Predator 212 on a 50 year old Honda dirt bike

Check this out A 1973 Honda dirt bike that was converted to run off of a predator 212 motor from Harbor Freight !
Thought this would be a great little trail bike to ride around when scouting, or just to take to the lake or when you go camping.
Comment your ideas below and don’t forget to subscribe!

[@dillonbussard9576]

Dont listen to the haters. Its keeping the bike moving. Any motor is better than sitting jn a garage rotting.

[@therowdyz]

Exactly what i thought! gets tons of compliments too even though its not original

[@johncate9541]

@@therowdyz Nothing wrong with this at all. You can't easily find a 50 year-old engine for it and you put a very nice, well-make bike back on the road. It's not like someone couldn't retrofit an OEM engine to it if one was found.

[@mlindsay527]

Awesome way to get a clapped out bike running again. Add a torque converter (cvt) with a juggernaut/torquezilla driver and it will really move.

[@mlindsay527]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pZXVhJutlJqJaLs

[@therowdyz]

thanks! thats exactly what it needs haha

[@vancemacd6315]

Love that old bike. Looks fn real cool.

[@therowdyz]

Ha thanks! I grew up dirtbiking as a kid with some old timers that rode these and I always appreciated the style

[@brncrvr]

Good job man. I put a 212 and torque converter in an enduro Indian frame and got a lot of hate but that was a blast to ride. Swapped in a Yamaha engine eventually and ride it all the time. Rather keep riding something and tinker around than give up because I can’t find/afford original engine parts.

[@therowdyz]

Haha nice! And exactly my thoughts!

[@UncleChUck33]

How bout a 440 duromax u think that would be sick too

[@VenomClawz]

bike tech here, the seat latches usually have a keyed lower portion for them too, v hard to find them original alot of them seem to be taken off for no reason.

[@therowdyz]

Oh yeah a lock. That makes sense. Ha figures people probably ditched them when they lost the keys haha!

[@VenomClawz]

@@therowdyz i dont know how many bikes we've bought as shop projects that had keys and still didn't have the seat latch

[@chrislollich6064]

It's an Elsinore dirt don't have Any key locks. .

[@HILLBURKE]

Ignore the haters but Use spray paint for grips Lubricant for putting it on and when it dries it's like glue

[@rolandedrummer9723]

That turned out better than expected. Looks good. I like that chrome coat paint too.

[@therowdyz]

Thanks! the chrome paint never comes out looking like real chrome but it has a nice metallic silver look that fits well here

[@rolandedrummer9723]

You done good with it. Seems like a complete bike and not some weird Frankenstein predator swap a lot of them are.@@therowdyz

[@therowdyz]

ha thanks yeah i tried my hardest NOT to do that haha@@rolandedrummer9723

[@RobertLowery-l3w]

Best looking one I've seen on the internet great job

[@therowdyz]

thanks a lot i appreciate it!!

[@andyanaoutdoors2487]

you did a great job enjoy that bike

[@therowdyz]

@@andyanaoutdoors2487 thanks appreciate it!!

[@southernlandoutdoors5384]

That’s awesome now I need to find me a old bike to build one for myself

[@therowdyz]

Should be pretty easy to find an old roller someone has sitting around!

[@chrislollich6064]

Please don't U a nice bike and Wreck it like this guy did .

[@Nationalfruitcakeoutlet]

Great idea with the 212 motor. I just wondered why you would use the old gas tank and not just get a replacement that would be 2 gallons at least. Make sure you don't run out of gas. Can you make a vid have you take a street bike with headlights and tail lights can you put the predator 212 motor on it and take a road trip. How far could you ride with a predator motor on a small street bike

[@therowdyz]

@@Nationalfruitcakeoutlet that would be awesome! Good idea haha

[@bigdogrides3454]

I have a 1979 Yamaha dt175 and is very similar to that bike. Lucky for me the two stroke engine is absolutely mint with low km but my front and rear suspension is shot and is difficult to find something to replace with. I plan on buying one of the predator engines for my mini bike which I blew the old engine.

