New to ATCs - 1985 200x questions

[will.reed]

Ok guys, I just picked up a '85 200x and have a TON of questions! LOL!

I guess I need to cover a little of my background and the intended use of this machine first. I've been riding on four wheels since I was 9, but never on two or three (I did take a TRI-Z in on trade once, but just long enough to get it running and traded it off). My girlfriend has recently started riding and she prefers smoother, faster terrain so I decided that I needed a sport machine to ride since I get bored on my Foreman when riding with her. I kicked around the idea of buying another sport quad, but I've always wanted a sport 4-stroke ATC and this 200x was too good of a deal to pass up. It runs GREAT but has a few small issues that I need to get squared away to make it more trail worthy for me. I plan to ride it some this summer and fall then decide if a full, down to the frame rebuild is what I want to do over the winter (always wanted to do this). The previous owner had owned the machine for 6-7 years and has done the following while he has had it:

Clark fuel tank (doesn't seem to fit right, I haven't looked too far into it yet)
Top end rebuild (no smoke, runs strong)
Clutch disks (pulls fine)

Here's what I need help with:

1. Rear suspension is WAY too soft for me. I weigh 260 and it almost bottoms out when I get on it. I see where the rear shock (preload?) can be adjusted and I'm going to take a shot at that, but I don't know anything about the gas charge or how to tell if it needs to be rebuilt, etc.

2. Hard to start cold. I kicked it a half dozen times today before just rolling it down a hill, once started the only running issue is an inconsistent idle. I assume these two are probably related so the carb will be coming off for a good cleaning ASAP.

3. Floppy kick start lever. It just feels loose, doesn't slip or anything though. Is there a rebuild kit for this?

4. Floppy clutch lever. Same as above really, it works fine but feels junky.

5. I assume I to inspect/service the front suspension, but I don't have a clue where to start.

Thanks in advance guys, I'm a very active members on some other forums and hope to become the same here...

[gus]

Well let me start off by welcoming you to 3ww so welcome! ! 1.your shock can be adjusted but only so far it will need to be rebuilt eventually and recharged with nitrogen. 2. Your carb has a choke lever on it left side I believe switch that up all the way kick start it and it should fire right up after it warms up a bit make sure you turn that choke lever down or else it will die on you once its warmed up. As for 3 and 4 I can't answer those but I'm pretty sure another member will. And 5, is your front forks leaking? If so the seals will need to be replaced the front forks take air so add some air and see what happens they should hold the air and be very strong. You could take them off and make sure there not bent you can open the top of the forks (shrader valves) and see if there is any atf oil in them if it looks nasty and black you can drain them there is a screw or allen head screw on the bottom of the fork that's how the oil gets drained. And lastly if your going to do a frame up restore you should! It might be a pain in the @ss but you will learn so much about your trike! Trust me I would now! Hope this helps.

Gus

[will.reed]

Well let me start off by welcoming you to 3ww so welcome! ! 1.your shock can be adjusted but only so far it will need to be rebuilt eventually and recharged with nitrogen. 2. Your carb has a choke lever on it left side I believe switch that up all the way kick start it and it should fire right up after it warms up a bit make sure you turn that choke lever down or else it will die on you once its warmed up. As for 3 and 4 I can't answer those but I'm pretty sure another member will. And 5, is your front forks leaking? If so the seals will need to be replaced the front forks take air so add some air and see what happens they should hold the air and be very strong. You could take them off and make sure there not bent you can open the top of the forks (shrader valves) and see if there is any atf oil in them if it looks nasty and black you can drain them there is a screw or allen head screw on the bottom of the fork that's how the oil gets drained. And lastly if your going to do a frame up restore you should! It might be a pain in the @ss but you will learn so much about your trike! Trust me I would now! Hope this helps.

Gus

Thanks Gus! I'm hoping that I'll have time to adjust that shock today, hopefully that will do it. I was trying to kick it at full choke yesterday but couldn't get it to run at all, I'll try that again too. How much pressure should I be able to put in the forks? I don't see any signs of leaking.

