jp212
05-17-2012, 12:31 AM
Hi everybody! I finally am a Yamaha Big Wheel owner as of last Saturday! I LOVE oddball stuff and when I was a little guy I saw an older Honda Fat Cat that a kid down the road had and I knew I had to have one. I probably didn't need it since I already have 2 Yamaha sport bikes (an R6 and FZR1000), 2 Honda XR's and about a dozen 6x6 Amphibious ATVs, yes 12 of them (it's a sick obsession I have:D, just ask the guys over at www.6x6world.com ) but you can have never have too many toys so I went for it.
The story behind this is that I came across it advertised as part of an auction at a tow truck company. There were other larger auctions going on that day so it wasn't very crowded at all and most of the people there weren't after toys like the BW, so long story short I ended up getting it for a mere $225. I was SUPER excited because I thought it was going to go a good bit higher than it did. The owner was there and told me he bought it from the original owner that did a conversion on 5 BW200's which consisted of a beefed up front and rear suspension. While working on it I found out the entire front end, triples, forks, brake system (cross drilled disc & dual piston caliper), wheel and hub were all from a 1985 or 86 Honda ATC250R, which had a full 3.5" of additional travel compared to the stock BW200 forks. The rear was converted to an ATC250R monoshock. My dad and I changed the oil, cleaned the fuel system out, and got it running and driving the same day I bought it. No smoke at all and it revs smooth with no missing or knocking.
The good: It runs great with no smoke as I mentioned, the ATC250R front suspension and brake conversion makes the bike feel pretty good, it has an aftermarket DG pipe that sounds nice, the tires are in good shape, it's straight and not dinged up, and somewhat complete minus the stock suspension parts, and the best part, I got it cheap.
The bad: It sat for a long time, but inside at least. The wheel bearings in the front are shot, the air box was hacked up to fit around the rear monoshock conversion, the carburetor is finicky on the idle/low end, the stock headlight and chain guard cover is missing, the rear monoshock conversion needs to be replaced, the front fender needs replaced, the header pipe is rusted through.
I'm doing a full restoration on it and I'll be powder coating the frame and making it look as good as I can without spending too much on it. I want to convert the rear suspension back to dual shocks (maybe ones that are an inch or two taller than stock......any suggestions would really be appreciated). I'll have some more questions for you guys as I work on the restoration here. Thank you for having me aboard this helpful site. And here's some pictures of a few of my 6 wheelers......they're fun, and if you have any old junk ones you want me to take off your hands let me know and we can work out a deal. :D
And I can't forget the BW200. This is it as it was pictured on the auction website, then right after I bought it.
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The story behind this is that I came across it advertised as part of an auction at a tow truck company. There were other larger auctions going on that day so it wasn't very crowded at all and most of the people there weren't after toys like the BW, so long story short I ended up getting it for a mere $225. I was SUPER excited because I thought it was going to go a good bit higher than it did. The owner was there and told me he bought it from the original owner that did a conversion on 5 BW200's which consisted of a beefed up front and rear suspension. While working on it I found out the entire front end, triples, forks, brake system (cross drilled disc & dual piston caliper), wheel and hub were all from a 1985 or 86 Honda ATC250R, which had a full 3.5" of additional travel compared to the stock BW200 forks. The rear was converted to an ATC250R monoshock. My dad and I changed the oil, cleaned the fuel system out, and got it running and driving the same day I bought it. No smoke at all and it revs smooth with no missing or knocking.
The good: It runs great with no smoke as I mentioned, the ATC250R front suspension and brake conversion makes the bike feel pretty good, it has an aftermarket DG pipe that sounds nice, the tires are in good shape, it's straight and not dinged up, and somewhat complete minus the stock suspension parts, and the best part, I got it cheap.
The bad: It sat for a long time, but inside at least. The wheel bearings in the front are shot, the air box was hacked up to fit around the rear monoshock conversion, the carburetor is finicky on the idle/low end, the stock headlight and chain guard cover is missing, the rear monoshock conversion needs to be replaced, the front fender needs replaced, the header pipe is rusted through.
I'm doing a full restoration on it and I'll be powder coating the frame and making it look as good as I can without spending too much on it. I want to convert the rear suspension back to dual shocks (maybe ones that are an inch or two taller than stock......any suggestions would really be appreciated). I'll have some more questions for you guys as I work on the restoration here. Thank you for having me aboard this helpful site. And here's some pictures of a few of my 6 wheelers......they're fun, and if you have any old junk ones you want me to take off your hands let me know and we can work out a deal. :D
And I can't forget the BW200. This is it as it was pictured on the auction website, then right after I bought it.
146993
146988
146989
146990
146991
146992