Industry Insiders

Adjusting valve clearances explained: video how to

No matter what type of ATV you have if it is a 4 stroke your valves will need the occasional adjustment.  What is involved with adjusting valves?  What exactly is being adjusted when someone says “I adjusted my valves today”?  In this video I will show you the basics of how to adjust valves on a typical 4 stroke engine as well as explain the necessity of checking them on a periodic schedule.

How to: Basic valve adjustment procedure

As always for more How to and lifestyle videos check out The Junk Man’s Adventures

Falling In Love Over The Weekend

There was a movie on TV tonight about the concept of love at first sight. Yeah, it was pretty sappy, though they worked in enough comedy to keep my attention. And I could identify with it because, over the course of the past couple weekends, I saw love at first sight happen twice – and I’m somewhat proud to say I’m the one who set up the introduction.

In each situation, the person who was struck by cupid’s arrow was a relative of mine. And in each case, the person was already married.

Gulp. I might be in trouble.

The first introduction occurred in Northern Minnesota, as a part of an annual late-summer weekend getaway with my in-laws. We always bring ATVs and go somewhere with available trails.

This year, I brought a Polaris RZR 800 – the 50-incher is technically an ATV now in Minnesota, so it can go on any ATV trail. I brought it specifically for my brother-in-law Rick to ride, and take his eldest son with on a ride. You see, his adult son is developmentally disabled and is unable to ride an ATV on his own. Strapped into the seat of the RZR next to his father, however, my nephew Erik had a wonderful time as we weaved around the trails near Lawler.

My brother-in-law Rick takes his adult son Erik for a ride in a Polaris Ranger RZR 800

Rick is a proud motorhead and amateur car racer, so he has loved riding ATVs with us the past few years, but being able to take Erik with him in a sporty, fun vehicle with seatbelts and a roll-over protection structure (ROPs cage) pushed him to the edge of pulling out his checkbook. I don’t think I’ll have to bring a ride for him next year – I think he’ll be bringing his own new RZR! I hope Rick’s wife Jeanne can forgive me…

Then, on the Labor Day weekend that we just completed, I took that same RZR along with a trailer full of ATVs (including a brand new KYMCO Maxxer 450i) out to Western Wisconsin with me and my family. My parents live on a lake out there and the local ATV/snowmobile trails start right across the road.

Now Mom and Dad have owned their own ATVs for a dozen years, are members of their local ATV club and enjoy using them for work and recreation. But when I pulled the RZR off the trailer, my father’s curiosity was piqued. Later he took a spin in the buggy, and the next morning my mother also took it for a blast down the local trail.

For them, it seems like the perfect vehicle. They can ride together, it also is legal on their local trails, they can still use it to plow snow and pull-out the dock, but they can also drive it into town year-round, especially if they get a cab for winter travel.

“These buggies are really what’s driving Polaris’ stock price,” I told my dad. Read the rest of Falling In Love Over The Weekend »