Just bought my first three wheeler!

[YBW]

So I had an old Fisher Baby Bear I wanted to sell and posted it on a FB group in my area. About 12 hours later a nice young woman responded and came to get it with her dad and friend. The dad sees my BW200 and asks if I know anyone who wants to buy a Big Red-- I tell him no. After we get the stove loaded up I go inside but figure I might as well find out what he wants for it just in case... Well, lets just say I couldn't afford not to. So here she is, '85 250ES!
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When I went to look at it I checked the differential (was full of gear oil and looked clean), the shaft boot (no tears, still a bit soft), forks (don't seem to be leaking?), and the crankcase oil (looked brand new). Started on the 3rd kick and rode it around his land for a bit, paid the man, and loaded it up! The bad is it needs a carb rebuild (choke works but the float is stuck), a right fender, right side cover, fork boots, seat recovered, starter (battery is good though) and the front brake worked on. He mention it had the original tools but they were not in the box. When I got home I took the wife for a ride and had a ball. Now I can't decide whether I want to sell it to finance the Big Wheel or fix it up a bit and hang on to it...:wondering

[Jts trikes]

My 250es would be the last of my fleet to go. Great work horse but you can still use it for play.

[YBW]

Yeah its hard to describe but somehow its so much more fun than a four wheeler! It looks like carb kits are $18 or so, but a whole new Chinese carb is only twice that... Anyone have input on whether I should rebuild or just buy new?

[HamboneKS]

I just got my first big red 250es yesterday!236707

I agree, something about them is just cool. It looks like a damn tank with the wide ass end and giant tires, but feels so nimble compared to a quad.

Good buy!

[YBW]

Nice! Mind if I ask what you paid for it? I'm trying to get bearing on what these things go for... In all reality I will probably do a bit of work on it and then sell it to finance my Big Wheel.

[HamboneKS]

I traded a little 50cc Suzuki trail buddy for it and kicked in an extra $100. The trail buddy was worth 300-400.

So I figure it's worth about $500.

We also have a newborn and the boss won't let me go out and wrench on it, so I think it's a good trade, but not 100%

[HamboneKS]

What's a big wheel?

[deejaycee_2000]

Buy a rebuilding kit, its cheap and worth it, I waited 3 months for my re-build kit from USA (the first batch got lost in the post) it was well worth the wait! There is just something about a 250ES ....

[YBW]

Ok thanks Hambone, it looks like your is in decent shape? Its a bike Yamaha put out during the ATC craze, its just a motorcycle with ATC wheels and tires. deejaycee, I ended up messaging flyingw about his carb rebuilds and I have decided I am just going to pull mine and send it to him. Other things on the list for right now is a seat cover, air filter, and starter. What other type of maintenance things be people usually do for these? I'm not looking into a rebuild or resto I just want to make sure everything is as it should be for riding.

[HamboneKS]

the frame has no dents or cracks, the motor and transmission seem tight. the front fender, headlight/handle bar assembly are perfect, which was a major bonus.

Rear plastics are trash, gas tank has epoxy repair on some pinholes, both racks are a little boogered up but serviceable, needs a battery and tires.

i figure the following:

$200 investment (paid $100 for the trail buddy plus $100 cash)
$200 rear plastics
$150 in tires
$100 in service stuff (oil/filter change, rebuild front forks, brake service)
$60 decal kit
$90 gas tank repair

$800 total investment

[Rob Canadian]

What's a big wheel?

Yamaha BW200. Seen a couple back in the day.

[Rob Canadian]

Keep the new to you trike. They are fun.

Fix up the BW200 too. Then you and the wife can both go for a ride. :cool:

[YBW]

Keep the new to you trike. They are fun.

Fix up the BW200 too. Then you and the wife can both go for a ride. :cool:

Great minds think alike... I had the carb off to flyingw and the seat dropped off at the upholstery shop by 10am and so far I have flushed and changed the differential oil (Valvoline 80/90 hypoid), motor oil (Valvoline 4stroke full synthetic), and spark plug (NGK Iridium). I ordered a starter, battery (gel cell), oil filter (K&N), air filter (Uni), and an hour meter which should all be here no later than Wednesday. I don't know how the owner checked the battery because it seems quite dead to me and one terminal was so corroded I had to drill the bolt out-- which also makes me wonder how he knew the starter was bad... I might hook up the new battery and the starter will work. That would be nice. If the stars align I could have all it all together in a week's time! I also need to look up how to check/adjust the cam chain and valves.

