1982 honda 110.... will it start in gear?

[Lakermatt]

Hi all, i just aquired a 110 and cant get the damn thing into neutral... the shift lever is stripped, and the indicator is missing... i can see the indicator move once when i go up... then once when i go down... not 4 movements up, or 4 movements down. Its stuck somewhere... cant get it in neutral... my question is will this bike start in gear? I have yet to get it to start, and i have spark, i took off carb and poured a little gas down the intake tube, i also poured a little fuel down spark plug hole... not working. When i put my hand over the intake tube and pull the cord to start, it has good suction, so i know there is compression... i am stumped over here... i even pulled clutch cover to look for any broken pieces...

[DiamonDon]

Hi LakerMatt,
I have a short, then long answer from my experience:

Yes, but its harder to get a fast enough spin to make the engine fire.

I say this because I had an '82(maybe it was '83) Blue ATC110 my father purchased for me new back in 1983.
I had good grades, which was his reason(excuse :) for the purchase.

However, at 9 yrs old I had just barely enough muscle to easily start the bike in neutral(it did always run perfect for me, even after 10 well-used years when I sold it to pay for college tuition, [bet it still runs great 35 years])

I do remember getting first and fourth gears mixed up at least once as a kid, and starting the bike in what I thought was neutral. I think an adult should be able to start your 110 in any gear when its in running condition.

Hope this helps, and stay safe!
Don

[Lakermatt]

ok crap... I guess that its something else then.. maybe I fouled the plug pouring a bunch of gas in the plug hole and in the carb intake... I am going to order 1 of these carbs off ebay rather than try to clean out the old one, do a oil change, get a new plug, and give her a whirl... and this neutral thing I will have to work on.. shift rod is stripped, the shift lever is also stripped so I might just tack weld it on for now.. from all the research I have done, an 82 110 atc should be all down to get it into neutral.. and I heard rocking it forward and backward while clicking down might work as well.. we will see. ITS DRIVING ME NUTS!! LOL...

[Lakermatt]

nevermind on the tack weld thing... looks like the lever is alloy and the rod is steel.. not gonna work there... might drill a hole in the lever and rod and stick a bolt through it instead...

[Mike Eyre]

No, all the way UP is neutral. Also, mine starts easily by pushing in first or second gear. It'll work, esp when you bust off the starter cord. :)

[DiamonDon]

There are certainly shift levers made from steel, in fact I'm thinking the stock unit is chromed steel. I would totally tack a steel one one there, but I'm thinking an aluminum shift lever would see all the wear, and your splines on the shaft will be fine with a new shifter. In my opinion drilling a hole in that splined shaft is a bad idea, even if it works.

Its not hard to clean a stock carb, so be sure to save it even if the chinese copy from ebay works well. I like to disassemble, and soak only the metal parts in a can of cleaner. Then use a single strand from copper wire to physically push through all passsages especially jets, and the emulsifier tube holes. Follow up with compressed air, then reassemble.

Good luck, you'll know when its running well because those motors just purr!

[HondaCT90]

When you pored gas down the plug hole did it try to start?
What does the plug look like dark black or light brown or is it a new plug?
Was the plug wet when you tryed to start it before you pored gas in it?
What color is the spark is it blue?
Do you know when the last time it ran was? If it was a few years you need a carb job