New Member - 1982 185s Questions

[MatthewH]

Hey guys. I'm a recent owner of a well-kept 1982 Honda 185s. I was offered to buy it at a steal of a deal from a friend of the family. It has ran perfectly for about a month, and now it gives me some trouble, here and there. It literally stalls, and quits running for no apparent reason. I have ordered a new ignition coil and wire to install, but in the meantime I have put in a new spark plug, cleaned the carb and changed the oil. After having done that, it runs well, but I still have the odd issue. Here are a couple of questions I'd like to ask of you.

I've found that if I haven't started or ran the bike in a couple of days, fuel leaks into the crankcase (fuel left open), and it burns smoke for a minute or two. I've started closing the fuel flow everytime I stop riding for more than a couple hours. Does this sound right?

This has happened only twice since replacing the spark plug, cleaning the coil wire and connection as best I could, and cleaning the carb. When in a harder ride (throttle and speed, open road) it stalls and may or may not start back up. I'm thinking is the ignition coil. It's either getting too hot and changing shape too much, or the missing of the spark, causes the bike to flood itself (it also backfires during the 'issue' times).

Anyway, I've always been fond of Honda trikes. I remember riding along with my uncle when I was just a kid on his 250r. I wanted to buy it from him a few years back, but didn't have the money. I got lucky recently and picked up this sweet little 185s for a steal. In the future, I'd like to continue maintaining/restoring this bike. New, factory exhaust, paint job and decals is all it really needs. Know of any places that sells factory exhaust for the 185s, and decals as well?

Thanks, and glad to be a new member.

Matthew

[dustrunner]

hi, and welcome. it sounds like the float is sticking . and gas in the crankcase is not good.. i have a yamaha that does that if i leave it parked with the front end pointing up my driveway... but is fine if it's facing down the driveway or on flat ground... but its easy to shut off the feul than pull and clean the carb.. for now anyway.. the only electrical problems ive had are corroded connectors, be sure and check them.. a mechanic once told me that the honda coils never go bad ?? but i never say never.. good luck .

[freedog]

You can get all the exhaust parts from bike bandit or any other parts site, exceptones that matter, the head pipe and muffler, those you'll have to find on ebay or craigs and maybe you can find a nice one. I dont know who makes aftermarket exhaust for that atc. As for decals, search the boards and you can find contact info for Harlan Lysne, I haven't personally gotten anrthing from him, but they say hes the best for repop decals.

[MatthewH]

Thanks for the tips. I think ill get a carb kit, new coil and wire just for peace of mind. I was thinking that if I should take the carb apart to clean it, I may as well rebuild it. Are there any good fuel additives that would clean the carb out enough to fix a stuck floater?

[kb0nly]

Its probably just a worn float valve, i would get get a rebuild kit and soak the carb overnight in carb dip, try your local auto parts place for it. Some places carry the container of it thats large enough you can just toss the entire carb into it and put the cover on, but make sure you remove all plastic and rubber pieces from it as well as all your removable parts, jets and what not, clean those pieces seperately and use some small strands of wire to clean out all the holes. I bought a kit for carb cleaning at a local auto parts store years and years ago, but i hear all the time guys mention using piano wire or guitar strings to do this job as well. Along with some small pipe cleaners to clean the jets.

Always shut the fuel off, even if you think you can trust the float valve, its just a two second cheap insurance!

[jb2wheels]

I bought an 82 185s new from Twentynine Palms Honda years ago. It eventually morphed into a full suspension hot rod. I loved that trike but the 300R I replaced it with was wickedly fast.

The ignition stators go bad on the Honda singles. Not as often as Tecates, but enough that it's a trend. If the coil doesn't fix your issues, the stator coil is like $40.
http://www.rickystator.com/catalog/h...ars-p-217.html

I have a nice muffler from an 84 200s for sale. They fit the 82 185s but the outlet is different. PM me if interested so I don't turn this into a classified ad.

[tripowersport]

I bought an 82 185s new from Twentynine Palms Honda years ago. It eventually morphed into a full suspension hot rod. I loved that trike but the 300R I replaced it with was wickedly fast.

The ignition stators go bad on the Honda singles. Not as often as Tecates, but enough that it's a trend. If the coil doesn't fix your issues, the stator coil is like $40.
http://www.rickystator.com/catalog/h...ars-p-217.html

I have a nice muffler from an 84 200s for sale. They fit the 82 185s but the outlet is different. PM me if interested so I don't turn this into a classified ad.

NICE cobra......It is a cobra rite?

[jb2wheels]

Sorry for the hijack but:

Yes - FFR Mk 3.1 my dad and built in a 2 car garage (except the paint) for under $30K (including paint). It's an absolute riot...

We decided early on not to spend a fortune on the drivetrain (one of the local cars is 427 cammer with Richmond 5sp) so we have a 5.0 with GT40 heads & lumpy cam with a T5 out of a GT we parted.

[tripowersport]

NICE!!! GOOD Job!!