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Thread: HELP! New from louisiana

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2019
    Location
    Louisiana
    --
    8

    HELP! New from louisiana

    New from louisiana I know nothing about 3 wheelers but I'm buying 2 200 frames and a 250 frame. All hondas. 2 200 engines and a pile of other stuff. I'm sure from the junk I can make one good one for the kids to ride but I would like to make one scream for me and the kids when they get older. I need guidance I dont know what all can be done with these. I've been told the 200 forks cant be rebuilt but the 250 can. That's the extent of my 3 wheeler knowledge

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2018
    Location
    TN
    --
    1,065
    Well, scream and 200's aren't exactly synonymous & this coming from a die hard 200 fan. They can be pretty stout and loads of fun though.
    Great part is, they are pretty simple as it goes.

    The forks; If it's a 200E/ES with those godawful sealed forks, yeah, they ain't rebuildable. If they're toast, junk it and find a 200S or 200M front end with the Showa forks. It's a simple upgrade and a damn good one.


    Be patient and be thorough. Post lots of pics. Everyone likes pictures.
    I was born and raised on Venus & I may be here a while.....

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    USA
    --
    4,114
    Check the front neck of the frames, there should at least be a VIN number there. Newer frames had a sticker with year + model. There's a LOT of 200 models, and 250 models. There's a monster difference between an ATC250R race 2 stroke vs a ATC250ES big red work horse.

    You can check the VINs here to "decode" them: http://atvmanual.com/honda/79-atc-atv-vin-decoder

    I'd assume the 200 frames are like ATC200 or ATC200S's, but there's E, ES, M, and X, last one being a mini race machine kind of. Also there's ATC185 and ATC185S which are more or less an ATC200/ATC200S just smaller cylinder. That link above works with the Honda engine serial numbers too so you can identify exactly what engines you get too.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2019
    Location
    Louisiana
    --
    8
    I haven't posted a pic in a forum in years is the site to use still photobucket? I have a few pics of what I picked up so far but I need to pick up another frame and some nice rack that would be great for hauling deer or hogs. At what point should I start a new "build" thread? Thank you both for the help the vin decoder will be awesome and i have some different forks for each 200 frame I'll post some pics soon. Will a 250 2 stroke bolt into any 250 frame or would I need to pull the welder out? The 250 is the only one I dont have an engine for so the hunt continues.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2019
    Location
    Louisiana
    --
    8

    Shocks



    Can I save it? Lol seems like it should have some chrome on it.



    I was told this one is useful? He said this is about as good as it gets and yes I have the other one to it



    This one is the 250 it doesnt have an engine but is pretty complete otherwise. I'll pull some frame numbers after work and see what's what

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    USA
    --
    4,114
    Nope, the 250r was a wildly different engine bolt pattern, it might be similar to a dirt bike 250r and 500r though. The engine design dictates the bolt pattern, not the frame size, so bolt in swaps generally are the same core design of engine, like an ATC250SX engine in an ATC250ES frame, both are effectively the same engine, just different trans gears, and one is silver vs black.

    The 200 series engines are more or less the same bolt pattern, but some with electric start won't fit in frames that didn't orig have electric start, same goes for the ones with transfercases. It's kind of like chain saws, a 20in saw vs 20in saw means almost nothing, just the stock bar size, engines could be wildly different sizes, or even similar sizes but put out more/less hp. I'd say first find out what you have and let us know, and we can help with what engines should fit.

    For uploading images, via pc you click the "go advanced" button, then click "manage attachments" and a pop up window comes up. Top right side of it is where you add files, the + adds more spots and the other button is to choose an image. After you click ok on that screen wait for the images to show up in the bottom bar and close the window and you should be good to go. Ignore the "insert inline" button, that's for formatting where the image shows up, without it, they will just be at the bottom of the post.

