ATVonDemand.com Honda 350X Vintage Motocross Build and Restoration

[ATV On Demand]

ATVonDemand.com is restoring and building two Honda ATCs for vintage motocross racing. The machines will be featured in individual test videos on our site and will appear together in an issue ATV Rider Magazine. Our goal is to increase awareness for the sport of three-wheeler riding and racing, while highlighting a number of the companies still producing performance parts for vintage three-wheelers.

After months of pone calls, contemplation and debates, we came up with build lists for our 1985 ATC350X and 1986 ATC250R. We recently received the final components for the ATC350X and building has begun on that machine. Test rider Rob Ray has already won the Open Expert class at Trikefest, aboard our 250R, which was unfinished at the time.

We were amazed how willing the aftermarket was to participate in these builds, considering how limited the vintage trike market is. It really shows how passionate these manufacturers are for the machines we enjoy. If you are in the market for any of the items featured in these builds, I hope you'll consider these brands.

1985 Honda 350X

Purchased 9 months ago for $1200, our 350X was pretty solid for its age, with the exception of a small oil leak in the bottom end due to poorly repaired crack in the engine case, and a little engine smoke on start up due to worn out valve seals. The frame had been repaired once but was otherwise in good shape. The fork seals were leaky and the fork oil looked like mud.

[ATV On Demand]

TPC Trikes offers a gusset kit for the Honda 350X that you can install yourself, or do what we did and send in the frame. We had it powder coated upon return, along with our stock swingarm.




DuraBlue's Heavy Duty Axle is claimed to be more then twice as strong as stock and is four inches longer overall, widening the machine. We added a set of DuraBlue's wheel hubs providing a wobble free rear wheel.





Race Tech, makers of the famous Gold Valve Emulator for non-cartridge forks, had never done 350X suspension before. We are working with them to develop a kit for the X




To take any play out of our chassis, All Balls replaced our machines head tube, swingarm and axle carrier bearings.

[ATV On Demand]

Today's three-wheeler racers and CT Racing's old magazine project bikes were the original inspiration for these builds, so we had Allen Knowles port our cylinder and perform a five-angle valve job. CT felt the Megacycle 162-30 cam was ideal for this engine. It increases power across the board, and is the hottest cam you can run without using shorter valve guides. Megacycle reground the cam and hard faced the rockers for much greater durability. Hard facing your rockers is mandatory with this cam, along with heavy duty valve springs.

R/D Valve Springs heavy duty springs makes kits with chromoly or titanium retainers. Titanium is lighter, but considerably more costly so we went with the chromoly ones.

LAPC bored our stock cylinder one size over stock and supplied the 12:1 Wiesco piston. Upon CT RAcing's request, they modified the valve pockets, providing a bit more valve clearance, preventing any clearance issues under the prolonged extreme heat of racing.




Sam Harkabusic, 2012 CRA Vintage Expert champion races hare scrambles on a 350X. He modifies Honda 400EX head pipes to work on the 350X. The header pipe's head tubes are much longer before they join into the collector. The pipe is cleaned inside and out, polished, and he even does some port work on the header openings where they meet the cylinder. The stock head pipe is very restrictive. We think the Harkabusic pipe will work better, and for sure looks better. We will use it with a restored Supertrapp slip-on




A Tusk First Line oil filter will keep things circulating cleanly.



Power Sports Nation, a huge used parts retailer will also be outfitting the machine with a 400EX carburetor. Photo Coming Soon.

[bkm]

Its good to see that these companies that normally don't work with the older bikes are willing to work with you guys. I know that a number of guys on here have approached companies that used to make parts back in the day and companies that could make new parts now, about either re-popping vintage parts or making new stuff and have been told to pound sand. I guess having a website and not being average "Joe Blow" might have something to do with it.

[ATV On Demand]

A Renthal R3 O Ring chain, and Rocky Mountain ATV, Primary Drive steel sprockets handle drive duties. We were a little bummed that neither manufacturer had a light-weight aluminum rear sprocket for the X, however our setup should last a long time. We went from a 13 tooth to a 14 tooth front sprocket to compensate for our soon to be installed smaller tires.

