1984 Honda 200X Rescue

[knappyfeet]

I picked up this 200X from a family member. It has spent the better part of the last 15 years outside...neglected and left for dead. I remember when it saw use in its hay days.... then everybody got quads and completely forgot about it. It sat on a trailer in a rented yard til I came along...saw it in despair and decided to rescue it from its rusty..doomed state.

This is not going to be some fancy restoration. It's not going to be flashy and exciting like other builds/restorations/customizations.....it's going to be ugly and mundane. No fancy finishes....just a grody, stinky, messy job of unseizing everything that's seized...which is nearly everything......and getting things to work properly. It's another uninspiring 200X thread that we've all seen before but always love seeing again.

My goal is to get it to run, stop, handle and be dependable. Currently it doesn't do any of those. Another goal is to keep it to a total of $1500 spent. I paid $500...have a $150 in tires..so that leaves me with $850 to get it to run, stop, handle and be dependable...and that will be the challenge...especially since I do not know the condition of anything other than everything is stuck (except the engine) and I got a hole in the header. It may be a little more than $1500 but that's my goal. I know it may be a pipe dream but just let me pretend I can do it. Folks have stated the obvious to me..."you can buy one running for $1500"...yes I know. But this one is different...it's family and I love punishment. I may have bitten off more than I want to chew but it wouldn't be the first. Plus I like to piddle with stuff so there you go.

First thing will be to get tires on it so I can move it around and do a deeper cleaning. 2nd would be to take the front and rear calipers off and rebuild/unseize them so things will spin more freely. Then I want to start assessing what it needs.....motor wise, bearings, wiring, etc...whatever....just so I know better of where I'm at. The good news is the frame and forks look straight and there seems to be compression.

Aside from the occasional "wrench in the gears"....I hope this goes smoothly.










This photo looks like the Powroll logo without the teeth and with a hole in the pipe

[Jim mac]

I think your 850 dollars is doable if you don't mind china parts on your trike. some searches here will tell you which calipers, master cylinders work for the front and back for cheap. air filter, new chain, headpipe, try rebuilding the carb, new petcock for the tank, and you'll probably be riding in a weekend. these machines are so simple, I wished my 200x project was complete like your, I would have kept it, instead I traded it for 3 partial 185s and 200s projects. jim

[ATC King]

At least it looks like it was abandoned intact and not half disassembled then left in the rain. It certainly has that going for it.

[patriot1]

Good score for sure.

[Jim mac]

like MrC video. tank, plastics and seat already there that's your big dollar cost and you have that covered, rest is just replacing normal parts that wear out. jim

[Rick1956]

Ah, another person like myself that is easily smitten by things that can be bettered or saved from the dead. Some folks call us 'mechanic masochists'.

Looks like a blast!

[350for350]

Like others have said above, at least it's complete. I think that you should be able to do it within budget too. It's going to be loud judging by the exhaust. That's not talking about the hole in the head pipe either. By the way, If the rest of the surrounding metal is good, I'd just try to braze that hole shut and then still use the exhaust. Another good thing is that it looks like someone wanted to keep it what I consider to be pretty usable. The holes in the air box lid will let a little bit of crud through, but the rest of the air box will keep the majority of the crud out and off of the filter. I don't mind seeing someone (besides me) fixing up trikes that aren't meant to be museum pieces. Those have a certain appeal, but I'd be afraid to ride one of those because I wouldn't want to damage the rare OEM parts. I knew a guy who called projects like yours (and mine) "beaters". I've always preferred to call them "riders". I don't beat on my machines and I'm also not afraid to get some scratches on them while I'm riding.

[jasong_10]

Ditto on it being a complete starting point, looks like a cool project.

[knappyfeet]

Some folks call us 'mechanic masochists'.

I love it!

We are the few...the proud!

We marry out of our league....we bite off more than we can chew! That's who we are!


