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View Full Version : ATC 110 problems and my introduction!



Cateater
03-11-2015, 12:13 AM
Hey everyone! Im new to the forums and to 3 wheelers in general, and was hoping that people could lay down some learnin' on my brain. I'm from west chicagoland, in a town called St.Charles and i just recently got into three wheelers. My first trike, is a honda atc 110, and let me tell you, its quite a project. I got it off craigslist for about 100$, knowing full well i would need to put alot of work into it. Using some serial number checkers i found that the frame is an '83 but the engine is an '85, and theres bits and pieces from other years as well. the kill switch/throttle lever, for example is off of an '80 i think...
So i put many hours into it, got it running and driving and even though its a little 110, this thing is super fun :) however, after running it a while i have run into some problems that have completely flabbergasted me. I would really like to get the darn thing running nice and reliably because its warming up and i want to have some fun :D
Theres two issues I'm having at the moment.

First is an issue with starting, kinda. So I was riding it around for a while, took it around the neighborhood, was driving it for a good 30 min or so, and it sputtered and died. Not the first time it has happened, it has some bogging issues that i suspect are timing related (on the list of things to fix). No big deal, let me just start it up again....... Nope not this time, or the 30 other times i pulled the cord. So i start the long trek up the hill it decided to die on. Great. I get to the top of the hill and check it out, everything looks to be in order, no issues i can see. So i give it about 10 min and try again. First pull it starts up. :wondering well, i drive it home and don't think anything of it. Later that day, same thing happens, after about 30 min of driving, it shuts off and wont start up again. The second time was worse, it took it an hour or two of sitting before it would start again. The weird thing is that i know its getting gas, i can smell it. I pulled the plug and unflooded it. No effect. And then i pulled the spark plug, grounded to the head, and it was getting a nice blue spark. But i put it back in and it wouldn't start. Had to let it sit around a while first.

Second issue is shifting related. I put on a new exhaust pipe, the old one was really hacked up and ridiculous. so i get it on, it sounds good, i go to drive it back in the garage. it shifts down into first, drives on into the garage no problems, i go to shift back into neutral and.... nothing. Its stuck. it doesnt want to move at all. Felt like i was trying to push the lever into a wall. I shift up again into second, no issues. i go to shift down to first, nope. i shift all the way up thinking i could knock whatever the issue is, loose. But no, it doesn't want to downshift. At this point I'm out of gears so i take the right (if you're looking at it from above) cover off and see what i can see. it pops off and a screw comes out into the oily cover. Hmmm, not good, but i see where it goes. Its one of the four screws that bolt into the large, circle in the middle, to the right of the large gear (sorry, forgive my ignorance, i don't know what these parts are called). Mission accomplished, so i put it all back together and it shifts up and down. However its super sloppy so i readjust the clutch. I wiggle the shifter again, no effect. Whaaaa.... I try to adjust it again and strangely, the adjustment screw goes about a half turn farther than it would before. I do it again, still loose, screw moves even more. i take it apart to make sure i didnt miss something. Put it all back together and same thing. I decided that maybe I'm crazy and it was wrong before, and now its how it should be. I put some new oil in it, fire it up and give it a test. I kick it up into first, it lurches forward. A good sign as the idle is a bit higher than it probably should be. i give it some gas, and nothing. I give it more gas and still nothing. Just free revving. i get off and give it gas, and it ever so slowly creeps forward. Now keep in mind, I'm giving this thing a good 70-80% throttle and I'm getting a slow creep. I assume a clutch is slipping, and im thinking its related to the fact i cant adjust the clutch properly.
Sorry about the wall of text, i wanted to be very thorough with the information. Thanks for any help you guys may be able to give me and I'm eager to be a part of the community! :beer

bigredder
03-11-2015, 09:51 AM
Welcome! I think the starting problem/dying might be carb related. Have you cleaned the carb? It sounds like it's lacking fuel, or getting too much.

Cateater
03-11-2015, 04:14 PM
Welcome! I think the starting problem/dying might be carb related. Have you cleaned the carb? It sounds like it's lacking fuel, or getting too much.

Well, its a brand new carb but i guess it couldnt hurt to clean it. I havent put an inline fuel filter on yet, which i hear is the bees-knees. So maybe bits of gunk from the tank are stuck in my new carb..

Ghostv2
03-11-2015, 04:56 PM
30 year old metal tanks and fuel filters go together like sprinkles on ice cream. It's a must.

I've also learned to change 30 year old fuel filters after I found little pebbles blocking my needle jet from letting fuel into the carb.

My 110 has clear fuel lines so I can see if there is any settlement and you know it needs replaced or cleaned.

Cateater
03-11-2015, 07:56 PM
30 year old metal tanks and fuel filters go together like sprinkles on ice cream. It's a must.

I've also learned to change 30 year old fuel filters after I found little pebbles blocking my needle jet from letting fuel into the carb.

My 110 has clear fuel lines so I can see if there is any settlement and you know it needs replaced or cleaned.

Thanks for the info. Good to know. I will slap some filters on that baby post haste.
Any clutch/trans experts have some ideas on the second, more annoying problem? I would appreciate any advice :)

Ghostv2
03-11-2015, 08:06 PM
I'm no expert so I could be wrong. Get your manual, adjust your centrifugal clutch how it says. It might be like back off the nut and turn it all the way clockwise until it catches then back it off 1 and a half turns and tighten the nut.

Check your clutch springs, see if they are still within specs.

If that fails you might need new friction plates? Or maybe a new centrifugal clutch. Like I said I'm no expert so I can pinpoint one thing but that's some things to research. I hope it helps somewhat at least.

Cateater
03-11-2015, 11:53 PM
So, i feel like a dummy. turns out there was a piece of the clutch assembly that actually fell out into the oil drain pan i was using. Its the piece thats sort of triangular with a ball bearing in each corner. Truly i am a noob :lol:
i shall see how everything fits back together with all the pieces this time.