Checking in from Southern Oregon

[SaddleMtnMan]

Hey all, I'm from the area around Klamath Falls, and I'm here with my dad's 1983 Big Red. (200e).

I honestly didn't expect it to run real well after 12 years of cold storage with bad gas and basically no preventative measures, but it's really amazed me. My dad rode it lightly before we moved to our current place, but mothballed it after it developed a flooding carb issue and he didn't have time to fix it. I pulled it out last fall to satiate my curiosity (and replace our old Arctic Cat 400 that blew up an engine). Changed the oil, changed the gas, bought a $15 carb rebuild kit off of Ebay and it runs like a champ. Doesn't smoke, idles fine once warm, nothing was seized, it's practically a miracle of machinery.

I love riding the thing, even if it is a bit rough on some of the fields. (Suspension mod, anyone...?) I look forward to contributing to the community where I can, although I'm really just here to pick your brains.

[DohcBikes]

Welcome to 3 wheeler world! The 200 series hondas are hard to kill! Hey, we love pics around here, post em up!

The easiest suspension mod would be to buy a trike that has full suspension. You can rebuild the front forks on yours if they are in good enough shape, but the 200e is not going to be a smooth ride no matter what. More of a tractor! Keep an eye out for a 250es or sx... Or even a yamaha 225 DX or DR.

[SaddleMtnMan]

Hey, thanks dohc!

I just ran out to the driveway and snapped some . Attached:



And yes, that is a garbage bag seat cover.

I'm about to go make a post about the clutch in the other newb forum, since a forum search isn't popping anything up and I'm a bit worried about it. So for now, it's parked.

[DohcBikes]

She's in pretty good shape. Did you attempt to adjust the clutch yet?

[SaddleMtnMan]

Yea, it definitely is. Like I said, it's basically been mothballed for the last twelve years and was run pretty lightly before that, so there's not too much wear and tear. About the biggest thing wrong with it was the seat starting to disintegrate, hence the garbage bag. There's also a pretty good crack in the left fender, don't know if you can see it or not but it's pretty minor.

No I haven't adjusted the clutch yet. I pulled the right side cover off and cleaned out the oil filter rotor last week, didn't touch the clutch adjustment (which was working fine before). Now it slips in higher gears if I stomp on the gas.

[DohcBikes]

Do the clutch adjustment procedure as outlined in the service manual. (Release the locknut, turn the center adjustment screw in until seated, back it off slightly, tighten the locknut)

What kind of oil are you using?....

[SaddleMtnMan]

I'm using 15-40. The owner's manual recommends 10-40, but 15-40 diesel oil is all I have at the moment. They say it's fine for temperatures above 32F, and I don't drive it in the winter (that's what my snowcat's for!) so it shouldn't be a big deal. If anything, the shifter feels smoother on the thicker oil, but maybe that's just the placebo effect talking.

Thanks for the link to the service manual, i'll peruse it and packrat it somewhere before it disappears or I lose it myself. (Edit: Automatic links? Fancy!)

I just made a post in the newb discussion area where it'll get a bit more exposure in case the adjustment step doesn't work, but the mods have to approve it... Sigh, the life of a new member.

Thanks in advance for the help, I'll try the adjustment this afternoon once I roll the thing back down to the shop.

[DohcBikes]

Hold on there, when I ask "what kind of oil are you using", I mean, EXACTLY what oil. What brand? You do know that whatever oil you use, needs to be specifically designed for use with wet clutches... no friction modifiers and no synthetics. If you're using Rotella, that's great. If you're using something that's not JASO-MA tested, that's not so great. Not just any diesel oil will work.

[SaddleMtnMan]

Huh, ok. The brand my dad buys is Delo, but they have a couple different variations and I don't know the specifics on what kind of additives or specs it meets. I can go get a bottle and check it in a few minutes.

That said, is Shell Rotella tested to meet whatever spec is needed for wet clutches? If it is and it's what you recommend, I'll get a jug of it on my trip to town Monday.

Edit: I should also mention that I used blue RTV to replace the ridiculously hard and useless factory gaskets that were on it originally. I'm questioning how good of a seal the RTV made on the oil filter rotor cover, and it might be spitting oil out in places it shouldn't be. I'll probably look into getting some actual cut gaskets in the future, just for the sake of avoiding the hassle of RTV.

Edit Edit: It's Delo 400 LE, so I looked it up and christ, this stuff doesn't seem too great. It's got a JASO-DH2 cert but nothing else in that category that I can see. It's also got that "isosyn" additive stuff that also probably ain't great. I think I'd better drain the machine and let it sit until I can get a bottle of something with the MA cert.

[SaddleMtnMan]

Ok, it's been a while but I've finally found some time and got it fixed!

Well, mostly.

I changed the oil out with Shell Rotella (the T4 non-synthetic), and did the clutch adjustment procedure as outlined in the owner's manual. No more slippage! Stomped on the gas in 4th and she pulled right up to speed.

The problem now is the carb decided to act like a carb, and got the float stuck. Now it's flooding the engine with fuel, so I've gotta pull it out and clean it all down again. I guess that's what I get for parking it for 4 weeks without draining the carb. Ugh.

Anyway, looks like the major kinks are worked out now and the carb is a trivial job, so I think we're good!

[SaddleMtnMan]

Back again - Anyone had experience using a K&N air filter in their trike? The foam on mine's rotted out (didn't realize it till now, ouch!) and none of the local stores have anything that would fit. (big suprise!) May or may not have been a contributing factor in the carb's recent problems...

They're pricey but I have no problems spending $40 on a filter that'll pretty much last the remaining life of the machine, unless anyone has any better recommendations.

That said, I haven't had time to go tear the carb down and do a clean on it yet, but I'm going to go do that today if possible.

[yaegerb]

Get this

http://m.ebay.com/itm/1983-1985-Hond...%257Ciid%253A2

And this

http://m.ebay.com/itm/Uni-Filter-Ser...%257Ciid%253A9

[350for350]

X2 on what yeagerb said. I usually run a Uni or similar foam style air filter in all of my stuff.

[SaddleMtnMan]

Thanks, Yaegerb. I'll get the Uni filter off of Amazon, it's $4 cheaper and I can get free shipping through Prime.

I usually prefer pleat filters because the mice have a tendency to go for the foam more than paper or wire-wrapped paper around here, but the intake on these trikes is narrow and protected enough that we haven't had mice issues yet. Seems like they have lower airflow per surface area than foam, though, and this filter's small enough for that to matter. Foam it is then.

[AK47KID]

Hey saddlemtnman I'm also in Oregon

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