185S drivel

[zeeker1]

O.K. guys, here we go with my nonsense. I've jabbered with vealmonkey a time or two and he says there are people on this forum that would get a kick out of this story. Back in '81 my brother-in-law turned me on to trikes. I was 38 then so you know how old I am now. Anyway I was raising wives, kids, houses, cars and bills back then so money for toys was TIGHT. I saved and saved and in late '82 I slapped down $1300 for a brand spanking new Honda 185s. Most of my riding was in the woods and strip mines. Later on we rode two weeks a year in the mountains out of snowshoe Pa. Well after a year or so or riding hard tail and reading three wheeling magazine, I needed some suspension. You know, JUST BECAUSE! Cash was sent to P K Racing products in California for their hot tip triple trees. They were sure pretty but they were far from being the HOT TIP. After I bolted them on, the trike steered just like a kids tricycle. Straight up and down. Off I went with my protractor to the bike shop to measure the caster angle of production stuff that had front tubes. I settled on a number and milled a long slot next to the top nut and pulled it back. Made a filler slug, tightened it up and were good to go.
That sure rode better but lookie here, they make a bolt on rear swing-arm. I just GOTTA have that. Got PK on the phone and the kit was in the mail COD. Now you got to understand I just spent a LOT of money on this thing brand new and putting on the front was just unbolt and bolt. But the back was HUH?
Instructions says; Grab saw and cut the back end of machine OFF. I sat there and looked at it a LONG time before I picked up that saw. Well, the kit fit perfect, and what a ride. It was awesome.
After it was done I called PK and asked them if they built a skid plate. Guy on the phone says huh, what do you want with one of those? Just where are you calling from? I says Ohio and we ride in the woods with rocks and logs and stuff. He says they ride in the sand and NO they make nothing!
So that brings us to now. 20 years ago my offspring wrapped the rear wheel around the big swing set pole at the local schoolyard. It's been in my barn ever since. Axle bent like a dogs hind leg. This forum has inspired me to get it back out and make it ready for the next generation. My grandson. It's not gonna be a total resto but more of a fix everything that needs fixed and a good clean-up. You can see it peeking out of the shed and then WOW the sun. If any of you guys want anymore of this story or see any more pics, just say so............zeeker

[Vealmonkey]

To me it doesn't get any cooler than the original owner and the original modifier (and of course the original destroyer). LOL Welcome to the boards zeeker. Glad to see you got the pics deal straightened out. I'm looking forward to seeing what you will be doing with the trike. Best of luck with the resurrection.

[AngusJustice]

I bet once you get it going your gonna wish it never sat for all those years. I'm sure the grandson will enjoy. Cheers

[zeeker1]

A few more pix, maybe

[shortline10]

Great story . We all love pics so keep them comming when you do the resto .

[mopar_man]

That's cool! A new axle and you should be ready to roll. It doesn't look like it needs much more than that. Is it a stock axle in there?

[zeeker1]

One bent axle and damage. The kit uses the stock axle with the rubber dampers to hold the sprocket in place. I never thought I beat on it very hard but but it sure ate the OD of the sprocket hub up. I have a pair of sprockets on the way from Bike Bandit as we speak. I don't think I'm gonna use Honda's engineering again. I'm going to try something else. By the way, The motor hasen't run for 20 years either so I don't know what I'll get into there. And I see some rust inside the gas tank. One thing at a time.

[zeeker1]

Just to add a bit more to this nonsense, Back in '82 when I first bought this, all my rich buddies were into rail buggies. One of them had a old house in Orviston Pennsylvania (the middle of nowhere) that they used as base camp. He had access to a hunting camp way up in the mountains and it was a real experience getting all that gear up there. I went along to ride in my friends buggy but took my three wheeler along. Well everybody rode it around the front yard and EVERYBODY said the same thing."Zeeker, you're gonna kill yourself on that thing". There were a dozen buggies and a half dozen motorcycles and me in that camp. By the next spring there were only 6 buggies and 6 three wheelers in camp. By fall there was only ONE lone buggy. The main reason was after a hard day running up and down those mountains it took a toll on those machines. They spent all the next day replacing trans axles, motors, going to base camp for the welder and generally fixing everything they broke. With the trikes, all you did was gas up, check the oil and lube the chain. 15 minutes and your off. All the guys had automatics back then. Hondas or 225dx yahamas. One of our favorite rides was out to a giant swamp (wet land) called cranberry. We would spend a half a day playing in the mud. Everybody that has got stuck with an auto trike knows you just get off, grab the rear bar, give it the gas and heave it up out of there. RIGHT? Well after a time most of these guys had to get something bigger and faster. 2oox, 250r, 350x, etc. SO, with these shifter beauties you're just one arm short from throwing them out of the slop. I know you all can guess.........We never went back to the swamp again!

[cattle-dog]

zeeker keep the stories coming very cool. and that three wheeler you have there is just as cool.

[zeeker1]

Well we'll try this again. Me and pictures just don't seem to get along. For the curious I dug out my old packing slip so you can see what one of these swing arm kits cost back in the day. Notice it included the pipe (valued at $70.00 and two longer brake cables for a whopping $25.00) and was sent COD. The pipe did not come with a spark arrestor ( I guess you don't need one in the desert) so I had to send them more money. I called Barnett to see if the cables were still available and the guy says SURE, we'll make em for you, just send cash. They even sent me the prints. They are four inches longer than stock. Anyway, after riding around with that god awful LOUD pipe for a month, it was time for a change. We did a lot of sneaking around farmers barns to get from one spot to another and my friends were not all that happy with me. Some people say you can't use the OEM muffler with a rear suspension kit but mine fit back on with a slight modification. I used the PK head pipe and whipped out a crude adaptor to mate the two sizes of pipes together. Even the stock air box was retained. Things are moving slowly but they're still moving.

[Vealmonkey]

Zeeker, get those new pics on here. I know everyone will be looking forward to seeing your new progress and the newly powdercoated frame.

[TrailerRider]

Awesome pics! Great stories. Keep'em coming More pics of the 185 swinger

[inv3ctiv3]

So awesome, I'd love a kit like this for my 185S

[oldskool83]

thats cool, all it needed was a new axle and it sat for 20 years...man i'd of bought a new one like that and been rolling again.

[Vealmonkey]

I really wish zeeker would get his new pics in here. He's done alot more with the trike and it's really looking nice. I'm not a liberty to post any of the pictures that he has sent me, but, he's gone a bit farther to clean the trike up to say the least.