87 Fat Cat 200 build

[DDQ]

Last week I saw a dirt bike in the weeds while visiting a friend from high school. I asked him about it and he said it was a fat cat. I did not know what it was but I bought it for $100.
He said he replaced the rear shock with something from the junk yard because the factory shock bottomed out too easily. He said the new shock was even worse, though. He also showed me where the frame cracked and he welded it (ugly job). Another thing is that he welded a rack on the rear. He did a terrible job but Im strangly comfortable with the practicality of it and may leave it.

I bought it because I saw it has pegs for a passenger and my girlfriend has been wanting to go riding with me. I thought it would be a good project to work on together and introduce her to wrenching.
The motor turns over, has clean oil in it and the tank does not leak fuel. The intake manifold is clean. I cleaned the carb and am going to show my gf how to put it back together tomorrow and we may see if it will run.

My questions are:

1) is there a rear shock for this bike that was built to actually handle the weight of two people riding offroad?

2) how hard are parts to find for it? 247891247892
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[fieldy]

1) How much does your girlfriend weigh?
2) Tough.
Maybe some passenger was leaning back with there hands putting weight on the rack causing the frame to break as it did. That or too much cargo on it, hit a bump, shock bottoms....ka-snap! It would be interesting to know how that happened? Major jumping or payload/leverage break.
Is there much weather damage besides the rusty repair area? Good buy! 87!

[DDQ]

I do not see any other damage to the frame except there. If the bike will run I can grind that ugly weld down, put in a couple gussets in then maybe rattle can the whole frame while the motor is out.

I weigh 210 and my gf is anout 130. The guy I bought it from was a big guy though. He looked about 6'4" and 290 lbs and he had it through high school and college.

[DDQ]

Good start! It started right up after a good carb cleaning.




https://youtu.be/3QGypbkHDy8

[Rob Canadian]

Awesome. Heck of a deal at a $100. I have never saw one myself in person.

[DDQ]

Next I am going to pull the motor, rattle can the frame, clean the tank best I can and instal an in line filter, then see if the trans works as it should. If all is good then I will try to find an oem rear shock and some plastic.

[DDQ]

I re-did the repaired spot today. I also found a couple broke motor mounts and ordered new ones.


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[DDQ]

Paint is done. Im going to need rear axle bearings too.

248091

[keister]

The good news is the front wheel bearings are the same as the ATC in your first picture.
Parts are tough (but not impossible) to find. Just need to be diligent.

I have an 86 myself. The rear shock seems "mushy" which the case with all fat tired bikes I have ridden. I think it's normal.
As for 2-up riding?....... this would be a particularly poor choice in my opinion. You'll know why after you take one ride.
Congrats on the score and good job bringing it back to life!

[DDQ]

The good news is the front wheel bearings are the same as the ATC in your first picture.
Parts are tough (but not impossible) to find. Just need to be diligent.

I have an 86 myself. The rear shock seems "mushy" which the case with all fat tired bikes I have ridden. I think it's normal.
As for 2-up riding?....... this would be a particularly poor choice in my opinion. You'll know why after you take one ride.
Congrats on the score and good job bringing it back to life!


All the motor mounts have arrived, so have rear axle bearings. I THINK all I need now is a rear sprocket, chain, and plastics.. i hope to get it together over the next month. I am not willing to accept a mushy rear shock so I am going to look more into a suitable replacement.

[lndy650]

I love fat cats! Had a few years ago. Me and my buddy would put about 3lbs of air in the tires so they were really squishy and go ridin in the woods all day. With the low air in the tires you could bounce up and over fallen trees and big rocks or whatever else you came across. Some day I wanna build a 450 dirtbike with the wide tires like a few ppl have done.
DDQ just subbed to your youtube channel are you gonna make more videos of the build?

[DDQ]

I love fat cats! Had a few years ago. Me and my buddy would put about 3lbs of air in the tires so they were really squishy and go ridin in the woods all day. With the low air in the tires you could bounce up and over fallen trees and big rocks or whatever else you came across. Some day I wanna build a 450 dirtbike with the wide tires like a few ppl have done.
DDQ just subbed to your youtube channel are you gonna make more videos of the build?

Yes, I will add vids as I build. I hope to get back at it next week after xmas.

[Footy]

Glad it is running DDQ. And yes they let me in here. You need to bring that over to ride at my farm some time.

[DDQ]

I got it together in riding shape and took it for its first spin last night.

https://youtu.be/8faEpNZleDA

[DDQ]

Here is where im at with it. Next on the list is to change the fork seals. How hard is it to do?
It also needs plastic, a seat cover, and battery. I'm not sure how much more money I want to put into the machine. It runs and rides good right now and would take at least $350 more to make it cosmetically 'nice'.

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[DDQ]

I got an R1 shock of ebay for $30. It is 0.20" shorter than stock. I anticipate having to trim the air box to get it to fit even upside down.

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[DDQ]

R1 shock installed

249981

[DDQ]

250013



Airbox back in.

[AMK]

R1 shock installed

249981

I'd ride that! Especially in that area, nice place.

[shortline10]

Good deal , the last one of these I serviced threw my shop had a trimmed front Atc350x front fender for the rear fender . Looked and matched very well .