New member with coleman ct200u

#1
Just bought a 2017 coleman ct200u with a 6.5hp motor. First mini bike i have had since 1971 as a 14 yr. old kid.
Cheap china made but will do for now. Chain came off first ride on our property. After checking things out found a few problems. Rear wheel bearings were almost seized up and chain alignment to rear sprocket is off. Replaced wheel bearings and bought new chain. Made some new rear wheel spacers but not enough to bring chain in alignment. Was limited due to brake mount on frame. Next move is to move motor, is this stuff common with these bikes?
 
#2
Just bought a 2017 coleman ct200u with a 6.5hp motor. First mini bike i have had since 1971 as a 14 yr. old kid.
Cheap china made but will do for now. Chain came off first ride on our property. After checking things out found a few problems. Rear wheel bearings were almost seized up and chain alignment to rear sprocket is off. Replaced wheel bearings and bought new chain. Made some new rear wheel spacers but not enough to bring chain in alignment. Was limited due to brake mount on frame. Next move is to move motor, is this stuff common with these bikes?
it shouldn't seize up the first ride out, did you buy this new or used?
if you bought some old-new stock you should warranty the problem.
try to adjust the wheel so the wheel is even with the frame. this will mitigated the chances of chain drop.
you could try to add some washers between the wheel and the sprocket, this will make the sprocket go more outboard and will align the chain better.
good luck on your build man, and welcome to OldMiniBikes!
 

brown boonie

JUST REMEMBER-EXPECT IT WHEN YOU LEAST EXPECT IT!
#3
I had to replace the wheel bearings in mine also. don't have an alignment issue though. bearings are cheap junk, enough to get through warranty. like riding mine. hope you get the issue fixed. welcome and happy biking.
 
#4
Thanks for the reply. I bought the bike used but it is like new. I rode it up and down the street at the sellers house and seemed like the chain was "clunky" sounding. Once I got it here to my place the chain came off as soon as I tried pulling up my uphill unpaved drive.
I put it up on some blocks and the rear wheel did not turn smooth at all. The chain was not climbing over the front sprocket smooth at all. Took the chain off and the wheel was tight to turn with the brake adjustment backed off. Pulled the rear wheel and figured out how to get the bearings out with that spacer between them and put new ones in. With some different spacers I shimmed the wheel to the right as viewed from sitting on the bike. Still needs to move about another quarter inch to align. Removed the motor and am going to elongate the motor plate holes to move the motor to the left. Think I will reinstall the original spacers since that was not enough to get it aligned.
Also the rear frame "springs" outward slightly when you loosen the rear axle bolt. I suppose this is what you get with cheap china made stuff.
 
#5
Thanks for the reply. I bought the bike used but it is like new. I rode it up and down the street at the sellers house and seemed like the chain was "clunky" sounding. Once I got it here to my place the chain came off as soon as I tried pulling up my uphill unpaved drive.
I put it up on some blocks and the rear wheel did not turn smooth at all. The chain was not climbing over the front sprocket smooth at all. Took the chain off and the wheel was tight to turn with the brake adjustment backed off. Pulled the rear wheel and figured out how to get the bearings out with that spacer between them and put new ones in. With some different spacers I shimmed the wheel to the right as viewed from sitting on the bike. Still needs to move about another quarter inch to align. Removed the motor and am going to elongate the motor plate holes to move the motor to the left. Think I will reinstall the original spacers since that was not enough to get it aligned.
Also the rear frame "springs" outward slightly when you loosen the rear axle bolt. I suppose this is what you get with cheap china made stuff.
I mean, my buddy used to own a ct200u and his bike has been trouble free, he had recently sold it to my classmate and it's been trouble free for him as well. Only thing that was changed on his bike was the clutch, and they did it because they were selling it to him (like a free bonus)
Thats why I was wondering why you guys had this many problems, they seem very reliable.

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#6
Yes I think it will be fine once this chain is aligned. I know it sure has more power than the bike I had as a kid many years ago!
It will be rode off pavement so i hope if i let the air down in these tires it wont beat me up to bad. If I get crazy I might look into fabricating some suspension or get another bike with shocks already.
 
#7
Yes I think it will be fine once this chain is aligned. I know it sure has more power than the bike I had as a kid many years ago!
It will be rode off pavement so i hope if i let the air down in these tires it wont beat me up to bad. If I get crazy I might look into fabricating some suspension or get another bike with shocks already.
Theres a YouTube channel called red beards garage that added the suspension from the Coleman ct200u-ex model and they put it on the normal ct200u, you could do that, but I would air down the tires to 5 psi and try it out.

Or go on your local CS and look at used mini bikes, I got this one for only 250$


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#9
Sorry for the late reply, couldn't get on the site....

Anywho, I found the CT200U to be a nice foundation to build upon. Like most of these China built bikes you have to work out the bugs. After that, well at least for me one thing led to another and... Since the photo I added front brakes and Harley style twin exhaust to it. pure evol 6.jpg
 
#10
Sorry for the late reply, couldn't get on the site....

