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Thread: Oops.. I did it again... They just keep following me home.

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    MN
    --
    3,260

    Oops.. I did it again... They just keep following me home.

    Got another project to start on, 1982 200E in great shape, fenders are all crack free, seat was nearly perfect except for one small hole, tank is spotless inside. She's leaking oil and smokes like a coal power plant, so its going to come apart and get rebuilt in the next month or so, its going to take a while to clean it all, was a barn find by the previous owner, sat for more then a decade, so shes filthy.

    Only part thats really missing is the sub-carrier rack for the rear, will have to dig one up for it... If anyone has a spare along with the hardware for it let me know, i have the rubber hold-downs there, and i can make nylon bushings, i just need the rack part itself with the two clamps that hold it on to the pivot bar.

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    The tires are all shot, only one of the backs even holds air at all, the other has a huge hole in it, the front is cracked all around one side. I ordered three new tires so i can quickly get it back to a roller for working on it, so the first job will be tires and wheel bearings.
    ---------------------------------------------------------
    1984 Honda ATC200ES "Big Red"
    1982 ATC200E "Hondie"
    1988 TRX300FW "Project Quad" Still in progress....

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Edmond, KS
    --
    2,531
    Looks like a good project.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2019
    Location
    Florida
    --
    1,044
    Man 200e's are falling from the sky, I have 4 right now.
    Looks great, like I always say tank, fenders, seat make a flip
    the rest is easy.
    MrC.
    mrc_builds on YouTube Channel

    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmw...confirmation=1


    My Addiction
    85 200m "Tallahassee"
    84 200x "SouthPort"
    84 200x "Van Halen"
    84 250r "lucky"
    85 250sx "Enterprise"
    85 350x "The Money Pit"
    85 350x Code Red
    86 250r "Unicorn"
    86 trx250r
    88 Lt250r Suzuki

    mrc_builds saves trikes like Jimmy Swaggart saved souls back in the day -said Patriot1

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    MN
    --
    3,260
    I think she will be a good project, i went over it some yesterday, got it running, had a dead CDI no spark, tested the CDI on my tester and confirmed it was dead so put another one of my spares on and fired right off. I checked the oil and valve lash first, gave it a few squirts of oil down the plug hole and rolled it over slow by hand since i didn't know how much it was messed with. The oil in the motor looked fairly clean on the dipstick, a little dirty but certainly not black. After i run it a few times i checked compression, came up to 145 psi, just at the bottom of the service limit, manual states 159 psi +/-14, thats right at 145. It certainly is pulling oil around the valve stem seals, no doubt about that, the valve guide wear will be checked also when i tear it down. Its leaking oil at the head, as usual with a 200 its the o-ring at the oil galley, you can see it bubbling oil around the head gasket when its running, its dark in that picture but the jug really is nearly black with oil and dirt, has an exhaust gasket leak as well which doesn't help. No idea on the condition of the exhaust system otherwise yet, will tear it all down and find out in time.

    If not for the oil leaks i would probably rebuild the carb and just run it a while after a good bath, but i can't stand leaky motors. The other things i found with a quick inspection, the front and rear sprockets are shot along with the chain, someone ran it a long time with a loose chain, they are sloppy bad, but thankfully no case damage that i can see anyway, will find out for sure when i pull the motor. But its not uncommon to see the sprockets worn out from poor maintenance. The brake cables for both front and rear are frozen, tried cable luber and some PB blaster and such, they are stuck solid, won't mess with them anymore its a losing battle considering how cheap they are to replace. No idea on the brakes themselves, will find out when i tear it apart to put new tires and wheel bearings on it. The bearing don't feel super bad, but if i gotta pull the front axle to replace the tire and the rear axle to replace the sprocket whats another $30 in bearings and seals, cheap insurance.

    The only thing essentially broken is the front brake hand lever, someone forced it with the frozen cable and broke it is my guess. Other then that i don't have much for broken stuff to replace so far, just free everything up, replace worn parts, tear down and rebuild the motor, and go from there.

