honda fatcats

carterj16 · Mar 22, 2011

My friend is selling his fatcat and I want to buy it. He will sell for $700, it runs good and in decent shape. The back brakes need replaced but other then that good.
1. I dont have a lot of expereince with bikes but have heard these arnt too hard to ride?
2. Are they hard to work on?
3. Do they take a lot of upkeep or pretty maintenance free?
4. Are there other bikes I should look into buying.

This will be just for hunting and giving the kids a ride.

D13er · Mar 22, 2011

1. true
2. how long is a rope??
3. gas and oil
4. yes and no

buy it....that is a steal

JB

NVBighorn · Mar 22, 2011

lol d13er

bucklover · Mar 22, 2011

I used to own one. In ways I wished I still had it. But I hated the way it's front tire would suck you down into a rut in the road. Something about the soft tire. If it was running along the edge of a washed out rut that so many two tracks have, it would just pull you right into it. I am short and could easily put both feel on the ground. It had a soft ride so that was a plus.

carterj16 · Mar 23, 2011

thanks D13.

ForkWest · Mar 23, 2011

Fatcats will always be COOL!...but there are better trail/hunting bikes out there. Take a look at the Yamaha TW.

eelgrass · Mar 23, 2011

That's a steal. I looked at one locally the other day. He wanted $1500 and it was beat to crap. I want a TW 200 anyway.

Eel

downsouth · Mar 23, 2011

We've got three of them, and I've logged many miles on them. Like some of the others have said, the are relatively easy to ride if you are in soft soil and keep in slow. If you try to go fast, or on hardpack, pavement, or in ruts you are asking for it. There is a little bit of a learning curve getting used to riding one compared to a regular dirt bike, but not bad.

The biggest problem with them is that they were built over 20 years ago, for only two years ('86 & '87), and getting parts for them can be a hassle. Some of the parts that interchange with other bikes are readily available, but there are some others that are specific to the fatcat that you will not be able to find.

$700 is a good deal if the bike is in good shape and runs. But the majority of the cosmetic parts are not longer available, so if it looks beat up your probably not going to be able to improve it very much. You can find alot of the discontinued parts on ebay, but there used and you get what you get.