I picked up a 1983 Big Red last week. When I was a kid we had a 185 then a 200m, we tortured those things and they were bullet proof. I bought a new Yamaha Grizzly last fall but have always wanted a 3 wheeler. I explained my obsession to my wife and she reluctantly went along with it. Now I have another toy to play around on at the cottage.
It's in decent condition, plastics are all good, tank is faded but fine for me. The rear racks are straight but missing some paint. Seat has been redone and looks good.
It does have a few issues though.
- Rear fender stickers are falling off, I need to get new ones.
- I ran it out of gas on the weekend. When I put it on Reserve fuel gas poured out of the carb drain tube. I cycled the fuel petcock around and it seemed to stop it. I guess something is/was stuck in the carb
- Rear brake is stuck, not full on but dragging. Pulling the hand lever or foot brake does nothing. Ordered a service manual and will look at that next week.
- Rear brake handle is missing the flip out spring lock clip for the parking brake. I found one on ebay for $7-10 but they want $20 to ship them. Ouch! The thing is the size of a quarter, don't know why its so much.
- Rear brake light is missing. Hoping I can find one locally.
Overall really happy with it. I'm going to do some basic maintenance on it this weekend, change the oil, diff fluid. Check the drive chain. I'll check the valves and cam chain once my manual arrives.