Yamaha big bear restoration

[Ryan03]

About 2 weeks ago, I bought a 98 Yamaha big bear to restore. It was in pretty rough condition as it had sat outside for a year or so, and had been stripped of its wheels and tires. It also had a transmission issue that turned out to be a launched bottom end. I probably should have passed, but I love challenges, here are a couple of pics from the ebay auction, they are the before pics, and also a few of the work in progress. I found a complete engine bottom end in mississippi, it should be here next week. So far I have steam cleaned and sandblasted and painted the frame and susension components, Removed the tree sap and polished the gas tank cover and front fender with a air buffer, and reassembled the chassis. Hope to start the engine and trans reassembly next week. If there is interest, more post and pics of resto progress to come

 

[dfkrug]

Wow, great find! I woulda grabbed it if I saw it locally. Did you have
it shipped?

What do you mean by "launched"? What is wrong with that gearbox?

 

[Ryan03]

No , I drove 5 hrs to Kentucky from North Eastern Ohio to pick it up. The bottom end is blown up beyond repair, it has a trans gear that is seized to the counter shaft, which bound the trans. and blew a bearing mounting boss out of the left center case, taking the shifting mech and starter gears with it. Many of the parts are still good, including the crank, clutches, magneto, oil pump, etc. However, due to the extent of the damage, the most feasable and economical way to fix it was to replace the entire bottom end with a good used one, I may rebuild the replacement when it arrives, or may just use it as is. We will see how it is when it gets here

 

[Old Coot]

Thought you may like to see my 89 Big Bear. Bought it new.

 

[Ryan03]

Wow Old Coot, that big bear looks to be in great shape, I kinda wish mine was a pre 96 model, as these had high and low range, where as mine is just a five speed with reverse, as all the newer ones were. This is my first 4x4 ATV, I have had several fourwheelers in the past, none were ever 4 wheel drive though. I am hoping I have finaly found a machine that can travel on the low lying valley at the back of my property. I have a 2 wheel drive recon with 25 inch mudlights on it, and half the time, it is impassable with that, and I dont want to even go into how many times I have had my 270 Farmtrac buries at the bottom of that hill, even when we have had zero rain for a month. I am hoping the big bear can handle it, if not, I may have to trade everything in on a hovercraft LOL.

 

[Old Coot]

I had a two wheel drive I traded in on this one. This one with the blade was $3400 with tax and title. It has been one of the best machines I have ever had.
Only trouble with it was the first year the cable for shifting from reverse to low or high broke. I converted it to shifting down on the bottom end and never another problem. Twenty years old this year.

 

[Ryan03]

Worked on the big bear a little more today, finished all my sand blasting and painting, all that was left were the footpeg assemblies. I also finished stripping the 1 years worth of tree sap from the rear fender and polished it with the buffer. I was going to blast the racks to, but they would not fit in the blasting cabinet, looks like I will have to sand them instead. I also included a picture of the broken case that nececitated replacing the bottom end as you can imagine how much damage there was to the trans components and starter gears that used to mount where the hole is blown through.

 

[dfkrug]

I had a two wheel drive I traded in on this one.

You have taken very good care of your ATV and it shows, OLDCOOT. Good
tools can last a lifetime or more.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

I worked at a Yamaha shop and remember selling the 1st and 2nd Big Bears we recieved in 1986 (I think). They sold to a government entity that was responsible for managing a wetland area south of Victoria where the Guadalupe river meets the San Antonio bay. At the time, 4WD was new to Japanese ATV's and they had problems with the unreliable 6WD ATV's made with Kohler engines stateside. They wanted something with 4WD and a low lbs/sq in ground pressure and this apparently fit the bill. They came back and bought the 2nd one.

We had trouble selling them as they were expensive and there were not many places a 2WD would not go in our area(except the wetlands). Anyhow, we had a ditch behind the shop that was cut very sharp into the ground and was about 6 ft deep. I used it to show customers the climbing ability of the 4WD as the front end would pull the front up the opposing side of the ditch.

Keep showing us pictures of your project....Kyle

 

[Old Coot]

I worked at a Yamaha shop and remember selling the 1st and 2nd Big Bears we recieved in 1986 (I think).

Your right. I went back and got the title out and found out mine is a 1987 and bought the first part of Feb,1987. I think it was one of the first they got in. I bought it in Taos, New Mexico. I had just bought a two wheel drive and found out, you couldn't back up a hill in snow with the snow plow on. Traded it right back in on the Big Bear.