Too good to be true?? Need a knowledgeable point of view...

[rayray808]

i inherited an 85 atc 200s. sat for a while, wasnt running but is now. so let me begin my story from the beginning to give you an idea of the whole thing and you tell me what you think....... trike was dropped off at my house from my gf brother. says it ran sat for a couple years and had no motivation to get it running again. its a new toy to me so i messed with it. pulled the carb and tank to clean. only went as far as pulling the bowl and cleaning with carb cleaner. cleaned the inside of the tank best i could and the petcock. put a new fuel line on sticked it with gas and it pours out the bottom of the bowl. fail... cleaned carb again this time pulling the float and valve out and found a piece of debris holding that valve open. sounds promising. i also turned the mix screw "out" when i had the carb out the second. dont know why but i just did. and i think this might play a role in what im trying to get at. put it all back together and tried again. turned fuel on no leak.. awesome. now at this point i didnt even thought of using the choke. didnt even cross my mind. primed it a bit with a few strokes of the throttle and yanked on the cord. wanted to start but didnt idle. so i cracked the throttle a tad bit pull the cord again started right up. wouldnt idle but i adjusted it so it would. started on every first pull so far and no choke or cracking the throttle. DOES NOT SMOKE. THROTTLE RESPONSE IS INSTANT. NO SPIT SPUDDER OR BOG WHATSOEVER. so heres my Q's that makes it too good to be true.. should i adjust or make other adjustments to anything at this point? havent really opened her up or been out on dirt but this thing hauls butt. engine temp doesnt feel like its too hot. after getting it running i changed the oil using valvoline 10w-40. good or bad? also have a new plug i wanna put in but whats gap on these? thanks

[Yamaha3wheeler]

To correctly know how your engine is running (lean / rich etc.) you need to check the condition of the spark plug. My manual on my yamaha recommends that to check the adjustment of the carb you need to put it in first gear and run it top speed in first gear. While at top speed/throttle cut the engine off, and leave it in first and let it rev down to a stop while being sure NOT to take it out of first gear. Pull the plug and check the color. If you have a light tanish color, you're good. Its your call if you want to attempt this. Other may chime in on what they do with their hondas. If you have a service manual, read it. If not, get one ! Make sure when doing this that the plug is new and gapped correctly.

[dougspcs]

I assume by Valvoline 10w40 you mean car oil..no good. Has to be rated for wet clutch..go to your local parts source and get some ATV oil or other with this rating!

As far as carb setup and all other matters adjustment..you need to talk to A MANUAL. Your on the right track for most of it, but instead of winging it thru all this. Follow the proceedures and you can be pretty sure you won't have to do things twice..

He can be located here.. http://www.oscarmayer.net/atc/manuals/

Oh yeah to quote most of the guys here .. "PICS -- let see her"

Welcome noob!!

[Dirtcrasher]

Not rocking the boat here, but I've run Walmart "auto" oil for 15 years now, I only run VR1 in my "expensive " 350X motor.

All the others get 12$ for 5 quarts "El-Cheapo" oil. As long as it isn't hi-mileage or has anti friction additives (blah blah blah), your good.

I have never had a seizure, cam wear or fried a clutch...........

[jordan_muirhead]

seems like a good deal to me, pics man, pics......

[atc007]

Not rocking the boat here, but I've run Walmart "auto" oil for 15 years now, I only run VR1 in my "expensive " 350X motor.

All the others get 12$ for 5 quarts "El-Cheapo" oil. As long as it isn't hi-mileage or has anti friction additives (blah blah blah), your good.

I have never had a seizure, cam wear or fried a clutch...........

Ditto here,30 + years ! Oil is oil,,,but No,it's not!! Whatever......lol

[atc007]

When you pulled the carb apart,you needed to clean the pilot and main jet. Usually,,,the pilot needs replaced as it will not allow itself to be blown out. Anyhow,clean oil,and oiled airfilter,lube all your pivot points,adjust your brakes, get the air pressure perfect in your tires,and enjoy!!

[ametzker]

I also run car oil in most of my bikes but I change it often. As for a small correction on your story. Twisting the throttle with the bike off does not prime the carb unless you have some way newer pumper carb which i'm assuming you don't. All twisting the throttle does is move the slide up and down, nothing else. Welcome to the forum take it out and ride it and let it tell you what it needs.

[dougspcs]

Not rocking the boat here, but I've run Walmart "auto" oil for 15 years now, I only run VR1 in my "expensive " 350X motor.

All the others get 12$ for 5 quarts "El-Cheapo" oil. As long as it isn't hi-mileage or has anti friction additives (blah blah blah), your good.

I have never had a seizure, cam wear or fried a clutch...........

Thanks DC, good to know. The common opinion I have always heard was wet-clutch machines should have wetclutch oil.

But I will definitely conceed to DC's expertise..if normal oil does the job. It's all good.

[tri again]

I've worked all my hondas from 90 -250's
for years (15 plus) with car oil but I change it all the time by tipping the trikes
and pouring it out the fill hole. Takes less than a minute and NO tools!

No real racing but working them Hard on the farm.
Dragging pallets and spike tooth harrows, logs etc
Give them a 'duty cycle', run 'em for 1/2 hr and let them cool down etc.
Also understanding that I simply canNOT live without these things in this climate/terrain.

Kinda like my philosophy of buying cheap sneakers for the kids and
changing them waaay before they start bad wear patterns.

I Do realize I should be running the right stuff, wet clutch oil, and it's also
probably cheaper and less work than changing clutches in a ton of trikes...
so now, feeling guilty while writing this, maybe I'll buy a case or 2 and change them all.

..or not.

Or maybe just the pristine orig owner 87 br and sx.

If I need to feed my engine failure paranoia, I'll re read the info
on decreased zinc in modern oils and cam destruction and worry about THAT for
a few days.

[beets442]

Sounds like you've got a good start on getting it going.0.024 - 0.028 in. (0.6 - 0.7 mm.)

I'd do a compression check, maybe an airscrew adjustment, shifts thru the gears nice?Pics?