[gus]

I believe its 10 psi Max! If it seems to soft at 10 psi try a thicker oil if that doesn't work then your looking at a rebuild

[yaegerb]

I believe its 10 psi Max! If it seems to soft at 10 psi try a thicker oil if that doesn't work then your looking at a rebuild


10PSI!??? No, its not 10. Its 1 or LESS. I use a bike pump on my front forks. You will run the risk of blowing your front fork seals with 10psi. As far as oil, use 20 weight.

[will.reed]

10PSI!??? No, its not 10. Its 1 or LESS. I use a bike pump on my front forks. You will run the risk of blowing your front fork seals with 10psi. As far as oil, use 20 weight.

I haven't shot any air in them yet, but I pushed one of the valves and it did have pressure on it. Should I remove the boots and inspect the seals? Or just try it out? The forks seem to work ok, the rear suspension needs more attention than the front...

[yaegerb]

My 2cents. I have rebuilt about 8 of these so far. Answers are below your statements

1. Rear suspension is WAY too soft for me. I weigh 260 and it almost bottoms out when I get on it. I see where the rear shock (preload?) can be adjusted and I'm going to take a shot at that, but I don't know anything about the gas charge or how to tell if it needs to be rebuilt, etc

I am 250lbs and I have my rear shock set on 4. If you look underneath the shock there is a dial (on the bottom) and its number 1-4. 4 being the hardest. Try that first. If that doesn't work then like gus said you will need a rebuild, IMO just a nitrogen charge will work. Costs about 15 bucks at any reputable ATV dealer. Otherwise you will need to send the shock out to get rebuilt. Maultech atv is where I just sent mine. They do great work.

2. Hard to start cold. I kicked it a half dozen times today before just rolling it down a hill, once started the only running issue is an inconsistent idle. I assume these two are probably related so the carb will be coming off for a good cleaning ASAP.
Clean the carb, but my bet is that you will need a rebuild kit. Look on EBAY, you can find one really cheap, they are usually 15 bucks

3. Floppy kick start lever. It just feels loose, doesn't slip or anything though. Is there a rebuild kit for this?
Nope, nothing you can do. Go on EBAY and find another one. Or...Maybe the bolt is loose on the bottom. Have you tried to tighten it yet?

4. Floppy clutch lever. Same as above really, it works fine but feels junky.
The clutch levers are normally loose, you can try to adjust this out by turning the screw next to the clutch perch.

5. I assume I to inspect/service the front suspension, but I don't have a clue where to start.
Why do you think you need to "service/inspect" the front suspension? Is it leaking? If not, just drain the fluid, add fresh (I recommend 20wt) and put 1lb or less in the forks.

Hope this helps and have fun!

[will.reed]

My 2cents. I have rebuilt about 8 of these so far. Answers are below your statements

1. Rear suspension is WAY too soft for me. I weigh 260 and it almost bottoms out when I get on it. I see where the rear shock (preload?) can be adjusted and I'm going to take a shot at that, but I don't know anything about the gas charge or how to tell if it needs to be rebuilt, etc

I am 250lbs and I have my rear shock set on 4. If you look underneath the shock there is a dial (on the bottom) and its number 1-4. 4 being the hardest. Try that first. If that doesn't work then like gus said you will need a rebuild, IMO just a nitrogen charge will work. Costs about 15 bucks at any reputable ATV dealer. Otherwise you will need to send the shock out to get rebuilt. Maultech atv is where I just sent mine. They do great work.

2. Hard to start cold. I kicked it a half dozen times today before just rolling it down a hill, once started the only running issue is an inconsistent idle. I assume these two are probably related so the carb will be coming off for a good cleaning ASAP.
Clean the carb, but my bet is that you will need a rebuild kit. Look on EBAY, you can find one really cheap, they are usually 15 bucks

3. Floppy kick start lever. It just feels loose, doesn't slip or anything though. Is there a rebuild kit for this?
Nope, nothing you can do. Go on EBAY and find another one. Or...Maybe the bolt is loose on the bottom. Have you tried to tighten it yet?

