1999 Yamaha 350 Big Bear atv

so, off topic(ish) but what the heck, bacon, beer, big bears, all's fair game in the Hangout Lounge.

Have an opportunity to buy this 4 wheel drive atv with a plow on the front, it has a 34mm Minkuni on it, the guy says it runs rough because it has 'old gas' in it. I'm guessing it needs to go to Church. I also figure it is nothing more than a motorcycle with extra tires and a bonus drive shaft . . . .

Curious if anyone here has experience with these (or similar) machines and if there are any key points I should look at before buying. Guy is asking $1,700 thinking $1,200 cash in hand would make it mine (although the the wife is really excited about it). So maybe I'll make it hers. . . .

 

a mikuni vm might be the simplest carb you'll ever work on. Maybe all it needs is fresh gas.

 

The on-line Yamaha manual calls it a BST34.
http://www.yamaha-motor.com/assets/service/manuals/1999/Lit-11626-12-49_325.pdf (Page 10-3)

Mikuni page shows the VM series but no BST - are they one in the same?

 

they don't plow snow all that well, you will spend a lot of time pushing snow to keep driveway clear in a snow storm.
I watch my neighbor go out many times in the storms

 

Well I have this (wiki pic.) for big snow removal.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Leyland270Tractor2007.jpg
I have the same model but with a different bucket.

The Big Bear would be used for lighter snow and smaller places. It also would be very handy for getting around the 33 acres that we recently got. Pulling a cart,etc.

 

your 34 should be similar to this
http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/the-bst-40-bible.347184/
flat slide cv carbs.
even if it can only push a little bit of snow, a 30mph plow sounds like fun

 

Thanks for that link Polock.
Looks really straight forward - almost like a BigFitz write up!