So unfortunately old faithful has started acting up. 85 200x, xr cam, intake, and carb, dg exhaust, barnett clutch, wiseco 10.25 stock bore piston, mild port and polish. Its been a great little motor, but the 35 year old bottom end has had it. Started making bad noises a couple days ago. I was reading and thinking about what I wanted to do. This is the 2nd bottom end I've been through (lots of hours and a little racing on this trike) so I was thinking maybe its time to get away from 35 year old parts and get a newer motor. Its a very clean machine and I have the title so I was looking for bolt in options, not frame mods. I've been hesitant to go with a lifan for parts availability and the HP loss going to a pushrod engine. Then I saw that a crf230 engine is a bolt in option some guys on here have done. Only modification is I will need to build a new brake pedal. But rather than pay big $$$ on ebay for clapped out heap, or tear apart a good bike for the motor, I bought a pitster pro 230.
Its a almost exact copy of the crf230. (bigger bore and has kick and E start are the big differences I noticed) Pitster pro has a good reputation and great parts availability with a real dealer network.
$970 shipped to my door, 17HP out of the box (probably more than my mildly hopped up 200) and it'll be brand new. Hopefully good for another 35 years! Plus electric start AND kickstart backup is a great addition. IDK how long shipping will take but I'm super stoked to breath new life into the trike I grew up riding. I'll be documenting the build including any issues or modifications I have to deal with here.