honda bike, good compression, wont start

travgag

New member
Joined
Jan 29, 2012
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Age
31
Location
sudbury, ontario
Hey guys,

Im a yammy guy, but I dont know if this is a faux pas, lol, since honda doesnt seem to have a good forum like TY, here it goes

My friends dad was selling a old 200 xr for 180 $ so i took it, he said the piston was changed by his "mechanic" and it ran two years ago, and probibly just needed new gas,

Im not sure what year it is, early 80's i think, the Vin ends in 85, but i dont think its that new,

anyways, I drained the tank and bowl, cleaned the main jet, filled it with new gas, and kicked it over

i got a few back fires, theres good spark, one time it backfired so hard allmost wrecked my foot, and then the kick start stayed down, i pulled it back up, and wouldnt turn over the motor, so i put it in gear and while on the kick i can get it to turn back over, and same everyonce and a while, im guessing it chiped the gear or something, should I open up the trans and look?

im getting gas in the cylinder, plug is wet, the timing must be off since it mostly backfires out the carb, or the valves arent setup right, but theres loads of compression, i havent put a compression gauge on it yet, I might tomorrow.

how do i check tdc at the crank and top end ? pull the mag cover and valve cover off probibly

also there's a slight oil leak at the lower bolt in the mag side case, thats supposed to be dry right ? the crank seal is blown then, i havent opened the case yet, i will to find tdc correct ?


heres some photos

thanks, any ideas ?

xr1.jpg

xr2.jpg

xr3.jpg
 
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If you can trust that it was put away running you could try push or pull starting it.

Sometimes it just takes a while to get things moving/flowing again.

If that doesn't work the points are in that side cover, but you will have to find a manual for specs, because I can't remember back that far. Make sure to use an impact driver if you take off any of the phillips screws on the cases so you don't strip them out. The kick start lever is probably the return spring broken or off.
 
xr1.jpg


remove the plug on the side cover above the "n" for the timing mark for tdc. i would also pull the cam cover as there is usually a mark on the end of the cam gear for tdc as well. if one of these is off, i would suspect a broken or bent flywheel key. had that happen on a dt175 with points.

if the fire is good, i would not think it was the points.

also sounds like the needle and seat is bad or the float is sinking for the gas problem.
 
allrighty ! so opened the trans, looked around, the kicker main gear is good, and it does come back up, so should be fine,

now i opened the cdi box on top and found a little peice of steel that has broken off, i further took apart the cdi pulser and found another of the same peice and found where they go, not sure what it does or how it works, is it for advance timing ? and why would those nibs fall into that notch, isnt that why they broke ?

and the timing chain is extremly loose, like it would move 1/4-1/2 inch, sprokets look good, and i think that is out for tensioner fixable (which would just ware out more) so i think a new one, il have to pull the mag i guess, i have that case cover off allready, and theres a key so should be able the get the chain out without pulling the cam and valve cover out,

heres the exploded view
http://www.cmsnl.com/honda-xr200-1982-usa_model7728/partslist/E++02.html

look at the peices and were it came from here,

i shrunk the images, they were too big
xr5.jpg

xr4.jpg
 
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According to that diagram the part in your picture is called the spark advancer so yes it is for advancing the timing. It looks like you have to buy it as a unit though. I agree with you that little key or dogbone piece must have been inside it somewhere.

I know I'm not much help, but hopefully someone on the site has firsthand knowledge of this part and whether it can be repaired or not.
 
yea, i bought a new timing chain for 40 $ and going to order a new timing advance peice, I figured out how it works, my timing coulda been 180 degreed off since thoes two tabs broke off,

I coulda got it welded back maybe at work, and the bike should start and run like a champ ! thanks
 
update :

Well everybody !

good news, i got that piece welded check it out ! tig,

xr6.jpg


Put it back together took a little while, It was hard to tell if the timing mark was perfect on the cam, it looked one tooth off, so i went to move it and it slipped off the sprocket, so i had to start from scratch, put it back together and noticed there's an adjustment for the spark pickup. I put it back to where it was as much as i could by marks i found,

the thing runs great ! but it backfires, does that mean to much gas, or should i advance or bring back the pickup ? i still have to clean the carb good so it will idle etc.

im not sure were the choke is full half and on, i had ran it in the middle for the test when it was backfiring
 
Sounds good, its not backfiring anymore, So i had it running all weekend ! there was missing a idle control screw, I also cleaned the carb and it was good to go, loads of power, love it,

except for the kickstart is stripped, but only at a certain spot, and by turning the rear tire and moving it past that stripped spot i can then kick it over, pain it the but, I took the transmission side cover off, and i have to split the case to investigate, I found some of them on ebay,
 
Sweet! I love them old bikes, they will run forever with just a little care. Used to work in a Honda/Schwinn shop back in high school.
 
When checking the cam timing to the crank, make sure besides TDC, your at TDC on the compression stroke (right after the intake valves open and close). That's when it should fire. The valves are usually checked/adjusted then as well.
 


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