Restoring my ATC110

[1100xxben]

Well, i just signed up on this forum because I purchased a 1981 ATC110 a few months ago. It's been sitting since I bought it, but I have other projects finished and now I can move on to the "restoration". My main goal is to replace the worn/damaged items and clean it up so it will last for a while. The thing was sitting in a guy's barn for 25 years, so it's got a little buildup of dirt and dust on it. Heck, the thing still has the original tires, and they all hold air!

I've never had a trike, but I had a dirt bike for a short while, and I have had a street bike for over 3 years now. I'm planning on using the ATC for a combination of fun and utility.

I'm a gear head who just can't seem to go very long without some sort of motorized project to work on, so this is the current one. These pictures show the trike when I purchased it, except I cleaned off the tank. After sitting for 25 years, I checked the oil, sprayed some ether in the airbox and after 3 or 4 pulls, the thing fired. I was amazed. So, I bought the thing for $50 and I started tearing it apart. It needed a new drive chain and sprockets, air filter, carb rebuild, new seat cover and possibly foam, new rear bearings, and one heck of a cleaning. The fuel tank was also rusting on the inside, but didn't leak, so i ended up cleaning it out and used a Kreem kit to coat the tank.

I currently have the entire thing torn down and spent a couple days cleaning/inspecting engine and chassis parts. The engine parts are all good, with the exception of having some oil gummed up inside. The frame/chassis parts weren't too bad, but some parts were showing some surface rust, so I cleaned them all up and gave them a fresh coat of paint. The left foot peg is bent back quite a bit, but I haven't tried to bend it back yet. That could prove to be quite a challenge. I'll post some more in-progress pictures when I get a chance.

[MonroeMike]

Welcome to the board. Sounds like you know what you're doing.

[1100xxben]

Welcome to the board. Sounds like you know what you're doing.

Haha, I don't know if I know what I'm doing, but I sure try.

Here are a couple pictures of parts... and more parts. I also need to replace the drive chain tensioner. As you can see in the picture, the balls in the bearing are completely missing. There are also a couple shots after dis assembly, and before cleanup/paint. The last 2 pictures are pretty much the current condition of the trike.

[1100xxben]

The cylinder was rusting a decent amount and kinda looked like crap, so I decided to sand blast it and paint it with engine paint to make it look like new. I was originally thinking of going with black, but the aluminum color was the only color they had in the brand I wanted to use and I wanted to get it painted ASAP so I could re-assemble the engine.

I'm also going to need a new seat cover. I saw the thread on covering your own seat, and I'm considering that. If I decide to buy one, are there any decent quality seat covers out there that won't cost an arm and a leg? Thanks in advance.

[MonroeMike]

You didn't waste anytime tearing that down, hope you have a manual.

I never tried the seat recovering, or bought a cover. Maybe someone will chime in and let you know if they are any good.

[1100xxben]

Well, here's how it looked when I finished up last night. It's starting to look like an engine again. It's so much easier to set timing on single cylinder engines with one camshaft! Setting it on a DOHC V6 is not the easiest task.

One problem I have run in to is torquing the lock nut on the clutch without the special tool to hold the outside of the clutch. Does anyone have any tricks for this?

[1100xxben]

Well, after going to the MotoGP in Indy and taking a week off for vacation... I finally got a chance to work on the 3-wheeler. I'm hoping to have it running by the end of the weekend. But, of course, I am busy Friday and Saturday evenings, so who knows. So far, everything is going smoothly. After putting the new rear axle bearings in, I did notice that the left side of the rear axle is slightly bent, but I don't think it will really effect my usage. If I notice it after I get it running, then I may look for a replacement. It ALMOST looks like a 3-wheeler again.

[shortline10]

Looking great . I've straitened 110 pegs by removing the rubber and using a 6 foot piece of heavy gauge 1 1/2" pipe slipped over the peg and push ,they bend fairly easy , just make sure the pegs are bolted to the trike well as you don't want to strip out the peg bolts . good luck on the build and if you need help just ask .

[MonroeMike]

Nice job so far.

[1100xxben]

Looking great . I've straitened 110 pegs by removing the rubber and using a 6 foot piece of heavy gauge 1 1/2" pipe slipped over the peg and push ,they bend fairly easy , just make sure the pegs are bolted to the trike well as you don't want to strip out the peg bolts . good luck on the build and if you need help just ask .

