Suzuki LT50 help needed

[ASJim]

Forgive me if I am not in the correct spot to post this and please direct me to where I need to be. I'm new! I have an opportunity to purchase a 1999 LT50 for my children. It starts and runs but very poorly. My suspension is the carburetor will need to be gone over. It has been sitting for a bit. I was not going to mess with cleaning it and soaking it. I figured I would just buy a carburetor rebuild kit for it. Easier said then done. Does anyone know where I can purchase a kit for it? It also needs a fuel tank cap which I am finding a little more pricy then I would have thought. It seems like the 99 is a transition year so parts are hard to get, but I may be wrong. I am pretty sure I don't need to use just parts from 1999 so if anyone can tell me what other years I can use I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you very much for your help.

[951TSE]

It seems to be an obsolete model so getting a more current one might be a better bet but if that isn't possible then there's some new old stock parts for it on ebay, although quite a lot are US sellers so you may get hit by import duty as well as high postal charges. Or this company in Holland seems to have loads.

http://www.cmsnl.com/suzuki-lt50_model13885/

Usefully they also have exploded diagram schematics listed by year so finding any part numbers you need should be easy.

[marshall100]

Ah, the LT50 is the honda cub of the quad bike world. We've had my boys now for 6 years and it's been the most reliable thing this side of my subaru forester. Parts are a little on the pricey side, and the quads hang onto their value like god knows what. The model changed slightly to the LTA, newer bikes have front shocks and electric start, and the plastics are a bit more modern. Parts from the LTA like the exhaust don't fit the earlier bike, the rest is largely the same. Best way to tell is if the bike has front shocks, or a huge weight on the front of it. The LTA started in 2002 according to thumpertalkoem parts, but it has the lt50 running from 1984 to 1987! must be different in the states...?

I dare say that if you spend a few quid on a carb re-build kit you won't have to do anything to it for years. They are bomb proof! I patched up the exhaust on my boys this year and that's really the first time I've had to do any major maintenance to it.

Fix it, use it, sell it on.

Edited by marshall100 on Friday 15th August 16:49

[bigblock]

Hi Jim, not much really goes wrong with the LT50. I have had three of them for the kids over over the last 15 years and if they are not running to well the culprit is normally one of the following.....

1) Float bowl is not filling properly because the float is sticking due to dirt in float bowl.

2) The primary or secondary jets are dirty. One is located inside the other and the openings are tiny.

3) The pettycock (fuel) valve is clogged up restricting fuel flow to the carb.

4) The air filter is clogged with oil from the crankcase breather.

Most of the dirt contamination issues in the fuel system are as a result of corrosion occurring inside the metal petrol tank on early models of the LT50. This then flakes off and gets carried into the carb.

It would be worth the effort to remove the petrol tank and carb to give them a good clean out. That's all I have ever needed to do with mine.