1984 Honda ATC 125M Backwards shift pattern??? PLEASE HELP!

[BigRedRider85]

OK here goes...I purchased a 1984 atc 125 m last week, great shape, runs great..only thing Im having an issue with is the shift pattern. You shift down to up shift thru all the gears and up to downshift thru all the gears. It has the high/low range 4 speed trans. I grew up on a 86 trx honda 70 with the 4 speed and it was the other way around. Is this something with the hi/low transmissions or is something really screwed up in the trans. I have owned many Honda 3wheelers and this one has me puzzled! Thanks for any info on this model!

[Jason125m]

Nope, that is just how the 125m is. Its perfectly fine.

[RIDE-RED 250r]

Perfectly normal. Some of the old ATC's had an upward shift patter, others had downward. The 125m was a downward shift pattern,

If it goes though the gears and the hi-lo sub trans works your trike is A-OK...

[BigRedRider85]

Thanks for the info Jason and Ride-Red

[tri again]

yeah, I've gotten into trouble jumping from one trike to the next with defferent shift patterns.

The only thing more absurd is the old european / british bikes had the shifter
where the brake is back inthe 70's.
Yupp, go to gently touch the 'brake' and Downshift at 60mph is never good
when yer not expecting it.

Have fun and be careful.

[Jeff B]

My '84 110 is the exact same way. I thought it was going to be weird to get used to, having grown up on an '85 trx250 which is the opposite, but it was like swimming, you never forget. Mind you i did a little research first, and knew that the shift pattern would be different, so there ya go eh.

[kb0nly]

Try going back and forth between my 84 200ES which is down to upshift, and then the 85 125M a friend has that is up to upshift. The 85 and i think later years of 125 went up, the earlier years all seemed to go down. Why they didn't just keep them all the same is beyond me.

[Howdy]

I had a 200x that shifter side to side one time ( right after a crash ). But that is another story all together. LOL

Yep, different machines shift up and others shift down. It will become 2nd nature after awhile. Then you will hop on another machine and have to re-learn to shift for a different pattern. LOL
Howdy

[sterdaddy]

my 110 is all up

[Josh in FLA]

I believe '84 was the cutoff. My '74 CT70, '81 ATC185/200, and '84 ATC70 are all "down is up" shifting, and everything I've ridden '85 and later have been "up is up" shifting. Definitely throws you going back and forth sometimes. My dad worked at the local Honda dealership in the '80s and early '90s, he mentioned some of the racing trike guys bringing in their '85 and later models to get the '84 and earlier transmission setup installed, as they felt it was easier to shift "down" to get going on the track.

[86125m]

yea perfectly ok all of our bikes besides my 86 125m shift down to get into gear. I learned to ride with the down shift so i think the up shift is backwards.

[PC_200m]

Pretty sure it's all 1984 bikes that are downshift.