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1980 honda 110 ATC restomod.


Blmpkn

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I got a 1980 Honda 110 atc in trade a few years ago. It was great fun, until the motor lost all compression after a few quick rides. Started swapping in a 125 manual clutch pitbike motor, then life got in the way and it sat unloved for quite awhile.

50416


Here it is in all its basketcase glory. Pretty well clapped out.

She's about to get a long overdue freshening-up. New wheels, tires, bars and risers, grips, pad and controls, seat cover, all new bearings, wider rear hubs, fresh paint.. the works.

A previous owner was too lazy to aquire an actual front axle nut at some point, so they just welded the front axle to one side of the forks.

50417


Had a few free minutes yesterday so I started the process of "fixing" that with a grinder and a hammer.

50418

50419


Thats about as far as I got. It'll take some precision work with the grinder still but its not entirely unsalvageable, this isn't going to be a museum piece after all.

Had a minute today to get everything on the handlebars. still need to get a kill switch, and decide what I'm going to use for risers.

50421


*Using brakleen to slide the grips on is the best method I've ever used. Beats the hell out of hairspray or even grip glue. The brakleen gives you just enough time to get them on and straightened out before it dries and the grips are stuck to the bars like those gray sweatpants to dirtman.

Hopefully I'll find more time this week to finish grinding the forks and get the rest of the machine disassembled and somewhat prepped for paint.
 


Blmpkn

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2.5"
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285/75/18
My credo
Its probably better to be self deprecating than self defecating.
More headaches caused by a weld happy previous owner today.. found both rear hubs are welded to the axle. Going to need to cut it in half and find a good used one.

50479

50480


Its real unfortunate that an otherwise good axle and set of hubs are destined for the scrapyard due to some lazy moron... trike parts are drying up.

Got more grinding done on the forks. Turned a 1/4" tall booger of a weld into sparks and brought the leg back to a usable state. Good enough for this project.
50476


Also cut off the headlight brackets/tabs so I can put a number plate on it and started wire-wheeling it all down to bare metal.

50478


Called it quits for the day when my drill battery died and I couldn't find the other one.. Gotta buy some of those giant 9ah batteries.
 

Will

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I lived in Dover, Delaware when those things first came out. We had a place called "The Pits" where we rode our old no-suspension 3hp mini bike. Those Hondas started showing up and they were tipping over on turns and going over backwards on hill climbs. I wouldn't be surprised if there are notches filed into the handlebars for every person that machine you have has killed. I love bikes, and have a lot of them, but I never liked those 3-wheelers.

I'm also glad to see the carpenters hammer. Works, right? Better for prying, too. I had to work on my old Ranger in one of my brother in laws barn one winter. He had a whole set of steak knives scattered around. I gave him a hard time about it at first. A week later, a steak knife seemed like the perfect solution to about everything I was doing on the truck.
 

Blmpkn

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My credo
Its probably better to be self deprecating than self defecating.
4 wheels move the body.
2 wheels move the soul.
3 wheels will probably just kill you.

There's money to be made making t shirts with that sentiment on it, along with the silhouette of a trike im sure lol.

As for the hammer, lol yeah its what I had available. Much to the disappointment of Jeremy clarkson, my personal shop is a bit deficient on hammers. Usually, whenever I need to really wail on something I use a buddy's garage and his selection of smashy-poundy things.
 

rusty ol ranger

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A legend to the old man, a hero to the child...
3 wheelers are only as dangerous as the guy straddleing the fuel tank
 

Blmpkn

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Its probably better to be self deprecating than self defecating.
The guy riding should really be on the seat and not the tank. Riding the tank increases risk of rollover 😝 thats dangerous
 

Blmpkn

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20201023_152532.jpg


Got the rest of the forks wire-wheeled down and got 3 coats of primer on (not primed in photo obviously).

