Big Little Project

My first big purchase when I was about to graduate college and get a job (premature I know) was a 4 wheeler.  Mom and Dad had moved out into the country and we had a huge yard in which to ride and I couldn't wait a second longer.  I shopped all around and checked out several, but I finally settled on an immaculate 2002 Honda Foreman.  I was so excited the night I bought it that I couldn't wait to ride.  It didn't matter that it was already dark, had just started to snow, I didn't have ramps to get it out of my truck, and I was supposed to be at work on the other side of New Bern at 7:30 the next morning.  I drove up to Lowe's to buy some ramps, unloaded the 4 wheeler and took it for a quick spin in the woods before putting it up and hitting the road.  All that extra time meant there was plenty of snow on the roads by the time I left and it took me forever to drive to my Brother's house in New Bern (driving a 40 year old 2wd truck with questionable tires in snow is a tricky proposition at best).  I think I finally showed up around 2 am Monday morning (sorry Sam).

The Foreman Back in its Glory Days

I drove that 4 wheeler a ton over the next several years.  I spent days making trails all through the woods and would load it up and take it to friend's houses to ride.  Every time someone new came to visit that thing came out.  All that riding was good for it, but it definitely didn't get the pampering that it had from the previous owner.  When Kristin and I started dating I took it over to her Grandparent's farm and kept it there so her brother in law and I could go riding together (he has his own... we don't ride two up...just in case anyone was wondering).  However I found that having a love interest left far less time for riding and my beloved 4 wheeler did a lot more resting than riding.  It was under a cover under a shelter so it wasn't falling apart, but lack of maintenance and a lot of sitting meant that each time I would pull it out it ran worse and worse.

Since we moved to Greenville it has done a lot of sitting and finally got to the point where it just really wasn't rideable.  Last summer I decided it was time to do some work to it and thus began a long and arduous process.  It is hard to get a lot done on something when you live a couple of hours away and are a very optimistic planner.  The petcock for turning the gas on and off at the fuel tank had quit working so it constantly ran gas into the carburetor and gummed that up pretty bad.  It had a dead battery and the reusable air filter was a mess.  I ordered a new petcock, filter kit, and battery and figured I'd spray a can of sea foam through the carb to clean it up and be back running right in a couple of hours.  Yeah right.  Changing the battery, oil, and air filters went great.  Pulling the body off and getting the gas tank out was actually pretty easy too, then trouble started.  The petcock had been over torqued or cross threaded when put on the fuel tank and when I went to take it off it wouldn't come.  The bolts just spun and spun.  I decided to throw in the towel and take it to the Honda dealership, maybe they had some tricks up their sleeves.

One of the many times the body panels came off throughout this process

A few weeks went by and they called saying the fuel tank was shot and they could put a new one in for $300.  Time for me to check back into the game.  I got a used gas tank off ebay for a fraction of that cost, cleaned it out, swapped all my parts onto it and put it in.  With new fuel lines and the body back on I figured it was time for a can of sea foam and a ride.  Well it covered the farm in black smoke and still ran like a dog (one with three legs and emphysema).

Old Carburetor

I had rebuilt the carb a few years ago then promptly taken it to the dealership for them to do it right and wasn't really feeling either of those options at this point.  Thankfully I found a replacement carb on Amazon for cheap and ordered it.  It took a little rigging as the hookups were all slightly different from the OEM carburetor, but once it was all hooked up my 4 wheeler honestly runs better than I can ever remember.  It has only taken about a year and cost four times as much as I thought it would, but I'm finally happy.  Now I just need to keep it ridden. Maybe I could keep it here and drive it to school?
-Buzzy