Moved to the Yellow Side

[ATC King]

Picked up this YTM200K a couple days ago. Cool dude and definitely a Yamaha guy. He loaded me up with a extra frame, engine, rear axle, and two wheels.




I stopped by a winery on the way home, picked up a few bottles for some friends, and am now ordering what I need to get it rideable (it already runs). 350 mile round trip, which is nothing for the 1,000 mile a day Ford.

[MrConcdid]

We will hold your spot here on team red, everyone slips up once in awhile. no hard feelings

MrC. (nice score)

[Jd110]

Have fun king, that’s a nice pair.

[ATC King]

Oh, I still have the Hondas. Just had a hankering for a Yamaha.


I have a new chain, sprockets, rear brake pads, axle bearings, voltage regulator (adding one), headlight bulb, clutch cover gasket, rear axle nuts, and grips on the way. The clutch is slipping, but I'll tear into the spare engine and see if those are good before I buy new ones. Got to check the clutch drum too, it could be that slipping.

It has good, albeit slightly dry rotted TrailPros on it, holding air decently enough. I can't stand those heavy, rock hard things, but they'll stay for now. Got to get everything else sorted first.

Stating the obvious, it's not a Honda. It seems Yamaha jumped through their butts to get around Honda's patents.

I'm liking the short chain though. I was able to buy one 150 link chain to replace the YTM200 and ATC185S chains at once, just had to buy an extra master link.



Not liking the forks, not one little bit. Actually cost me a RCA surround sound head unit, which fell off the work bench as I was pounding away on a fork leg in the vise, trying to dislodge the seal. While yanking like a madman on the fork tube, I didn't notice everything on the bench was bouncing around until things started falling. Got worried my Yamaha speakers were going to fall, so I got the propane torch and heated the slider until the rubber seal started to smoke. It still took some force, but came out easier. Of course, that was all after I had battled removing one of the caps. The other one popped out easy enough. I've seen the oil and press method for the seals, and the bolt method for the caps, but I wasn't having a hard enough time, so I ignored them. Really, I don't have a press and didn't feel like loading anything up to go use one, and about the time I rummaged through my bolt bucket and found washers that'd work, drill then tap the caps, I was well on the way to getting it out anyhow. Not planning to do any more of these forks.

They did have oil left in them and no rust (on the inside, plenty on outside), and in useable condition, without bent tubes, but I think I'll clean up the parts and set them aside for another option, a Honda option I have sitting around and already test fit.

I got the shifter and rear brake pedal off, with heat and sweat. Dang, they were on there. Got to clean, baptize in grease, then reassemble. Something has to be done about the shift linkage. The rear brake cable is useable and I lubed it, that's good to go. The hand brake cable was on there, now it's not. Was completely seized beyond salvation. The trike came with a new front brake cable and shoes, still in the packages, but won't but used if swapping forks.

The taillight isn't correct, but I may change that anyway. The plastic chain cover is missing and I'm not even worried about it. Some type of home made rack is on the rear, but I kind of like it, so I'll clean up the welds on it and paint it.

All of the intake tract is there and in good condition. I like how Yamaha routed the crankcase vent into the air box with the little baffle box. Less chance of water getting into the crankcase and also keeping out of the open and sucking dust.



I got too many projects and ain't got time for this nonsense. That's it, no more three wheelers, this is the last one...

[DAM shop]

Nice find, we had two for a bit. They are a bear cat to start without the decompression system working. We have some parts left from out 200’s a great front fender and flap. A triple tree and a few recoils I believe let me know if you need anything. I’ll also take a look and see if there is anything else we have.

[MrConcdid]

I said "last one" 2 weeks ago, since then I bought two more, and have a solid lead on a very rough 350x!
granted I sold two in that same time period so really just the chance at a 350x. lol its a wash.
MrC.

[DSHOT59]

Yea famous last words, Last one ! Said that too now I have 4 yellow ones also.

[El Camexican]

Welcome to the YTM 200 club.

Looks like you found pretty much everything that can go wrong with those things right out of the gate, so once you get them all taken care of you should have a very reliable trike.

If your clutch system is slipping and it can’t be adjusted out on the secondary clutch, you’re probably going to find out it is the primary, or centrifugal clutch that’s worn.

Easiest swap for the front is a 225 set-up if you can find a straight unbent set. The triples are the same, but you need the 225 axle and spacers. It’s better, but not really necessary unless you add rear suspension (not worth doing).

You will want to add a set of tapered bearings to the steering head. The stock balls get pounded out by the constant wheelies that trike does.