    No clue what it looks like via cellphone.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2019
    Location
    Louisiana
    --
    8
    Bummer the engine sizes didnt have the same engine mounts. Thank you for the info this site is saving me a lot of money already. That's awesome so I don't need photobucket to add images. I did find my old account that had pictures I haven't seen in years

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    USA
    --
    4,114
    Not a problem, sometimes different sized engines do interchange though, like the ATC185 and ATC200.

    Always fun finding old photos, I've dug though the one's I've uploaded on here before and had a lot of "I remember that" moments lol. Like this cam, I've never seen one so worn out, came from the ATC200ES machine. Last photo was from the craigslist listing, middle is what I received, listing said no tires. Also that black hub cap cover, back when I was driving my Corolla trying to break 45mpg tank average, now I'm sitting at 20mpg with a Japanese V8 Car lol.
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  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jun 2019
    Location
    Louisiana
    --
    8
    Lol that cam ain't got any lobe. That's worse than I've ever seen. 45 mpg is great better than I have ever got out of a vehicle but I enjoy trucks and jeeps. I dont expect anything over 20. That 3 wheeler looks like they left out more than just tires looks rough. I have been checking local craigslist for 250 engines but they are all on decent 3 wheelers nobody is just selling engines.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jul 2018
    Location
    TN
    --
    1,065
    *cough* I wish i got even close to 20 mpg. My 'Yota gets me about 13. City or interstate...it don't much care.
    I was born and raised on Venus & I may be here a while.....

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Jun 2019
    Location
    Louisiana
    --
    8
    Lol my excursion gets 15.5 hand calculated. I dont have a lead foot in it I cant afford it lol. I cant decode this vin in the site



    It does not come up with anything



    Though it is a 1982 and I was told 250 I'm guessing not the race 2 stroke model. Not with the sweet rack it came with.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Edmond, KS
    --
    2,531
    At least it is a 1982 model. It's not a 250cc. It's a 1982 ATC200E. This is the first year of the Big Red 200. I was pretty sure just by looking at your first frame picture that it wasn't a 250 model. They all had rear suspension and I couldn't see any in the picture. Also the trunk underneath the rear rack kind of gives it away too. It's not shaped the same as a 250ES or SX. Just because it's not a 250, don't let that turn you away. The 200 series engines are tough, reliable, and have plenty of power unless you're trying to go to any extremes.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    USA
    --
    4,114
    Yep that's a 1982 ATC200E frame, aka 200 series engine with a transfer case, chain drive. 200M, 200S, 200, 185, 185S should be near bolt in engine swaps.

    I looked into why the VIN Decoder didn't work, looks like I had some bad data sources to base it on. I've since learned more about how the VINs are created, so I'll be updating the page to a better system down the road. Basically instead of starting with JH3, it's expecting JH1. The photo bucket banner is covering up part of the VIN, pretty sure it starts off jh3tb051, 10th digit for 1982 should be C

    Thanks for the feedback in the decoder, didn't know the frames even started with JH3 like that.


    For the MPG, my car was a 1.8L (the "big" engine for the car), automatic 4 speed with lockup. Drove about 45mph on the back roads and had to drive nearly 40 miles each way to work, so pretty ideal situations for MPG. City driving kills MPG because of unexpected stops, traffic, stop lights, etc, but with out all of that, the speed is more ideal. Express way driving is good for the constant cruising, but the speeds are so high, you're fighting wind resistance a LOT. If I recall correctly, the resistance goes up exponentially, aka the resistance at 60mph vs 30mph is squared. Normally best cruising speed for max MPG is 30-50mph depending on the car design and such. I've hit 70mpg pulse and gliding for about 2 miles starting and stopping at a dead stop with my scan gauge (MPG meter + more). My car also had a belly pan, lower grill block, passenger mirror delete, and smooth wheel hub caps. Worst MPG I got with the car was when I bought it, struts completely blown out, alignment was so bad the steering wheel was half a turn off, and I only drove it home 60mph from Ann Arbor to Midland area and got 33mph. After my mods and learning the car etc, I could hit about 38-40mpg express way averages going around 60-65mph when the speed limit was 70.

