No performance shop has won more races and championships than CT Racing. From national ATV championships, stadium championships, SCORE, Best in the Desert, AMA Supermoto, and even on other continents, they’ve won it all from the humble beginning of ATV racing up through today. Whether on two-strokes or four strokes, CT Racing has consistently provided complete performance packages that make tons of power, but are reliable as well. With so much experience behind them, we asked the head guru at CT racing, Allen Knowles, for a list of tips for keeping your machine in top shape and performing at its best and everything on his list is very do-able by the average owner. Roll up your sleeves and get to work; your machine and your wallet will thank you!
1. Wash your machine after every ride. As you dry it off, give it a good inspection, and ride it for a minute to dry out the brake pads. Apply WD40 to all the pivots, levers and uncoated parts to prevent rust and premature wear.
2. Eat lunch or dinner before working on your ATV. Concentration and patience diminish as hunger increases.
3. If you plan to do your own engine work, invest in a good quality torque wrench. Your engines will last longer and run better when properly assembled with the correct torque on the fasteners.
4. Use the proper tools for the job at hand. Wrenches, ratchets and hands do not make good hammers, nor do screwdrivers make proper pry bars or gasket scrapers.
5. Old toothbrushes make good small parts cleaners and detail brushes for small nooks and crannies.
6. Scotch-Brite pads are effective for removing stubborn gasket remnants as well as rust from exhaust pipes.
7. Save the plastic caps from aerosol cans. These make good containers for sorting parts and small quantities of chemical for dipping and cleaning.
8. Cut the top off the plastic oil bottle to make a funnel.
9. Use a small metal baking pan for dirty jobs that need to be contained; this will keep your work bench clean.
10. If you are unfamiliar with metric wrench sizing or have trouble reading the marks on the wrenches and sockets, you can color code the tools with vinyl tape; black=10mm, red=12mm etc.…
11. Make a small assortment with a few extra nuts, bolts, screws, washers, zip ties, tape, etc. to be carried on the trail or in your field box. This will come in very handy someday.
12. When removing bearings from engine cases, use a propane torch to heat the case or housing, but take care not to heat the bearing directly which can burn off any coating. Since the aluminum case heats up and expands much faster than the steel bearing case, the bearing will often drop out. Reassemble by placing new bearing in freezer, and by again heating cases. It will then easily drop into its bore.
13. When removing axles, pins, or other shafts, wiggle them as you pull them out. Avoid banging them out as you can mushroom the end of the shaft and ruin it.
14. If it becomes necessary to remove the flywheel from your machine, you must use the proper threaded “inside” puller. Do not use a three jaw outside puller as this will crush your flywheel and cost you much more than the proper tool would have.
15. If your machine has white plastic, you can clean the stains off with an SOS pad. This won’t work on red, as the pad will leave white streaks.
16. Use Mop’n Glo or other floor polish on the plastic to keep it shiny and slick so mud will fall off.
17. Buy an extra air filter for each machine in your garage. Keep them cleaned, oiled, and ready to go in a zip-lock bag or suitable container. The plastic ice bucket at most hotels works perfectly and even comes with a lid. Maintain air filters regularly. The harder you work at maintaining the air filters, the longer your engine will last.
18. Check your tire pressures before every ride. ATV tires are inherently leaky. Run higher tire pressures for rocky conditions or for high speed riding.
19. Check the coolant level before every ride. Sometimes you don’t know if the engine overheated until you look into the radiator.
20. Check the gearbox oil before every ride. Sometimes the missing coolant can be found in the gearbox due to a water pump seal failure.
21. Check the battery connection before each ride. If you spot any corrosion, you can neutralize it with a mixture of baking soda and water.
22. On hydraulic brakes, put a dab of grease on the front brake lever push pin where it contacts the master cylinder piston. This will improve the feel of the front brake as the push pin drags across the piston.
23. Replace the hydraulic brake and clutch fluid once each year to prevent gum and deposits from fouling the system. Corroded calipers sometimes cannot be rebuilt, only replaced at a high cost.
