I've just picked up 3 3-wheelers in various states of disrepair for a total of $175. I'm still trying to decide if I got taken or not. The first, a Kawasaki KLT200, is a basket case, and I've all but given up on this one. The second was a Kawasaki KLT110 which I already bought an engine for, foolish or not, and that one will be running hopefully by this weekend.

The third one I dismissed at first, because it's in such rough shape and there's so many missing parts. It's an '86 ATC 200x. The guy I bought it from said it needed a kick start shaft (broken off) and a coil. A little further investigating shows it needs a lot more than that. The brake and clutch cables are missing. The headlight and taillight are missing. Plastics-gone. Seat-sittable but very rough. Rear end-the axle waggles back and forth independently of the hub. Tires are toast.

Having said tall that, I'm tempted to try to restore this wreck for two reasons:

1. It's easier to get hundreds of dollars worth of parts past the wife a few at a time instead of hundreds of dollars of new ATV all at once.
2. Many people say this is a very fun ride, and seem to think it's worth putting your money into.

In my mind, it all depends on how cheaply I can get that kick start shaft (and the coil if the guy I got it from was right) and whether the engine will start when I do. It was VERY difficult to get the engine to turn by pushing it in gear, leading me to believe that it was either frozen up or it had sat for a very long time. I had to spray liquid wrench in the cylinder and push with all my might to get the engine to turn. Afterwards it seemed ok, but I can't imagine the engine would be in very good shape.

I'm looking for thoughts, opinions, and suggestions on such a project. How about that kick start shaft? Honda has it for $90, but that's a lot to spend not knowing what else is wrong with it.

 

Worst case, you can part out the 200x and probably cover at least the original price that you paid. You probably want to do that with the KLT200. Just take the thing apart, clean up the parts a bit and put them on Ebay individually. There are probably a bunch of parts that would sell for $5-$20 and you'd be amazed at how fast those small sales add up and you'll have your investment covered in no time at all. Parting out and selling the KLT parts may go a long way to paying for 200x parts.

 

I would suggest repairing the 200x under any cost, there are not alot of the 86-87 models out there, It makes finding parts very difficult (I know) but they are much more desirable to have over an 83-85, or at least to me they are. If you do decide to let her make her way into a salvage heap then let me know because I could sure use that rear axle. and a rear brake system if yours is still there.