Honda Ct185 Skipper

[vnv8driver]

Picked this up for 300 bucks, its a air cooled 4 stroke honda ct185 skipper 5 speed manual that is in ok condition.

Rode it yesturday on a few trails and the chain came off and snapped part of the chain guard, so will need to find someone that can weld aluminium shortly..

[VL Berlina 5speed]

noice, quite old school

hows it feel over the ruff stuff?? suspension looks like it wouldnt be so nice but thats what those seats are for lol

nothing quite like getting out and riding along the trails, cant wait till im able to get back on the bike

[vnv8driver]

On the road its pretty good, no wobbles or anything. On rough terrain in a straight line is fine but didnt accelerate in the corners much cause i had a feeling it was going to spin out.. when i got it it had a low idle and took a few kicks to start it, i cleaned out the filter, ran some carby cleaner though it and adjusted the misture srew. now it fires first go without choke or any throttle and has a meaty idle (not to mention it doesnt starve for air up top). Cleaned and greased the chain becasue it looked a bit sad, scrubbed the bike a bit, pumped up the tyres and adjusted the brakes. everything except adjust the chain tension, if i had of done that maybe i wouldnt be missing a piece of the chain guard.. had 2 inches of slack now its adjusted to around .5 of an inch which should keep me out of trouble.

I was quite amazed though at how well the bike took a thrashing in the heat, the 4 stroke air cooled bikes really have some low end grunt and can keep the temps down at the same time. it may not have the acceleration of a 2 stroke but i think overall it would be more reliable. Could easily pull a mono while rolling in first lol.

Looked at yours and its pretty neat, worth more than mine of course but for 300 bucks and a few hours work its a good ride.

[VL Berlina 5speed]

yer i find the 4 strokes to be more consistant from idle on the power, espesially when you coming out of turns
2 strokes are fun but you have to be not scared of it kicking out when you hit powerband, its either full throttle or bog down

as for reliabilty, ive been kinda turned off 2 strokes after having a bit of problems with my old bike, even after a complete engine rebuild i still had probs


end of the day, doesnt matter what your bike is worth. its all about having fun and just........riding

[vnv8driver]

talk about luck, i managed to pickup another guard from the wreckers for 5 bucks, and simply superglued the little alloy piece to the casing and works a treat, wouldnt know it was broken unless you have a good look at it.

Also put a new filter on and had to lean the mixture off a tad, and yes i made sure i took up the slack in the chain, i took up so much slack i had to readjust the rear brakes quite a bit!

[Thomas1]

Ah the good ol ct185.....

We use to have one (got rid of it last year) that we flogged around every now and then. Use to take everything we threw at it! Only reason we got rid of it was the fuel tank was leaking and the rear tyre was stuffed - don't know how that happened

Have fun with it, they are a good bike for what they are.

[vnv8driver]

so you know how short first gear is? can easily pull a mono while rolling in first with half throttle. Also smokes em up with my weight on the bike.

My tyres need replacing as well, got cracks and missing 3/4 of its tread thats why im a bit cautious around bends at the moment. after all its not a dirt jump bike its only designed for street and trail use but it does its job quite well.

[Thomas1]

so you know how short first gear is? can easily pull a mono while rolling in first with half throttle. Also smokes em up with my weight on the bike.

My tyres need replacing as well, got cracks and missing 3/4 of its tread thats why im a bit cautious around bends at the moment. after all its not a dirt jump bike its only designed for street and trail use but it does its job quite well.

Yeah first is pretty snappy. This thread makes me want to go buy another one lol

[vnv8driver]

Gave it a degrease before and the motor came up alright, last on the list for now is to remove the stock air box and filter and put a uni straight off the carby.

When im bored im going to take the motor and electrics out, clean and repaint the body and mud guards, get new tank, seat, rims/tyres, exhaust, etc and rebuild the motor after giving the barrel a good acid scrub.

Should come up like a 1500 dollar bike for a few extra bucks...

[vnv8driver]

Does anyone know the max speed for these things?? it a 5 speed, first is hort, 2nd, 3rd, 4th are not as short but ffairly, and 5th is the main gear you ride in.

Felt like about 60km/h?? is that right? perhaps the rear sproket was changed and stuffed up the top end as it has EXCELLENT off the mark aceleration...

[andyman]

hahah, this has more street cred than a postie,

good work

[vnv8driver]

yeah id like to race the local postie and show him a real bike. haha

[vnv8driver]

its official i can beat my g/f's 99 corolla conquest sedan! off the mark was pretty easy... anyway clocked it at 100-110 km/h...doesnt feel that fast on the road, but it would if i came off!

[stocky]

yeah id like to race the local postie and show him a real bike. haha

your bike doesnt look that different from a postie bike. engines not really much bigger either and sounds like top speeds arent that different

[vnv8driver]

its the same frame as a poste, just removed the metal cages on the front & back. postie bikes are only 110cc and this is 185, ive listened to the local nail it up the street and it doesnt sound like any real competition.

[stocky]

how is listening proof? ive riden one and theyre quite fine with acceleration for a small engine. postie will laugh at you if you think 185cc is a real bike

[vnv8driver]

i think an r1 is fast, got 120km/h in first gear and stopped just as quick. you dont need to tell me about bikes, this is just something i fang up the road & go to trails with.

[vnv8driver]

UPDATE-

NEW front * rear tyres and tubes (feels better)
Painted the side panels red...
Oil chabge with synthetiv shell 4 stroke oil


ive got a huge privately owned racetrack that has been abandoned for years near my house (in the bush about a km) so been ironing out any problems the bike has. So far its been bulletproof except for a clutch cable and bending the gear selector by hitting a low stump. Im quite impressed how its going as its a 1981 model bike that hasnt exactly been looked after the best....

Next on the list is new seat and removing the motor for a paint job/motor rebuild.

[vnv8driver]

how could i forget, also need new rear shock absorbers/springs as there showing their age after going over a few jumps.

Oh well better off giving it a hard time so the 'major' problems show up sooner thasn later when they let go half way into a jump or going up a massive hill!!

[vnv8driver]

Ended up snapping a chain shakel today so had to push it 2km home, very tired now.