Be careful threading the axle carrier bolts into the rear brake caliper and keep them snug. I stripped mine. You’ll find that the back brake is like a light switch. On/Off but mostly off if it gets wet. Warning: Fine tuning the two cables to both work properly may lead to alcoholism.

[ATC King]

We have some parts left from out 200’s a great front fender and flap.

I may be hitting you up for that front fender, after I get it all sorted out and riding. This one is extra brittle. I already took a piece out while trying to work it onto my lift while the front wheel was off.

[ATC King]

Welcome to the YTM 200 club.

Thanks.

The engine doesn't smoke and is quiet, so that's the best part. I tried adjusting the clutch while at the seller's house and it was too tight, so I'm hoping it's just the clutch disks that are roasted. I know how uneducated people ride these auto clutch trikes and start off in 2nd or 3rd gear all the time, which is what smokes the primary clutch. Hoping that isn't the case. That clutch should last the life of the engine, but I think we've all seen people who don't grasp the concept of down shifting before stopping, or understand what a sequential shift transmission is.


I've got the rear caliper apart and will be thoroughly cleaning it and greasing before assembly. The pads were worn low and someone had put washers behind the outboard one, even though all the adjustment hadn't been taken out. It looks like they didn't understand how to adjust the pad contact.

I'm not putting a parking brake cable back on right now. As far as getting the foot and hand cable both functioning properly, Hondas can be a PITA too. Been there, but it usually because one of the cables needs lubed or replaced. Too much drag in the system for one return spring. I've never had a need for a parking brake. None of my motorcycles have one either.

I'm already using the spare axle I got with it, because the current axle has nearly stripped threads on one hub end. Already got that torn apart and ready to clean. It wasn't easy getting the spare axle out of the trashed carrier it was in. The spare carrier, someone had obviously rode with the bolts loose and just destroyed it. Nothing broken off, but too much wear on the mounting tabs to ever use without major aluminum repair. I hosed it all down with Kroil and let it sit for a few hours before touching attempting to disassemble it.

[350for350]

No more three wheelers? Yep I've lied to myself like that so many times that I've lost count.

[ATC King]

The forks are back on.


I had some dirtbike bars and adapters laying around, so put those on. Going to stay with the fat bars, but may get an ATV style if these don't do it for me.


Put a new knobbie on the front too. Didn't want to put the old, cracked Trailpro on a freshly painted wheel.

[ATC King]

It's back on the ground, but still have some more to sort out

Has new...
Chain
Sprockets
Rear axle bearings and seals
Rear brake pads
Forks new seals, wipers, and boots
Headlight bulb
Front tire

Shift linkage was stiff as all getout. Got that freed up. Same with brake lever. Sand blasted and painted shift and brake levers.

Carb was loading up, so disassembled that. Needle and needle jet are flat worn out. Going to try using a Timberwolf carb kit because can't get one specifically for this trike and OEM individual carb parts are NLA.

Tripples seem to be bent, so need to take the ones off the spare frame and try those.

Then...will move on to the clutch.

[ATC King]

I put some new grips on.

These are locking grips for bicycles. An aluminum clamp on each end of the grip is tightened to hold them on.

Because ATV's use thumb throttles, bicycle grips fit the handlebars. Motorcycle grips are two different sizes to accommodate the throttle tube.

All my trikes have 'bicycle' grips. There's a whole lot more styles to choose from than just searching for ATV grips. BMX grips are generally available in very long lengths, which is great for winter riding while wearing big gloves. I have really thick, vibration damping grips on my 185. Yes, non suspended bicycles have a lot of handlebar vibration so there are many grips out there to deal with that. There's even locking grips that have built in isolation, but they're expensive.

[ATC King]

The Timberwolf kit was useable. Not all of it, but enough I was able to get the main things taken care of and the YTM running better.

First off, the bowl gasket is a no go. Besides that, I used the needle, needle jet, idle mixture screw, float needle, float seat, various O-rings, and both jets. I used the no-number jets in the kit because I wasn't sure if someone had hogged out the original ones. It idles great now and runs good up top, but there's a mid problem, so I'll probably put the original jets in to see if that's it. This was a Ebay kit, so <$15. Considering this is about the only option for a kit, that's a good deal. The float bowl gasket is still available OEM if that is needed.

One of the main issues was the (original?) needle. It looks like aluminum, is pitted and very thin. The needle jet had tool marks on it like someone tried removing it or who knows. I mainly bought this kit for those parts, but a new float needle and seat were nice to have.