    I won't be flipping this, i will be keeping it. The wife wanted a 200, i found the 81 ATC200 back in August but its pull start, and shes petite.. aka short... and she can't get a really good pull on the starter, though it does start really easy she just can't seem to pull it over with a fast enough jab to get it. So i would start it for her and she can ride it all she wants. So another electric start was always on my wish list. I stumbled into this one because i had a cycle country plow for my 200ES that i stored away years ago, don't use it anymore since i moved and bought a nice new Ariens snowblower, takes me 15-20 minutes to do snow removal with that thing, and its a lot easier then plowing at the new place, so i traded it straight up for this 200E. I think we both got a pretty good deal, he had a 200ES he wanted a plow for and got one to bolt right on and go, and i got a 200E that just needs my usual TLC but is otherwise in my opinion in great shape, plastics are in perfect shape, lights work, switches all work, clean gas tank. Bummer it needed tires since thats not cheap, but in the end the new tires will last a long long time. He bought it just because it had a Speedometer on it, he pulled that off for another one, i think he said a 83 200E that was mint. I plan on putting a GPS speedo on this one like i did the 81.

    Some more pictures from the guy i got it from... I have yet to take my own pictures, i was going to today but i had to pull the carb off my 84 200ES and swap it, finally found a mint OEM carb to put back on it after all these years and get rid of the Chinese clone that i could never really get tuned right.

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    The seat pan was the biggest surprise, some surface rust but not rotted out, all the edges are still there and all the spikes are as well. Going to put a new cover on it, but otherwise the foam and pan are great, which is a real surprise for these older metal seat pan models. Also, get this, the ORIGINAL tool kit was still intact, looks like it was never even or hardly even used. Thats only happened to me twice in all the years i have been buying and selling ATC's. I already took care of the surface rust on the seat pan, wire wheel, some rust converter, and a couple coats of black paint, so nothing to worry about there. I wanted to make sure the pan was good before ordering a new cover.
    ---------------------------------------------------------
    1984 Honda ATC200ES "Big Red"
    1982 ATC200E "Hondie"
    1988 TRX300FW "Project Quad" Still in progress....

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2019
    Location
    Florida
    --
    1,044
    That is a very nice bike, I cant seem to find them anywhere near that nice.
    How is the front end? If its frozen, a 200m swap would be ideal, a 200 or 200s will work just leaves you with the 8 in wheel.
    Lol. Just a few months ago you were having problems finding 3 wheelers now look at you, 2 in 2 months. Maybe your luck is changing.

    MrC.
    mrc_builds on YouTube Channel

    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmw...confirmation=1


    My Addiction
    85 200m "Tallahassee"
    84 200x "SouthPort"
    84 200x "Van Halen"
    84 250r "lucky"
    85 250sx "Enterprise"
    85 350x "The Money Pit"
    85 350x Code Red
    86 250r "Unicorn"
    86 trx250r
    88 Lt250r Suzuki

    mrc_builds saves trikes like Jimmy Swaggart saved souls back in the day -said Patriot1

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    Arkansas
    --
    2,196
    Nice score.

    It was probably stored indoors most of it's life or the seat pan would've been rusted. Torn seat covers and sitting out in the weather is what rots them out. Many of these trikes are just left outside, without even a cover.

    The electric start is nice, but don't forget about how much more versatile it is because of the dual range transmission. I use the low range on my 200ES a lot, and if didn't have one, the trike wouldn't be nearly as useful. The clutches would certainly not last as long either.

    Too bad the rubber dampers for the sprocket are NLA. They're usually rock hard by this time and don't even fit tight anymore; just jangle around inside the holder. A resourceful person could probably come up with a bolt-in replacement. Maybe mountain bike fork elastomers that are a similar size.
    The story of three wheels and a man...

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    MN
    --
    3,260
    Yeah i know its like my luck suddenly changed, its been many years since i have managed to scrape out two in a year, and this year they just fell into my lap. Sure i was looking harder then usual but still seems like all i could find was rotted out junk or really ratty ones that were more work then i wanted to do, i like a solid start, this one is a solid start.

    The front suspension, believe it or not, is great on this one. One boot has a couple cracks in it, the other is fully intact. Both look good, no rust, a few surface scratches, but no rust or pitting, really clean. I am going to put new fork boots on and give everything a thorough cleaning when i pull the front end apart. The front end is going to get new fork boots, new wheel bearings and seals, new tire, new brake cable, and i will see what condition the brakes are in. If the pads got good life left i will just put the brake drum in the lathe and skim it clean and leave it for now like i usually do. But the suspension feels pretty firm, rebounds good, i'm not going to mess with it much. I got lucky on two now, my 200ES has a good front suspension which is rare on them, and this 200E is basically the same with the same faults but this one is good to. Looks like it never went through mud and water and was always indoors. The guy i got it from said where he found it that it was a barn find and was always inside.