Anywho, I found the CT200U to be a nice foundation to build upon. Like most of these China built bikes you have to work out the bugs. After that, well at least for me one thing led to another and... Since the photo I added front brakes and Harley style twin exhaust to it. View attachment 236128
I juat recently got one of these at an attractive price from amazon.....and think they are a great start....

How may i ask did you add front brakes? Thanks :)
 
#11
Nothing to it. Pickup another rear wheel and brake set up from a stock CT200. Order a brake cable/handle. And install it on the front. You will need to fabricate a stop bracket and clamp for the fork, and one for the cable end. Side note: when you order the brake handle, get one with a brake light switch in it. Then it's easy to install a working brake light too.
Here's mine and a better shot of the clamp you need to make to hold the brake to the fork. Notice I have pocket bike forks on mine, another easy mod.
front brake1.jpg frontbrake3_zpsdefdfc93.jpg
 
#12
Nothing to it. Pickup another rear wheel and brake set up from a stock CT200. Order a brake cable/handle. And install it on the front. You will need to fabricate a stop bracket and clamp for the fork, and one for the cable end. Side note: when you order the brake handle, get one with a brake light switch in it. Then it's easy to install a working brake light too.
Here's mine and a better shot of the clamp you need to make to hold the brake to the fork. Notice I have pocket bike forks on mine, another easy mod.
View attachment 236167 View attachment 236168
Nice work on the front brake mod , what did you do with the sprocket side of the wheel ??
 
#14
Yea that's nice work.... I think that you can simply unbolt the Sprocket... not sure if that answers your question...
Nope. It's welded to the axle hub. I just cut off the ears, and ground it down smooth. Rustoleum "Aluminum" is a near perfect match for paint. For that matter, Rustoleum "Regal Red" is a perfect match to the red on the frame.
 

Attachments

#18
Yes I think it will be fine once this chain is aligned. I know it sure has more power than the bike I had as a kid many years ago!
It will be rode off pavement so i hope if i let the air down in these tires it wont beat me up to bad. If I get crazy I might look into fabricating some suspension or get another bike with shocks already.
Just reading your post, recently bought new ct200 ex. Thought something sounded off as well around the chain area. Checked it and found the tensioner not lined up correctly allowing the chain to ride up on the edge a bit. So I just bent the bracket out till the chain sat in the center, about 1/8". Another thing I noticed was the spring holding the tensioner against the chain is not very strong. May have to get something stronger. Anyway the adjustment did not correct the noise I am getting, gonna put it on blocks like you did and look more closely. Can you tell me where you got the bearings, may just replace them right off the bat.
Regarding your comment on the old bikes, I'm a couple of years older and had a Cushman Stella Model A in 1969 at 14, all my friends had mini bikes too and we raised hell running around our neighborhood on Long Island, sometimes as many as a dozen cruising the streets. Anyway with the governor off, I could get that 3.5hp Techemseh motor to hit 38 mph, quite a bit faster than what I've seen on this Coleman 6.5hp. Friends that had 5hp Rupps, could easily run at 60mph. So I have to disagree on the power put out on this Chinese crap. Lol
I'm not really concerned with speed now anyway, but just thought I'd throw in my 2 cents. I just ride the Coleman to get me off the beaten path in AZ for prospecting .
Cheers
 

SAS289

Well-Known Member
#19
Just reading your post, recently bought new ct200 ex. Thought something sounded off as well around the chain area. Checked it and found the tensioner not lined up correctly allowing the chain to ride up on the edge a bit. So I just bent the bracket out till the chain sat in the center, about 1/8". Another thing I noticed was the spring holding the tensioner against the chain is not very strong. May have to get something stronger. Anyway the adjustment did not correct the noise I am getting, gonna put it on blocks like you did and look more closely. Can you tell me where you got the bearings, may just replace them right off the bat.
Regarding your comment on the old bikes, I'm a couple of years older and had a Cushman Stella Model A in 1969 at 14, all my friends had mini bikes too and we raised hell running around our neighborhood on Long Island, sometimes as many as a dozen cruising the streets. Anyway with the governor off, I could get that 3.5hp Techemseh motor to hit 38 mph, quite a bit faster than what I've seen on this Coleman 6.5hp. Friends that had 5hp Rupps, could easily run at 60mph. So I have to disagree on the power put out on this Chinese crap. Lol
I'm not really concerned with speed now anyway, but just thought I'd throw in my 2 cents. I just ride the Coleman to get me off the beaten path in AZ for prospecting .
Cheers
You can carefully remove the seals from those bearings and pack them with more grease. And for that chain tensioner I removed it, sanded and greased the pivot point. Had to adjust it also. The roller bearings got oil. When I removed the clip to remove the roller the area in between the bearings was a mass of rust so that got wire wheeled. And this was on a brand new bike. Seen a guy on youtube who runs his without the chain tensioner. I bet there is less noise.
 
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