A FatCat is a thumper, right? Recently, in one of those "too good not to partake in" type deals, I became the owner of a 1987 TR200 FatCat. It remains to be seen if the deal was too good for me, or for the previous owner, but either way, we're all happy. One new battery, one brief trailer ride, and one drained/cleaned/refilled fuel tank later, the FatCat is purring away happily at it's new home, namely my parents small ranch. So far my father seems to be enjoying the new toy, as it dovetails nicely with his existing toys. He fiddles with the FatCat, which requires testing, so he rides the FatCat around in the field, leaving the field a mess of FatCat tracks, he then parks the FatCat at the barn, fires up the 8N, and discs the field. With this done, he takes the tractor back to the barn, where the FatCat is sitting, in need of further fiddling. So he fiddles with the FatCat, which requires testing... At least he's out of mom's hair. He has noticed, much like I did when I was fiddling with the FatCat, that the steering is, well, odd. No doubt a significant portion of this is due to the nature of FatCats, but we can't help but think that some of it might be due to the front tire. The factory tires were 23.5x8-11 rear and 24.5x8-11 front. The rear is a very worn out factory, and the front seems to have been replaced recently with a 24x8-11. The thing is, the replacement front tire is very "square", and rather tractor lugged. I have no doubt that it was the cheapest close-enough sized tire the local dealer could throw on there, sourced from their stock of rear fourwheeler tires. It's just what the ranchers put on all their work fourwheelers. But it makes for an odd front tire for a twowheeler. I know the originals were not as square shouldered, so... I'm thinking we take this tire off, and have it mounted on the rear wheel. 23.5 to 24 shouldn't be too big a jump, I think it will fit. Then we buy a better matched tire for the front. Solving both the rear tire problem, and helping the handling issue at the same time. So the question is, what tire should I put on the front? Any thoughts? MV
A little Googling has me thinking something like these: If I've done things correctly, those pics should be links. What'd ya think? MV
C'mon, no one has any ideas? Is the FatCat not a Thumper? Should I post this somewhere else? If so, let me know where... MV
i have a 87 fat cat with the original ballon tires and it drives really wierd. scares the crap out of me but my non riding friends love the damn thing. for me u just gotta either go slow and tool around or go balls to the wall and lean like crazy. if you lean hard the wierd feedback goes away. hope this helps!
^^^HAHAHHAHA that picture made my day.. Fat cats are older yamaha dirt bikes with WIDE tires think sorta like the rear wheel of a yamaha TW. My buddy had one for a while that was really fun in the dunes! -DQ Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Hey WR450FADVn, since you've got a FatCat and/or some experience with one, mind giving me your thoughts on this: Eliminating the handbrake I think I'm going to go ahead with it, but I'm willing to listen to advice. MV
As an update, we just picked it up with a new Kenda (like the lower pic) on the front, and the older tractor style ATV tire swapped to the rear. I'll let you know how it rides. Still loving this toy, the dang goofy thing is just fun to putter around. And it makes it easy to head up the nasty trails. MV
Well, it's been a while, but the tire swap was a big success. Getting the more square tire with the tractor lugs on the rear and putting a rounder motorcycle type tire on the front made a world of difference in the way it handles. No complaints about the traction with either end, so I guess you'd we're all happy. MV
I had to look up a picture... Couldn't you put a regular size wheel in the front (aggressive knobbies) and keep the fatty in back? I'd imagine you'd get more predictable steering and manners and still get the rear traction for sand or mud? That seems to be the best of both worlds. Is it like this?