    I do really love that its a 200E with Hi/Lo, my 200ES surprises me in low range, it really can do some work and i use it a lot to pull my trailers around. I don't have a lot of space up front but we have a huge back yard that goes way back, so i store all my trailers in the back 40 as we like to call it and i pull them around to the driveway with the 200ES every time i need them.

    The rubber dampers i have a plan for.... I am going to design and 3d print some out of TPU, i can vary the infill percentage and therefore vary the density of them. I have made suspension bushings and stuff like that with this material, so i suspect it will do quite well for these dampers also. I will let you guys know how that works out, first i got to get it apart and just see how bad the originals are.

    So far i have taken the tank and started sanding it down, also got the headlight bucket and headlight guard off, the guard is getting cleaned up and painted and the headlight had one little crack in one corner that i will plastic weld and then sand and repaint it. Also one of the side holes was missing its metal bushing, so i made one quick on the lathe, so the headlight assembly should be about done. Also experimenting with a new way to clean up and preserve the headlight grommet, this one was starting to deteriorate from age, getting to where you touch it and your hands turn black. I gave it a bath in hot soapy water for a while, cleaned it really good, then i gave it a couple coats of a UV protectant epoxy, commonly used for plastic headlight restoration. I have used this stuff before on things like cable boots that were getting dry and its been working, so figured i give it a try on this grommet to.

    It gave it back its sheen, not as dull now, and its not coming apart in your hands. Plus it should be UV protected for a while. The resin really soaked in, took a couple coats to get the surface wet. Then you cure it with UV light, ironically since its a UV protectant, i happen to have a MSLA printer so i have a UV curing and washing station for the prints that come off it, so i cured it in that and it looks good.

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    I don't think anyone is reproducing this particular grommet are they? If they are available somewhere i would like to know, still need one for another headlight.
    ---------------------------------------------------------
    1984 Honda ATC200ES "Big Red"
    1982 ATC200E "Hondie"
    1988 TRX300FW "Project Quad" Still in progress....

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    MN
    --
    3,260
    Thanks to the luxury of my attached heated shop space, and a job that allows me to work from home and wander off to said shop for an hour here and there, i got the headlight bucket, headlight guard, and gas cap all done. The gas cap i actually just cleaned and waxed the finish on it, looks great not going to touch it further. The tank has been initially sanded, and a coat of primer shot on it so i can look for any spots that will show through the final paint and sand more as needed. That should be finish painted in the next couple days i hope, depends on time between work.

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    The tank was honestly not that bad, the usual seat rash, and some scratches on top, but the sides looked like peeling clear coat and the decals were losing their color. So i decided since there was a large area of missing paint from the seat rub that i would just sand out all the bad spots and the decals and give it a refresh. There is one tiny little ding on the top, its small enough i could just go over it with some filler and make it perfect but we ride these, they aren't trailer queens or show pieces, and the small ding keeps her honest to her age. So its going to stay. I like them to look good but i'm not into showroom fresh, and i like them to show some age and use, i'm not gonna cry if something gets scratched after spending a week on a perfect paint job, i just give em a shot of new paint, a good buff, and some fresh decals, and thats good enough for me!
    ---------------------------------------------------------
    1984 Honda ATC200ES "Big Red"
    1982 ATC200E "Hondie"
    1988 TRX300FW "Project Quad" Still in progress....

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    MN
    --
    3,260
    Another night of quiet peaceful tinkering and some color starting to go on the tank...

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    I had a guy ask me how many ATC's i have restored... I told him ZERO... After i got the expected what the heck look i explained, i don't restore anything, i like to think of it as preservation rather then restoration. I don't strip these down to bare frame and media blast and go hog wild, i just fix stuff that will otherwise deteriorate worst, like rust on a tank, that rust will only continue to eat in, sure it might take another 30 years but still. Either way i preserve them and that is all i consider it. Too many guys repainting the tank and buffing the fenders these days and calling them restorations and then listing them for $3k... LOL
    ---------------------------------------------------------
    1984 Honda ATC200ES "Big Red"
    1982 ATC200E "Hondie"
    1988 TRX300FW "Project Quad" Still in progress....

