Best year for 200x?

[Gabriel]

I know they changed things later on. Curious what the best years models for 200x would be. That's subjective I know.


I traded for an 84 and have next to nothing in it. It is mostly there but everything will need to be rebuilt. It's also sporting a 185s engine, which is fine because I'd likely build an Auto X anyway.

[christph]

The only changes (I know of) they made to the 200X was after the 1st year in 1983. They went from a tubular swing arm to rectangular, which is presumably stronger. They also made changes to the kick start gears and engagement spring, which tended to wear over time. The only other changes were cosmetic. So, technically the 84/85 years are the best, but I have an 83 and never had any problems.

[ps2fixer]

Not sure if this is in reference to only first gen or not, but from my understanding, 83-85 are more or less the same machine. 86-87 A completely different engine was installed. I know next to nothing about the 86-87 model except the wire harness and the fact the 87 had an ignition switch while 86 didn't. Also they tossed out the pulse generator mechanical timing off the cam system to one that's on the fly wheel and the CDI controls the spark advancement.

[yaegerb]

84 and 85 are the best years IMO

[rdlsz24]

For 1st gen I like 85 the best because of its white/red/blue color scheme. They made minor improvements over the 3 years of the first gen like different kicker gears that were less prone to breaking.

I think the 2nd gen 86-87 models are pretty much the same. They do have keyed ignition, which is nice.

If you are comparing 1st gen to 2nd gen the 2nd gen is easily superior but also carry a higher price tag.

Rob

[ps2fixer]

FYI, ONLY 1987 ATC200X's had factory ignition switches. I don't know where the difference in the wiring is located though, main harness, or left handle bar switch wiring. Still need an 87 harness to make notes on vs the 86 so I can reproduce them.

I'm curious if the second gen machines made more power being the newer model, or if they have better performing suspension. Probably could look up the weight difference in the service manual.

[Dirtcrasher]

IMHO opinion the 86 87 is far superior in just about every aspect.

I've owned both a 1st and 2nd generation 200X and they both ride and work completely different.

Also, about 2 years ago, I worked with Jason Hall, I dumped 2000$ to a guy he knew with all the right tools for R and D on the head, as well as had custom pistons made up.

He nailed it, highly modified doing things I'e never seen done. That's why it's so expensive.

It was allot of money but the power this 86/87 cranks out now is pretty amazing...

[Gabriel]

Best year might not have been appropriate. I guess what I should have asked was...Best year for parts availability. This is an 84. It's gonna need everything. The tank has black crusty shet in it. Hopefully it'll clean up cause other than that, it's pretty decent. Could stand a paint job but there's no dents. Time will tell. Front and rear master cylinders are most likely junk. They are froze solid. Front and rear suspension move with my weight on it so at least they are free. Maybe they won't give too much trouble to rebuild.

Original engine is long gone. There's a seized 185 engine on it now. I have three 200s bottom ends and a pile of parts to make them work. I'm thinking an S bottom end with maybe an XR top end would be nice. If I can find the top end parts that is. Wheel bearings are free and oddly, it has 3 brand new tires on it. Still got the tits on the tread. Bonus. I have three other atc's to fix first but this is gonna be my next frame off build. Probably get started around the end of January.

[ps2fixer]

Wire harness wise, 86 is the easiest one to find oddly, the 83-85 stuff people want an arm and a leg for and they are all hacked up. I'm sure 87 is probably one of the hardest years to get parts. I'd say in general first gen would be easiest for most things though for availability and price, just the harness thing is probably a fluke with the market (everyone needs harnesses, and most are junk aka I have to get working on replacements lol).

I suspect most parts fit across 83-85, but I'm no expert on them, I've kind of avoided them, I prefer the 250cc+ machines though.

[Gabriel]

Funny thing about the harness. I haven't looked at it yet but it's the least of my worries. With everything I have learned in the last couple of months from you and from screwing stuff up.....It doesn't scare me at all to build my own harness. In fact, I likely will so I can use a later model 4+2 CDI set up. Expect an order for some plug ends when I get that far. LOL!

[ps2fixer]

Haha, seems like we have a second harness builder in the community. If you're sticking with stock layout and such, I could probably make the harness special application so it's plug and play. Basically just have to know source machine for the engine (year etc) and the fact it's for the 84 200x layout. Only thing I'm not sure of was the pulse generator wire lengths 200x vs the 200s/185.

Ironically, that's a product I'll be making down the road, 83-85 200x harness with updated 4+2 CDI connectors. I already have some adapters and such made for different engines, probably add to that to cover the 200/200s/185/185s engines in the 200x frames. Got more projects than I have time lately which is defo a good thing (I like keeping busy).

The brake parts are somewhat universal from my memory, there was an old thread on a bunch of like pit bike brake calipers that fit the 200x bracket. The major thing was keeping the stock bracket. I have some dirt bike front caliper in a shed for my 350x, just haven't bothered to actually install it (I'm used to riding with no brakes, and it has front brakes a little). I'm a flat lander though.

[Gabriel]

Well, the thing to do would be leave the two wires a little long with no connectors and put two new connectors in the pack. Once engine and harness are in place, trim, strip and install. ......that's how I would ask you to do it anyway.

[Dirtcrasher]

Yes, as far as parts, 83-85's have A TON of parts out there...

I found 2 86 200X trikes within a half hour from my home for 850$ package deal 3 days ago.

The tanks sucked, the seats, ripped, plastic burned or cracked, no kickstarters (250$ each!!), Crappy tires, and a giant box of miss matched junk...

I didn't even bother to look at them, I've got PLENTY of parts for the 2nd generation.

Anyone who's rode a 1st gen needs to race or take a ride on a 2nd gen and see what they think...

[Hoosier_Daddy]

Why ?.........you`re a grown man ? ...........how bout a Blaster motor in an `86 frame ..........auto x why ?.........it`s better to pull gears ...........how bout a nice water cooled 250R instead young man .........young man .........young maaaan

Believe it or not, when I was a teenager, I put an 83 Suzuki RM 250 engine in my 200X frame! I had my dad and a friend of his help me. Welded in new frame mounts and had my dad's friend help fabricate the expansion chamber to fit it. It was a beast!! Wish I still had it!