Hello all. I am new to the forum. I have an old 03 prairie 360. I have have absolutely no interests in selling it. Instead I would like to know if it is possible to buy an 03 prairie 650 motor shell and Frankenstein parts to the bigger block to avoid machine work. Then installing the wiseco piston kit for the 650. Do the trannys bolt up? What new parts do I need to make this work? I do mud riding at extreme offroad park in Crosby texas. Any info would be great. Thanks -dani
Yes. I read somewhere that the difference is stroke height but I wonder if the v twin 650 from 03 will fit in the frame without an incredible amount of modification. And what modifications would be needed. I'm no stranger to motors. If its not TOO much trouble id like to swap motors
The 360 parts won't work.
I don't know if anyone has done this swap before.
The V-twin should go in the frame, but you would need the wiring harness and CDI.
The 360 is an air cooled single cylinder. The V-twin carbs are downdraft.
I THINK someone put a 750 piston and sleeve in a 360 before (5mm oversized), so that would tell me that the 650 piston would have a different piston pin location/height.
The engine, gearbox and CVT are a unit; no bolting up.
the trans is part of the engine. and the 360 frame is different, shorter and you wont have room to put the swingarm and have to make a custom shaft i think. really not worth the expense. kawi parts are terribly expensive and aftermarket stuff is way worse. your better off to buy a 650 if you want one. or just use the 360 mine was pretty good in the mud and snow, they have alot of low end and reliability.
No idea where I read that. Thanks for the response. Bike is very cold blooded also. I hear dynojet stage 1 fixes this. If I put stress on the engine it will stall. Brake suddenly go through thick mud. Etc. Any thoughts on this?
carb is probably partially plugged or air filter. something like that. the dyno jet stuff is unnecessary all they are doing is replacing jets that worked fine to begin with and will again if everything is clean and functioning properly. they really only need jet setting changes in cold areas, people from texas will normally say the stock jetting is fine for warmer areas. mine was fine during the summer, just took quite a while to warm up in less than like 40degree temps, which happens alot around here, then you need to jet it richer, better less expensive ways that the dynojet crap though
I've removed and cleaned the carb very recently. If I turn the thumbscrew to the left it idles up very high in neutral and I can get a good balance but every time I start it I have to mess with that thumbscrew to get it to idle. If I go through thick mud I have to turn it up even more so it wont stall. I tell you what. Here next time I go riding. Ill post some videos on this thread and see how that goes. Thanks for the help everyone. Looking forward to staying! Lemme know if any of you ride in Crosby in my area we can go ride. Thanks. -dani
Having owned two 360's, I can attest that your experience is very normal. The valves do tighten up over time. Once you adjust them, it gets MUCH better.
Even so, they take awhile to warm up.
Before valve adjustment, after starting my 2006 Prairie 360, I always had to leave the choke on 3/4 to start with, and start riding. After 5 mins or so, I would turn off the choke to avoid fouling plugs, and turn up the idle knob. Then, as the machine got warmer, the idle would speed up, and I would turn it down until eventually, it would be back down to normal. That usually took 15 minutes in the winter. It was a pain, but it worked. Adjusting the valves makes it MUCH faster to warm up.
Now, it's full choke for about 30 seconds, then 1/2 choke for a minute or two, then I get on the machine and ride with no choke. If I'm pulling a cart, or something else where I'm not riding, I raise the idle speed for a few minutes to keep it from stalling until it warms up.
I think you will be much happier once you adjust the valve clearance. I hope you enjoy your machine!
Thanks @thill I really hope so! Scares me every time I go through high water because I know if it tries to stall like usual...its going right up the exhaust. What number did you run on valve clearence. I know there is like a stock range but I'm trying to get a good starting point.
middle to loose is my preference, they tighten over time. but the looser you set it the more noise they make till it wears in. i drive mine a ton and it just gives you a little more time till you have to do it again.
Boy were y'all right. Adjusted the valves today and what a difference ! Crank cap was so tight I bent a nickel in half trying to get it off. I ran it from a cold start and it performed perfect. However I almost swamped it prior to doing so. Was testing my new snorkel and it stalled on my in the pond due to the valves and I sucked water up the exhaust. Dropped it on the back rack and pulled the plug. Did a compression test and it passed. Then popped the plug back in and fired. Managed to get not even a drop of water into the engine. Thats whenever I realized it was time to adjust the valves. Got to get some ride time in but no more stalling to my knowledge. Ill try to upload a video of the first cold start.
You might want to run a dose of SeaFoam through her. Will help clean things up in your fuel system and cylinders. Usually smooths things out nicely.
Congrats on your good-running 360! I've had a couple of them, and they are not super fast, but are strong and very reliable. Notice that there are no "stickys" about common 360 problems.
The biggest issue with these are the valves getting tight over time. At least for the most part.
-TH
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