An educated discussion in futility

[Modding_out]

My Klt may be a fast little booger, but lets be honest, it's only 185cc's. Translate that figure into real numbers..... your prolly only looking at 179cc of actual displacement

Now my question is two fold, one theoretical question and one actual dilemma, I think I'll start with my problem.

Some of you have heard me say my neighbor has a 86 350x nice bike right? I have and 86 klt 185....not as nice Well long story short were going to go riding this summer and while it's obvious my bike can't hold a candle to the X what can I do to my KLT to make my demise less painful? It's shaft drive so I can't gear up, it has a not existent after market support, but I do need new tires,the largest I've found that fit the rims are 22" (11x8)....Bolt on options? not much There is however a faint glow worm of hope, I am a hobby machinist and my Dad is master tool&die maker, so any thing I can do, he can do better So what are my options? no matter how ludicrous I'm willing to listen, some thing might just be crazy enough to work.

Now more my theoretical question: is there any #$#%% difference between 185s engine and 200s engine? I mean really, who is gonna notice 15cc(idk what the number is, but it's pretty small) when your riding.....

[dcreel]

I'd sell it and get a bigger trike.

[oldtoys72]

I'd sell it and get a bigger trike.

I second that!

[Modding_out]

Sorry guys, that's not an option. haha I don't sell I horde **cough** I uhh mean collect! things that I purchase.......If any thing, I'd buy a 350x but I'm a little strapped for cash atm so I'm working with what I've got.

I'm prolly just gonna maybe get a larger carb (don't quote me on this one) Weld my self up a 3 or 4 stage exhaust system and find some 25" tires.

[fabiodriven]

Check this out-

You have 22x11x8's on it? Put a set of some modern 20" tires on it like Titan Fast Trekkers or RAZR's or something like that. It will both gear it down and make it able to slide around corners. The only down side is a slower top speed. How fast do you really need to go on that thing though? If you put the 20's on another set of rims you can swap the two sets of wheels out for when you want to change the gearing and handling.

[fabiodriven]

I just now noticed you are thinking of putting 25's on that trike? Don't even waste your time with that. That little thing won't turn 'em worth a sh!t.

[hang&rattle]

Check this out-

You have 22x11x8's on it? Put a set of some modern 20" tires on it like Titan Fast Trekkers or RAZR's or something like that. It will both gear it down and make it able to slide around corners. The only down side is a slower top speed. How fast do you really need to go on that thing though? If you put the 20's on another set of rims you can swap the two sets of wheels out for when you want to change the gearing and handling.

I want...., I want...., I want. I dream of a KLT (85+). Every time I see one. I want one. I think they are the coolest, rare, trike that I'd love to own.

[Modding_out]

I just now noticed you are thinking of putting 25's on that trike? Don't even waste your time with that. That little thing won't turn 'em worth a sh!t.

Hmm I'll take note of what you say with the tire size... but would you mind explaining your answer more?

At the moment I'm running 22's and from a dead stop I can top out the first 3 gears very quickly(first gear is almost instantaneous) 4th and 5th aren't bad though it takes an appropriate amount of time before a shift is required. I don't know what your 160 does but my 185 is geared pretty low. Now how would 20" tires help me if I'm already doing death revs by the time is takes me to shift in and out of 1st gear?


Now before any one jumps on here and says "dude your clutch is shot" Trust me there is no excess slippage, I'm sure it could use rebuild, but the engine is not howling like banshee while I'm barley moving. quite the opposite.

[fabiodriven]

From what you're saying you must be doing a lot more high speed riding than I would have guessed. That machine is made for farting around the yard and the woods. If you're blowing through the gears and you don't have enough top speed than you should just get a bigger machine. I'll tell you right now that trike isn't going to like 25's.

[Modding_out]

I literally do EVERY thing with my KLT......

I race around my yard, I go mud bogging, I go racing down the rail road tracts, I come back, find some more mud, I hitch the trailer to it an do farm work, I find some high water to wash it off, pull doughnuts in the water, find some boulders to crawl around on in first gear, go through the woods to my neighbors house "fall" into the creek, continue to toward neighbors house in the creek, race around his yard ,come home, find the boulders again, race around my own yard, put my much loved KLT back in the barn. That concludes a normal day

[Modding_out]

Sooooo.....Any tire size/type suggestions for my, uh....."riding style"....

[oscarmayer]

in sort despite what you wan tto do, your trike will not compete against a sport trike. if you want to do more, buy a 2nd trike. there's a reason yours is a worker and the 350x is a x style (x=motocross/cross country). It was built from Honda to compete and ride faster than a normal trike or yours a worker bee.

[fabiodriven]

Sooooo.....Any tire size/type suggestions for my, uh....."riding style"....

Dude, we've discussed 20's, 22's, and 25's. What else do you want to talk about?

[jb2wheels]

... what can I do to my KLT to make my demise less painful? ...

Quit worrying about it - just go ride and have fun. If the ride is just a, "Mine's bigger than yours," contest it's just gonna get old fast.

[RubberSalt]

Get some pro wedge tires, they don't last amazingly long on pavement or anything besides sand and snow, but they ROCK. Smoother ride, variable gearing thanks to the massive expansion of the tire at high speeds. and 22inch to start with.

At low speeds they are 22 inches. At high speeds, they could be 25 inches, this is a guestimate.

Maxis 4-snow, pro wedge and i think the ams zippers

You could make the bigger exhaust like your saying. Cut the valves and try putting in some bigger 1s. Don't know how well they would work, but you could try valves from a KLT200 or something. Get a 26mm carb. The KLT200 uses a 26mm, that should be a sign. Mill the head down a hair for higher compression.