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Nov 2019
    Location
    Florida
    --
    1,044
    I agree, I do not restore either, I say I revive them. Since most of my bikes are dead when i get them, and i make them run again, hence the revival.

    MrC.
    mrc_builds on YouTube Channel

    https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmw...confirmation=1


    My Addiction
    85 200m "Tallahassee"
    84 200x "SouthPort"
    84 200x "Van Halen"
    84 250r "lucky"
    85 250sx "Enterprise"
    85 350x "The Money Pit"
    85 350x Code Red
    86 250r "Unicorn"
    86 trx250r
    88 Lt250r Suzuki

    mrc_builds saves trikes like Jimmy Swaggart saved souls back in the day -said Patriot1

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    Arkansas
    --
    2,196
    Anything I have is lucky to remain the same color.

    The rainbow of spray paints on the store shelf is very enticing. If it's good enough for Banksy, it's good enough for my trikes.
    The story of three wheels and a man...

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    MN
    --
    3,260
    Revival... I like that, thats a good way to explain it! The only one i have that i didn't repaint the tank on is my 200ES, however, now that she doesn't do plow duty anymore..... I might do a tank cleanup and repaint on that next year as well, i'm tied up with this 200E now though so she will have to wait, nothing else wrong with the 200ES so a tank paint job is not high on the list for my daily driver.

    Got the tank done, its going on the shelf for a while now until i get some decals, then i will finish buffing out the paint and put on new decals, probably right before it goes back on.

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    Got the front end torn down today, took off the bars, all the controls, wanted to go through all the switches to clean and lubricate them, and check out the front brakes and suspension. I was pleasantly surprised, no water in them, they look clean, not rusty, lots of grease on them.

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    The left fork has some wear in the chrome, not rusted or pitted, but definitely worn looking from the seal rubbing on it, but this is the worst of the damage.

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    The front brake shoes were nearly new, theres not much worn off them, service limit is 2mm, max is supposed to be 4mm, the brake material measures at 3.7mm, so they are nearly new really. You could see where it was parked for years, the spots where the shoes were sitting on left rusty patches, checked and the drum had plenty of life on it to take off a bit to skim the surface clean on the lathe.

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    I've had really good luck with these by skimming off just enough to clean them up, then sand with 600 grit to put a rougher finish on them just enough to help the shoes grab, and then some brake clean and back together. Will be interesting to see what the back brakes look like, since all the tires are flat and don't hold air i haven't been able to even roll it around enough to test anything. The hand brake cables both front and rear are seized and getting replaced. The foot brake pedal and cable works. But after seeing the front i bet the rear will be more worn, seems like when i get one with really nice front brakes the rears are about roasted since thats all they ever used.

    Neck bearings feel good, smooth, took a peek a the top and they are full of grease and in good shape, so i didn't even bother pulling it apart and having to deal with all those damn balls going everywhere... LOL

    So... New tires should be here the end of the week, next weekend i will probably get to putting them on, then i will start putting it back together enough to be a roller to move around the garage, then its on to pulling the motor and stripping it down.
    ---------------------------------------------------------
    1984 Honda ATC200ES "Big Red"
    1982 ATC200E "Hondie"
    1988 TRX300FW "Project Quad" Still in progress....

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    MN
    --
    3,260
    Another good day of wrenching in my off time...

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    Also got the rear end pulled apart, ready to pull the axle and change bearings and seals and sprocket, just forgot to get pictures of that torn apart. The hubs came off good, the brake drum slid off, no drama!
    Last edited by kb0nly; 12-04-2020 at 06:19 AM.
    ---------------------------------------------------------
    1984 Honda ATC200ES "Big Red"
    1982 ATC200E "Hondie"
    1988 TRX300FW "Project Quad" Still in progress....

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    MN
    --
    3,260
    Progress slowed way down thanks to the USPS and their slow shipping times, was hoping to be putting the bottom end back together this week but shipping delays keep delaying the arrival of some seals, mainly i need the seals for the output sprocket to show up then i can put the sprocket, the side spacer, the sub transmission, all back on and get most of the left side closed back up except for the flywheel which is waiting on the cam chain and its guide and tensioner.

