Ain't Your Daddy's UTV

[ktm265]

The seat pan doesn't sit as low as the stock seat so the plan now is to skid plate a full length floor from front to rear...plenty of protection on the backside...

[ktm265]

We're going to rotate the seat back to more of a reclined position...more comfort. To do this we're going to remove the straight cross bar and replace it with a curved one.

[Odyknuck]

Originally Posted by ktm265

Found a big ding...we'll replace this with a fresh tube...add a skid plate and it's good as new. This had to be a good size hit but we found nothing else bent in the frame alignment...

When you go to replace the lower tube confirm that it did not pull the "A" arm mounting points in towards the center. I would also recommend "X" bracing it as the lower "A" Arm mouting cage is easyly tweaked from a side hit, been there done that. BTW I currenty have two long travel Pilots so if you need any advise or help let me know. My current Pilot project is a streached frame with integral cage and a 700 Rotax twin power plant.

[Odyknuck]

Originally Posted by ktm265

The seat pan doesn't sit as low as the stock seat so the plan now is to skid plate a full length floor from front to rear...plenty of protection on the backside...

ATV Racing sells a full aluminum skid plate for the Pilot if you do not want to make it your self. I have one on my 500 Pilot. I will need to make one for the 700 project as the ATVR will not fit.

[Odyknuck]

The CR500 cylinder will give you great torque and well worth effort. It is not an easy task as you need to relocate the cylinder base studs and requires a lot of case work and machining. The other option is boring the stock 400 cylinder out to accomandate the 500 piston however this method has a short life span and is not reccommended. Just wanted to add the option.

[ktm265]

Thanks Ody, I have AJ from AJ's Off Road Armor doing the metal work for me. Since Iowa can be nasty for racing...rocks, deep ruts, logs and water crossing as normal conditions, being 2WD puts me at a slight disadvantage, to compensate for this, going with smooth full skid plates that will not catch on anything, also lifting it just a bit in the front...

I was wondering a little bit about the CR500... I'm checking with RPC out of Palo IA. They do a lot of custom motor work, machine work...etc...I had them work on my 250KTM and when they were done it was amazing the difference...I had a 2 stroke with a huge power band and I could actually lug it when I needed to be off the power band...

[Odyknuck]

Ah! you mentioned the Tabo words for a Pilot.................."Water Crossing" lol. The only real downside of the Pilot is the open CVT system. The belt gets wet and there you sit! I have looked into building an enclosure for it however not real feasible. Keep us posted on your build. Have you been to Pilotodyssey.com or minibuggy.com websites? They would be a major help for the Pilot build.

[ktm265]

That is good to know... I have a full skid plate going under it but knowing what you just said about water, I'll build in some type of water protection to keep the spash off the belts...

[ktm265]

My a-arms arrived, plan is to fab in new mounts, run with the KFX700 front a-arms and Elka shocks.

[ktm265]

Update...Radiator is now mounted. AJ built the crossbar behind the seat which has threaded inserts welded in for the shoulder harness and the seat mount tabs in place. He'll be doing the under seat cross bars tomorrow so I'll post up pics of both then.
Mocked up the radiator mounts, used part of the stock piece on the lower side with the bushings. We'll extend the wiring for the temp sender and be using clear hose for the coolant lines.