First trike Yamaha 200e shaft drive. New to forum. Trike needs some work so help appr

[850xpeps]

Well I just bought a Yamaha 200e. From what I’ve read so far the shaft drives without reverse are 83-84. So assuming that’s what I have. Build date shows 2/83. I’ve wanted a trike for awhile and picked this one up. A parts bike with reverse comes with but have t seen it yet.


Bike runs good. Needs a few things and I would like to learn about the bike a little.


My first question would be how the clutch system works on the bike. No pedal so assuming it’s a wet clutch. It kinda jars a little when I slip it into 1st but doesn’t shift bad if the right amount of throttle is used. It also feels like it. Ugh slip a little tiny bit TIL the revs come up. I’ve never had a bike with a wet clutch as I’m a Polaris man. Is there adjustments that should be made something I should look at? I want it to last so I wanna assume the oil is wrong and I’ll be draining that. So what’s the proper oil? It shares the engine oil? Is this the same for the trans? Is there an oil filter?

The front brake cable is gone. Fine by me. Riding dirt bikes I know how dangerous a front brake can be. The rear brakes are non existent as well. So I’ve sprayed some lube on the small Phillips bolts to get the cover off. Unsure if the cables and mount must be pulled first?

The front forks have a loose bearing in the neck. So I will be pulling this apart as well. Are they fairly easy to swap? I had an old Kawi motor bike that I was able to fix the neck bearings but they only had a spot wore in them. Not this sloppy.

So for sure I know it needs neck bearings, possibly rear brakes, new oils and a filter. Also my air box filter doesn’t look like it should. So I’d like to know what should be in its place. Looks kinda melted. And the carb to engine mount or boot is cracked so that will need to be replaced. Also the brake handle for the rear brakes is toast.

Please help me find the proper parts or steer me to a vendor that would have. And any info on the bike is greatly appreciated. I’m fairly mechanically inclined but don’t know much about these trikes. Look forward to
Learning and even contributing any knowledge I can.

[850xpeps]

The balls from the top steering stem are half gone and some worn in half. Have seen some tapered bearing and race sets. Wondering if those are good substitute?

[MonroeMike]

Check these links, they may be of help.

http://www.3wheelerworld.com/showthread.php/132415-Yamaha-serial-VIN-numbers

http://www.yamahaownershandbook.com.au/?r=0

http://www.3wheelerworld.com/showthread.php/125954-YTM200-YTM200e-YTM225-Service-Data

https://threewheelermanuals.com/yamaha

[ps2fixer]

Also here's a VIN decoder for the engine/frame serial.

http://atvmanual.com/honda/79-atc-atv-vin-decoder

Here's a good place to look at exploded part diagrams. They also generally have parts labeled for out of production or not.

https://www.partzilla.com/catalog/yamaha/atv/1983/ytm200ek

Here's the clutches, yep there's two of them. The lower one is the primary clutch, it's basically like a gocart clutch, as engine rpm increases, the more it grabs. This one is normal to slip until you get upto speed in a given gear. Ideally you want to cruise around with it fully locked up when possible, if it's slipping it means to shift into a lower gear. It's not a super major thing to go slow in say 1st gear putting around the woods etc, just no point in the extra heat and such going around in too high of gear.

The other clutch is effectively the same clutch as a manual shift atv, like a sports quad (not CVT). With them there is no primary clutch, and the left handle bar lever is normaly the clutch. On this machine the shifter shaft is tied to it, so it basically pulls in the clutch when you shift gears. FYI, it's just like a stick car, let off the gas right before shifting, and after the shaft is centered again give it gas again. You can do it quick once you're used to it. I'm not sure how Yamaha is setup, but on Honda the right side cover has a "clutch adjustment" which basically adjusts how soon the clutch activates vs how far the shifter shaft moves. The service manual gives specs on how to adjust. A little bit of a lurch forward is kind of normal, at least on my Honda's. If the idle is too high, it will lurch harder.

https://www.partzilla.com/catalog/yamaha/atv/1983/ytm200ek/clutch

For the engine oil/transmission fluid, typically atv engines only uses one fluid and it's shared between both. Best to check the service manual for what it calls for, but generally atv oil or motorcycle oil is perfect. If you want to look at the specs on the back of oil jugs, you need the certs for wet clutches.

