Mini-Quad Safety & Performance upgrades...

[Spike99]

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I can't tell you why others upgrade their minis but I can tell you the reasons why we upgraded certain parts of '03 Pred-90. Each of our upgrades are based on Mechanical, Safety &/or more bottom end POWER increase improvements. Ideas that could be applied to your current mini and/or a new one.


Here's a list...

- Spring Loaded Chain Tensioner. I'm lazy. Hated adjusted our chain after every 3rd trail ride. Today, we tighten its chain in the spring and in the fall. And that's it. "No fuss / no muss" the rest of the year. Besides that, a chain under firm "spring" tensionion reduces the risk of it coming off and reduces chain / sprocket wear. Funny thing is, the '04 and up Pred-90's now comes with a factory chain tensioner. If your mini doesn't have a Spring Loaded Chain Tensioner, I'd recommend you install one. This is one of the best upgrades we've done to our Pred-90. Surf:

http://community.webshots.com/album/108721500mjHKZk


- Installed a rear push bar. This rear bar allows me to pull our Pred-90 in / out of the mud and snow. And, makes it much easier to load on our trailer as well. Much better then its factory 6" rear steel frame loop. And, this rear push bar also provides better support for our Pred-90 rear fenders. To me, a rear push bar is a "must have" on the Pred-90 brand. Surf:

http://community.webshots.com/album/284404321yqauIv


- Upgraded to Custom size sprockets and thicker Heavy Duty Chain. This lowered its tops end speed (from 30 down to 24 mph) but gave our Pred-90 much better "momentim" power on our technical trials. Especially for the ups / downs little hills that have a stream crossing in their valley. Surf:

http://community.webshots.com/album/284402100NAfkOS

Note: Many thanks to Billy Holt at WRH Racing for helping me with this upgrade.


- Designed / Installed Skid Plate. To me, a definate must for our technical trails. With a skid plate, the mini's low profile rolls over logs / rocks instead of its belly digging in. Surf:

http://community.webshots.com/album/284493780TASOxK


- Removed its Oil Injection. This reduced approx. 50% tension on the thumb control. Today, both my kids concentrate on driving instead of looking at their thumb, and trying to re-postion an over sore hand. Surf:

http://community.webshots.com/album/130997005nxNiAA

Note: Many thanks to Billy Holt at WRH Racing for helping me with this upgrade.


- Installed DRLs (Daytime Running Lights). To me, they are a must on all trail riding minis. I see the '06 Pred-90s now have DRLs. Not too sure if their '06 light assemblies will bolt directly onto the 03 - 05 Pred-90s. Finally, someone is realizing the increased safety with DRLs and combo tail light. Surf:

http://community.webshots.com/album/283371980xEWfck


- Installed Left side Driving Mirror. With a universal bracket and inexpensive plastic mirror, my son can see who may be sneeking up behind him - on our trails. Instead of turning his head around every minute (or so), he simply looks in his mirror. If someone is behind him, he turns his head to comfirm, he slows and pulls off to the side of the trail. The person goes by and he double checks for followers, then we continue on our way. This mirror dramatically reduces others sneeking up behind us. To me, this should be mandatory on all trail minis.


- Installed 53mm Cylinder / piston with 150 PSI compression (kept stock pipe, air box, carb and CDI). Installed this "internal engine" performance upgrade to obtain more "bottom end" punch for our mud, snow and sand conditions. Due to POWER sprockets and factory CDI, our mini only goes MAX 24 mph. But its bottom end has much more Power. Great for those "help - my rubber boot is stuck" type of mud trails.

Note: Many thanks to Billy Holt at WRH Racing for helping me with this upgrade.


