[DarkShadow]

I owned a 1982 Honda ATC 200 Big Red back in the day, owned it for 6 years. Man it was a fun machine. I came closed to injuring my shoulder going up an embankment, I flipped over, from that point on I was more careful. The government banned sales of 3 wheelers because they were unstable on 3 wheels. Once the new 1987 models were sold out, that was the end of new sales models. Any members have stories about the Honda ATC.

 

[chuck_VTX F]

I had to fix way to many of them. and almost all of them had a bad story with it.

 

[DarkShadow]

I had to fix way to many of them. and almost all of them had a bad story with it.

Because the ATC was kind of viewed as a toy by some, safety was ignored. That's how the accidents started happening.

 

[Chicago-Spike]

I was a brand new medic in 1988 and my first fatal accident was one of those. I never rode one

 

[pushrod]

I bought one for my oldest son, an new 85' ATC 70. He Still has it. We're in the process of restoring it, we have been in the process of restoring it for a very long time. We'll finish one day.

 

[6adan]

Guy I worked with flapped one by just hitting a ant hill and broke his neck nearly paralyzed him but he did recover thankfully.

 

[rangers4u]

June 1972, Hurricane Agnes blew through eastern Pa. The Susquehanna River valley flooded. In Wilkes Barre, a currugated steel wall near a cemetary collapsed, flooding the adjacent upscale housing development. It was located in a geographic bowl or low area, and as a member of the Pa. National Guard at the time, we were called out for 2 weeks for flood cleanup. I have a bunch of stories about this time, but for brevity and keeping with the OP, one of the homes had "all the toys" and had been under at least 10-12 ft. of dirty flood water. One of them was a Big Red 3 wheeler. The owner was there, and our mechanics asked him if they could get it running if he minded if we would ride the mud flats in our off time. He laughed, because he thought it would never run again, another flood victim. Well, a good cleanup, drain all the old fluids out, new fuel/ oil, and in a couple hrs. it fired up like new, and away we went across the flats. He was so grateful he gave us a couple cases of Martini & Rossi white wine that was also in the mud. A cleanup and disinfect with bleach, and we drank in style that night! Oh- 1 more quickie about this same 2 story house- in the 2nd floor hallway was a picture of Jesus hanging on the wall. The waterline stopped right at the bottom of the pic frame.

 

[drtrider]

I know years ago at auctions they would not sell them to you but they would say that machine is for parts.

 

[Harkon]

They were incredibly dangerous, but a lot of fun to ride. I remember this one from Honda as well;

That one was a blast and a forerunner to today's side-by-sides. I rolled one more than once, and as long as you kept your limbs inside the cage and hands o the wheel they were pretty safe. Way ahead of their time and could have benefited from 4w drive, but man we had some fun on that beast. They were reasonably tough but did not like jumps. Axles were not up to it.

 

[pushrod]

I bought one for my oldest son, an new 85' ATC 70. He Still has it. We're in the process of restoring it, we have been in the process of restoring it for a very long time. We'll finish one day.

When I bought my sons, we rode the 70cc and the 110cc. The 70cc was WAY more stable than the 110cc, I mean extreme difference, possibly because of the difference in tire size and type, so I bought the 70 only because I felt it would be safer.

 

[Capt. Rory]

Had one of these and it was blast. I should have never let it go.

 

[weldmech]

I still have my 90 but have not had it running in a long time. Like Dark Shadow said that it was a toy and safety went out the window but they have not shut down anything like that even though people still misuse some things. The only time I had an scare was out riding snowdrifts along a fence line when I couldn't see the difference between a gradual climb and a straight wall, sudden stop and over the handle bar. My brother in law/friend bought a Kawy 200 and had it stuck all the time do too too much power/weight. We had a race course we use to time run on and it was amazing that the 90 would beat him once in a while, tried to hard. Finish your restore project before you regret not having each other to enjoy the project.

