commuter 3 wheeler info

[danbur55]

last year i had the pleasure of talking with a man who was a salesman for commuter industries from 1978-1984 (as i dont have his permission to post his name as of now i wont) this is info i noted during a phone conversation with him. i will apologize in advance if it doesnt follow correctly... pacesetter went belly up in 1973 was sold & renamed as commuter industries in 1975 (filed incorporation papers 3/75) te380 stood for T=transaxle E=electric start 3=3 wheeled 80=8hp being the kohler porous castings on the kohler causing dirt build up on cooling fins and overheating problems they went to the te390 T=transaxle E=electric start 3=3 wheeled 90=9hp being the kawasaki industrial motor thet also produced the Granger 340 and the Sasquatch 340 which featured reverse and also enclosed the drive belt to help prevent slippage while riding in water some models had keyed axles but proved to be problematic so redesigned to splined axles some had metal fuel tanks only others also had a plastic cover over the tank twist throttles and shocks came from azusa engineering headlight and taillight were generic off the shelf items used a comet 40 clutch a 1" wide x 4" diameter band brake to a drum off the right side of the transaxle they used a large hog farm nearby as their proving grounds loaning them to be used as work vehicles for a period of time or until it broke bring it back to find problems and repair as needed it was also mentioned of another model produced (about 1000 units model named could not be recalled by him) not at all impressive as it was cheap stamped rear axle housing chain drive tecumseh motor hope this can help someone out as i am still trying to find info on these if anyone has any to add please bring it on thanks everybody and have a great day danny

[motorhead]

danny,

Check the archives, on this forum. There is a lot of info here.

Plus there are several pictures of a few members machines.

These are very tough machines; and were build to work and last a long time. One word that I would use to describe them is "Industrial". I would say they were in the same market segment as the Honda Big Red; but much tougher and stronger. We used several Big Reds on the farm for utility jobs, whatever; and the Sasquatch did the same job, only much, much better. I could pull a Chemical spray trailer with the Sasquatch that the Honda couldn't handle.

As for speed, they were no slouch; because the (Comet,type) clutch, would really hook up. They actually went faster then they should have; as the brakes were not very good. It actually has a Salsbury clutch, the forerunner of the Comet clutch. To make it simple; a snowmobile clutch set-up.

The engine was a Kawasaki industrial, made for torque; and it had it.

A good, tough, interesting machine.

I was going to add some photos; but mine are gone from this forum????? I had some of the Sasquatch here. I haven't been on here for a long time so maybe my account was purged, maybe? Darn I'm a bit upset about that. There were other members pictures on here also; I'll do some checking.

And another thing, where the Hxxx did the quotes under my avatar come from? I suppose the administrator is having fun!!!

Anyway, I still have the Sasquatch

motorhead

[Russman1986]

I'm rebuilding a rear end on one look for my post

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

[mrlong]

My uncle was the one who built the commuter 3 wheeler, and I worked on that farm mentioned above.

[danbur55]

mrlong, that is way too cool to know that you had experiences on the farm and your uncle having built these. if you or your uncle can add any history, technical info or even stories about these, i think it could be appreciated as a future reference for those of us that delve into the non-mainstream 3 wheelers i currently have 2 TE-380, one is scattered all over my garage getting new bearings, frame paint and just freshened up the k181 kohler is dated as 1977 my other i beleve to be a 1978 by serial number again thanks and hoping you can add to this for future use by all danny

[jeswinehart]

Here is some links to Commuter trike talk on 3ww Dan.

http://www.3wheelerworld.com/search....rchid=10684205

john

[bulldogxx]

Hi Dan I just bought one of these oldies do you have a carb number handy,
bulldogtough@gmail.com

[chaaza]

I bought a carb off ebay for the Kawasaki Engine on my Granger 340. The part number is EZ-KSQ340-00CA. The listing said it was a little thinner than the Kawasaki OEM one, but I had no problems with the fit. However you will need shorter bolts because the body of this carb is redesigned a bit and the longer bolt will hit. Also I had to bend the choke hookup on top the other way because it hit the assembly that hooks up to it. But once you make some slight mods it will work!