Suspended 185s Build Thread
Hello 3ww and welcome to my long overdue build thread. Before I get to deep into this build I would like to say this is not meant to be a show quality Build. I just want something that looks good, I'm proud of and I"m not afraid to ride. This won't be a garage queen. Now a look down memory lane. I started in the ATC/ATV world with a 1982 ATC 185s (That I still have). I always loved the little trike. But one thing that always bothered was the lack of suspension. About a year ago I bough PK bolt on rear suspension kit from a member here that goes by the name of Zeeker1. After I bought the kit I decided I would wait for a aftermarket front suspension kit to come along. After a year of passive searching I decided I either needed to sell the kit so someone else could enjoy it or build this trike myself. I started sourcing parts starting with front suspension. I sourced some ATC 200x forks then sent Ol Deuce a pm. He then had a ready to install stem adapter on the way. This is a great guy he did extra work so I wouldn't have to find someone else to weld it. And answered all of my questions. This being my first time doing anything like this there were a few of them. If you have ever thought about a fork swap this is your guy. Below is a picture of the adapter I received.
I bought a pair of 185ss in a small lot of trikes before this build was a thought. One was a parts trike that looked in decent shape and one was a running and driving trike. When I picked them up I didn't think about looking the parts trike over because I never anticipated it being anything more than a parts trike. The running and driving trike was a nice buy. When I decided to build this trike my plan was to use the parts trike and keep the running trike stock. Oh boy was I wrong.
First I got to dismantling the parts three wheeler to the frame. I quickly found out that this trike was one problem after another. The frame was junk a previous owner broke the grab bar mounts off and welded plates back onto the trike. I told my self "oh well I'll at least have a spare motor for my trike if something happens".
Wrong agian I found myself faced with a cobbled together motor. It was full of good intentions executed horribly. It had mismatched hardware, course thread bolts forced into fine threads, copious ammounts of RTV sealing the carb and engine And worst of all the end of the crank shaft was mushroomed out. so much so I couldn't fit my flywheel puller on to rob the stators and other spare parts. So now I'll be using the engine and frame from the trike I wanted to keep stock.
Now to disassembly take two. Everything went smooth the biggest problem I had was getting the foot brake off the frame. But a little heat fixed that. you can see what I started with on the second trike.
Then with cutting the frame. zeerker1 was kind enough to provide me with many pictures of his frame.
After cutting and a dry fit of the suspension mounts It was time to paint. I have heard a lot of good stuff about DuPont caliper paint in a can. So far it has proven to be durable but only time will tell. I started by painting all the suspension pieces. I went with a red swingarm and the rest of the components black. I like the way it turned out. The original idea was to paint the swingarm gold like a 250r but I decided against it. After cutting the frame I wire wheeled it and laid down a coat of POR15. I then top coated the POR15 with black caliper paint to protect from UV light. Pictures of this to come as I'm waiting for it all to dry right now.
Now I'm waiting for rain to let up to paint more parts. And for more parts to get here. I'm getting there slowly.
Lastly, I'm sorry for any grammatical errors that I have made. It is now 7:55am and I am in need of sleep. I have been meaning to make this thread for weeks now. I got off work and decided to make it tonight. I am sure I have made quite a few mistakes.
Special thanks to:
Zeeker1 (The swing arm kit, pictures and knowledge)
Ol Deuce (Stem adapter and knowledge)
Shortline10 (Parts advice/Knowledge)
Vealmonkey (Never talked to him but I have learned a lot from him)
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Originally Posted by Ghostv2
