1983 185s. Save or part?

[hancadam]

Hi everyone,
Leaning towards rebuilding this 185s. They are one of my favorite ATC's, but it will need quite a bit. Rear frame where the grab bar bolts is tweaked some. One of the foot pegs is bent, and one of the front shocks are bent. Other than that, it's in decent original shape. The engine looks untouched, has good compression and spark. Tank is solid, with minimal internal rust. Front and rear fender both have cracks that are fixable.

Tires are shot, I've already cut them off. Rims are good enough. Exhaust is solid and will be nice after a wire wheel and high heat paint.

So if I can get the bends out, I will at minimum need seat cover, seat foam, carb kit/rebuild, and tires. If I can't get the front fork tube straight will need to get them.

Or on the flip side do I go all the way and strip it to the frame, paint and new plastics all the way up and new wheels?

Or last option is to part it out to buy more.

I paid $150 for it as is.
Thoughts?

Back story goes as:. A mom took it from her kids cause they wouldn't stay off the road and it sat in the garage for years and years. Then the guy I bought it from got it about 5 years ago, but he never made a serious attempt at getting it running. Pics of when I got it home and after disassembling. So far all bolts have come out easy.

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[ironchop]

I would fix that up and ride it

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[captainweezy]

Iron chop is right. It has great potential. I think i have a good amount of what you need. Seat will be hard to find. Hopefully pan is good. I have forks, rear fenders even a very nice set of near new kenda's mounted on nice one piece 185/200 rims. Any way i am blabbing too much. Get the motor running first and go from there.

[hancadam]

Not blabbing too much. If I can't straighten out my bent fork, I'd be interested. Feel free to pm me your prices. Leaning towards doing a top down build, but that will require some more funds. Spent a lot on the 110 and big red.

Getting it running won't be a problem, engines are the easy part for me, patience and painting is the hard part.

The seat pan will be a problem, feels weak. I'm wondering if I can lay a couple layers fiberglass and epoxy on it then trim it up.

[350for350]

No matter which way you go, SAVE IT! I love my 1980 185. Even though with no suspension, I usually just ride through the trees slowly or up and down the dirt roads around here. This is from earlier today.241319241320My friend was on my ytm225, I rode the 185.

[83ATC185]

Thats gonna be a nice rider!

[jb2wheels]

That one is worth restoring as long as you know you probably won't get your $$ back out of it when done.

[hancadam]

That's the part I don't like. If it wasn't for the bent shock, foot peg, and rear frame, it would be a no brainier for me. Foot peg should be pretty easy to get right, the rear frame/grab bar, harder, but doable. The front shock could be the expensive part.

I have a decent carb I can throw on it, that should make it run since motor turns over, has compression, and spark. If it needs a top be, IE smoking, that may decide for me. Otherwise the little things will nickel and dime it. Seat pan, seat foam, seat cover. Possibly new fenders, tires, and headlight cover. So could end up sinking considerable money into it, but if I can get the bent parts right, and if I luck out with the top end, tires and seat alone may make it a rider. But I'm picky.

[hancadam]

As for riders, I have a 200es, 200e, 110, xr200, and a rail buggy, so that's kinda why I want to a frame up restore on it, just have to find the money.

[86125m]

Alright boys and girls hear is my take I think the bike is well worth saving. The fork tubes are pretty easy to straighten if you have a bench press foot pegs are easy they will usually straighten in a vice or with a hammer. Unless the rear frame is making the bike drive funny or is making it impossible to mount things leave it alone. Now frame up restoration doesn't necessarily have to be overly expensive you just have to be patient and thrifty with every step. Instead of replacing everything take your time to restore alot of what you already have.

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[ZacH_GrifF]

Definitely worth fixing up, that decompression cable setup is pretty hard to find. I'd say it would even be worth finding a good bare frame to swap everything on to if you're worried about fixing the one you have.

[Herboso]

Seems like a no brainer as it is. Compression, spark, good tank. Its not running because...? Carb? Clean the carb or throw on a new one and it should run. Set of tires, straighten the fork, seat cover and you are riding. I wouldn't do a frame up restore. Just make it a rider and have fun. Tires are the most expensive part but I bet you can have it riding for < $250. If you can find good used tires you can cut that down even more. I bet you could have it running and riding in one weekend barring any major internal problems.

[Degoragon]

It's a better looking example than I started with. My tires were in great shape (and Cheng shin Mud Busters), and it ran, but it needed quite a bit of work. Both fenders were busted up, the original headlight was gone, the seat was chewed beyond repair, the carb leaked, no brake lever (hand or foot) for the back, and the rear axle was bad, and needed replacing among with the bearings. It still wasn't bad for the price, which was also $150, but yours looks nicer by far. Here was mine when I started. 241457

[Degoragon]

Also, about the bent fork, is it at the top, or the bottom? The shock tube on those is removable. If its in the lower tube, you should be able to find another on eBay. It's the same as a 1984-1986 200s. As far as the carburetor, for less than $20, you can buy a new one through eBay or Amazon.

[hancadam]

Put a cheap Chinese carb and ugly tank that I use for testing and it started right up. No smoke, sounded good. So I'll be keeping it. Will order some tires this weekend. Other than seat and tires, everything else is basically maintenance.

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[350for350]

I think you'll be glad you went this way when you're riding it.

[hancadam]

Thanks for helping me see the obvious guys. Since I just got done with 2 other 3 wheelers I wasn't really prepared to start another. But I think this one is going to turn out pretty nice for really cheap. Tires are on the way. Ordered seat cover as well. Think I saved the seat pan from near certain death.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170403/ab73dc07c54d9444d3ce065800d52401.jpg

I folded steel and riveted it to the edges of the seat pan. Not pictured, but also coated the entire thing in flexseal just cause I had some and trimmed with garden leak hose with gorilla glue.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170403/4050dbe59c4d818e5664e064980b9dec.jpg

Riveted the crack in the fender
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170403/7dfc8dc4c2979bbc54e2cadcaab8d4e8.jpg

How it sits now.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170403/617c57b6d808e1024c6b06c9db1aeeb8.jpg

Rear fender cleaned up nice. Cleaned the tank out. Still have to get the bent front shock straightened out. After that just install tires, put in new air filter, and fix the brakes. I already have some brake shoes if needed.



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[hancadam]

Just noticing looking at that pic, how red the rear fender is now compared to the front. I soaked it in gunk citrus engine cleaner, then PB blaster to remove the old decal residue, really brought the color back. Will do the same to the front.

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[hancadam]

Duplicate post

[hancadam]

Well, scored a parts atc200 in trade for a push mower. Put the entire front end from it on the 185s. Had to make a little spacer for the axle since I'm still running the 185s rim.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170408/dbec45a3afdf87de952bf5646b781e8c.jpg

Painted wheels and mounted the new tires. Took brakes apart and cleaned them. Once seat cover gets here should be good to go.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170408/3d99aa50bea6a3c7b9c59165a0fcdda6.jpg

[350for350]

You sure sound happy! And to think that you were questioning whether or not to save it. GEEZ! LOL!

[hancadam]

It's a happy machine. One last thing I plan on doing is rebuilding a stock carb to go on it. Still has the cheap Chinese parts carb I just use for testing on it and it's lean. Other than that I believe it's all set.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170413/452b6168f744e4a3950381172133417f.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170413/233f6b7ed27928b052b89acc862fa222.jpg

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[jb2wheels]

Looks fantastic!