Is a stock Tri Z 250 really that slow????

[Darius1502]

And another!!!!!!!!!!!11

[Darius1502]

one more!!!!!!!!1

[Darius1502]

Best for last!!!!!!....my project!

I am getting so sick of waiting on my axle, sometimes I just want to say,

"where the HELL is my AXLE B#TCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

[Jeb]

My opinion as an owner. :-D

I love my ol' yellar 85 Tri-Z. Just because it's an 85 it's definitely not crap. But it's not stock. I have the tank switched out, a bill's pipe, CT Silencer, Clamp-on UNI filter, boyessen reeds, 14 tooth front sprocket, +2 West Coast Swingarm, 18x11-8 Turf Tamers on stock rims out back and a few other odd's & ends. It doesn't have allot of top speed, but it gets there quick and has plenty of power. I don't have an extended axle for it, but I do run the stock rims turned around and sometimes I run spacers. The suspension is in great shape, it's pretty much an MX trike, though I do not race MX.

I'm also an 84 & 86 Tecate owner. I don't care what shootout says what, It may have a faster top speed but the stock Tri-Z cannot outhandle or out motor the stock Tecate. It especially cannot out handle an 86 Tecate. Even with the mods my 85 Z has it will not handle as well as my Stock 86 KXT. My 84 KXT had comparable mods (swingarm, axle, pipe, etc) and it would out handle the Z too. They just slide and corner allot better.

I'm not going to discuss the Z motor because any motor can have a little magic breathed into it. All that take is dollars. My problem with the Z is it's handling. I believe the problems lie in chassis geometry. I also believe Yamaha tried to correct it as much as possible when they released the 86 by installing bigger forks, a lower-profile front tire, and slightly smaller, lower profile rear tires. I think these were all great changes. My next mod and probably the last I will do to my Z will be a smaller diameter front tire. I've also thought about picking up an 86 front end. I know some of the problem with 85 has got to be fork flex. I want to try the tire switch first. I've come to realize I'll never get it to match the handeling of the 86 Tecate. But that's ok, it's still one of the greatest sport ATVs of all time. You can't go wrong with a Tri-Z, which ever year you have.

[MR ATC]

there may be a good reason that ATVnews is no longer around. if they though a TRI-Z was that fast and 250R and Tecate that slow they must have been smoking some wacky trailprotrailprotrailprotrailpro. i've never been a BIG fan of magazine shootouts for one simple reason the winner always seems to be the one with the most ads in that particular magazine. what i do rely on is actual experiance. in 85/86 i was riding and racing against all these machines. now i try not to promote such activity but also during this time my friends and i also liked to play with the local cops. so what dose all this have to do with it...based on actual riding/racing and radar gun results the tecate is the fastest followed by the 250R,350X,TRI-Z, and finally 86 200X. the day a stock TRI-Z is faster then a stock Tecate or 250R is the day i trade 3 wheels for 4

[TimSr]

I couldnt have said it better Jeb!

As far as 86's handling any better than 85's, yes, the changed tire sizes work better, but since tire selection is matter of basic setup, I dont consider that a better handling trike. The bigger forks are stronger, but they have the same rake, and same length, so again, they have no effect on handling. Stiffer spring in the 86? Maybe it does, but again, they are sprung for the riders weight, which is also a matter of basic setup, and a lighter spring is better for a lighter rider. If stiffer= better, than an ATC110 has the best suspension of all. For a 150-160 lb rider, the stock 85 Z has excellent front suspension. For a 170 lb guy like me, the 86 might be better, or you drop in a set of $80 progressive rate springs from DK. I see no engineering changes between 85 and 86 that affect handling at all. They simply put a little more thought into basic setup.

Without changing frame geometry the Z will never corner like the R or the T3, which is what we usually mean by "handling", but the longer wheelbase is a handling asset for jumping, and straight lining.

All awesome machines, but top speed is Soooooo irrelevant. How fast you can do 0-50 is the name of the game. I dont know where the heck all these guys are riding at 60 or 70 mph, but my guess is Ive rarely, if ever hit 50 on a race track, and I cant remember the last time I found a field big enough to wind any of my two strokers all the way out. The drag strip at haspin ends before I can be totally topped out on my Z,even with its super low gearing. Geez, I had an old Honda CB175 twin that would do 75. Does that mean its "faster"?

Once again, if you can ride my Z, which has no major modifications, puch teh throttle and shift through the gears, and tell me its noticeably slower than whatever youve got, then I am dying to see what you are riding.

[Darius1502]

Tim,

You could have said it better...you could have your information correct! You are flat out wrong about the rake being the same. The rake on the 86 Tri Z was pulled in .05 degress to .22 degrees.

I do think the Tri Z in 1986 was a better bike than the 1985 model. Do you think the 85 250R was better than the 86...get real...its called refinement.

Also the 85 has very little preload adjustment on the rear shock. The 86 has tons.