Speaking of service manuals in the link above, you'd want to grab the YTM200EK manual. The manual is for the YTM200E, and the year/model of that product is "K" for 1983.

For a source for parts, you can probably find most things on ebay pretty well.

For the steering stem bearings, I've heard the tapered bearings for Honda is a good upgrade, so I'd assume the same thing for the ones you found. Depending how the bearings are worn, you might be able to just tighten up the bearing race that's threaded on the shaft to get some of the slop out of it. If it's not smooth then the bearings should be replace though.

These machines are quite a lot different from a Polaris or any other machine with a belt drive setup (CVT). Should be an interesting learning curve for ya. Anyway, good luck with the machine, hopefully it's an easy fix up for you.

[350for350]

I can say that after fighting missing steering head bearings on my 250Sx for a while, I gave up and installed an All Balls tapered bearing kit and I haven't regretted it one bit. I recommend the upgrade.

[850xpeps]

Check these links, they may be of help.

http://www.3wheelerworld.com/showthread.php/132415-Yamaha-serial-VIN-numbers

http://www.yamahaownershandbook.com.au/?r=0

http://www.3wheelerworld.com/showthread.php/125954-YTM200-YTM200e-YTM225-Service-Data

https://threewheelermanuals.com/yamaha

Thank you I’ll do some reading .

[850xpeps]

Also here's a VIN decoder for the engine/frame serial.

http://atvmanual.com/honda/79-atc-atv-vin-decoder

Here's a good place to look at exploded part diagrams. They also generally have parts labeled for out of production or not.

https://www.partzilla.com/catalog/yamaha/atv/1983/ytm200ek

Here's the clutches, yep there's two of them. The lower one is the primary clutch, it's basically like a gocart clutch, as engine rpm increases, the more it grabs. This one is normal to slip until you get upto speed in a given gear. Ideally you want to cruise around with it fully locked up when possible, if it's slipping it means to shift into a lower gear. It's not a super major thing to go slow in say 1st gear putting around the woods etc, just no point in the extra heat and such going around in too high of gear.
These clutches will be worsening curve for sure
The other clutch is effectively the same clutch as a manual shift atv, like a sports quad (not CVT). With them there is no primary clutch, and the left handle bar lever is normaly the clutch. On this machine the shifter shaft is tied to it, so it basically pulls in the clutch when you shift gears. FYI, it's just like a stick car, let off the gas right before shifting, and after the shaft is centered again give it gas again. You can do it quick once you're used to it. I'm not sure how Yamaha is setup, but on Honda the right side cover has a "clutch adjustment" which basically adjusts how soon the clutch activates vs how far the shifter shaft moves. The service manual gives specs on how to adjust. A little bit of a lurch forward is kind of normal, at least on my Honda's. If the idle is too high, it will lurch harder.
I can shift the bike fine as it’s like a dirt bike

https://www.partzilla.com/catalog/yamaha/atv/1983/ytm200ek/clutch

For the engine oil/transmission fluid, typically atv engines only uses one fluid and it's shared between both. Best to check the service manual for what it calls for, but generally atv oil or motorcycle oil is perfect. If you want to look at the specs on the back of oil jugs, you need the certs for wet clutches.

Speaking of service manuals in the link above, you'd want to grab the YTM200EK manual. The manual is for the YTM200E, and the year/model of that product is "K" for 1983.

For a source for parts, you can probably find most things on ebay pretty well.

For the steering stem bearings, I've heard the tapered bearings for Honda is a good upgrade, so I'd assume the same thing for the ones you found. Depending how the bearings are worn, you might be able to just tighten up the bearing race that's threaded on the shaft to get some of the slop out of it. If it's not smooth then the bearings should be replace though.

These machines are quite a lot different from a Polaris or any other machine with a belt drive setup (CVT). Should be an interesting learning curve for ya. Anyway, good luck with the machine, hopefully it's an easy fix up for you.

