honda ATC200M 1984. NEW GUY

[freakjs]

Firstly, hello and thank you! I am new to this site, and I am a French Canadian, so please don't be too hard on me. I bought a 1984 HONDA ATC200M in poor condition, and I am completely refurbishing it (I am a beginner in mechanics) 🧰. I have a few questions.

1- For the carburetor, the rebuild kits cost more than a new Chinese carburetor. I would also like to improve the performance.

2- Regarding the wheels, is it easy to change them? I've seen some interesting modifications to get nicer rims and more affordable tires.

3- Thumb throttle vs twist.

and show me your 200m

[knappyfeet]

Firstly, hello and thank you! I am new to this site, and I am a French Canadian, so please don't be too hard on me. I bought a 1984 HONDA ATC200M in poor condition, and I am completely refurbishing it (I am a beginner in mechanics) ��. I have a few questions.

1- For the carburetor, the rebuild kits cost more than a new Chinese carburetor. I would also like to improve the performance.

2- Regarding the wheels, is it easy to change them? I've seen some interesting modifications to get nicer rims and more affordable tires.

3- Thumb throttle vs twist.

and show me your 200m

Welcome!

I've always enjoyed the thumb throttle....feels more natural to me than a twist throttle on an old Honda ATC.

I'm not scared of Chinese carbs....they are so cheap it's hard not to consider them. I've had good luck with them and less frequently bad luck. If the OEM chassis is solid and not plugged/corroded/fouled/damaged/etc....and you know this...then I would probably rebuild it. Sometimes those tiny passages get fouled with time and become bad even if everything looks fine. You won't really know til you dive into one.

Good luck

[atctim]

Hi, A bit of advice from a guy with a couple 200Ms. First - try to ALWAYS use OEM stuff whenever possible. I am a firm beliver that cleaning the OEM carb parts is betterthan replacingthem with new chinese junk! Try to fix what you have before replacing. China carbs are OK if you must - but keep in mind, about 1 in 4 are junk and will not make your trike run very well.

Forget about "improving performance". The stock performance of a 200M will far exceed your desires - IF - you get it running right and in spec. Don't fix what ain't broken.

As for tires and wheels (rear only) pick up a set of TRX450R rear hubs and bolt them on. This will give you 1.5" width increase as well as openthe doors for many aftermarket (and stock) aluminum wheels and tire combos.

Enjoy your 200M - they are totally RAD!

[freakjs]

I changed the air filter and noticed a big smell of gas in the housing and filter was never cleaned I think . I'm not a mechanic, but I believe it's related to the carburetor. Despite this, it runs well and starts on the first try. but Sometimes it puffs and stops.
do you think a newbie can rebuild a carburetor ?

My wheels and tires are in good condition; I just want to widen them for more stability.

Do you have any recommendations for protecting the feet? Is there something available, or do I need to build and weld it myself?"

and what's the bearing size on a 200m

[350for350]

Personally, I prefer widened trikes. I like to widen my main riders. I know that some people make and sell stump guards (for foot protection), but I don't know if they make any for a 200M.
If your engine starts quickly and runs well, I would guess that the carburetor is probably ok unless there's some other running issue that I didn't see you mention. I would be checking your valve clearances to try to fix the gas smell in the air box and the "puffs and stops" problems. For example, if your exhaust valve isn't opening far enough, or your intake valve isn't closing all the way, those could lead to cylinder compression coming back into the carburetor and causing the puff and stop. It can/will also push gas back into the air box if that happens. I also recommend getting a service manual to help you with checking valve clearances and other things.
What bearing/s are you wanting to know the size of?

[ATC King]

Canada, putting frogs and maple syrup in the same sentence.


For the carb, you're better off keeping the OE. If the price of a quality rebuild kit is off-putting, you may want to consider moving on to another hobby. It's only going to get more expensive.

Tires aren't 'affordable' anymore, for anything. In the US, about 10-15 years ago, tire prices skyrocketed and never came down. If you just want a wider stance, you can upgrade to newer hubs that use a 4x110 pattern, then wheel choices will expand. There's no easy solution for the front and no bolt-on wheels available other than stock.

Thumb throttle, as it's just more functional for the way a trike is ridden. Motorcycle handlebars aren't actually turned much to make at turn which is why a twist throttle works well on them, the rider isn't hanging off the side of the bike while changing direction. Sure, road racers hang off the bike, but they are on smooth pavement. It's personal preference too, but not many ATV riders are switching to twist throttles. There is a dual throttle out there, twist and thumb, but it's expensive. For long rides, that may be nice.

For someone new at mechanical anything, the closer you keep it to stock, the less problematic things will be and the more you'll possibly enjoy it.


For better foot pegs, Wicked Metal Design has bolt-on extensions. I have some and they're nice. No fuss, just bolt on and ride.
https://wickedmetaldesignsllc.com/pr...0s-add-on-pegs


Besides fabricating something yourself or buying some insanely overpriced vintage heel protectors, those Wicked Metal pegs are relatively affordable and time saving.

