New Member - San Antonio, TX - 1983 Honda ATC 200

[ElChapoSr]

What's up everyone,
Been around 2 stoke Yamaha Blasters my whole life. New to 3 wheelers, always wanted one and finally found one. 1983 Honda ATC 200. A little rough cosmetically but started up first pull. I bought it initially to flip it, but it's starting to grow on me. Definitely going to hang onto it for a while and putter around the property in it, do some wheelies, maybe tip it and break a collarbone to get the full trike experience.

Just bought a new seat cover, and am servicing it today. Oil change, spark plug, sandblast and paint the wheels, and de-grease everything so I can really see what I'm working with. Any tips/direction/links to other threads I need to go check out are appreciated!

[ATC King]

Looks like it's pretty complete. That's a big hurdle jumped there and will save time and money. That's a nice trike too. Sure it's an '83? If production is mid-late '83, it's probably a 200M. Anyway, it's got the large 25" tires, so good ground clearance, but still more sporty trail machine because it's not a Big Red.

Take some time to remove any pivoting, moving parts, like the brake pedal, clean, lube, then assemble. Lube any and all of the cables that are still good. OE brake cables are better than the aftermarket ones available, so make those work if you can.

Yank the whole front end off. Clean and inspect the steering stem bearings. Those are very often, severely neglected, and updated tapered roller kits are available. Worn steering bearing have a big impact on handling, even if there isn't a bunch of slack in them. Disassemble and clean the forks. If the chrome on the tubes is good, you really want to baby those guys and rebuild the forks with new seals, wipers, and boots. It's a hardtail, but having all 3 inches of front suspension travel working properly makes a huge difference. Those 200M forks are worth gold nowadays, with all the 200E/S guys wanting them.


And, welcome.

[ElChapoSr]

Thanks! Just linked up with a local here in SA, super cool dude. Picked up a ton of odds and ins from him, including a rear rack for a 200 ES (I believe) that I am modifying to bolt right on. Same with a front rack and light guard, I'm fabbing up little mounting brackets to keep everything bolt on. It may be sacrilegious to add racks, but I definitely want to carry around a chainsaw, firewood, a cooler with cold beverages, etc... much more into puttering around the property than hitting fast speeds and jumps.

The sticker on the front fork said 1983 with a 11/82 production date, but of course the sticker is broken right after ATC 200. How would I know it is NOT a 200M? Or how would I confirm it IS at plain jane 200? I ran the VIN, and it said 200 and model not available, not exactly ruling out a model letter.

I got a new rear brake spring so that's not dragging anymore, new centrifugal clutch and plates so no more slipping. De gunked all of the clutch shavings/wear residue from the case which was much needed. New oil drain plug, so no more drips.
Found out the rear axle is bent, but got a whole new axle assembly too. About to put that back on.
My front forks are *almost* mint, chrome is very good and the dampening in them works surprisingly well. New boots are on the way, but I can see I'll need new wipers, and probably seals. I will check out the steering stem bearings, they feel fine but with almost 40 year old bearings, I'm sure they can use a refresh.
Also my seat pan was rust free - I was told that alone was worth what I paid for the bike itself! SWEET!

I did have a few more questions for anybody feeling generous enough to answer:
Where does the compression release lever cable hook up to? Mine is currently flapping in the breeze.
What's the deal with the rear brake? I see it hooks up to the pedal on the right side, but I removed a long cable that looks like it might hook up to the left handle as well? Double brake action here?

Thanks!

[ATC King]

Adding racks won't hurt anything if it's done well. You'll have to drill a couple small holes in the rear fenders if you're using a 200ES rack. You need, or need to fab the support brackets for the rack, that go under the fenders. You'll have to do fabrication to the frame too to make it all bolt up.

The front isn't too difficult to do. Several people have posted pictures of their 200ES front rack and headlight on 200M forks. Those should give you some ideas. You'll need a large drill bit to drill holes for the rubber mounts in your brackets, approx. 5/8".