[IMG][/IMG]

[ATV On Demand]

Choosing handlebars with a wide enough base and tall enough rise is difficult on ATCs. Renthal's Vintage Desert bend bars get the job done well. Renthal ATV grips are comfy.




ASV Unbreakable levers seemed like a good idea on a machine known for tipping over. their F3 Pro Model clutch assembly has almost everything you get with the C5 including the rubber dust boot and quick adjust knob. We're also installing the matching F3 brake lever and dust cover.



Our stock brake pads were close to cooked, so we installed a set of new Tusk brake pads front and rear. Tusk products seem to perform well, especially for the money and availability through Rocky Mountain ATV.



HRE's steel pegs for the 350X are gnarly. They are twice the width of stock, feature nice welds and look wet in black high-gloss powder. Here is betting traction is great, but I wouldn't want to fall on those teeth!

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We spent weeks going over online tire catalogs trying to figure out which tires to run, as many of you are well aware. After all of the pondering we went with the Kenda Scorpions, a tire that dates back to the three-wheeler era. We believe they will offer decent forward traction with less side bite them most of today's high performance race tires, judging by their rubber compound and diamond shaped knobs, allowing you to more easily slide the rear end out. The 18x9.5-8 provides a low center of gravity and narrow footprint.



Could these wheels be too sexy? OMF dug this project enough to outfit the machines with their 8in billet center wheel with drain hole beadlocks and reinforcing rings. We cant stop staring at them.



We will be sticking with the stock silver front wheel and the Kenda Max front tire the machine came equipped with when we purchased it.

[ATV On Demand]

We ditched our stock seat foam replaced it with a Hi-Flite desert foam. The difference in pegs to seat height is closer to what comes on a modern sport ATV, and should making transitioning from sitting to standing easier, for the rough sections of the track.

Cosmic Quads did an outstanding job of constructing and installing our new made to order seat cover. The color, design, and fit exceeded our expectations.





Maier MFG still makes plastic for tons of three-wheelers. they decked us out in white front and rear fenders, front number plate and a pair of their over-sized super scoops.

The Maier super scoops were mounted to a standard size Clarke fuel tank. The plastic tank is available in a few colors and should be more comfortable on the knees.

[ATV On Demand]

To protect our TPC modified frame and powder coated swingarm, we acquired PRM ATV's chassis and swingarm skid plate. PRM also switched out our stock skid plate with their Desert grab bar. The additional width will be nice when picking up the rear end.






As you can see, we are currently building the machine and hope to have it finished by the middle of October. Look for the final articles by Christmas and check out the 250R build thread we will be adding soon. More updates to come!

[Louis Mielke]

All this bling an no stainless braided brake line?

[swampthang]

I like what I see!! But wheres a pic of the sweet wheel and tire combo on the bike? Don't leave a guy hanging. I urge everyone that likes this build to rate this thread. I did 5 stars

[ATV On Demand]

All this bling an no stainless braided brake line?

Brake lines may likely be a last second add-on.

We will have pictures of the machine completed close to the story release.

Here is stock test footage of the 250R and 350X we threw together before Trikefest this year. Maybe you have seen this video already, but for those who haven't, here is a look at the stock machines in action with test rider Rob Ray, who will also ride both machines for the project build photos and videos.

[jeswinehart]

Nice choices on product (and rider) ! Yes, Mr. Ray is extremely entertaining rider to watch perform.
I will delete my posting above to cut down on clutter, you have a lot of info put out, man nice products.
Looking forward to reading more on this build,,,

john

[honda200x1987]

I am no pro rider but a stock 350X is a gorilla and with all this work it will be a mean mo chine . Those are some great products and I especially like the Scorpions, great looking tires! Thanks for posting!!

[jays375]

Very nice!Don't how long those tires will last though.