- Installed Foot retainer bars on the running boards. A few times, my son's feet slipped off the Pred-90's running boards. To stop his feet from sliding off, I installed safety bars. I've also seen racers install simular running board lips as well. To me, this "higher lip on the running board" should be mandatory on all minis - that come factory with running boards. Surf:

http://community.webshots.com/album/284377392himalK
http://community.webshots.com/photo/...84398098IBOpPD


- Installed 1.5" wheel spacers. If we had the extra dollars, I would have installed 3" A-Arms instead. A-Arms make the mini less tippy and doesn't put more stress on its bushings. Less tipping means less "roller overs" when doing donuts & fish tails. Our son hasn't tipped his mini since installing 1.5" wheel spacers on the front. From a lessons learned, I'd recommend 3" wider A-Arms to everyone. Being 6" (3" + 3" A-ARms) wider with less bushing / bearing stress (compred to using 1.5" wheel spacers) would be much better. Surf:

http://community.webshots.com/album/209852103mosGcm


- Designed, created and installed Custom foot brake. To me, all minis must come with dual control brakes. Some kids adapt to foot brakes and others to hand levers. From before and after comparisons, both my kids are definate "foot brake" riders. They control its new foot brake much faster & better then its factory hand levers. Perhaps one day, minis will be mandatory with dual control brakes. To me, they should be. Surf:

http://community.webshots.com/album/242848150eXxxII


- Installed Grease Zerk within the factory Swing Arm. For water / mud trails and/or lots of jumping, this grease zerk allows us to inject grease back into its Swing Arm bar / bushings. Thus, its chain keeps aligned because its bushings don't wear out "as fast". I'd do this "low cost with high benefit" mod again. For details, surf:

http://community.webshots.com/album/284538349PdZJcL


As noted above.... Our many mods were applied to make our mini SAFER and to create more POWER without making it go faster. Actually, our Pred-90's top end speed is now SLOWER then factory. On our trails, we rarely go above 20 mph. Our average down the straights is 12-15 mph. Most of the time on the trails, we're in the 5 - 10 mph range.

Sure wish the mini-quad factories would apply these safety items at their factories. Sure would reduce accidents and thus, create "lower accident stats to our sport".


To answer the underlying question.... Each one of the above upgrades WAS worth it. Especially since our Pred-90 is in the midst of being OFFICIALLY passed down to our 8 year old daughter. All safety upgrades will benefit her - who will probably drive our Pred-90 for a very long time....

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Thanks for posting all of the mod information and photos of your Pred 90. It sure does give myself and anyone else who reads these posts a ton of praticle ideas for our kids 4 wheelers. I think right now Im gonna work on the lights and get them squared away. I hate it when we ride at night and he can only ride for a few minutes before turning off his lights and letting the battery recharge, so I guess that will be my first project. Oh by the way nice golden retreiver. We have one also.

Thanks again...

[Spike99]

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Bayou250 - No problem for the info.

For me, I don't recommend anyone under age 16 driving at night. Safety thing. But a few times, my son & I got caught in our dark bush at sunset. Amazing how quickly it gets dark in a bush when the sun starts to go down. Besides that, DRLs (Daytime Running Lights) are an excellent safety increase idea. To me, all minis MUST have them. And the racers with "no glass" policy can remove them for their tracks.

Note: For night driving at slow ground speeds (which I do NOT recommend), I'd install 2 x 20W bulbs and upgraded High Output stator (in a DS-90). A single 35W light will work but I find dual lights shine at the front wheel areas much better. This is where most young riders tend to focus their driving vision. Especially at night.

For safety, there are 3 main focus points to "keep in balance". They are: mini-construction, young driver skills / training and riding environment. As seen in the first post, its focused towards machine safety upgrades. Rider training, supervision, practise cones, etc. will improve the young rider and for the environment, only take your young rider on trails they have the skills to handle. Keeping a balance in all areas is critical.

Glad the above info helped. Many years ago, sure wish other folks posted their "lessons learned" and online pictures. Thus, allowing me to eliminate hours of trial / error in my garage. And as a result, allow me to spend more family time with each of my kids.


Glad my above info helped you and will help many others. That's what it's there for....

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