After I got the first coat on I realized that I had forgotten to remove the race for the steering bearings, definitely wanted to do that before primer.. oh well.. I dont think it'll be too big of a pain in the butt to get off. A quick pry on it with a flathead got it to budge a surprising amount the other day.
 

scotts90ranger

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The guy riding should really be on the seat and not the tank. Riding the tank increases risk of rollover 😝 thats dangerous
Not if you're going up hill... the seat on a 3 wheeler is just for cruising around, if you're really riding you are either straddling the seat or sitting on a fender... and of course not on the seat because even the best 3 wheeler suspension was nearly non existent :). Some times when I'm going up steep hills I'll stick one foot (usually right, brakes are for quitters but you might need to shift) in the grab bar with knee on the seat while leaning forward and the direction needed for steering...
 

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Not if you're going up hill... the seat on a 3 wheeler is just for cruising around, if you're really riding you are either straddling the seat or sitting on a fender... and of course not on the seat because even the best 3 wheeler suspension was nearly non existent :). Some times when I'm going up steep hills I'll stick one foot (usually right, brakes are for quitters but you might need to shift) in the grab bar with knee on the seat while leaning forward and the direction needed for steering...
Yeah, if you are really riding a three wheeler you have to work it. You can't just sit there like you used to on your tricycle.

The big marshmallow tires ARE the suspension (some of the later ones had shocks in the front forks though)
 

Blmpkn

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Its probably better to be self deprecating than self defecating.
Not if you're going up hill... the seat on a 3 wheeler is just for cruising around, if you're really riding you are either straddling the seat or sitting on a fender... and of course not on the seat because even the best 3 wheeler suspension was nearly non existent :). Some times when I'm going up steep hills I'll stick one foot (usually right, brakes are for quitters but you might need to shift) in the grab bar with knee on the seat while leaning forward and the direction needed for steering...
Alright alright hillclimbs are different lol

Yeah, if you are really riding a three wheeler you have to work it. You can't just sit there like you used to on your tricycle.

The big marshmallow tires ARE the suspension (some of the later ones had shocks in the front forks though)
I'm pretty much removing all the suspension from the thing putting smaller tires on lol. A 20x7.5 up front and 18x9.5s out back. Little more racey little less utility feel. Should tear ass as a yard machine setup like that id imagine.
 

bilbo

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A friend of mine growing up had a couple of those. A Big Red and a smaller one. My Dad always said one boy, one brain; two boys, half a brain, and we gave those trikes all we had but never got hurt. I'm guessing more luck than skill or restraint. Someday I'd like another one.

A few years ago I resurrected a Trisport my wife found somewhere and brought home for me. It's more of a 3-wheeled go kart than what everyone thinks of as a 3-wheeler. It has a differential and directional brakes, so it's a real riot on gravel roads. A lot of the steering is done with the brakes rather than the handlebars. I couldn't find a fiberglass body for it (those have all rotted away) so I scrounged a classroom chair out of the dumpster at the school in town, cut the legs off, and bolted it on. I repowered it with an 8HP Predator and it will do about 55mph on smooth road. At full speed on that machine, Jesus appears in your peripheral vision.

Also, if you're talking about the 9AH Milwaukee batteries, did you know they come in 12AH now? We have them at work and I daydream about owning one someday, but can't justify the cost. I did get a 9AH with the weedwacker I anger bought this summer and it is pretty nice.
 

Blmpkn

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4WD
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2.5"
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285/75/18
My credo
Its probably better to be self deprecating than self defecating.
A friend of mine growing up had a couple of those. A Big Red and a smaller one. My Dad always said one boy, one brain; two boys, half a brain, and we gave those trikes all we had but never got hurt. I'm guessing more luck than skill or restraint. Someday I'd like another one.