4. Floppy clutch lever. Same as above really, it works fine but feels junky.
The clutch levers are normally loose, you can try to adjust this out by turning the screw next to the clutch perch.

5. I assume I to inspect/service the front suspension, but I don't have a clue where to start.
Why do you think you need to "service/inspect" the front suspension? Is it leaking? If not, just drain the fluid, add fresh (I recommend 20wt) and put 1lb or less in the forks.

Hope this helps and have fun!

Great! Thanks for the reply! I haven't really looked at anything on it yet, it's been over 100 here and my shop doesn't have AC. I will look at the kicker and see if it's loose, but I have no issues with buying a new one if that fixes it. as far as the front end goes, I just assumed that it would been some attention after almost 30 years, lol!

On the carb, if cleaning doesn't help would you rebuild it or just buy one of those replacements on ebay? They seem awful cheap, but I read where a lot of guys are using them...

[will.reed]

I found the adjustment and turned it up to 4, I really couldn't tell a difference though. I still had no luck starting it with the kicker, but it rolled off super easy so maybe I need to work on technique, lol! All these years of electric start and electric shifting has made me a little soft I guess...

I did notice that the spring adjustment is backed way off, it's set at around 1/4 of it's tightest position. Right now I'm thinking that I should pull the shock off and take it in for a recharge and adjust that spring while I'm at it. The shock looks to be in great shape, no signs of leakage, etc. What do you guys think???

[MonroeMike]

Try adjusting the spring preload. It's at the top of the shock.
Check page 17.
http://campaigns.hondampe.com.au/Motorcycles/manuals/atv/own85atc20001.pdf

[will.reed]

Try adjusting the spring preload. It's at the top of the shock.
Check page 17.
http://campaigns.hondampe.com.au/Motorcycles/manuals/atv/own85atc20001.pdf


That's exactly what I'm going to try! Thanks!

[will.reed]

Here it is with my other ride...

http://i928.photobucket.com/albums/ad124/will_reed/IMAG0391.jpg

[yaegerb]

I found the adjustment and turned it up to 4, I really couldn't tell a difference though. I still had no luck starting it with the kicker, but it rolled off super easy so maybe I need to work on technique, lol! All these years of electric start and electric shifting has made me a little soft I guess...

I did notice that the spring adjustment is backed way off, it's set at around 1/4 of it's tightest position. Right now I'm thinking that I should pull the shock off and take it in for a recharge and adjust that spring while I'm at it. The shock looks to be in great shape, no signs of leakage, etc. What do you guys think???

Like Monroe Mike said. Try the pre-load and if that doesn't work, go ahead and get a recharge. That should help a ton.

[yaegerb]

Great! Thanks for the reply! I haven't really looked at anything on it yet, it's been over 100 here and my shop doesn't have AC. I will look at the kicker and see if it's loose, but I have no issues with buying a new one if that fixes it. as far as the front end goes, I just assumed that it would been some attention after almost 30 years, lol!

On the carb, if cleaning doesn't help would you rebuild it or just buy one of those replacements on ebay? They seem awful cheap, but I read where a lot of guys are using them...

You can try the cheap carbs on EBAY. But they are really hit and miss. My buddy went through two of them before he bought one that worked. You can try either method, you are just rolling the dice with those cheapo's

[will.reed]

You can try the cheap carbs on EBAY. But they are really hit and miss. My buddy when through two of them before he bought one that worked. You can try either method, you are just rolling the dice with those cheapo's

I'll just go the rebuild route then, don't need any more problems. LOL!

I ran it for about 45 minutes, no idle issues this time so I may just have some trash floating around. I was having a blast until the exhaust started coming loose from the engine, gotta figure out why that happened!

It looks like I will need to pull the shock to adjust the preload, do you think I should just take it for a recharge while it is off? I would hate to have to pull it back off again just because I was trying to save a few bucks...

[will.reed]

And thanks for the PDF of the owners manual, I didn't get one with the machine.