How much crud was in the oil cleaner when you pulled the centrifugal clutch off? That stuff is usually packed in there hard, they typically don't ever get cleaned out like they need.

The stem bearings are actually available at local bicycle shops. I don't remember the size off hand, but they're just a loose ball bearings and bicycle shops keep those in stock, for multiple sizes. If you don't want to spend for tapered bearings, and have a bike shop nearby, it'll be all of a few bucks to replace the bearings. They used to be 5 cents each at places around here.

That's great about the seat pan. That's a big money item if it's roached.


The decompression cable is suposed to go from the recoil starter, held to the center of the engine case with a little clip bolted on next to the vent tube, to a clamp on side of the cylinder head, and attached to the decomp lever.

The hand lever is really just a parking brake. Should be a little clip, on the perch, that holds the lever in. It doesn't have near the leverage of the foot pedal. I guess if you ride wheelies a lot, it'd come in handy.

[350for350]

The M had an electric start while the plain 200 was pull start only as far as I know.

[ATC King]

The M had an electric start while the plain 200 was pull start only as far as I know.

Yeah. I didn't even think about that.


I thought the regular ATC200 all came with rigid forks, but when looking at the parts diagram for an '83 ATC200 (A?), it shows both. Kind of misleading since the Big Red was available that year, which had the crappy forks.

[ElChapoSr]

I actually heated up a large socket and melted through the fenders where the impressions for the rack were. Holes came out super clean I’ll look up some pictures for the front rack, my simple bracket idea might not look as clean as what y’all trike gods might have whipped up.

I replaced the whole centrifugal clutch both drum and shoes with one from ebay that was in much better condition than mine , but my old one was CAKED with clutch shavings. Literally 1/4-1/2” thick or more in the corners!

For the rear rack, it looks like the front mounting points hit the fender support brackets when the rear hooks are severed properly on the chrome tail handle. I’ll probably cut the front supports and move them back an inch or so to fit cleanly through the fender and fender support bracket holes. I have some flat plate steel I can use to fab a bracket that will bolt into the tail handle mounting points, weld a little nut in the right place, and bolt on the front mounting points of the rack. I want to avoid drilling the frame if possible.

I’ll have to look into some pictures for the decomp cable ASAP, I just ripped my arm out of the socket and the pull rope hit me square in between the legs in the same motion

Hmm, my right hand lever originally had an e brake clip. I’ll have to look at the other two handles I picked up, not sure which side the brake clip is on. My rear brake is currently missing, that’s next on the list of parts to hunt down. The mechanism that turns and spreads the rear brake was frozen solid, I barely got it out and into the new rear axle housing I installed today. Speaking of which, the new axle did not solve my wobble issue, which I thought was a bent rear axle.

Any thoughts on what could cause a rear end wobble that increases with speed? Bent axle was my first though. Hubs are tight, lugs torqued. Would my tires cause something that dramatic? Literally bounces me in the seat until I get going fast enough. I drive on some nasty bumpy roads when in ‘use’ so I don’t notice it there, but when I work on it on flat concrete and test drive it, it’s nagging me.

Definitely need to find a local bike shop for those bearings. Might even do the rear axle bearings just in case.

I also just found the original tool set strapped under the seat! Super cool

[ATC King]

I actually heated up a large socket and melted through the fenders where the impressions for the rack were. Holes came out super clean

Awesome idea!

I’ll have to look into some pictures for the decomp cable ASAP, I just ripped my arm out of the socket and the pull rope hit me square in between the legs in the same motion

That's a recoil starter for ya. You can always reach over and manually move the decomp lever while slowly pulling the rope, until the lever holds by itself. That'll be somewhere near TDC, then you can pull the rope. It'll make it easier, but there's still a change it'll pull the rope out of your hand. The other thing is to pull the slack from the rope before starting. Banging on it increases the chances of having it pulled from your hand. Still, anything with healthy compression can pull the handle from you if the stars don't align.

I also just found the original tool set strapped under the seat! Super cool

That's great!