be low?

 

[maim]

close. all the way to you is reverse, middle is low range, all the way forward is high range.

 

[thor452]

Okay I picked up the bike this weekend and to my surprise it actually used to be camo not tan now its splotchy tan color LOL. It came with a service manual for 1991 and newer Yamaha big bear atvs so I think it might be a bit newer. looks kind of terrible in all honesty. It is from the GF's dad he got it 3 years ago for 300.00 and said he would like to re-coop the 300 but just see what it is going to take to get it up and going and we will settle on a price. the seat is also a camo pattern.

 

[maim]

the manual was basically the same until they changed the body style. the one i have for my 05 covers from 88 till 05. never seen one that old in camo. most likely was a home job or a really bad wrap. as it has compression, odds are she will run.

 

[74Nitro]

Okay I picked up the bike this weekend and to my surprise it actually used to be camo not tan now its splotchy tan color LOL. It came with a service manual for 1991 and newer Yamaha big bear atvs so I think it might be a bit newer. looks kind of terrible in all honesty. It is from the GF's dad he got it 3 years ago for 300.00 and said he would like to re-coop the 300 but just see what it is going to take to get it up and going and we will settle on a price. the seat is also a camo pattern.

Get the bike running?
Often a battery draw is a bad regulator/rectifier.