Well, I was planning to do it off the trike, with a vise and a torch to ease the straightening effort, but I may try the pipe instead. The peg is bent straight back, so it'd be more of an issue of shearing the bolts or cracking the engine case than stripping out the threads.

[aldochina]

looks great so far, good find, and save, welcome to 3-wheeling, bet you will find you will want another when that ones done!! keep us posted

[1100xxben]

... bet you will find you will want another when that ones done!! keep us posted

What do you mean "when that ones done"??? :rolleyes:

I'm going to a motorsports auction tomorrow morning!!

[1100xxben]

I forgot, I had a question about the exhaust. The header and the can are still in good shape on this trike, so I can use it for now, but the exhaust is completely gone after the "can". I noticed the aftermarket exhausts for this thing run down the right side of the frame instead of up through the middle. Would an ATC 125 exhaust bolt right up and clear the brake pedal? How about from an ATC 90? I don't want to spend a LOT of money on an exhaust and I'm not too worried about gaining extra power from an exhaust change... but if that happens to be a benefit of finding a used aftermarket or more freely flowing exhaust for a decent price, I won't complain. :D

[shortline10]

I forgot, I had a question about the exhaust. The header and the can are still in good shape on this trike, so I can use it for now, but the exhaust is completely gone after the "can". I noticed the aftermarket exhausts for this thing run down the right side of the frame instead of up through the middle. Would an ATC 125 exhaust bolt right up and clear the brake pedal? How about from an ATC 90? I don't want to spend a LOT of money on an exhaust and I'm not too worried about gaining extra power from an exhaust change... but if that happens to be a benefit of finding a used aftermarket or more freely flowing exhaust for a decent price, I won't complain. :D

All 110/90 pipes will interchange but the 125m has a different angle comming out of the head so it wont work . I have a DG i'll sell pretty cheap if you like .

[1100xxben]

All 110/90 pipes will interchange but the 125m has a different angle comming out of the head so it wont work . I have a DG i'll sell pretty cheap if you like .

Perfect! That's exactly the information I was looking for. I sent you a PM about the DG pipe. Thanks.

[Pafrig]

hey, for torqing, just do the math.
if you have a 1 foot long wrench, and the manual says to tighten to 32ftlbs, just hang 32 pounds off the end of the wrench. or a two foot wrench and 16 lbs. ect. or just borrow one from a friend.

[1100xxben]

hey, for torqing, just do the math.
if you have a 1 foot long wrench, and the manual says to tighten to 32ftlbs, just hang 32 pounds off the end of the wrench. or a two foot wrench and 16 lbs. ect. or just borrow one from a friend.

I'm not really worried about torque values... I've got a few different torque wrenches, I just didn't have any way to hold the clutch to keep it from spinning while torquing the nut. I found a way though. drilled a couple holes in a 1/4" steel plate and bolted it to the clutch to use as a lever.

Here are a couple more pictures of the progress... got the hadlebars and controls cleaned up and installed, brake and chain covers installed, carb and airbox installed, sub-transmission installed, and "electronics" hooked up. Not too much left, but I haven't cleaned up the pull-starter yet. The tank is already Kreemed and ready to be installed. It's getting close, but other projects (with higher priority) are slowing my progress.

In the background, you can probably see that I came home from the auction with another project... a KLT200C. I don't know what year it is, but I haven't tried to figure it out either. I'm trying to ignore it is even there until I AT LEAST get the ATC110 finished. And it will probably have to wait for other projects as well. I will start another thread for it later.

[1100xxben]

Don't have any pictures right now... but it's ALIVE!! I fired it up 2 nights ago and it was running decently, but wouldn't idle w/o the choke on. It was late when i found that out, so I waited until last night and began tearing into the carb. First, I forgot the o-ring between the carb and the spacer, and second, the pilot jet was all gummed up. So, after some quick cleaning and re-assembly, the thing is idling much better now. I'm waiting on a DG exhaust to show up before I do any tuning on the thing. I think it might be running a little lean. As I said before, once I get it running well, I will get some new tires, paint the wheels, and get a new seat cover.

[harryredtrike]

very nice job so far.i think you will be amazed at the power of the little guy.very solid trikes,with power.you will like it