 

[dangrousdan]

I owned a 1982 Honda ATC 200 Big Red back in the day, owned it for 6 years. Man it was a fun machine. I came closed to injuring my shoulder going up an embankment, I flipped over, from that point on I was more careful. The government banned sales of 3 wheelers because they were unstable on 3 wheels. Once the new 1987 models were sold out, that was the end of new sales models. Any members have stories about the Honda ATC.

I had one break my back when it landed on me. My torso created a body cast with every muscle spasmed. My first thought was I was off work for at least a year. Then I forced myself to work for three days afterwards, and then on my day off I sneezed and it sent me crumpling to the floor where I could not get up for about an hour and a half. I went to the doctor the next day and was signed off work. The break was not discover for another 4 weeks by a specialist because of swelling and the spasmed muscles that were holding it together tightly. I also had a rib that was pushed back causing a vertebra to be rotated pinching nerves which was discovered later on in physical therapy. I was back to work in six months with pain killers and muscle relaxants which I took until I retried to get through my work. I was evaluated with a 90% disability but did not give in or give up. I have a lot of pain daily but that is not the only time I got hurt so all my old injuries haunt me.

 

[MR VTX]

I remember the first time I saw them in person. We lived in between Midland & Odessa, TX in a mobile home park, and there was a pipeline company in between our park and a bicycle/dirt bike track. Races were held there every other weekend, and my friend and I would walk behind the pipeline company's fence (a huge ranch butted up against all of these places) and we would sneak into the dirt track part of the park right before races started. We would walk "pit row" and check out all the bikes, and that's when we saw our first ATCs. Not too long after that, 4-wheelers were introduced and started showing up for their races. I never had a chance to ride a 3- or 4-wheeler.

My wife, her sister and their dad grew up riding ATCs in FL. My wife has stories of her and her sister crashing, but thankfully no serious injuries occurred.

Fast-forward to a few years ago, and my wife was browsing FB Marketplace and found a Honda 110 ATC for sale very close to us for just a few hundred bucks. The guy claimed that it had to be push started to get it running, and so my wife took the truck and actually went over and bought it that very night. Since it was too dark (and late), the guy said he didn't want to disturb neighbors to try and push-start it for her to see it running, so she came home with it. The next day, we tried several times to push start that booger to no avail. So I tore it down and cleaned the carb, disassembled the motor to freshen it up and replaced the CDI box & spark plug, and it would try to start but never turn over. So I finally gave up and took it to a local shop to have them get it running, and they got it going for another couple hundred bucks. We just parked it in the garage without telling the kids it was fixed, because "Santa" was going to be arriving soon anyway, so why not have him deliver the good news.

Christmas morning after all the presents were unwrapped, I snuck into the garage, wheeled it onto the front porch (with a big red bow on it & a note from Santa that he fixed it for them), rang the doorbell and ran back to the garage. Upon entering the house, all I could here were the kids screaming for us to come to the door. The looks on their faces were priceless when we read the note and fired it up. They love riding around our property and have been told of the dangers of it while turning quickly, and thankfully they've stuck to the rules.

I'm still looking for more to add to the stable, in addition to 4-wheelers.

This is how I taught them to ride it. 😁

 

[rangers4u]

I remember the first time I saw them in person. We lived in between Midland & Odessa, TX in a mobile home park, and there was a pipeline company in between our park and a bicycle/dirt bike track. Races were held there every other weekend, and my friend and I would walk behind the pipeline company's fence (a huge ranch butted up against all of these places) and we would sneak into the dirt track part of the park right before races started. We would walk "pit row" and check out all the bikes, and that's when we saw our first ATCs. Not too long after that, 4-wheelers were introduced and started showing up for their races. I never had a chance to ride a 3- or 4-wheeler.

My wife, her sister and their dad grew up riding ATCs in FL. My wife has stories of her and her sister crashing, but thankfully no serious injuries occurred.