    Not really a MPG thread, but there's a simple tricks to getting good mpg, first you start with a well running car, get all the service it needs done, get the check engine light off, replace the O2 sensor if it needs it, etc. Once you have a solid starting place, first thing to do is slow down, instead of speeding 5-10mph over the speed limit, just drop down to the speed limit, ignore the people behind you. The second big thing is to coast for stops and turns, use the breaks as little as reasonably possible (some legit try to drive with no brakes at all). When you use your brakes, you're effectively turning gas/diesel into heat and dust at the brakes. Taking off is a bit of a science, it depends on the vehicle and such, in my corolla, I could give it pretty good gas, but had to let off per shift. They say 80% load is ideal for a gas engine, not 80% throttle though, 80% of the max power output at the given rpm. Oh one more trick is to air up your tires to the sidewall pressures, most car tires are 35 or 44psi, higher end ones might be 50psi. Truck tires can be 50-80psi+ depending on the load range.

    Tons of more tips here -> https://ecomodder.com/forum/EM-hyper...ecodriving.php

    My 1996 Tacoma 3.4L v6 4x4 Manual pickup was getting about 17mpg when I first got it, once I learned the truck and how to drive it to get the best mpg, I could hit 25-27mpg in a trip, best tank average was around 24mpg. That's with over sized tires to, stock size should be 31in, I was running 32in. If I recall correctly, the speedometer was 6% off based on a GPS. My 1998 T100 Manual gets around 22-24mpg per tank, same engine, gearing, and bigger body. My dad went to the extremes with his Toyota Camry and hit 37mpg with it, normally he hit around 33 at best, before trying for mpg he'd get around 27-30mpg, EPA says he should be getting something like 22mpg.

    Here's a guy that took this stuff to the max, his goal was to drive "normal" but get the max MPG possible. 65mpg life average isn't bad with peaks over 90mpg for a tank.

    https://www.aerocivic.com/

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jun 2019
    Location
    Louisiana
    --
    8
    JH3TB0510CC170899 is the number yes it was hard to see in the picture. I went to the shed again and looked closer. The picture was taken fast because of a red wasp nest above the 3 wheeler. I killed them and got a closer look. Ooooo I found a frame number that the 3 wheeler Yoda hasn't seen? I feel special lol. I googled around a bit and found a decoder that said tb05 is a 200. Not the end of the world just not the 250 I was hoping for. It does have some nice shocks though. So I need another 200 engine and transmission to complete all 3. I might just sell off the extra parts if I cant complete it cheap enough. Where is the best place to buy 200 parts? Do they still make old engines? I found a place that makes 250 2 stroke engines online but I didnt look deep into it. Thank you for the replies. Hopefully I'll pick up the other frame soon that has that clean looking engine in it. I bet its locked up lol it looks to clean.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    USA
    --
    4,114
    TB05 is only part of the code, TB050 = ATC200, TB051 = ATC200E, then it jumps to TB055 = ATC200ES and so on. The number after the 5 is part of the production # for the model, the different Honda models were produced from x number to x number, so generally the first number is good enough to know the model, the TB05 is basically a 200 series machine until you find which production number it was.

    JH = Japanese, Honda
    1 vs 3 is vehicle type, ATV's and Motorcycles are mixed up for 1 and 3 in other brands, I thought Honda 3 wheelers all started as JH1. I when I update/fix the decoder, it will dissect the 17 digit vin a bit more instead of doing the whole prefix based identification, aka the TB051 vs JH3TB051. The VIN site is very new and based a bit on other decoder sites I've seen. I did the JH1 thing a bit out of laziness of coding that section, I planned to recode it later, just didn't expect issues with it lol.

    Anyway, I'm only a Yoda of 3 wheeler wiring, the rest I'm average at best, I just have a good skill on researching things out, at least when I put in the effort to research it. That's why I put I think this in some replies vs stating it as fact. My memory can get me in trouble sometimes though since it's not that great sometimes.

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