[yaegerb]

I'll just go the rebuild route then, don't need any more problems. LOL!

I ran it for about 45 minutes, no idle issues this time so I may just have some trash floating around. I was having a blast until the exhaust started coming loose from the engine, gotta figure out why that happened!

It looks like I will need to pull the shock to adjust the preload, do you think I should just take it for a recharge while it is off? I would hate to have to pull it back off again just because I was trying to save a few bucks...

I am anal, but if it were me, yes I would pull the shock, get a re-charge and adjust the pre-load while its off. If it still sags after that you can always try and find a heavy duty spring.

[will.reed]

I am anal, but if it were me, yes I would pull the shock, get a re-charge and adjust the pre-load while its off. If it still sags after that you can always try and find a heavy duty spring.

That's the way I am. I'm very particular about my machines, by the time I get done with this thing I will probably have been better off buying one that was alreday finished, lol!

[yaegerb]

That's the way I am. I'm very particular about my machines, by the time I get done with this thing I will probably have been better off buying one that was alreday finished, lol!

I hear ya. If you like anal, go take a look at my 200x flat track build. I should be getting the axle in the swing arm tomorrow :)

[MonroeMike]

It looks like I will need to pull the shock to adjust the preload...

I've never pulled the shock. Take the rear fenders off and put a five gallon bucket (or whatever) under the engine, so the rear ends off the ground. If you don't have a spanner wrench, use a big pair of channel locks to loosen the locknut.

[will.reed]

I've never pulled the shock. Take the rear fenders off and put a five gallon bucket (or whatever) under the engine, so the rear ends off the ground. If you don't have a spanner wrench, use a big pair of channel locks to loosen the locknut.

Sounds good, I have the wrench. Can it be charged on the machine as well?

[MonroeMike]

Don't know, never had a reason to do it.

More info.
http://www.3wheelerworld.com/showthread.php/126336-ATC200x-(83-85)-Service-Data

http://www.oscarmayer.net/atc/manuals/honda/atc200x_83-85_servicemanual.pdf

[jb2wheels]

Don't worry about "recharging" the shock. Until you ride it and get a feel for what it's doing, you're just shooting in the dark. Besides, if the shock and reservior have leaked out the nitrogen charge, they leaked out the oil too so recharging the shock is a waste of time and money.

You can set the preload with the shock on the trike, but I find it hard to get tools in there and move the rings on threads that have been in the dirt for 25 years. It takes 15 minutes to pull the shock and makes it so much easier to adjust.

The knob on the bottom sets rebound damping. Once you get the preload where you want it, fiddle with the rebound damping adjustment to reduce the pogo effect. If you can't reduce the pogo. the shock is done and needs a rebuild.

If the front forks aren't leaking, leave them alone. Although, you probably should change the fluid in them since they have unknown history. Add no air pressure at all. If they sag because you're heavy, consider replacing the springs with Progressives or adding some preload spacers.

200X is a great trike! I had 2 until I got my 250R and 350X up and running. Now I'm selling off the little X's.

[will.reed]

Don't worry about "recharging" the shock. Until you ride it and get a feel for what it's doing, you're just shooting in the dark. Besides, if the shock and reservior have leaked out the nitrogen charge, they leaked out the oil too so recharging the shock is a waste of time and money.

You can set the preload with the shock on the trike, but I find it hard to get tools in there and move the rings on threads that have been in the dirt for 25 years. It takes 15 minutes to pull the shock and makes it so much easier to adjust.

The knob on the bottom sets rebound damping. Once you get the preload where you want it, fiddle with the rebound damping adjustment to reduce the pogo effect. If you can't reduce the pogo. the shock is done and needs a rebuild.

If the front forks aren't leaking, leave them alone. Although, you probably should change the fluid in them since they have unknown history. Add no air pressure at all. If they sag because you're heavy, consider replacing the springs with Progressives or adding some preload spacers.

200X is a great trike! I had 2 until I got my 250R and 350X up and running. Now I'm selling off the little X's.