Yes Cvt I’m good with lol I understand and can tune them. Thank you for the help

[850xpeps]

I can say that after fighting missing steering head bearings on my 250Sx for a while, I gave up and installed an All Balls tapered bearing kit and I haven't regretted it one bit. I recommend the upgrade.


Thank you. I have ordered the all balls tapered bearing kit. Should be an improvement. Do they need to be pressed in the neck or on the stem?

[350for350]

On my SX, the lower one went onto the stem. Then the upper one dropped in from the top after the stem was back in the neck. I would assume that they would all be similar. You may want to put the bearing races in the freezer overnight before installing them. It will shrink them slightly and help with the installation. Even though the instructions didn't mention it, I packed the bearings with grease before installing them.

[ps2fixer]

The 250sx service manual says to apply grease, so I'd say apply grease to the tapered style bearings too, they need something to lubricate them. Also there's the torque value, probably useful for OP, but it's not for their machine, I'd think Yamaha would be similar though.

https://i.gyazo.com/2b556844045f23eee24f8971f18a8155.png

[850xpeps]

I wonder if the seals on the tapered bearing kit is good enough to hold the stem full of gear oil?
I assume the torque for the tapered bearings is less. Maybe just a feel thing.

What motor should be run? A motor cycle oil with wet clutch certified on the back? Nothing specific?

Also what gear oil in the rear? 80w90?

[ps2fixer]

I doubt the steering stem is sealed well enough to hold fluid oil, grease is what's used factory.

Bearings are bearings, they need torque to be tight, so not sure what the number would be but I'd think it would be similar. Tapered Front wheel bearings have a pretty high torque spec on cars (RWD ones)

Most likely an engine oil with the wet clutch certs should be fine, service manual would confirm it. I think it was SF or SE cert to look for.

Service manual should say what fluid to run in the diff, Honda's I'm pretty sure uses 80w90 gear lube.

[850xpeps]

Well the bearings that say should fit come in. And they don’t. The is of the new bearings are the same. And the lower bearing race I removed has a larger od and the top has a smaller of. I’m told that something must be modified on my bike or it’s region specific by the parts supplier. All balls bearings. Anyone experience this?

I wanna get it back running and like an idiot I lost the balls from the stock bearings lol

[ps2fixer]

That sucks, the Honda service manual has one bearing a different size than the other for the example I posted above, so I'd assume other brands did the same thing.

Just found the section in the service manual, yep different size bearings. Could send the pics to the seller and show right in the service manual it confirms they are wrong, or all balls has it listed wrong.

https://i.gyazo.com/217bcadf3e692182585988404fead9df.png



Here's the qty for the balls.

https://i.gyazo.com/222ecaced8ec58ac23ff556344bffad5.png

[850xpeps]

What’s weird is the bearing with the 1/4” balls on mine was the lower one lol contrary to what that diagram shows. The 3/16 on top. But a bunch of 3/16 were missing. And some 1/4” as well. I sent all balls the dimensions and pictures of the bearings. Got an out of office reply. So will see Tuesday once they are back in. Might stop at Yamaha today if I get a chance to see what they have.

[ps2fixer]

I'd assume they'd have the stock bearings, maybe even in stock if more modern motorcycles still use the loose bearing design.

Assembly trick is to put some grease on the races, and plant the balls in the grease. Holds it together while you assemble.

[350for350]

During disassembly, I like to put something like a rag, trash bag, etc underneath the steering stem to catch as many of the bearings as possible. I know it's a little late for that one, but it may help you or somebody else in the future.

[ps2fixer]

I haven't tried it, but a strong magnet should keep from loosing the balls too. Normally for me they don't fall out too bad, the grease normally holds them in if they are not dry.

[850xpeps]

I was able to retain all the balls from the stem when I pulled it apart. But the top ones were either ground to nothing or half worn. Only maybe 5 fully round ones. The bottom had most the round ones put prob missing 4 or so.

Yamaha was closed so have to wait to see what all balls says I guess.