G'day from Down Under!

[Typingwithpaws]

Hi guys, this place looks like a pretty neat little community you have here :cool:

Well i'll give you guys the short story.
Back when I was in my pre-teens my dad took 'care and maintenance' of a little Honda ATC70. I loved the thing to pieces, used to ride it all over the farm. Even practice a 'so called' emergency scenario where I would run up to the bike, leap into the air whilst pulling the pull cord, it'd start instantly and i'd fly off down the trail. Had a little trailer so me and my younger sister could ride in while dad rode it along the beach.
Many good memories.

Fast forward a decade and a half and I managed to find a fairly tidy Yamaha TY175 for sale. I managed to get it for a steal of a price (300 bucks) and the thing actually ran! Little bit of TLC and i've been out wheeling with some mates already.
I have only two complaints though; A: It's not a Honda and B: its not a Honda ATC250r (couldn't afford the $3k some guy wanted for his showroom condition one).

So rather than mope about not having a Honda, I named my dog that instead and am tinkering about with the Yammy.

Later on I shall make a few enquiries to you guys regarding the age old yamaha-really-suck-to-start problem and a proposal for a disk brake upgrade for front and hydro caliper for the rear because sliding disk isn't exactly.....nice.....

Anyway, here she is in all her glory, appropriately named 'The Banana Bender'.

TWP.

[atcmatt]

Welcome to the board mate. Another Aussie here. Can't help you with the Yamaha at all though as its not my forte! What part of Australia are you in?

Matt

[Typingwithpaws]

Tasmania bro.

I am under the impression that my hard to start issues are mostly carb type. the 1983 edition of popular mechanics reviewed these things and even when new they claimed the yammy was a prick to start.
Mine runs healthy and starts like a champ if you bump start it. carb is clean too. sounds too healthy to be reed valves. typical two stroke :rolleyes:

good to met you man,
TWP

[atcmatt]

Ahh to easy. Yep bloody two strokes. Been there done that, that's why all mine are 4 strokes now. Though I still have a soft spot for the 86R. So spill the beans on this showroom condition 250r for 3k?!

Cheers,

Matt

[Typingwithpaws]

It was for sale in launceston, all original plastics and the motor had no spanner marks on it either so i doubt its even been rebuilt!
one kick wonder (typical honda) but the tires were not original, as you could expect.

definitely an investment piece.....if these things were collectable to normal people. as the website banner states 'aren't those things illegal', makes them hard to sell to people other than us madmen :D

[atcmatt]

You definitely should have scooped that one up mate! Those sorts of things are worth heaps here on the east coast. There is a bit of a following for them where I live (Newcastle, home of Stockton sand dunes) there is a bunch of us that ride there on the old ATC's. I also saw there is another rougher 86' 250r for 2k somewhere in Tasmania. Has been for sale for a long time. Do you know if that 250r is still for sale?

Matt

[Typingwithpaws]

Love the stockton dunes mate, would love to go for a blast around on them!

I would have bought it in a heartbeat, but i just didn't have that kind of dough sitting around.
I think it is still for sale in Karoola near Launnie. who knows, If i strike up some cash i might be able to jump on it!

Got other issues, i'm a bit....lets say employment challenged at the moment, really sucks, driving me crazy.

keen to get my Banana Bender out on the sand though!

[Tas Wheeler]

Hey! :beerA Fellow Taswegian, and I thought I was the only person on this whole island state that has a love of three wheelers.:TrikesOwn
You'll like it here, there's plenty of good info and stories to read. I'm on here most days, I just don't post a lot is all.
I'd love some more details on that 3k Showroom 250r if you've got any. I'll shoot you a pm shortly.
The one for sale in Karoola I've been told has had a hard life and with the dollar conversion rate at the moment it would cost a fair bit to bring it up to a reasonable state.
Let me know if you want to head out for a ride some time mate, once you get that banana bender up and running.

[atcmatt]

Yeah the one I know of is in Karoola. It is quite rough around the edges but looks to be all there. Like TASwheeler said it is not the best time to be buying 3 wheeler parts. The dollar is crap and the cost of ATC parts is ridiculously inflated on eBay. Best have real deep pockets of restoring one or even custom building one at the moment. Don't see it changing any time soon but can always keep our fingers crossed. For now I will just keep my two mint bikes and never sell. Still have a 70 to do up but all in good time. Cheers.

Matt

[YTZ drew]

Welcome from the cold, nasty USA northeast! :welcome:

[Typingwithpaws]

Sounds like I should have had a more strenuous tire kick of the one in Karoola!
MY BAD!

No worries Tas, would love to go out for a ride sometime. my yammy does run pretty good, its just a royal prick to pull-start, not ideal for wheeling haha.
where abouts the island are you located?

Matt, yeah you're not wrong about the cost of parts. Fortunately apart from the very specific parts, most of them look like they could be made without too much hassle. I'm definitely going to have to do something weird about these brakes though to convert to hydro disk with floating caliper.

Shaun.

[atcmatt]

Get onto that Honda! You will not regret it!!

[Typingwithpaws]

Oh man I love this website! Have found people who used to sell rear suspension kits for the trike. Which means that making one up myself isn't as ludicrous as I initially thought!

Can incorporate a hydro rear brake while I'm going too!

Ohhh I'm exited now :p
Too many projects, I need clones.

[atcmatt]

Yeah it gets like that doesn't it. I think for me it's best to start one and finish one before going onto another even if that deal on gumtree is so tempting haha