A few years ago I resurrected a Trisport my wife found somewhere and brought home for me. It's more of a 3-wheeled go kart than what everyone thinks of as a 3-wheeler. It has a differential and directional brakes, so it's a real riot on gravel roads. A lot of the steering is done with the brakes rather than the handlebars. I couldn't find a fiberglass body for it (those have all rotted away) so I scrounged a classroom chair out of the dumpster at the school in town, cut the legs off, and bolted it on. I repowered it with an 8HP Predator and it will do about 55mph on smooth road. At full speed on that machine, Jesus appears in your peripheral vision.

Also, if you're talking about the 9AH Milwaukee batteries, did you know they come in 12AH now? We have them at work and I daydream about owning one someday, but can't justify the cost. I did get a 9AH with the weedwacker I anger bought this summer and it is pretty nice.
Those trisports are super retro. There was one for sale locally here just a couple weeks ago for 300$ and the body was pretty decent, I wish i would of had the cash to get it. Somebody got a good deal.

And as for the batteries I have ryobi stuff.
 

Blmpkn

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My credo
Its probably better to be self deprecating than self defecating.
Alright so turned out to be warm enough to paint today, managed to get 2 cans of rustoleum "custom" metallic gold on the forks.

First time using this paint in particular and im not terribly impressed. The paint sprayed like garbage, more "spattery" than a proper mist. Both cans did this with either nozzle that came with them AND another nozzle I had laying around. The finish ended up being intensely orange peel-ey. Hopefully a good wet sanding evens it up. Going to be using a rattle can clear coat that has hardener in it. Expensive stuff at 20$ a can, but the hardener will hopefully make it worth it.
50736

50737
 

Blmpkn

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My credo
Its probably better to be self deprecating than self defecating.
How could I forget.... I was browsing ebay last night and SOMEHOW got myself into an official winter project... ordered a 1985 honda 200x frame, swingarm, and some other parts.

50738


Hoping its done by spring!
 

Blmpkn

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4WD
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2.5"
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285/75/18
My credo
Its probably better to be self deprecating than self defecating.
Alright, been slowly chipping away at the 110 revival.

Previous owners really suck sometimes.

As previously mentioned..after fixing/replacing the welded-to-the-forks front axle, I realized that both rear hubs were welded to the rear axle (WTF). So at this point, destruction of the otherwise good axle was unfortunately necessary.

It took 2- 4" cut off wheels to get through it, but the story didn't end there at all.. the axle retaining nuts which still needed removal to slide the rest of the axle out did NOT want to budge at all. Not with all my many manly muscles.. not after a generous application of heat and PB.. not even by means of a BFH (bought a real hammer by the way, hooray!).. actually broke the wrench I was using...


So again, more destruction of otherwise good parts needed to happen. I ended up cutting as tight as I could to the inboard side of the inside-most axle nut... which worked.. but not as well as I'd hoped. The retaining nuts, brake drum, and the drum cover all suffered casualties. About 60$ worth of stuff on ebay, blah.
55072


The axle got replaced with a stock one I found on ebay, and I put TRX400EX rear hubs on it for an extra 3/4" width on each side, and the 4/110 bolt pattern opens up quite a few wheel options over the old 3/100 pattern. The rear wheels are DWT red label 8x8 with 3" backspacing, further widening the trike another inch each side (3.5" total added width)

55073
55074


And after a few aggravating days its starting to look like what its supposed to look like again!

I also got the seat mostly recovered, the metal seat pan is... crusty to say the least... but enough of it is there to forego the replacement of it. A nice pan would be big bucks, as even a trike thats lived in the desert its whole life would probably have a rotten one.

I bought a ryobi cordless staplegun a few years back to re-cover seats with, and while it works well on plastic pans it doesn't quite have the mustard to send a staple through a metal one consistently. I got enough through to hold the cover on decently, but ill need to finish the job with some self tappers or something else.

Progress feels good.

I've also aquired quite a bit for my 200x build. My pile of parts is up to

Frame
Swinger
Rear shock & hardware
Forks
Wheels
Gas tank
Chinese motor
Front hub&axle
New steering bearings
New swinger bearings

Probably forgetting a few things but were getting there!
 

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