Added a 1984 Big Red to the family

[e5earley]

Made a deal today on another trike. I have been looking for something similar to the 200m I had as a kid and this showed up on Facebook.

http://i808.photobucket.com/albums/zz4/e5earley/Mobile%20Uploads/FB_IMG_1444255473261.jpg

Supposed to pick it up tomorrow. First glance looks like new gas tank is in order, along with seat cover. Bike was running couple years ago and has set up since.

Can't wait to dig into this one.


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[Trackburger]

Looks like a good project!!!!

[mendoAu]

I'll be watching the progress...by the way, those seats ain't to hard to recover yourself. Heavy duty staple gun and a piece of nygahide(?). I'll be interested to see how you recondition those fenders.

[e5earley]

The previous owner thinks he has a new seat cover and throttle cable.

Not sure what I'll do with the fenders. May try my hand at some plastic welding. Any suggestions from the masses?

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[86125m]

I would buy the fiberglass ones off of ebay here is the link http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-1982-1984-Honda-ATC-200-ES-and-E-Front-Rear-Fender-Set-Red-Fiberglass-/221889803156?hash=item33a9a9b394&vxp=mtr. As for the tank see how the inside looks it might not be as bad as the outside and if it doesn't link and isn't too rusty have that tank painted as the plastic tanks for these bike is incredibly ugly.

[86125m]

no I am just glad my 200m's tank is the original and the paint is in half decent shape

[e5earley]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I believe I'll invest in a plastic welder. I have a 185s also that needs some plastic work also. I've got an air stapler I use for woodworking. I'll give that a shot on the seat cover.

I hope the tank is salvageable. My 185 tank was in pretty bad shape. I wire feed welded all the holes up. Slow process chasing the holes, grinding down, leak testing, then chasing holes again. Finally got it sealed though.

Supposed to pick it up in about an hour. Will know a lot more then.

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[e5earley]

You called it. Front forks are frozen. Gas tank has a lot of rust inside. Ive got an electrolysis tank, so I'll dunk it this weekend and hope I have a tank left when it's done.

Did get a seat cover with it and a new throttle cable.

Pretty excited about this one. Brings back a lot of memories from Chistmas 1984.

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[e5earley]

I've been looking online for some replacement forks. I'm leaning towards the 200m. Quick question though. I should be able to weld the existing forks where they are and prevent the scenario you descibed. It would allow me to ride it without the possibility of the forks compressing. At least until I was able to do the swap.

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[e5earley]

Update on the progress. The gas tank has some rust holes in the typical locations. I used my wire feed to weld the larger holes up. Then mixed up an acid wash for the rust in the tank. It cleaned up pretty good. Good enough to pour a tank liner in. Pulled the tank off my 185 to use for the time being.

Gave the carb a good cleaning, changed the oil, and installed a new battery. Neutral light came on, but wouldn't turn over. Checked the wiring and the starter wire was disconnected. Hooked it up and the starter started spinning. I guess the switch circuit will need some work.

Pulled choke and touched the starter wire to battery and it fired right up.

But...it smokes like a freight train. Blowing oil out the tailpipe. I'm figuring stuck ring. No real history on the machine, so not sure how it was running when it was garaged two years ago.

So, should I spend some time with marvel mystery oil, or just pull the head and start the rebuild?

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[e5earley]

Well, I tried the steam cleaning method. Didn't work too well. I'm sure it cleaned the compression rings, but didn't make it to the oil rings. The engine runs good, starts easy, and has good power. Just fumigates everything.

I poured some ATF into the cylinder and will let it set for a day or two. If that doesn't work I'll try the chemtool treatment.

In the meantime I'll start sourcing some other things that I need. Starter relay, tank liner, and bearings.

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[e5earley]

I hope it doesn't come to that, but if it does I should have a solid machine that will last another 20 or so.

I inspected the front forks a little closer yesterday and they are in pretty bad shape. It's going to take a little truing up to get the tubes centered so I can weld them.

I noticed when I was riding it yesterday, it was really difficult to turn left. The rear tires are mismatched. I have a scorpion on one side and a Carlyle stryker I believe on the other once I get the rings sorted out I'll need to address that also. Would it be best to move the stryker to the front and put the trailpro on the back with the scorpion, or move the scorpion to the front and get another stryker for the rear?



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[e5earley]

She's still smoking. I've tried all the tricks and haven't made any progress. Looks like a rebuild is in order. Will more than likely have it bored, put new piston and rings in, and rework the heads

While I have the engine out, is there anything else you guys recommend doing? I'm planning on cleaning everything up and laying some fresh paint down on the frame.

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[e5earley]

I pulled the motor this morning. Except for a few broken bolts while removing the plastics everything came apart pretty easy.

The bore didn't look as bad as I thought it would. The piston had quite a bit of play in all directions in the bore.

I've got a local motorcycle shop that will bore the cylinder for $40.00. Depending on cost I may have them do the valve job also. It will be interesting what the bore measurement is.

I'll upload some pics later.

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[86125m]

If you can not do the valves yourself I would defiantly have them just take them apart and clean up where the valve seals again the head. And also change the valve seals out. It would be horrible if you had to pull the motor again because the valves are sticking or generally not working. Now as for the cylinder I would ask the shop to only to the minimum I would not bore out the cylinder if it only needs a hone The closer you can stay to the stock bore size is best big bore on a utility 4 stroke is not only unnecessary it probably does more harm than good. Sound more like someone put the wrong size piston in the bike to me.

