Fork Tube swap on a 200X

[EZ in NZ]

Has anyone done this? I want some more height on my 83 200X. When I replaced the fork seals last summer the Honda seals I got said they were for a XR200.

The guy at the dealership told me they were the same seals as for my X. They work perfect so I guess they are. So then I thought about fitting longer fork tubes from an old XR200 (83 model too I guess) onto my 200X lowers. That way I could use the X trees etc and get another 2-3 inches in height. Well, that's the plan anyway.

Does anyone know if this will work? I've searched the forums and found plenty of posts on complete fork/front end swaps but this doesn't seem to have been discussed previously.

Any help appreciated.

Thanks

[TrikerR]

try a complete 350x suspension package. in pictures of Muddy200x 200x with the 350x suspension, its looks quite a bit taller.

[jenndnn3]

If the seals are the same, I dont see why not. I have not heard of this swap but it certianly sounds like a good one. You may not get many response to "yes i did this!", but doesnt mean you should not try. If you have set of forks at your disposal, I would go for it.

[Muddy200x]

If the fork tubes for the XR are longer it would definitely be a cheaper way to go because you could use all the 200x hardware. It's probably going to give your X a "chopper" look though, because your adding length to the forks but not changing the angle at which the're set.

[EZ in NZ]

Thanks Guys. I have thought of the rake issue but it won't be too bad with an extra 3 or so inches in length that I'm trying to get out of doing this.

A 350X or 250R swap is out of the question for me. That's why I'm considering this as an alternative. There are no 350X/250R parts to be found in NZ and the cost of importing a front end would be out of the question.

Well, I'm going to look into this and I'll post here how it turns out.....successful or otherwise.

[Dirtcrasher]

If the seal fits, hopefully the damping rod size and length will fit also.

[EZ in NZ]

Yeah, there's a few variables at stake but it looks like I can get some old xr forks fairly cheap so it's worth trying this....hopefully Honda were using some of the same internals on these early trikes as their 2 wheelers had at the time.

[EZ in NZ]

Further to this, work is progressing but I need to know the stock length of an 83-85 Upper fork tube for the 200X. Hopefully without having to dismantle one of mine!

Does anyone know or have one handy they could measure?

Out of the lower and the entire length of the upper.

Thanks

Andy

[leprogle]

any update on this upgrade?

[EZ in NZ]

I have the parts but have been sidetracked with a new house/moving.

As soon as I get settled and back on to this I'll update the thread with progress.

[EZ in NZ]

I thought I'd dig out this old thread and finally update it!

I did do the fork tube swap. Turns out the XR fork tubes are not the same as the X. So much for the guy at the dealer! I never did work out what he was rambling on about when I got my seals.

Anyway, the 83-84 XL200R fork tubes are 33mm - the same as the X. (I think the XR are 35mm). I got a nice pair from a wrecker and ripped them apart. The tubes were 95mm (almost 4") longer than the X ones.

I ended up mixing a few of the parts from different sets of forks to come up with what I thought was the best combination:

From the X:

Lowers
Top (shorter) springs
Dampening rod Spacers

From the XL200R:

Upper Fork Tubes
Dampening rods and springs
Bottom (long) springs

This all went together with no problems at all. All completely interchangable. By using the spring combination from the 2 sets, I got a decent amount of fork tension although my X springs were a little tired and I had been using a PVC spacer in them before this conversion.

Without a mod to the back end like mine has had (lifting it too), it WILL add extra rake (fork angle) to your stock trike. Because the same trees are used with 4' more length.

[short4stuff]

Holy $h!t was my first expression, that thing is awsome... It's huge lol

Whats all down to the rear end?
maybe you already have a post on it, i dunno?

I think I remember reading once you have the suspension all good that you were going to do an engine swap.. is that soon?

Also is it tippy or is the axle wide enough?

[Kintore]

Man that things massive! But I bet your weight puts in down to normal level. Looks killer none the less, definetly a one of a kind. Awesome job!

[edog]

I like,keep the pics coming?