Fast-forward to a few years ago, and my wife was browsing FB Marketplace and found a Honda 110 ATC for sale very close to us for just a few hundred bucks. The guy claimed that it had to be push started to get it running, and so my wife took the truck and actually went over and bought it that very night. Since it was too dark (and late), the guy said he didn't want to disturb neighbors to try and push-start it for her to see it running, so she came home with it. The next day, we tried several times to push start that booger to no avail. So I tore it down and cleaned the carb, disassembled the motor to freshen it up and replaced the CDI box & spark plug, and it would try to start but never turn over. So I finally gave up and took it to a local shop to have them get it running, and they got it going for another couple hundred bucks. We just parked it in the garage without telling the kids it was fixed, because "Santa" was going to be arriving soon anyway, so why not have him deliver the good news.

Christmas morning after all the presents were unwrapped, I snuck into the garage, wheeled it onto the front porch (with a big red bow on it & a note from Santa that he fixed it for them), rang the doorbell and ran back to the garage. Upon entering the house, all I could here were the kids screaming for us to come to the door. The looks on their faces were priceless when we read the note and fired it up. They love riding around our property and have been told of the dangers of it while turning quickly, and thankfully they've stuck to the rules.

I'm still looking for more to add to the stable, in addition to 4-wheelers.

This is how I taught them to ride it. 😁

View attachment 183933

Great story, great pix too. Thanks for sharing!

 

[fast 600]

Still have my 1970 atc 90, hasn't run for a few years. Upgraded the molded on rim tires to regular tires with rims about 15 years ago.

 

[PHATV]

$4000+! and only 4 hours left, but if you MUST have one...

1984 Honda | eBay

Original owner ,original tires ,original plastics, original stickers , hand grips original everything nothings been changed on this since the day it was purchased it has of the Bassani pipe on it which was put on at the dealership when it was brand new,It has only been ridden never raced,has all...

www.ebay.com

I just looked on there after seeing the thread to see if there was one on eBay. There are 4 including one other that looks almost as good. One in rough shape, one average.
Not too many survivors, I guess.

I ate it a couple times on three-wheelers. Learned my lesson the second time.

 

[MR VTX]

$4000+! and only 4 hours left, but if you MUST have one...

1984 Honda | eBay

Original owner ,original tires ,original plastics, original stickers , hand grips original everything nothings been changed on this since the day it was purchased it has of the Bassani pipe on it which was put on at the dealership when it was brand new,It has only been ridden never raced,has all...

www.ebay.com

I just looked on there after seeing the thread to see if there was one on eBay. There are 4 including one other that looks almost as good. One in rough shape, one average.
Not too many survivors, I guess.

I ate it a couple times on three-wheelers. Learned my lesson the second time.

The 250R is the Holy Grail of all ATCs...one mean mother. I'd love to have one, but the prices they command are too rich for me, and I'd probably kill myself with it anyway.

 

[Blast]

I drove up the back of my own damn leg on one of those things. Put my feet down to push off a knoll and ran my self over. Thankfully no injury, the guys still hoot about it today when brought to the surface. Guess it was a comical site.

 

[backstabber]

I rode one for the first time the summer of 84 first day out of school my junior year. Went to friends in Eugene Oregon to ride dirt bikes over by the stadium. I was riding a Suzuki 175 saw a three wheeler for the first time. I had to ride it so I gave my buddies friend my bike and took off on the three wheeler thought I had the hang of it so was really tearing it up. Came around a corner on 2 wheels and was met with a choice hit the wall of blackberries, my friends standing next to them or a Pinto with two guys getting stoned sitting in the middle of the trail. I tried to go between them and hit something which put me flying through the air. I remember laying on my back and feeling no pain actually started laughing when every one came over. My friend asked if I was ok and I said yes as he started to help me up then wham as soon as I stepped with my left leg the bone poked through the skin on my shin. I went into shock after that . I spent three days in the hospital had surgery on my leg and went home. I received pictures a couple weeks later. The axle was completely ripped off the three wheeler and my helmet was split down the back. Apparently the bumper of the car went through my leg and tore off the axle and both wheels. I had a cast from my waist to my toes and got it removed three weeks after school started my senior year. Never touched a three wheeler again.