[@therowdyz]

Nice. Yeah thats the main problem with the older bikes a lot of parts wont fit. But yeah I have a mini bike with the same engine and its perfect and you can modify it as much as you want !

[@Allyoucaneatmeat]

That is sick dude!

[@kennyh5083]

Sounds and runs great!

[@therowdyz]

Thanks Kenny!!

[@montiel33b]

What did they use to mount the engine to the frame? I have the same problem. I have a 71 Honda SL 100 and I’m trying to do the same with the 212 or 224.

[@therowdyz]

this one was done by using spacers and really long engine bolts that are connected to a bracket almost like a car battery clamp. it wasnt the best way but it works. the best way is to probably weld brackets and a plate on to the frame to mount it to

[@spacerconrad]

Is the air filter location kinda annoying? Nice job, though. I love a simple bike.

[@therowdyz]

no not on this bike because it has an aftermarket air filter

[@rustydelorean6405]

Looks awesome. I have a 1971 Suzuki TS125 I’m thinking about doing the same with. They are close to the same size. Did you try a torque converter?

[@therowdyz]

@@rustydelorean6405 no but I would definitely recommend that if it fits on the bike !

[@krudlumpstv7854]

Cool project nice to see you cleaned it up good 👍🏼 even though that gas tank was beat up it was kinda sad to see the original paint sprayed over, people will spend a lot of money on an original Honda tank like that even though it was beat up and same goes for the rest of the bike really. Cant necessarily recommend doing this to an old bike but I have to say it is pretty cool

[@therowdyz]

Thanks. Yeah I expected the ‘you ruined it’ comments haha. And yeah people say they’re valuable but yet none of those people will fork up any cash for it! 🤷‍♀️

[@dezmondwhite7775]

@@therowdyzthat’s the most real thing I have heard in a while

[@coryplace6965]

Nice build bro

[@therowdyz]

Thanks dude!

[@davidcastle65]

nice i would like a little more power use the 420 maybe.

[@therowdyz]

Right I thought about that as well but you can modify these 212 engines pretty far. I have one at around 13hp and I know a few people that are pushing 20hp on minibikes or go carts

[@CMONBUDDYSMH]

Love it

[@deborahmarsh5429]

Awesome job

[@therowdyz]

Thanks Deborah!

[@metalreignz6557]

Where did u get the brackets to install the motor

[@therowdyz]

Just found random parts to make it work, it’s not very legit at all haha

[@metalreignz6557]

​@@therowdyz lemme get ur insta lol i wanna see how they look like 😅

[@ericmiller9132]

Hey Rowdys, is there any information on the reduction drive assembly ( manufacture ) that is mounted to the engine? Doesn’t look home-made. Thanks

[@therowdyz]

its a plate from a torque converter and uses parts from a jackshaft i believe

[@ericmiller9132]

@@therowdyz ok, thanks for replying, any updates on this project bike?

[@therowdyz]

@@ericmiller9132 unfortunately it was traded to a rancher in northern arizona.. he is getting a lot more use out of it then i would, and i used the money to fund more projects haha.

[@biggchrisbackyardcraftsaut186]

Did you buy it like that? What was the whole process of it? I got me a 96KE 100 and I’m trying to do the same thing.

[@therowdyz]

@@biggchrisbackyardcraftsaut186 yeah, basically just try to mount the motor where you can get the clutch to line up with the back wheel. This bike used a mounting plate from a torque converter to then mount a jack shaft to. The mini bike clutches use a different size chain then the old dirtbikes so that’s why u need the jack shaft

[@robertmartinez2689]

Dude you got to put a torque converter on that, it will improve torque while not losing speed.

[@jimmywhitlow2012]

My xr70 did 42 mph with the original engine. But these 212s have a lot more torque.

[@steuck]

What size is your chain and rear sprocket? I'm looking to build something similar with an old suzuki pe175.