[e5earley]

Timing marks looked ok. I'm replacing the chain anyway. Dropped the cylinder and head off at the shop this morning. Looks like the bore is just worn. They are thinking 20 over should clean everything up.

Having them order piston, rings, timing chain, gasket set, and new intake valve. Should be complete by end of week.

In the meantime I'm going to flush some mineral spirits through the lower to clean all the gunk out and make sure there's not any grit that will ruin my new bore.

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[e5earley]

Ok, pulled the right and left engine housings off and poured some diesel down the gullet. Flushed all the old oil and sludge out. Feel a lot better knowing its cleaned out. Removed the cover off the clutch and cleaned the hardened sludge out of there.

Finally got the cylinder, piston, and head imstalled around midnight. Got the cam in this morning. Still have to get all the ignition components in. I'm missing a clip on my pulsar so that will have to wait a bit.

Put the engine to the side and looked at the rest of the bike. It really needs a complete rebuild. So, an hour later I'm left with a completely stripped bike. Had to torch off the front axle, but I'm replacing the forks anyway.

Now to decide what to powdercoat and what to paint.

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[e5earley]

Well my parts list continues to grow. Pulled the rear wheels off and someone has welded the right rear hub to the axle. Are there any other models that use the same axle?

On a positive note the frame is painted, fixed the dents in my replacement gas tank, primed the tank, and started welding up the cracked plastic.

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[86125m]

No the 84 big red is a one year only trike so your going to have to find one off of another 84 big red. However if I could get the axle in and out of the bike I wouldn't worry about the welded hub as long as it keeps the wheel on. Just my 2 cents.

[e5earley]

The wheel is definitely not in any danger of coming off. I did locate and axle off an 86 TRX 200. Wasn't sure if that would be compatible or not. I thought there were some shared components with the fourtrax of that era. I'll probably just run with it for now. Front forks are my most pressing need at the moment.

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[e5earley]

Got it running tonight. I used the front forks off the donor 200e just to get a working trike for now. Still looking for a set of 200m or ATC 200 front forks. Used the rear tires and wheels off the 200e also. The 13" wide super swampers really add some stability.

I still have to install the rear plastics and rack. Also need to do some tuning on the carb to get it dialed in.

Had a great time this evening riding the trike along with my 17 year old daughter on her brother's dirtbike. Fun times.

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[e5earley]

Just had a setback with the trike. My son was riding in first gear when it died. Checked it out and no spark. Pulled the spark advance cover and bits of broken spring fell out. Replaced with a spare and no joy. Pulled it off again and noticed nothing was turning when I pulled the pull start. Took the cam cover off and saw the problem. Broken timing chain and sheared cam sprocket bolts.

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[e5earley]

Sitting here contemplating what may have caused all this and the light came on. The big dummy that assembled the top end (me) forgot to loctite the cam sprocket bolts. Bolts loosened, sheared, cam chain came off, dead trike.

Live and learn.

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[DohcBikes]

Check for bent valves.

[e5earley]

I'll check. Hoping the valves were closed when it went. I'm assuming a leak down test would be the method to use with the head still on?

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[e5earley]

Pulled the rocker covers and definitely have a bent intake valve. Now just hope the valve guide is ok.

I always tell my kids "Stupid should hurt"

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[DohcBikes]

Guide is slmost surely cracked or egged. New ones are like 5 bucks ithink. Heat it up drive the old one out heat it up drive the new one in and ream it. Not exactly always that simple, but pretty darn close.

[e5earley]

If you say it really fast it sounds simple. Don't you have to regrind the valve seat if you replace the guides?

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[DohcBikes]

No the only reason you would need to do that is if the piston bent a valve enough to damage the seat wich i highly doubt based on your description. The guide is a seperate part from the seat. Use a guide driver for the best results. They can be had cheaper this was just the first thing that popped up in google. http://www.tooldiscounter.com/ItemDisplay.cfm?lookup=KLI502991&source=froogle&kw=KLI502991&gclid=CInn58-KssoCFQ8taQodjS4OQQ

If you decide to do it order the guides and reamer (do believe it is 5.5mm for the 200's but double check that) then post up or pm me and I can walk you through it. I've replaced lots.

I'll be honest if the guides are cheap i usually order extra, because they do break on install now and again. Anyone that hasnt broken a guide on install hasnt done many.

[e5earley]

Sounds good. I'll give it a shot. I guess I was thinking it would thow the centerline off when the guide was replaced forcing you to regrind the seat.

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[DohcBikes]

And some people would agree. I have not had bad experiences in that dept when oem parts are utilized. You can lightly lap the new valves to get a better seal if you wish, but don't get carried away because it will shorten the life of the valve if you do. Keep an eye on the seat width, don't want to make it too wide.

[DohcBikes]

Yes once the guide has been replaced and reamed, toss the valve in hold it closed and fill the port with solvent. If it keeps every drop of the solvent in the port you're golden

[e5earley]

Looks like an opportunity to learn something new. Always looking on the bright side of things.

I do have a spare 200e engine that I could salvage the head if things go horribly wrong.

Now my wife understands why I must buy more trikes.
[emoji1]
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