New to trikes and scored a bunch of 200s and 185s to fix up

[n8r]

I'm just getting into 3 wheelers..... Used to ride a friends port and polished 86 Honda 250R back in the 90's when I was younger, but never owned one before. Now in my early 40's I've discovered "utility" trikes, but have no desire to go fast or ride 2 strokes because they dont scare me and I get stupid on fast machines, people like me do not belong on such machines, even though they are awesome.

I found a sweet deal on a bunch of 200s and 185s machines and am thinking because they are slow and no rear suspension, I wont want to jump them or ride fast and can have a good old safe time exploring Southern Utah on them. Well thats the theory, anyway. So far I'm amazed at the places a 2wd trike will go. Originally I was going to get a 4x4 quad but saw this 84 200s in the local classifieds for $450 over Christmas. Offered the guy $200 which he accepted and figured for that cheap I might as well get it. After riding it around, seeing how well it does and goes almost anywhere I want, I dont see a need for a 4x4 quad.

A few weeks ago I saw an ad that said " 60 3 weelers" for sale, no pic or other description. Called up, talked to the guy, turns out his dad had all these old rusted 3 wheelers in storage for the last 25 years. Took an hour drive to go see what was there. Most looked in terrible shape and would be parts machines, but there were a few decent ones. The best shape ones were Yamaha 225dx which I have no interest in. Ended up buying 5 machines for $50 each and got a bunch of extra parts too. Three 84 200s's and two 83 185s's, all complete, but in need of some carb cleaning at the least. So far I've got 2 running. When it warms up outside I'll see about getting the others running. Looking forward to going through them one at a time and bringing them back to life. Pics to come.....

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[n8r]

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This is my first 84 200s I got for $200. Fairly clean, runs awesome, but smokes a little on startup until the motor warms up, then zero smoke. Going to pull the head off in the spring and fix the smoking...hopefully just needs vavle seals.

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Could only get 3 in one trip so had to make a couple trips

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This was the worst one, was complete but I started stripping it down to clean and bring back to life.

[n8r]

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This is what awaited me when I went to look at the "60 3 weelers"! A true hoarder. It was overwhelming just looking at it all. There were a few 200x and 250sx parts machines that I almost got to part out and make some money, but decided I didnt have time or space. Rethought about it, but someone has since bought all the remaining trikes from him. Quite a few Yamahas, but the vast majority of the trikes were pre 1983 Honda 110s ,185's and 200's with no front suspension, and I was only interested in ones with front suspension. At the time, I didnt know much about these machines and just wanted the 200s's. I've since read up on trikes and wish I would have gotten a bunch of others, but oh well.

[atcmatt]

Wow that sure is like trike heaven! Glad that you got some to put back into service!

[oldskool83]

Hope ya got some 200x's because them auto motors in the X frame make it 100X more fun.

[rustyhondas]

You lucky son of a trailprotrailprotrailprotrailprotrailpro

[Ghostv2]

I wouldn't of left there without almost all of them at that price.

[n8r]

Hope ya got some 200x's because them auto motors in the X frame make it 100X more fun.

I didn't get the 200x's only because I know I would get in trouble on such a machine. I'm having a hard enough time keeping things calm and safe on the hardtails. I have no self control or discipline when it comes to power machines and I don't respect them. In my opinion, if you don't respect the speed, power and it doesn't scare you, you have no business riding it cause you'll keep pushing it to the limits and all it takes is one time and you're messed up for life. I used to be an aggressive fast rider and had a wakeup call a few years ago when a friend crashed going 90 on a desert bike and now is permanently disabled. It's not worth the risk and I've since sworn off any type of potentially dangerous riding. I have to stay away from machines that make me want to jump and ride fast.

[n8r]

He wanted $150-300 a machine for the suspended trikes such as the 200x and 225dx's, and they needed a lot of work. In his mind the rigid and hardtail trikes weren't nearly as good machines and was ok with less. It was an obscure ad and I was the first person to go look at them and had to make a couple trips to get the ones I got. When I went back the third time to get more he wouldn't sell anymore for $50 and wanted $100 per machine, I guess because he had remorse selling them so cheap. At the time, I didn't know what I know now about trikes and didn't want to mess with the other ones, but looking back I wish I would have gotten a lot more.

[Atcrumm]

Looks like you got a great deal enjoy

[n8r]

That was a hoard!

It's hard to go wrong with the 185s and 200s. You've already found out they are great play machines and they're capable of traversing some pretty demanding terrain. Best of all, they are very lightweight compared to a 4x4 quad and seldom will you ever need help to get it out of a tough spot.

I've been to Utah, Moab specifically, and I would love to be able to ride a trike there. I mountain biked when I was there, Slickrock, Porcupine Rim trail, and several of the shorter routes. With some good soft knobby tires on a 185 or 200, a person could take some water and snacks and stay out all day and just enjoy the scenery without riding at breakneck speeds.

It's all about the tires on a hardtail. 2 ply knobbies are the absolute best general purpose tire you can use. They ride good and offer amazing traction on just about any surface and even perform much better in mud that many people would think. Use a sealer like QuadBoss or carry a plug kit though, because 2 ply tires are thin, obviously.

You made a good choice to get the front suspended models though, because they won't bounce around as much as the non suspended ones. You'll have more control at moderately higher speeds so if you hit a hole or rock you didn't see until the last second, you'll be less likely to go bouncing off into some undetermined direction. There isn't much suspension though, so if you get a little too spirited with your riding, you're wrist and shoulders will let you know when all the travel is used up, which is just as well, because there isn't any on the rear.

You got a smoking deal and I can tell you're really going to enjoy them. Have fun out there.

Thanks for the comments, you pretty much exactly described my plans, as far as riding. Moab is an awesome place, and I will be spending a lot of time there with the trike. Unfortunately, it's so crowded and over regulated these days and a different experience than it used to be. The place I'm most excited to go explore and ride is in the San Rafael Swell which is closer than Moab, and just as awesome, terrain and scenery wise. It's more remote and hardly anyone goes there in comparison.

I've been searching the internet and youtube for videos and info on people riding ATC's in places like Moab and can't find a single video. I go there often with my 4x4 Suzuki SUV and ride mtn fat bikes there. I've seen thousands of quads and utv's but have never seen a 3 wheeler on the trails there. It'll be awesome to be the underdog and be riding something different. I'll be making some HD adventure riding videos that I'll post on YouTube and put links here. There is such a lack of high quality video of ATC's on Youtube I feel we need to get some up on there.

I put a set of Duro 2 ply Knobbies on the rear of my best 200s and they are great but they are a little smaller and maybe not quite as comfortable as the Cheng Shin 829 knobby that it has on the front. I'm thinking I might swap the duro's over to another machine and put CS 829's on the rear of my main rider to get back to stock ground clearance.

I'm also planning on making a suspension seat with 4"-5" of travel for increased comfort. I'm 6'3 and need a taller seat and bars. I came up with a design where basically, I'll remove the thick seat foam and modify the seat pan so it has a pivot/hinge up by the gas tank and springs/shocks on the back or the seat. It will be self contained and clip into the stock seat pan holes so no frame or plastics modification will be necessary. In theory it seems like a good idea to me, we'll see how it turns out.