[freakjs]

Personally, I prefer widened trikes. I like to widen my main riders. I know that some people make and sell stump guards (for foot protection), but I don't know if they make any for a 200M.
If your engine starts quickly and runs well, I would guess that the carburetor is probably ok unless there's some other running issue that I didn't see you mention. I would be checking your valve clearances to try to fix the gas smell in the air box and the "puffs and stops" problems. For example, if your exhaust valve isn't opening far enough, or your intake valve isn't closing all the way, those could lead to cylinder compression coming back into the carburetor and causing the puff and stop. It can/will also push gas back into the air box if that happens. I also recommend getting a service manual to help you with checking valve clearances and other things.
What bearing/s are you wanting to know the size of?

When I found my 200m, it was in bad shape after 30 years without maintenance. I cleaned many parts, but not the carburetor yet. I haven't seen any other issues. Thanks again for your help. I'm changing the rear brake and bearings; I'm looking for the size of the rear wheel bearings.

[freakjs]

Canada, putting frogs and maple syrup in the same sentence.


For the carb, you're better off keeping the OE. If the price of a quality rebuild kit is off-putting, you may want to consider moving on to another hobby. It's only going to get more expensive.

Tires aren't 'affordable' anymore, for anything. In the US, about 10-15 years ago, tire prices skyrocketed and never came down. If you just want a wider stance, you can upgrade to newer hubs that use a 4x110 pattern, then wheel choices will expand. There's no easy solution for the front and no bolt-on wheels available other than stock.

Thumb throttle, as it's just more functional for the way a trike is ridden. Motorcycle handlebars aren't actually turned much to make at turn which is why a twist throttle works well on them, the rider isn't hanging off the side of the bike while changing direction. Sure, road racers hang off the bike, but they are on smooth pavement. It's personal preference too, but not many ATV riders are switching to twist throttles. There is a dual throttle out there, twist and thumb, but it's expensive. For long rides, that may be nice.

For someone new at mechanical anything, the closer you keep it to stock, the less problematic things will be and the more you'll possibly enjoy it.


For better foot pegs, Wicked Metal Design has bolt-on extensions. I have some and they're nice. No fuss, just bolt on and ride.
https://wickedmetaldesignsllc.com/pr...0s-add-on-pegs


Besides fabricating something yourself or buying some insanely overpriced vintage heel protectors, those Wicked Metal pegs are relatively affordable and time saving.

Hello ATC KING, thank you for your response, although I find the term 'FROG' quite offensive. I have no problem investing time and money into my 200m; I was just wondering why a new Chinese carburetor costs less than a carburetor maintenance kit. Thanks for the wheel suggestion. For the foot protection, my welder friend will assist me. As an informative note, the USA also produces over 26% of the world's maple syrup, with Vermont, Maine, and New York being major contributors

[ATC King]

although I find the term 'FROG' quite offensive.

Rochambeau! I should have rocked instead of papered.

Seriously though, I wasn't certain if such an old pejorative was still offensive or if it had been co-opted as a general term of comradery. I was playing it cautious, not wanting to be too hard on ya, since you asked so nicely...


No way that US maple syrup is better than Canadian. I mean, the country with the maple leaf on their flag should have the best. That's like drinking Italian coffee then realizing it doesn't come from Italy.



About the Chinese carb prices, that's your answer. They're cheap. They don't even have numbered jets, and if they did, it'd probably be baseless. Will one get it running? Maybe, but if you get a bad one it's just going to eat up your time and that little bit of money. Some people report success but I haven't been able to bolt a single one on and go ride. They've all needed different jets, at the least, and if you don't already have a handful of jets, that gets expensive real quick then you'll realise after it's all said and done, you're left still with extra jets that aren't needed after tuning. Money just sitting around unless you have a small fleet of various engines whose carbs also use those jets and need tuning.

A Chinese carb can cost you more than the purchase price. I stay away from them unless it's something hard to find or I'm just throwing something together to sell. The last part is a joke, but actually happens, which should knock a good $150-$200 off a trike price if the carb isn't OEM because that's what it would cost to replace it, taking into account the time to even find a good one. A lot of original carbs have too much corrosion damage to be functioning like they did 40 years ago.


Something on tires to make note of is weight. These machines are low powered and putting heavy tires on them really slows acceleration. Unless you ride somewhere with a lot of exposed slate or nasty thorns and need the extra puncture protection, the trike will ride and accelerate better with the basic balloon knobbies. They won't handle as good as something stiffer, but that's the trade to be made with a ATV that doesn't have any rear suspension.

If you swap out the rear hubs and use aluminum wheels, you can shave pounds of rotational mass. That's a performance improvement. Generic hubs are going to weigh more than OEM but the aluminum wheels weigh a lot less that stock steel. I weighed some of what I chose and it was about 5-7lbs lighter. That's a huge weight difference, especially for rotating mass. You can drop that even more by using some fancy aluminum hubs but those are $$.

Keep the original rear wheels for a spare front. I've only seen the 8x8 aluminum wheels that were centered and possibly drilled for OE spacing, nothing for the 9" trikes except the 250ES which is a different animal.

A 200M is a good first trike, for an adult. Simple and overall less expensive than many other models. That's the advantage you're start out with.

[350for350]

I can't help you on the rear axle bearing size, but original Honda bearings are still available. Part# 96150-60070-10.