I'm convinced, you CAN NOT kill a Honda...

[tyman]

You just can't do it....

I was cleaning up the garage yesterday, and i pulled the old 110 outside, put some air in the front tire... thats all i did... this is the same machine that, one year ago, completely died going down the road and wouldn't restart no matter how many pushes i gave it, no pullstarter, and clicks in all 4 gears, low and high, and burns more oil than gas... usually about a half a quart per ride...

So i put it on reserve, still had the old stale gas in it... and after giving it the third push and clicking it into gear, it FIRED! and idled! so i took it down the road again, and held it open...ran just as good as ever... so i drove it back and decided.. hmm maybe i should see if it has oil in it??? sure enough, it was full of oil.... i can't believe it fired... i guess it needed some time to sleep...

anyone else out there have crazy death stories about their threewheelers??

[oldred95]

Its about impossible to kill those old three wheelers. One of my dads friends bought his daughter a TRX 125 when she was about 10 and from day one it only knew wide open throttle regaurdless of the gear. Then it got passed down to two other daughters that gave it the same treatement. It would sit and idle in gear on 100 degree days for half an hour at a time and think nothing of it. When the river gets low we ride down it and that ATV was in 4th gear the whole time and never got shut off, again in extreme heat. They would take off from a stop in sand in 4th and the clutch never would die. Why it never melted down I'll never know but to this day its still running as strong as ever.

[Nick_R_23]

My 200's vent line got plugged from ice last year, and it built up quite a bit of pressure in the crankcase. It ended up blowing out most of the oil seals and gaskets all at once. I took it in the garage yesterday to rebuild the engine and fired up 2nd pull after sitting all winter. Also had 2mm of piston slap all around. How it could even run is beyond me.

Also the previous year, we took it out on a 23 mile long mud trail. One part was about 10' long with 4 ft deep water. Nothing hard, been through it before, but this time a root had poked up and caught the 200 underwater. Got it out a few minutes later, still idling away like nothing happened, and suprisingly it hadnt sucked in any water.

My XL175 isnt a trike, but its a Honda anyway. Its been sitting since 1985 and nobody could figure out why it couldnt spark. Had it ONE DAY, and it took me all of about 30 min to trace it to the points being bad. Ended up being just rusty, and I cleaned them up and drove it the next day.

I agree, you cant kill them.

-Nick

[ATC-Eric]

My 200s smokes like a train! After the rings went, I continued to drive it (for a while!!!) irresponsibilly just waiting for something bad to happen. I ended up parking it with frozen cables, toasted seals and bearings, and a pretty gummed up carb Im sure. It has sat for over two years, but I would bet I could get her started in no time.

I was amazed at how much abuse Honda's can take.

[84honda200s]

i put my 84 200s in a pond (long story) i pulled it out tipped it on its grab bar, let it sit there till the water drained out, pushed it back on its wheels, and puled the recoil and i fired rite up. then i put it in a garage for about 3-5 months (i figured it would be seized) went up to it in the spring looked at it and said to myself it has to be dead. turned it on (the kill switch) then gave it choke held the gas open about 1/4 open and pulled and bam it started up. i was so danm happy.


hondas cant die its impossable

[farsighted770]

maybe this is why all those goofy civic owners think their cars are fast too? they just wanna be like our trikes! lol lol lol

[icp4life162005]

Once or twice a summer or 2 ago it was about 85 to 90 degrees out and i had been running the 200 for a few hours PUTTING around (no more than 25 mph) and we had the bright idea to run it up the creek a fews times in water that came up to just below the spark plug. But the biggest thing is the water was about higher 30's low 40's temp wise. (Its from an underground spring that feeds it). I had a little fish in the airbox but never did it stall or sieze up. I could go out right now and ride if it had a front end on her

[InPiEcEs]

My 250R has been sunk twice in it's life.........that I know of.
First time was when we went out with some buddies and their lifted 4wd trucks to some local mudholes.
There was a smal one, about 25-30 feet across, and it had a slight lip like a jump.
I had the bright idea that I would jump about halfway across, and power through the other half with built up speed.
Needless to say, I did get halfway across by jumping it...........and then she sunk in about 4 feet of nasty mud water.
Got it out, tipped it straight up, squeezed out the air filter, and cleaned the plug.
It fired up with a dramatic show of smoke and rough running for a bit, and then cleared up and ran fine.
The second time whe got sunk, I slid off the side of a nice slimy bank into....again,
nasty mud water, and again it fired right back up.
It ran fine for a few more years till I parked it for a complete resto, which I am in the process of.
I haven't seen many Hondas that won't at least run with a bit of wrenching, unless they grenaded or something. Even the 2-strokes are tough.

[Rex Karz]

The difference between Chevys/Fords/Dodges are minor in terms of "which brand is the most reliable" but Hondas are head and shoulders above all other bikes. What a trip, huh?

[honda_atc200es]

i wish the same applyed for my honda, i just wish i knew what was wrong with it

[tproblemc]

i have a honda 110 that i got from a neigbor for free it had been sittin uncoved in his yard for about 2 years just cleand the carb and it fired no problem still has the same oil in it and i was out at a popular riding spot which also has a big mud hole after some convincing from my friend i drove it straight into it got stuck with water just above the carb sucked some water but still fired up once we got it outof the water and continues to run strong to this day

[Vealmonkey]

Make sure to change the oil right away. You won't believe all the debris like sand and dirt and stuff water has in it. That stuff is grinding away in your engine right now every time you ride it without changing the oil. It would also be a good idea to take out your oil screen and clean that real good. If you don't get any oil to the oil pump or the oil pump gets filled with crap and quits working, you'll kill it and rather fast. I guarantee it.

[pudge]

i had a 1985 xr200r that was bought in 1995, i never changed the oil, sparkplug, even cleaned the air filter, i mean i was 10 years old. i parked in in a barn in 2000, i traded it last week for a 250sx. the guy drained what gas was still in the tank, sprayed the carb, did NOT change the plug. he said he fired it up on less that 10 kicks in 20 degree weather, it sat 9 years after 5 years of running it into the ground.

[brapp]

i had a 02 foreman 450 also known as the yellow submarine it was run and run and run had over16k mile son it and hard miles too fialy did a rebuild and how it stayed runnign is beyond me. it took .020 overbor episton to fix the reing groves, it burne dhardly any oil and the top compression ring wa sin 3 pieces and the bottoem compression rinf wa sin 4 pieces and worn so thing i dont know how it stayed running. but woudl stillstart unde rits oen power and run,

[rdlsz24]

I bought my 200x with this piston in it:



It started up first kick when I went to buy it and smoked like a freight train but still ran great. I figured out something was goofy when I drained the oil and saw silver chunks lol. Once I pulled the cylinder off I saw it.

Rob