24. When bleeding the hydraulic system, push the pistons in the calipers or slave cylinders back in their bores. This will push any trapped air out into the bleeding cavities.
25. Don’t leave your machine in gear to keep it from rolling in the back of the truck or trailer. This will damage the gearbox in a hurry. Utilize your parking brake or put a zip-tie around the front brake.
26. Use anti-seize compound on all the brake caliper mounting bolts, axle nuts, hub nuts, and anything which requires a torque wrench for assembly. This will make the torque readings accurate. Also, when servicing your top end, put anti-seize compound on the dowel pins around the studs to make the job go much smoother next time. Use anti-seize compound on any fasteners that will run in water.
27. Service the rear suspension linkage and swingarm pivot bolt once a year. The factories don’t put enough grease in when they build the machine and these parts are expensive to replace if they wear out.
28. Grab the tops of the tires and pull outward on them to check the condition of the ball joints and wheel bearings. If you see or feel any extra free play, either tighten or replace.
29. Lift up on your front bumper and watch the front suspension arm pivots as the suspension tops out. You may see some free play at the pivots indicating wear.
30. Lube the chain just after a ride while the chain is still warm. The lubricant will penetrate better.
31. If you ride aggressively or are bottoming the rear suspension regularly, have your shock re-valved by a professional. You will go faster, safer and your machine will last much longer.
32. When assembling your machine, look for dots or arrows on the handlebar clamps, axle clamps, brake and clutch perch clamps, etc., and also on internal engine parts. Internal engine dots are for assembly alignment and usually match a similar mark on a mating surface or part. Dots on handlebar clamps, levers, etc. are usually to be oriented up or forward and the marked end (dot) is to be torqued first. 
33. Water proof your electrical connections with dielectric grease available at your local auto parts store.
34. Use black electrical tape rather than zip-ties to bundle any electrical wires to the handlebars or other moving surfaces. Zip-ties can chafe the wires and eventually cut them on moving parts.
35. When replacing the spark plug, use an exact replacement. The spark plug is an electrical component just like a coil or CDI box and any deviation from standard could burn out other components.
Extra Tips for Sport ATV Owners
1. Invest in an ATV stand or lift if you plan to do your own chassis or engine work. Your back and your wife will thank you.
2. If your water cooled machine is a race bike, remove the overflow catch bottle and zip-tie the overflow hose so that it dumps onto the exhaust pipe. If the radiator fails, you are likely to see the steam and will know that the machine has overheated.
3. Check the cables for proper free play before each ride. Clutch cables (2-3mm) which are too tight will cause the clutch to slip and then fail. Set the throttle cable free play at 1mm. Too tight is dangerous and too loose will not open the carburetor all the way.
4. When you replace the clutch friction plates, scuff the metal driven plates on flat concrete or sandblast them. This will give the clutch more bite and extend the friction plate life.
5. Use anti-seize compound on the axle nuts and don’t over torque them as this will side load the bearings and lead to premature wear. Tape the nuts to seal the water out.
6. Replace the stock rubber brake lines with braided stainless lines for better braking performance and less hand fatigue.
7. To check the condition and wear of the chain, try to pull the chain off the sprockets at a point where the swingarm would intersect the back of the sprocket (The furthest point back). If you can pull the chain off the sprocket more than ½ the length of a sprocket tooth, the chain is shot.
8. Remove the axle on a regular basis and check the bearings. If they feel crunchy or stiff, then replace them. Failure to replace the axle bearings will cause the machine to handle poorly. When replacing the axle bearings, heat the carrier up with a propane torch first. This will loosen the housing’s grip on the bearings and they will come out much easier. New bearings can be installed much easier in a heated carrier also.
9. If you have painted your frame, it is important to file the paint off all the mounting points for any electrical components in order to maintain a good ground. Also, retap all the threaded holes with a thread tap before you cross thread any bolts.
