New Member - 1st Three Wheeler - Fraser Valley, BC

[EPOCH6]

Hey fellas,

First off I'd like to thank everybody involved in keeping this place up and running. I've been relying primarily on this site for information over the last week while buying my first Big Red from a good friend. Really looking forward to getting as much as I can out of this wicked old machine, it's very reassuring to see that there's still a huge community of people fixing these up and riding them. This old 82 is still in pretty damn good shape and fired up without hesitation today, no smoke, decent idle. I've already noticed a few things that will need some attention (old oil, could use a clutch adjustment, rear drum brakes are weak and may need replacing) but I'm eager and excited to get to work, especially knowing that this forum will have all of the information I need to get it done smoothly.

Here in British Columbia it's a bit of a slog getting old off-road vehicles onto the trails legally, especially machines with no papers, but I've already stopped at a public notary and had my statutory declaration signed, so I'm heading over to the insurance joint in an hour to see if I can have plates on it by the end of the day.

I do a lot of exploring around southern BC and I'm aiming to start using Big Red as my primary means of doing so. Driving my old Scottsdale up and down the mountain FSRs has been costing me a small fortune in gas and I've long been searching for something both smaller and more capable at off-roading to take the load off my poor old truck (also my daily driver), ideally this Big Red will pay for itself in both fuel savings and by taking the mechanical stress off of my truck.

http://i.imgur.com/nNOKJlh.jpg

[350for350]

Welcome EPOCH. Looking at your signature pic, I'd say that your riding will be EPIC! Sorry. I had to do it. You've found a very capable off road machine indeed.

[Big G]

Nice trike indeed. Your '82 was the first year Honda made the Big Red. Front hub on yours looks almost brand new!

Welcome from the Island ;)

[EPOCH6]

Thanks guys.

Started fixing up the old dog on Saturday. Needed a bit more work than I was expecting, there were definitely a few things that the last owner either ignored or didn't notice and some poor past attempts at putting a band aid on issues that should have been addressed immediately. Most notable issue was that the chain-side rear tire was loose due to a stripped axle shaft that only allowed the castle nut to thread on a short distance. The last owner's idea of a fix was to jam some loose rubber shims in between the castle nut and hub and then jam a nail through the shaft instead of a proper cotter pin. As a result the hub and axle splines have been severely worn down and now have a significant amount of play, preventing the wheel from seating properly. So we grinded down what was left of the axle shaft threads, re-cut some new threads, made up a much tougher and tighter set of shims, and threw a new castle nut and cotter pin on. Still a band aid for an axle shaft that will have to be replaced down the road but the wheel is now seated firmly in place with no play whatsoever, should prevent the splines from wearing down any further as long as I keep an eye on them.

After a few hours of work it was ready to hit the trails and man is it ever a blast to ride. I was expecting it to be much more difficult to balance, besides a couple of small jumps I don't think the front wheel left the ground once. I went up on two wheels a couple of times on sharp turns early into the ride but it was easy to recover and to get used to spinning the rear tires/pivoting in situations like that. There are a few more simple issues to address and parts to replace but it's certainly capable enough to keep riding in the meantime.

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[TwiZ]

Yea them ole chebbys are thirsty,esp if it has flanged front hubs or auto hubs. I know ive had a few. That ole red with the bearclaws will take you alot of places,and ride nearly all weekend on a tank of fuel,(same amount of fuel in that chebby would barly fill the carb bowl and fire a couple cylinders lol)....nice find shes in great shape and welcome

[EPOCH6]

Since these seem to be such common issues that all of us experience across all models and years I figure I'm better off posting it here than making a duplicate thread.

I got to deal with the classic list of rear drum brake issues on my 1982 ATC 200E Big Red last night:

- Old brake pad separates from shoe due to water corrosion and seal/gasket failure
- Separated brake pad jams itself between shoe and drum, rear wheels completely locked in place
- Brake arm/cam seized
- Rear brake drum seized onto axle at the splines

Happened while I was unloading, rolling it backwards down the ramp in neutral, both rear wheels suddenly seized up completely to the point where I was unable to roll it forward or backward. Jacked it up, took off the wheel and drum cover, peeked in through the holes on the drum, and it was immediately apparent that something was jammed between the shoe and drum. The drum was quite difficult to get off, although hardly as difficult as some of the posts I've read here where the final solution is murdering the drum in the 1st degree. Starting with a completely seized drum, no rotation, no free movement at all, it took about 10 minutes with some help from an extra set of hands, I imagine it would have taken at least twice as long on my own. First step was to release all brake line tension, we did this by simply backing the adjusters all of the way off and letting the cables hang freely. Then one of us would apply even outward pressure on the drum with two pry bars, one on either side of the drum prying gently between the backing plate and lip, while the other person blasted the drum/axle splines with penetrating oil and lightly tapped both around the drum and on the axle.

Worked pretty well, after reading some of the horror stories surrounding failed brake shoes I was expecting war, the drum slowly wiggled free of the splines tap by tap. Once it was off the corroded pad fell right out, still in one piece and probably only 50% worn down, allowing the wheels to once again turn freely. I also noticed that the O-ring that is supposed to fit snuggly in front of the splines between the drum and axle was missing, obviously allowing much more water and dirt to work its way into the drum over time, accelerating the shoe failure. I don't think it's fair to blame the product in a case like this, anything will fail with enough exposure to water, dirt, and erosion.

During re-assembly it is very important to wire brush all splines/threads, grease all splines/threads/moving parts, and properly re-seal to prevent the drum and brake arm/cam from seizing again.

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