$*@&$^)!#$#( front axle!!!

[Jim mac]

200s front axle, with the suspension.
#1 will not spin! ended up cutting the fork tube
#2 will not come out of the brakes.
12 ton press pushed it even to the brake hub with lots of loud snapping. Ended up smashing the opposite side. I wanted to salvage the axle. tried a propane torch. After 2 hours of messing with it, I quit!

the 200s will now get a solid front axle. jim

[Jim mac]

I still need to salvage the axle, ive got a complete spare hub assembly. jim

[Jim mac]

totally trashed the hub, both sides. haven't destroyed the axle yet. got the dremil out, started cutting the frozen inner steel bushing. Spent too much time and energy on it. going to order a axle and keep going on the project. jim

[ATC King]

I've gont one like that which I started kicking around last year, but it's still on the shop floor, and still stuck together.

Right fork with the hub stuck to the axle. The axle is loose in the fork but I can't spin it out due to the brake stop tab. All the spacers and bearings are seized to the axle and a whole lot of Kroil, heat, and beating hasn't moved a thing. Worst one I've ever had to mess with.

Been considering what to save. May be able to save the rest if I cut the tab off of the brake plate, then hopefully press out the axle. Besides a Hail Mary of soaking the whole thing in a tub of acetone and ATF for a week, it's to the point of making a decision on what to sacrifice.

At least the brake plate is steel and the tab could be welded back on.


I've got more than two hours of cussing into it and days I have some extra energy, I cuss at it a little more. There's a small stash of 185S/200S forks I'd really like to add this to for future projects, so I'm trying to not totally ruin it.

[Jim mac]

at first I wasn't worried about the fork leg because I have a spare. The long side of the hub I stuck, the short spacer is loose, so the angle grinder will come out next. going to cut the steel bushing to the axle and save the axle I hope. there's 2 more suspended forks in the pile without axles.
ebay axle should be here next week. I can keep the suspension forks on the 200s rhis way. jim

[350for350]

Good thinking. I have a front axle that's stuck in a 250SX fork the same way. The forks were bent pretty badly so I bought another pair of forks, another axle with the spacers, and a different brake drum. I installed all of those onto the trike. Maybe someday I'll get back to the stuck one. I still hold out a little hope that the parts can be salvaged. Unfortunately, most of us have felt this pain at one time or another.

[ATC King]

The one I'm still fussing with. I even installed a grease fitting in the brake plate spacer but couldn't get a single bit of grease to pump through it. That was with using a two hand grease gun and almost bending the handle. Had to be well over 1,000psi and not a drop of grease squeezed out of anywhere.

It's really stuck.

[Jim mac]

got my ebay axle in and got the front tire installed along with the rears, loosely bolted the fender and set the seat on. Found a pair of fender supports and gotta see if any of my grab bars will fit. it's getting there. jim

[Jim mac]

didn't have a 200s grab bar, took a spare 185s grab bar cut it in half to widen it a d bolted right up going to stick a tube in it and weld it solid.
installed both hand brakes, cables aren't smooth but will stop. cleaned up a switch, found the rest of the harness, installed the cdi, coil. air filter element showed up and installed in the stock airbox. got the rear fender braces installed. Bought a plastic welder at harbor frieght and going to fix the cracks in the fender.
Plan is to borrow a pull start off the other 185s and see if I get spark. according to the previous owner, the trike was a great running trike until the kids borrowed the wheels for another trike then parts started disappearing.
Only other modification its getting is to make a plate to bolt to the front fork mounts then drill 4 holes to mount my old 350x front fender. So far I'm into this trike for 160 bucks with new front tire, new seat, wheel o rings, brake handles, air filter. jim

[Jim mac]

I lives! topped off the oil, grabbed a adapter for the drill and spun the motor and got spark! grabbed a bottle with gas, filled the carb and spun it with the drill motor and it started right up! going to put the proper tank off the 185s on the 200s and restring the recoil this weekend and I guess that 6 running trikes. Not sure what the plans on the other 3 projects are going to be. jim

[Jim mac]

restrung the recoil, installed a gas tank and its a runner. Not a bad trike, I went to get the fenders and seat in a trade, then the owner threw what was left of the 200s, a suspended 185s and another 185s builder. Plan was to use the plastics and seat on my 200s builder but ended up just putting the better 200s together. jim

[Jim mac]

made a bracket to mount my only extra front fender, 350x fender. jim

[Jim mac]

angle grinder and a dremil! cut the steel brake liner and the bearing off and saved the axle. dinged the threads on 1 side a bit, going to run a die over it. jim

[Jim mac]

just a thought, it might be the bearing it's frozen to the axle, not the tube going thru the brake hub. I've got another 200s front end, if I run into the same issue. Next plan is to gouge out the seals, chisel out the ball bearing from the bearings then hit the inner race of the bearings with a dremil so I can crack the bearing off the axle and see if the axle presses out since the hole in the hub is larger than the bearing. I'm thinking the bearings are the problem. jim

[Jim mac]

just a heads up. the threads on the 200s axle is a 14.. x 1.5 pitch, bought a tap and die off ebay for 23 bucks, cleaned the axle and fork threads. Just need to install the legs back onto the forks. Can't believe I spent the $$ to fix it, but its done right and this let's me have forks and brakes on my 3 project/parts/junk trikes. Actually I can make the three projects "rollers" jim