Newbie with 1977 Honda ATC 90 question re cables

[brunson67]

Hello there,

I just registered and browsed a bit, what a great site/forum!

I had a 185S when they first came out, my Step Dad bought for us. We eventually sold it as time passed. Fast forward about 35 years and I've recently decided to start taking my family to the desert with a group of close friends. The first desert toy I bought is a 1977 ATC 90. Found it at the local Auto repair shop I take my vehicles to for smog, oil changes, etc. The owner of the shop got it from a customer, he then got it running and I bought it. IT was hot rodded a little bit way back, it is painted yellow, has a hooker pipe on it, and some super wide gold anodized Interam solid aluminum bars. It runs great, and has been trouble free for the last few months until we took it to Ocotillo over Thanksgiving. The tank is pretty rusty inside, so I have an external filter, but the primary jet I believe is now clogged, once we unloaded it would only run with the choke on. Then my buddy was riding it and the throttle stuck and he manually pulled back the thumb throttle and its now broke. So a few questions:

1. What's the best way to clean the tank and remove the rust? I'd like to save the bright yellow paint if I can.

2. Carb wont be a big deal, remove it, and clean out the jet.

3. Cables - Since the bars are about 35" wide, compared to stock at about 29" wide, I need a throttle cable and a brake cable that are about 3-4" wider than stock. I'm using the stock brake lever, and the stock thumb throttle. Is there an off the shelf cable that will work that is longer, or do I need to have Motion Pro make me custom cables?

Thanks,

Rob

256108

[ps2fixer]

Neat looking machine. Those fenders seem a little different than stock, maybe low profile like racing fenders? Might just be my eyes playing tricks on me, I've only owned one ATC90.

For the cables, not super sure, but I suspect something like a ATC110 or 84-85 ATC125M might be a suitable replacement for the right cable length since the necks are slightly longer and maybe they have wider handlebars (not sure though). Might be worth while getting a length measurement of the cable you have now and see what you can dig up for sale. If custom length cables aren't bad priced, that might be the easiest route to go with.

The engine head to tire clearance seems less than stock, maybe it has an ATC110 engine on it already, or a different top end? I don't know much about the aftermarket/build up options for the ATC90's. I just know the wire harnesses lol.

Anyway like you said, carb is pretty simple to get going good again. One thing I could suggest besides dealing with the tank rust problem is to run ethanol free fuel. Ethanol is corrosive, not exactly good for steel tanks. I've heard vinegar works well on the tanks, never done it myself though. Since the tanks are normally coated from the factory (zinc plated I think), the rust is a sign it has no coating left which means after the rust is removed, it will rust again if nothing is done to prevent it. I suspect a tank liner like Red-Kote would work well.

Good luck with your project, seems like fairly easy to fix up and have it be all set again for a long time.

[Joseph Farrow]

Look up JWheeler (Jeff) on here. There were aftermarket companies that made longer cables for various applications. Jeff would be the best source for that and other goodies for your 90. He can make you the envy of all the Dunes!

[bigred22]

Yep, back in the day there were many aftermarket hop up kits of all sorts for the 90's, the pretty much basket case I restored several years ago was still stock making it a pretty easy restore.