    In the mean time i worked on the sub-carrier for the rear rack, i will likely pull the rear rack and repaint it eventually, maybe not until next summer though, its too cold now to paint outside and in the garage requires running the propane heat until its dry so that will wait. But i got this without the swing up sub-carrier portion of the rack. I found one but it was off an 84.. The 84 is 3/4" longer between the pivot and rest points then the 82-83 200E. Rather then go digging more i decided to make this one work. I just cut the sub-carrier in half with my bandsaw, then i milled off 3/8" from each half and welded them back together. Just shot some quick paint on the bare spots for now, it will get a better paint job when the rack does.

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    The white bushings i just made at the lathe, some PVC pipe, turned it down to about 2mm wall thickness, split it down the side and snapped them over, same as i did on my 200ES years ago, those still working great as well. And if they wear out i can easily make more of them.

    So thats about it for now. I got wheel bearings and seals for front and rear today, but i need the rear brake shoes yet, i will probably pull the rear axle this week, change the sprocket which i also have a new one for now, change the bearings and seals and put it back together to wait for the brake shoes. Once those arrive the back end can be buttoned back up and its done. New tires should get put on the wheels this week as well if i get time, bought one of those small tire changers from HF and it should be here in the next day or two, but i plan on cleaning and painting the wheels as well so that will take time.

    Front end is basically ready to put back together but i don't have the fork boots yet, so i can't move forward yet... Another item stuck in the mail stream waiting to get here... Frustrating to say the least.

    All in all, slow moving progress. If i had all the parts i could probably have it running and driving in another week of afternoons, but at this rate it might not be until after new years now, i gave up on ordering the last few parts i need until the current backlog shows up.
    ---------------------------------------------------------
    1984 Honda ATC200ES "Big Red"
    1982 ATC200E "Hondie"
    1988 TRX300FW "Project Quad" Still in progress....

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Aug 2008
    Location
    MN
    --
    3,260
    Still waiting on parts... Got the tires off the wheels today though in anticipation of getting it back to a roller, wanted to clean up the wheels get the new tires on and have them already to go. Front tire was a Carlisle knobby and had a tube in it, wouldn't hold any air, but it popped right off and got it off the wheel in like five mins, was super easy getting that one off. The rear Dunlop tires though.... OMG..... At least one hour battle each. I had to cut a chunk out of the sidewall then cut through the cords of the bead to split the bead and then i was able to force it off all the way around, they were horrible... I originally just cut the first one open because it had big cracked holes in it already and i wanted to see the wheel condition inside, thankfully the wheels are all PERFECT inside, clean as can be. The beads were just super stuck on them. So i had to do both sides of both rear tires this way, cut a chunk out, cut through the cords to take the tension off the bead, then i was able to pop them off, plus taking the chunk out of the sidewall and cutting the beads meant they slide right off the wheel as well.

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    Anyway, wheels look great inside, just going to wire wheel the bead area, then clean em up good and give them a shot of paint on the outside and they are ready for new valve stems and tires. I was exhausted after fighting the old tires off so i didn't get that far today. Thankfully i have a wide selection of power tools and hand tools so it wasn't something beyond my capabilities it just took a lot of time and effort to prevent damaging the wheels. I almost gave in and went to my local tire shop to plead with them to pop these beads but the last time i talked to them they won't touch anything smaller then a car tire now so it wasn't worth the hassle.

    Next project, exhaust. Still twiddling my thumbs waiting for parts so doing what i can. I decided to repair the stock exhaust, normally i just toss on a DG or Knipex, but for once this muffler is actually worth saving. The body of the muffler is great, no holes no rot, the spark arrestor/output pipe side is rotted to heck, cut it off and blew compressed air through, no rattling, no loose parts inside, has good airflow, so i will try to revive it. Going to weld on a new exit pipe and fabricate a new entry for it, the front end where the clamp squeezes it on the gasket is rotted, so i will make a new piece for the front. Header pipe is fine, its already been cleaned inside and out and painted with high temp paint ready to go back on.

    When i get to the muffler i will post pictures of how i do it, will be all readily available stuff anyone can do to repair one.
    ---------------------------------------------------------
    1984 Honda ATC200ES "Big Red"
    1982 ATC200E "Hondie"
    1988 TRX300FW "Project Quad" Still in progress....

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