Jim Mac.... I'm hoping I can get it within the next $850. It kind of all depends on the motor. So far everything looks straight and repairable. Like 350for350 said..... I would call it a rider. Since it's not an OEM restoration I'm not scared of some Chinese parts....... In fact if I'm trying to stay within a budget Chinese parts may be my friend. Right now I feel like I've already got $300 worth of parts already spent in my head. The motor has spark but I'm not getting a lot of compression. I can't open the throttle at all because like everything else it's stuck/frozen/seized...... but it looks a little low. I'll know better when I pull the carb off and do a proper compression test.

Like most things....the front axle was seized in the hub....it wouldn't have it any other way. Not just the axle in the hub but the spacers were frozen on the axle so getting the wheel off wasn't going to happen......so I let WD40 penetrate everything overnight. I eventually used a punch and to at least give me enough room to remove the wheel.....but a couple of times the punch slipped and scared the threads. I eventually used a puller to remove the spacer and a Dremel to fix the threads. I thought for sure the axle was ruined but the rotary tool did its job. It may not look perfect but it threads no problem at all. After cleaning up the rust off the axle and spacers everything was good to go.

I better learn to practice a little patience because everything on this trike is frozen or seized so rushing through things will only cost me money and headaches in the future.

[atc300r]

I love these types of builds.Taking what most would consider a lost cause or parts machines and bringing them back to life.I had a 200x hub given to me last week with a frozen axle.I heated the collar hit it with the air it popped off.Airhammed the axle and spacer out heated the spacer and got it apart.

[knappyfeet]

I love these types of builds.Taking what most would consider a lost cause or parts machines and bringing them back to life.I had a 200x hub given to me last week with a frozen axle.I heated the collar hit it with the air it popped off.Airhammed the axle and spacer out heated the spacer and got it apart.

That definitely would have been quicker.

For a moment I thought about getting my tanks filled backup…… but I thought that after I got a few things heated it would just sit there for the next 5 years nearly full.

All of the other stuff that seized is going to be replaced anyways… like the cables, etc..... But my oldest son seems to be getting into forging and stuff like that. I thought he could get this heated up enough to straighten it back out… or least a little bit more reasonably straight. Again it's not a show piece but that's really the only thing that's kind of bent on the bike… that and the handlebars and maybe the shift lever. But what shift lever isn't bent on a 200X haha!!!








Also he could maybe straighten the bars up too. It appears the bars are so minimally bent that if you just put a padded handlebar protector on it you'd probably never know it was bent. That may be easy enough to fix with some heat as well

[350for350]

If all else fails, you can buy a new pair of similar handlebars for not too much money. If I kep watching this thread, I'm going to get motivated to get started back on my 1985 200X project.

[knappyfeet]

If I kep watching this thread, I'm going to get motivated to get started back on my 1985 200X project.

I love the 85 color scheme.

It's starting to look like a trike with the new tires. Once the chain and brake calipers were removed everything spins freely with no noise, rattles, etc. I thought I may be into it for some wheel bearings and stuff but it looks like they're fine. One thing I feel is that I don't know if I can save that exhaust system. It is so rusted....I don't know. The connecting joint looks rusted/welded together. If I can separate the head pipe from the muffler I'll let it soak in some Evaporust or something like that and see what's left to work with.

I may be sourcing an exhaust.


For now I'm going to remove some items and recommission/service them.

[badasskfx]

Is it running yet?
Clean the carb change the oil and give it a kick!

[knappyfeet]

Is it running yet?
Clean the carb change the oil and give it a kick!

Haha!

Things move at a snails pace in my garage.

I'm currently just removing sections/parts at a time for servicing. I like to complete the cleaning/servicing/repairing of a section before I go to the next.....then when everything's completed it's just a matter of re-installing items.

I've always flirted with the idea of Chinese parts but never really purchased them. I always like to repair the ones I've had and then reinstall them....... But in this case the seller accepted my offer and for a whole $20 I have a brand new knock off rear caliper shipped to my door. It's not even half of what the parts would cost me to rebuild the original.....especially since I wanted new pads, crush washers, parking brake removal cover, etc. The old ones are serviceable so I will keep those for future projects.











For now I'm just cleaning up the intake track. It will obviously need a new air filter and maybe a quick boiling in wintergreen oil for the rubber parts.