New member and new to the three wheeler (or any ATV) world

[ericmreimer]

Hi thought I'd say hi and since a lot of you are going to see my newbie questions, I want to introduce myself. I live just north of Houston Texas in Splendora. I was just given a '84 Honda Big Red ATC 200ES by one of my neighbors. I just brought it home tonight and got it washed up a bit. Seems to be in pretty good condition, even has the little tool kit under the seat still. I'll be trying to start it just to see if it fires over the next few days.

I'm 34 year old EX Navy First Class Machinist Mate(engine room operator/mechanic) of 12 years and now work in the facilities department at University of Houston Downtown......I love my job!

Other hobbies are crossfit, vintage Mustangs, wood working and restoring other random cool stuff. Love 60's Sears Suburban mowers but unfortunately dont have room for any right now.
Rest assured that although I'm new to this forum, I've been around forums A LONG time and moderate at 69stang.com so I'm well versed in the use of the search function and other etiquette:naughty:.
Anyway I look forward to soaking up as much info as possible, posting progress pictures and being part of another cool community!

Here's a picture of the new project fresh out of the barn. Wheels are still being dug out of the junk but come with it too. There's "maybe" another trike in there too so i may be the proud owner of two lol

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[thestud25]

I have seen worse. Welcome to the club.

[Larry T Moore]

welcome aboard

[ATC ADDICTED]

Nothing better then a free 3 wheeler.... A little time, some blood, sweat and possibly tears.... You will have a nice little grunt... I don't have one in my collection "yet". Have fun and keep us updated.... Oh,,, by the way, welcome from another newbie.

[ATC ADDICTED]

Oh,,,, I forgot about the money $$$$... lol...

[JasonB]

Welcome to the boards
You seem like an asset electronically lol there is a lot on here about those bikes, search=friend ;)


Haven't been on your message boards but I am new to Fords; picked up my first blue label earlier this year and love it so far. 03 lightning with22k on the odometer. Not a stang, I know lol

[kb0nly]

Welcome! I love the 200ES, its my favorite honestly, though i am biased owning one myself, but its always been my favorite model. A real stump puller low range and plenty of guts to work hard.

I have seen far far worst!! The rear fenders and the racks look to be pretty good honestly. The only thing i hate looking at it is that fugly aftermarket plastic gas tank, but otherwise not bad at all!

If its been sitting like that i would definitely drain and flush the rear end on it before you move it around after getting the wheels on, i bet it has a lot of settled sludge and/or water. If your lucky its just really nasty gear lube left in there. Thats just the biggest thing you gotta worry about, damaging the rear end on em.

[ericmreimer]

The gas tank messed me up at first when I had a bad picture only to go off of that my wife had sent me. I couldn't really figure out what it was exactly because I couldn't find a picture of a trike with that gas tank.............it'll be gone as soon as I can get a good one.

Here's another shot on it's trip home this evening. I actually put jumper cables on it and jumped the solenoid to get it to crank and compression seems good, starter works like a champ. I don't have the key for it so I'll be getting a new switch STAT! I actually don't know how to start it or how to tell if it's in neutral......I'm GREEN!


174108

[sp8twn]

Welcome aboard!!!!!:beer

[ScreaminRed]

The cool thing is you got the '84 that has reverse. My '83 doesn't, and at times, I could really use it. Oh, and welcome here!!

[ATC ADDICTED]

I had a 250sx when I was a kid,,, we lost the key for the ignition, so I took a lighted toggle switch, twisted one tab 90* and inserted it into the ignition plug. electric start and headlights worked and was a lot better then paying for a new ignition or key,,,, a lot quicker and a visual reminder the ignition was on.... I also own a mustang... I have a 85 svo mustang

[rizz1135]

It'll buff out... no worries. Looks like it needs some work but that's part of the reason we are all here right? Anyways, good luck, have fun, and watch your wallet; it gets expensive quickly.

[jb2wheels]

Welcome from another Texan!

That trike looks like a diamond in the rough. From the pictures, the plastics and seat look usable.