[@therowdyz]

it was using 40 chain but im not sure the sprocket size, it just depends on how you want it geared

[@chrislollich6064]

Please don't ruin another good dirt bike. U could get More for that pe 175 than U think and find a different Bike, or if you have the original motor rebuild it and Have a real dirt bike.

[@terryjoe323la]

How many gallons is the gas tank you took off of there,

[@therowdyz]

Not sure it was a stock tank but I didn’t use it

[@terryjoe323la]

@@therowdyz thanks for answering back but I think you should take off the black tank and use that tank it will look awesome 😎

[@therowdyz]

@@terryjoe323la yeah that was the plan!

[@MakeItHappenOriginal]

hell yah man keep it up

[@therowdyz]

Hell yeah thanks man!

[@RickEarl-z9o]

Where can i find your first video of mounting the preditor

[@therowdyz]

Don’t have a video on that part unfortunately. There’s a decent video by Mike festiva about doing the same thing but it was basically done by using super long bolts… if wasn’t a very good setup to be honest I would recommend welding a plate to the frame

[@terryjoe323la]

Should have took the governor off what does swing arm to the carburetor to complete a proper stage 1 😅😂👍🏾

[@therowdyz]

Oh yeah definitely!

[@terryjoe323la]

@@therowdyz play a makuni carburetor on there it will get a better throttle response 👍🏾👍🏾

[@sethmullins8346]

I’m doing this except it’s a 1986 Kawasaki and a diesel engine

[@therowdyz]

Hell yeah that’s awesome!!

[@GellyHamlett]

where are you located

[@GellyHamlett]

i need this done to my apollo rfz

[@therowdyz]

@@GellyHamlett basically just figure out how to mount it securely and then try to line up the chain. i wouldnt recommend what was done on this bike it was prettyt sketchy lol

[@chrislollich6064]

U put a lawn mower motor in an ELSINORE, are U've just Desecrated the most sought After , iconic dirt bike ever made if I explained how crazy This thay'd kick me off KZbin forever.

[@therowdyz]

Trust me if the bike was worth any money I would have sold it for cash. The truth is that even people like you who claim this bike is so cool wouldn’t pay more then a couple hundred bucks for it. You probably think a 90s Honda civic is a classic car too right? Lol

[@Austinandjules]

You do realize you can get a 200cc 5 speed engine off Amazon now a days. You just ruined a perfect good bike.

[@therowdyz]

Well I wasnt the one that did the conversion.. but also thats not really the point. The point is to have a super easy, low maintenance, cheap bike for beginners to ride on trails. This way I can let anyone ride it and not really have to worry about it.

[@inufficentfundz3379]

We dont all have 300 dollars

[@chrislollich6064]

@@therowdyz he could have Bought 5 bikes for what he Could got for that Elsinore As as a roller instead of making a mess out of the Most iconic dirt bikes ever Made, it would have cost Less to rebuild the original Motor then it cost to buy a Motor that isn't even a predator.

[@therowdyz]

@@chrislollich6064 people like you have literally no idea what you’re talking about lol i would encourage you to join the real world and go build and sell a bike and see what happens.

[@therowdyz]

@@inufficentfundz3379 those motors are complete trash. If you knew what you were talking about you would have never commented that

[@buzzedalldrink9131]

buy the real motor, restore it correctly

[@therowdyz]

If you knew anything about these bikes you would know that’s almost impossible to find… and that wasn’t really the point anyways

[@buzzedalldrink9131]

@@therowdyz I know a lot about these bikes I hate to see him mutilated, but if that’s all you can do thats fair enough. Nice conversion,Enjoy your ride.

[@dustinh4175]

That honda is too nice to not restore. It deserves a samuri motor not some communist motor.

[@therowdyz]

i agree! however parts are almost impossible to find and it would cost thousands to restore it. a lot of people say that but none of those people will fork up the cash and do it themselves!

[@dustinh4175]

@@therowdyz I understand as I'm flushing the bottom end of my Chinese commie slave child made bicycle engine right now.

[@michelmullaney3641]

That Poor bike

[@therowdyz]

yes sir she was rode hard and put up wet!