My New Trike!

[yaegerb]

Well after a ton of good information and help from these forums I have just purchased my first Trike this weekend. An '85 Yamaha Tri-Z! As you might have seen in my other thread I was originally looking for a 250r, but, after a good bit of shopping I decided I wanted to stay within my price range (under 2k) and within driving distance (why pay 300-500 bucks just in shipping?) SO, I found a very nice Tri-Z just 4 hours away and went and picked it up yesterday for $1800.00

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We went out riding yesterday for about 4 hours and man it was a blast. This is my first trike, and my first 2 stroke machine. SO, I admit I am learning but I was really comfortable on it towards the second part of the ride yesterday. I do have a few questions for all of you more familiar with 2 stroke trikes than me....

The guy that I bought it from had restored the trike. Cleaned everything up good and bored it out to the next size, etc., etc.... he kept telling me when I picked it up that the rebuild was very fresh and I should go easy on it until it breaks in. Well.... I took his word that he knew what he was doing. i went easy on it for about an hour riding (because I needed to get used to it anyway) and then I started getting into it. Man its FAST! Having said that, here are my few questions.

1. The chain seems really really tight. How tight should the chain be on this trike?

2. What things should I be watching for on this Trike to wear/tear/break to try to keep it in top notch shape?

3. The rear tires are new, the front is old and starting to crack... I plan to replace the front this week... what do you recommend? (also will be putting new grips on it because the current grips are sliding off!)

4. This is my first 2 stroke, so, I am still learning and understanding it, but.... in 1st and 2nd gear the "first half" of the gear seems to be powerless. When I take off, about half way through 1st gear is dead and then all the sudden it takes off like a bat out of hell. Same thing in 2nd. By 3rd and 4th i'm already up to good speed and notice nothing strange. Is this normal? Is it the way I am using the clutch possibly? The only way I can get it up on 2 wheels is to get it up to that higher RPM "2nd half of the gear" and let out on the clutch.... is it just the way I am riding it?

5. This is probably more of a "i need more experience" comment, but, we have 130 acres in the North Georgia mountains where I will be riding 80% of the time and one thing I noticed that is definitely different than my 4 stroke quads is that going up hill from a stand still is very hard if not impossible! WHen I had a good running start, I had no problem in 1st and 2nd gear, but, if I lost RPMs and stalled out, it was impossible (again I probably just need more time on the seat) to get it started up on the up hill.... I had to turn it sideways (level ground) or turn around and face it down hill to get it started up again.


All in all is was a blast riding it... it went every where my 250ex could go... mud... hills.... and I outran my buddy on his 350 warrior which was a blast! I am looking forward to getting out riding on the OHV trails around here and seeing what it can do!

1. The chain needs about 1/2 inch of play up and down from resting position.
2. If it's freshly rebuilt. Put 91 or higher octane mixed at 32 or 36:1. Keep the transmission oil fresh by changing every 15-20 hours of ride time. Make sure you grease the pivot points where there are zerks. Other than that just keep riding and listening for odd sounds or different behaviors. The bike will tell you if something is wrong.
3. I would recommend 120mm ODI rogue grips. I always liked a kenda klaw front tire.
4. Sounds like your needle may be rich. Raise your needle 1 clip and see if that goes away. If not try 2 clips.
5. Yes 2 strokes are different than four. They have less torque and require lower gears when climbing hills of any serious nature.

Oh and get a manual.

[brandonlowe2]

Ok, here is some info.

Current Front Tire - 25x8-12 Kenda KLAW XC is available in that size...


For the chain... I have attached a picture of it to show the tension.... it definitely does not have 1/2" of slack in it...

[yaegerb]

Yep, that chain needs to be looser than that. Get a manual and follow how to adjust the chain properly. You might want to give it a bath first

[brandonlowe2]

Ok.... I will try to figure it out tonight. Yea bath time for sure.... we found lots of mud holes yesterday :-)

[RIDE-RED 250r]

X2 on Yaegerb's recommendation for the ODI locking grips, they are AWESOME! Once you try a set, you will never go back to conventional grips.