Nice rack ;)

That looks like a Clarke tank - I had one just like it on an early 80s ATC200 I bought for parts. It polished out nicely.

You're basically hubs/tires/wheels and some PM work from a runner.

Nice!

[HairyJR]

Welcome, nice plastic and mud flaps too... most people remove them and toss. Drain and change all liquids before starting or riding.

"HJ" :beer

[ericmreimer]

It's a plastic tank like the ones you can find on ebay and amazon. I'll most likely be replacing it with an OEM unit when the time comes. Unfortunately the front fender is broke so ill be replacing it.

I will most Lilly end up completely disassembling it, sand blasting and painting. First is to figure out the motor condition though.

I'm lucky that this seems like a pretty good community for this around here. There is a place called Fly's in Shepard Texas that seems popular and has parts and does rebuilds. Seems to be a lot of local stuff on Craigslist.

Ok I'm replacing the plug, the oil in everything and flushing the tank. Any other suggestions on what to do before I fire it (or try) to fire it up? Need to Hotwire it too and soon as I can get home I'm gonna look at the wiring diagram an will prolly ask for help hot-wiring it.

[kb0nly]

Switch and Neutral is easy...

Ok here is what you do, remove the headlight, find the wires from the headlight switch... Unplug the green and the black wires and leave them disconnected, now the ignition switch won't be killing your ignition in the off position...

Next step, there is two other wires to the switch, Red and Yellow/Red, you will notice they are opposite genders, so unplug the wires from the switch and take the wires they plugged into and plug them together to bypass the switch for lighting. Now the headlight switch on the handlebar control will turn your lights on and off.

You now have ignition and lights without the switch, you can replace it later and with a cheap four wire ignition switch from eBay, the chinese quad ones work fine and are a quarter of the cost of a Honda replacement. The kill switch on the handlebars will serve as your on off with the ignition switch bypassed.

As for neutral, you will need a battery connected and the ignition switch bypassed as i mentioned, then when you pull the shifter up to neutral, its five speeds down, neutral is all the way up, the neutral light should come on. But it will only come on with the battery or the engine running. If you pull the motor over a few times with the ignition switch bypassed you should also see the neutral light come on dimly from the alternator output while cranking, provided its in neutral of course.. LOL

If you need the service and user manual they are both on my manual server, link below in my signature area.

[Big G]

Welcome Eric and nice snag picking up a free trike! I have two '83 200E's, which are chain drive and no reverse. The following year ('84) Honda went to shaft drive with reverse - which is the one you have. I've always wanted one of those. Glad to see the 'ol Red's landed in good hands and that you're going to give her a sprucing up!
Kb0nly's a good source for electrical problems. You'll get the wiring figured out following his steps!

[ATC ADDICTED]

Need to Hotwire it too and soon as I can get home I'm gonna look at the wiring diagram an will prolly ask for help hot-wiring it.


the toggle switch in the ignition plug works great for hot wiring it

[honda200xguy]

That's an awesome trike to start with.
Wait till you get a 2 stroke or 4 stroke sport trike
Look on craiglist for other part trikes. And there's also alot of parts on ebay.
Since you're new to trikes, i bet you will grow a love for them.
I remember my first trike :naughty::TrikesOwn

[Worden18]

Welcome - from a fellow ex-squid :D

Good luck on getting your Honda running

[kb0nly]

Maybe we should warn him about the addiction that sets in after that first one is running.... Lol

[Big G]

Nah...let him find out for himself :naughty:

[ericmreimer]

I think I can handle it......but if i'm going down so is the rest of the family. I'll have to get a couple 70's for the kids and my wife may take the 200......I'll be looking for a 250r. Oh I guess I should concentrate on getting this on running first :lol:

[ScreaminRed]

I didn't notice an inline fuel filter mentioned...probably wouldn't hurt to replace or add one before crank up. :)

[ericmreimer]

Inline fuel filter will be a must!

Thanks everyone for the welcome! Tore into the 200 today and used ALOT of info from this site!

[ScreaminRed]

Glad u are enjoying it here. I know I do.