Hambone, $800 doesn't seem like a whole lot for a well squared away BR to me, but I would be curious to see what the experts say.

[Rob Canadian]

Welp you are on your way. :)

http://www.oscarmayer.net/atc/manuals/

Online manual for you.

What kind of shape is the BW200?

[YBW]

The BW was my dads, he gave it to me after the motor froze. Its getting the works, TTR 6 speed bored to 249cc, microsquirt EFI with a KX250F throttle body, monoshock conversion, 200X front and best of all I got a street legal title for it so I can terrorize the streets! I have practically all the parts and am in the mock up stage, the goal is kind of a retro enduro/scrambler look.

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Upon further inspection of the BR, I realized that the front and rear brake both work, its just the hand lever for the rear brake that is locked up, so thats good.

[YBW]

Well, I checked the valve adjustment and it was correct. I got the brakes adjusted and ordered a new cable for the hand rear brake; the cable that's on there is not corroded or anything but the ends of the sleeve are chewed up and I can't get it to move for the life of me. Also drained the old gas into the lawnmower so I can put fresh 100% in there when the new carb goes in. Now its just waiting for parts!

[350for350]

Good move on sending the carb to Flyingw. I did that with my 250sx and don't regret it at all.

[YBW]

Good move on sending the carb to Flyingw. I did that with my 250sx and don't regret it at all.

Yeah, luckily I have other parts to worry about or the wait would kill me! I got the new starter in today and figured I would pull the old one apart just to see what kind of shape it was in. Huge black crumbles, which I'm assuming were what was left of the brushes, came tumbling out. I figure for $33 shipped the new one was worth not having to mess with the old one.

[Rob Canadian]

Age. Maybe overheated to try and start it.

Stuff gets brittle over the years.

[YBW]

Yeah like air filters... I put the new Uni in along with the oil filter that arrived. Am I the only one that gets immense satisfaction out of routine maintenance?

[Rob Canadian]

Am I the only one that gets immense satisfaction out of routine maintenance?

Yes.:crazy:

Just kidding. When I got my trike I did all the regular maintenance. Good base to start from. Why try and run it on old fuel, plug, oil ETC. Makes no sense...

[YBW]

Really though. Since it will have an hour meter on it by the time it goes back together I need to figure out what my maintenance intervals should be--that is if I keep it... I "welded" the fender up tonight with some material I cut from my side cover. Didn't turn out the best but beats spending $100+ on a replacement.

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[jvining]

Hey HamboneKS, That's my old 250ES! Freakin tank, would go through anything.

[YBW]

I decided to check out the petcock, it was super clean. Not.

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There were huge membraney looking things and then sediment. Flyingw is mailing my carb back tomorrow so the fuel system should be ready for it when it gets here on Friday or so. Oh and I realized after looking at the service manual I had overfilled the crankcase by nearly half a quart. I don't know if I read bad info somewhere or just misread, but I'm glad I caught it before running it; I hear the outcome can be disastrous. I'll drop in the upholstery shop tomorrow and see if I can make sure its done by Thursday just for good measure.

P.S. There is a super clean 250es on eBay right now for not a lot of money:http://www.ebay.com/itm/1986-HONDA-BIG-RED-250ES-3-Wheeler-ORIGINAL-RARE-EXCELLENT-CONDITION-/112203533480?forcerrptr=true&hash=item1a1fda0ca8:g:FkAAAOSwo4pYKMNM&item=112203533480. My only thought is why would you want a work horse that looks that nice?

[YBW]

The carb came in this morning and its beautiful! The Big Red is up and running again, just have to wait for the last couple parts to come in. Just in case this hasn't been covered enough--SENDING THE CARB TO FLYINGW=WIN.

[YBW]

I thought I would give kind of a final update on my Big Red since I have the last of the parts in and have had some time to ride it. I used a piece of "EMT Red" kydex to make a new right side cover and installed the hour meter. I went out this morning after it had been 30 degrees last night and it fired right up, so Flywingw's cold start mod definitely works. It's not 100% cosmetically, but with some time it could be close. Everything mechanically works great and its ready for a few more years of abuse!

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[HamboneKS]

Jvining, you sure it's yours? Did I buy it from you or were you a previous owner? I'm trying to get her put back together on a shoestring budget.

[Rob Canadian]

Glad it is back up and running nice.