I'm going to have to try the preload only because we want to ride this afternoon and there won't be anyone open to try a recharge. I checked the forks yesterday and both have 6-7 psi in them right now...

[will.reed]

Adjusted the preload almost all all the way up and took it for a 23 mile ride this evening. I'm now hooked on this thing! LOL! I still need a few more inches of seat height to be comfortable, but I'm working on ideas for that...

[yaegerb]

If you want a few more inches of seat height you can always go with a "desert seat kit" from hi-flite. I was going to go that route but they are a little too tall for my taste.

Here is a link to a pic, its a 350x, but the 200x will look the same (height, etc.)

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=hi-flite+desert+seat&hl=en&tbm=isch&tbnid=Ybu0BNMSBGMDzM:&imgrefurl=http://www.3wheelerworld.com/showthread.php/97663-Hi-Flite-seats-TRX-250r-compared-to-ATC-250r&docid=yx5fF9s3qUrndM&imgurl=http://www.triketrash.com/images/350xseat2.jpg&w=800&h=600&ei=-AX1T62QBOfm2AXYpZT-Bg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=875&vpy=296&dur=1937&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=167&ty=112&sig=100680634566998459319&page=1&tbnh=131&tbnw=186&start=0&ndsp=16&ved=1t:429,r:10,s:0,i:106&biw=1173&bih=623

[just ben]

eff the 200x! where is that tecate you were working on?

[Drock]

as for your floppy kick start lever mine was the same way on my 86 .
it would swing out riding and was not fun
so i went to Honda and got a new spring,ball bearing and screw. the spring and ball are for the inside and mine stays put great now.
maybe you could do the same.

[gus]

So was I right about 10 Max psi on the fork question? Lol.

[will.reed]

If you want a few more inches of seat height you can always go with a "desert seat kit" from hi-flite. I was going to go that route but they are a little too tall for my taste.

Here is a link to a pic, its a 350x, but the 200x will look the same (height, etc.)

http://www.google.com/imgres?q=hi-flite+desert+seat&hl=en&tbm=isch&tbnid=Ybu0BNMSBGMDzM:&imgrefurl=http://www.3wheelerworld.com/showthread.php/97663-Hi-Flite-seats-TRX-250r-compared-to-ATC-250r&docid=yx5fF9s3qUrndM&imgurl=http://www.triketrash.com/images/350xseat2.jpg&w=800&h=600&ei=-AX1T62QBOfm2AXYpZT-Bg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=875&vpy=296&dur=1937&hovh=194&hovw=259&tx=167&ty=112&sig=100680634566998459319&page=1&tbnh=131&tbnw=186&start=0&ndsp=16&ved=1t:429,r:10,s:0,i:106&biw=1173&bih=623

I'll have to look into that! Right now I'm looking a building a small lift like we use on the Foreman.

[will.reed]

as for your floppy kick start lever mine was the same way on my 86 .
it would swing out riding and was not fun
so i went to Honda and got a new spring,ball bearing and screw. the spring and ball are for the inside and mine stays put great now.
maybe you could do the same.

I need to take it apart and take a look, gotta do something about it for sure.

[will.reed]

eff the 200x! where is that tecate you were working on?

I don't know what you're talking about...

[will.reed]

So was I right about 10 Max psi on the fork question? Lol.

I don't have a clue which is "right", lol! It felt good so I didn't mess with it. The front seemed to work well on that short ride.

[just ben]

I don't know what you're talking about...hmm. must be a different will reed I sold my fenders to.

[will.reed]

hmm. must be a different will reed I sold my fenders to.

Must have been. This is the first one I've really worked on.

[just ben]

Must have been. This is the first one I've really worked on.same board name but without the period in his name,pretty easy to confuse the two names

[will.reed]

same board name but without the period in his name,pretty easy to confuse the two names

Ha! I've never run into that on a forum before. He must not play softball, have a Honda Foreman, Crown Vic or F150. LoL!

[will.reed]

Update on the 200x. The only way I can get it to kick start cold is to turn the idle WAY up. Carb kit is on the way...