But lets get to some real details. Here are the changes:

1) Smaller intake port area
2) 6 speed transmission
3) bigger airbox intake tract (thats why the coolant resevoir is on the left side on the engine in '86)
4) completely different jetting on the 32 mm Mikuni carb
5) Smaller front tire
6) Rake pulled in .05 degrees (with the smaller tire this adds to a shorter rake of 1.02 down from 1.4 inches
7) Lower profile Dunlop 21X11X9 inch tires
8) 39mm telscopic forks (verus 35mm)
9) Close to one inch more travel up front (10 inches)
10) Increased travel at the rear of 1.2 inches for a total of 9.3 inches
11) Increased compression and rebound damping adjustments
12) Red and White color scheme
13) New piston shape
14) Revised porting for more power

Well thats all I could see from the old tests and such...in the end the bike will handle alot better than a stock 85....don't you think Yamaha was aware of all of this and made changes to the 86 model.

I just thought this information would be helpful. I think both years are fine machines....I just always wanted an '86 so I jumped at the project.

Now everyone just enjoy thier machines (no matter what year) and lets look at that article!

[denn]

My apoligies to anyone who owns an 85 tri-z. I shouldn't say they are crap. I own 2 of them myself, but the 86 really is a big improvement. Mr. ATC all of the mods you want to do to your 85, as you know are stock on the 86 model. Also nobody said that the tri-z would out motor anything. They said it was most useful. The shootout even said the tecate had the strongest most powerful motor. It just doesn't have as high as a top speed. 6 speeds vs. 5. Even dirt wheels said it when talking about the 250R and tecate in a drag race"The honda comes close but doesn't have the screaming top end of the green machine, BUT the honda also has an extra COG that the tecate doesn't" A drag race is not telling anything about top end. As far as handling, eveything I have ever read said the tri-z is a little tougher to slide cause even in 86 it had 21 inch tires that were a bit flexy. You are able to get around that by just a little more leaning. I am going to send a copy of the ATV NEWS to the board and let them post it in the mag section so everyone can read it. One last thing, how many people who own tecates and 250r's also own a complete 86 TRI-Z, not an 85 with 86 forks and an 85 with the 6 speed and so on.

Thanks Denn

[MR ATC]

My apoligies to anyone who owns an 85 tri-z. I shouldn't say they are crap. I own 2 of them myself, but the 86 really is a big improvement. Mr. ATC all of the mods you want to do to your 85, as you know are stock on the 86 model.

Thanks Denn

i think you have me confused with someone else Denn. i don't own a TRI-Z

[denn]

Sorry I ment Jeb not mr atc and all those improvements in the 86 that are listed above are RIGHT ON. Not one was missed. THANKS

Denn

[MR ATC]

[quote="TimSr"]I couldnt have said it better Jeb!

Once again, if you can ride my Z, which has no major modifications, puch teh throttle and shift through the gears, and tell me its noticeably slower than whatever youve got, then I am dying to see what you are riding.[/quote

Tim i seem to remember a surprise on your face at haspin last year after riding Mik6's Tecate...and it wasn't even running right

[TimSr]

Darius, Ill stand corrected on the rake. I did not think they changed it, as its not noticeable to the eye, but even a little would sure be helpful. I guess if people are looking for handling improvements, and 86 frame would be alot more helpful than the front end. I had one and sold it because I couldnt see any difference.

I also started thinking of all the things that get replaced over the years, and how I take some of them for granted. I had heard of porting changes, but apparently Yamaha used the 86 verson of cylinder as the standard replacement for both years. Same with the piston. Both years are the same part number, but then I wonder if anyone actually has a stock piston (or a yamaha one) any more! Same with rear shock. I have not seen a working TriZ shock for years, and often wondered if any still exist. Denn makes a good point, and i guess the fact is there are probably very few stock 85's or 86's to ever make a comparison, especially when so many of the revisions are parts often replaced through normal wear.

[TimSr]

MrATC, I was very please and impressed with his Tecate, but I cant say anything about it really surprised me. It certainly had better cornering capability than my Z, which I expected, and when you turned it on, it ripped, which I too expected, but I did not get off it thinking the Z seemed slow afterwards. A very fine machine, but the Z is certainly worthy to feast at the same table. Last time my Z was literally falling apart, but its since gone through total rebuild and been restored to its former glory so I look forward to seeing how close I can hang with it on the strip this year. Also, Im hoping I can find some people to run a little MX for fun this year!

[MR ATC]

Tim, thats one thing i missed out on last year was getting to race you on a mx track but with your Z having its problems we did not get the chance. I only wish i had a trike going for this year's event if things work out i may keep a trike and be there at the next one. we still have a bet i believe...

[ATCs Reborn]

MR ATC, no ofense bud, but if you have that order correct, you're smokin a little wacky stuff yourself. there's no way in he!! the 350x is faster than the tri-z. i won't say it's faster than the r or t3, but c'mon, you gotta have that backwards right? i have 2 350x's now and they are officially my favorite machine, but i'd never try and convince anyone that either my stocker or my cammed, piped, high compression pistoned one would ever run a z.
anyways, i've owned all the 2 strokers and though i don't know what was inside the engine on my z, on the outside all it had was a cobra silencer and my z was the fastest 2 stroke i've ever owned. granted the r's and t3's i owned were the 85's and i'm sure the 86-87 tecate would have blew the doors off my z. all i know is when i had my z i was about 240lbs and it would eat up everything in sight including the ever popular piped, k&n'ed, boyesen, etc. banshees with little under 200lb riders.
my 2 cents,
steve