the beater trike.

[Jim mac]

moving parts around making 1 nice, 1 okay and this is the left over parts. 81 185s frame, 85 200s motor, rear bearing was rusty, I just repacked them for now, only thing new is a air filter and chain. 110 front hub so only a rear foot brake. it runs great. the seat pan is a top part of a 185s rear fender with a yoga mat for a pad and a towel stapled on. some sort or atc or dirt bike muffler cut and forced into the 185 headpipe. a 200 something dented tank.
I was going to throw it on craigslist, for $300 bucks or so, but like I posted before, if I need parts for my other trikes, 300 bucks doesn't really buy many parts. like a running motor, recoil, tires. So let's see some beater trikes. jim

[psujeepguy]

Here is my "Hot Mess" 225DX. Sat in a barn for 10 years and didn't run when I drug it home. New plug, new air filter, oil change, clean tank and fuel, carb cleaning, and now she's running. Still having some cold start issues though. Thinking valves? Made a little cosmetic progress by stitching the cracked fender back together and adding a patch. Still some work left to do. Might flip this one or might keep as a rider; not sure yet.

[MrConcdid]

All of mine are beaters. lol

$300 wont buy you anything, best bet is to keep it and enjoy it.
MrC.

P.S. that tank looks to be a 200m.

[350for350]

Absolutely none of mine are beaters. I don't let them get beat on. Mine are all riders. They are for riding so they may not look perfect, but that's fine with me. If I had a showroom looking trike, I'd be afraid to ride it very often.

[Jim mac]

here's what drove me nuts yesterday with this trike. last week I bought a air filter foam, the instructions says to skan it in oil and squeeze it out prior to install. Ive got a can of KN spray oil so I slide tje sock on, spray the foam and stick it back in the box and bolt it up. I go to move the tike a week later, it starts then acts like it runs out of gas and dies, I do this about 6 times and figure the old carb might be gummed up, toss the china carb to see if there's any difference, same thing! starts and dies. I throw a kit in the original carb, bolt it back on, try it out, she runs! finish up by putting the air box on and dies again! take the box off leave the filter on the screen in the open and it's running. I guess the KN oil is not the right stuff to use on a regular foam filter, jim

[keister]

I use that K&N spray on oil on foam filters on most all of my trikes. I think you must have something else going on with it.

[Jim mac]

this isn't a KN filter, it a foam ebay filter that said soak in oil, wring it out and install. without the filter or running the filter without the box the trike runs fine.im thinking maybe I over sprayed the filter? too much oil? when I get a chance I'm going to rinse some of the oil out of it and see what happens. jim

[Jim mac]

pulled out 185s number 2 this afternoon, went to move it around and its running like it's choking. then I realized it's got the same ebay filter saturated with the kn oil. so time to rinse this filter too. jim

[BarnBoy]

Probably the ultimate beater right here. Rusted out seat pan, big frozen lump of something in the middle of the seat so it's hard to sit on it lol. Frame rusted so bad the bottom part of the tube behind the footpegs and gone and you can stick your finger in the tube. No air box or air filter, hodgepodge of other used parts. But at 5°F it starts first pull with a whiff or starting fluid. Won't idle though, but it runs great despite timing chain slap, valves, etc and smokes like a 2 stroke. Wheelies for days though, and loads of power for such a worn out old thing. A blast in the fresh powder we got recently.







And a blast out on the frozen pond

[Jim mac]

so my buddy knows I'm into these orphaned trikes and finds a 185 or 200 with bad tires, plastic tank complete for 100 bucks. I said no thanks but going to talk to him tomorrow, I need a muffler and chain guard so migjt as well grab the whole trike. jim

[patriot1]

I'd grab any complete trike for $100.

[Jim mac]

talked to my buddy, next time he heads out there, I'll get the trike. its complete, just been sitting. jim

[BarnBoy]

I never realized how much fun the 185s is. I need another one....so yeah for $100 that's absolutely worth it

[350for350]

I never realized how much fun the 185s is. I need another one....so yeah for $100 that's absolutely worth it

That must be why they keep being added to my collection.

[wild200x]

What you are calling a beater trike, I used to call "left overs". I once had 13 trikes all running. but the worst off one was all the parts I took off and replaced or swapped off other trikes. It was running, but just had all the worst off parts on it. Congrats on getting another. Can't beat the price.