Your drive sprocket is showing some wear, it will be time to replace that soon. And truthfully, both sprockets and the chain should be replaced together as a complete set. But drive sprockets are cheap, and about the worst you will do is wear out the next drive sprocket sooner if you don't do the chain and rear sprocket with it... Your call.

For rear tires, I have come to REALLY like the ITP Holeshot GNCC. I have them on my big bore R and the wife's 350x with Kenda Front Max up front on both. The second R will get a set as well. I ride gravel roads and some woods trails and they do really well in those conditions. Not really a "mud" tire, but for general trail and gravel road ing, I like them alot. A fantastic general purpose tire for sport/race trikes IMHO.
http://www.itptires.com/tires/sport-atv/holeshot-gncc

I'm not sure what rim size you have out back on your Tri-Z. These are only available in for 9" rim...

[czac]

your grips are probably slipping off because they are motorcycle grips and not designed for an atv without a twist throttle. I had the same issue so i just wrapped yellow electrical tape on my bars untill the grips stayed on tight. Actually though it was only one grip that slipped off easily!

I think the front tire on my trike is a mud claw... Kendra maybe? i forget. I dont have a tri z but my trike does have a tri z front end on it...lol for rear tire i have a set of Maxxis hole shots, I love em. i just wish i could find and then afford a pair that were 22" tall because mine are only 18 inches tall and my front tire is 25" tall! lol... good luck with the trike, have fun and be safe!

[NeverLift]

This is the front I run and its been a great tire. It's about the only 23" that's not made for a utility quad.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-CHENG-SH...yOWiTw&vxp=mtr

For the rear i have many sets but the ones i run most often are ITP holeshot mxr6 18x10x9 great everywhere however I avoid the mud when I can.

[Tactical_Lever]

I don't think those tires look too big. Of course I like to run a little bit bigger than a problem pure race tire. I had a Tri-Z and had 2 sets of tires for it. One set was 26" and it lacked torque and had a hard time pulling them. Did great in mud though. The other set was stock size and they were too small imo. I would run out of revs in 6th even though I had half the throttle left to twist.

It would still do about 125 km/h. In third if I cracked it at the right rpm it would stand straight up without yanking on the bars or any other coaxing.

Sent from my XP7700 using Tapatalk

[Tactical_Lever]

When you are tackling a big hill gear down, get up into the power band so you are already "making" power. And there is no big change in output which could upset the bike. Stand up and get your weight over the front of the bike to keep it planted.

Sent from my XP7700 using Tapatalk

[brandonlowe2]

Thanks for the comments and suggestions guys!

I dropped it off this morning with the Yamaha mechanic in town... he is going to put my new tires on and go through it to make sure he doesn't see anything that needs worked on.... he is going to fix the chain too. I decided to let somebody that knows what they are doing do the first tune up on it.

One thing I really need to get soon is a new muffler pipe... the one on there now is falling off and the baffle is gone so it is ridiculously loud lol.... can I use something like this: http://www.motosport.com/fmf-powerco...lencer-2stroke

[RIDE-RED 250r]

Looks like you have a DG pipe. DG also has a matching silencer for that pipe, that's what I would get.

[brandonlowe2]

Ok I will try to find the matching silencer for it... thanks!

[NeverLift]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/85-86-Yamaha...hRDh~g&vxp=mtr

[brandonlowe2]

Thank you NeverLift.... ordered.... should be here in 2 days :-)

That place seems to have quite a bit of replacement parts that fit Tri-Z... I am going to have to bookmark that place... thank you.

[DohcBikes]

I dropped it off this morning with the Yamaha mechanic in town... I decided to let somebody that knows what they are doing do the first tune up on it.

Those are rare and precious words. Well done.