Teach me about tecate's

[dizasterzrfun69]

I'm mainly wondering about the 84-85's since i have an 85.

What were the red tecates? Were they a 'special order" or what?

what are the differences between the 2 years?

What year kx cylinders fit, what is need to do the swap, and more importantly what do you gain from the kx cylinder?

Are there any aftermarket exhausts available for these?

What ignition setup is a good solution to gain performance and reliability?

are the guts inside the 84-85 motors the same?

Are any of the brake parts still available? are there any "bolt on calipers" to replace the OEM calipers?

whats are your options for reeds/cages on one of these?

What all fits off of a kx dirtbike and what all SHOULD i swap?


Im just trying to learn a little bit about these things before i tear into mine and get it at least rideable.

[fabiodriven]

I'll touch on any of these that I think I know-

The main difference between the two years are the front brake, and suspension.

There are aftermarket exhausts available. I'd avoid DG at all costs. Be patient and find anything else. I personally have a "CRF" exhaust and it's the bees knees.

I use a "Ricky Stator" setup. The whole shebang- rotor, stator, and voltage regulator. Some guys say they're undependable, but I have had no issues. And there was a significant power gain over stock.

I think most of the guts in the motors are the same.

You can get calipers on Ebay. I think they're new, but they ain't cheap. I usually buy used ones from Ebay and just clean 'em up. %90 of the time you can get 'em for $10 and they work fine.

I hear the big swap from the KX is the cylender, but I've never done it and don't know which ones fit or the benefit from doing that.

[ThreeKing]

I can add some info. The 83-84 KX 250 cylinder fits on T-3; the exhaust port is different but pistons are the same. There are no pipes but DG or OEM readily available. Alot of different intake setups are usable from KX dirt bikes. 84's had steel wheels and a drum front brake. Red or green seems just random.

[Hoosier_Daddy]

The clutches are different between the two years.

I don't know if any other internal engine parts are different.

The KX cylinder is a way to bolt on instant horsepower. The years that bolt up are 83-84 KX 250. The KX cylinder flows much better. You can get even more out of it if you get a bigger carb and a good pipe.

I'm pretty sure you can use reeds from several years of KX 250 and 500.

You can bolt on a Honda 300EX rear shock. All you have to do is bore out the top mount to accept the bigger bolt from the shock. Great upgrade.

[Hoosier_Daddy]

Oh yeah, they were available in red and green. It wasn't special order. It was up to the customer. Not very many people bought red so it is much harder to find.

[scooterroo]

well lets see.....

the 84/85's both came in red and green, not a speci order or anything like that.

84's had drum front brakes and the rear shock was different then the 85.
85's had disc front brakes and an more adjustable shock on the rear.

the color went from gold on the forks and swinger on the 84 to silver on the 85.

the 84 rims were a 4x4 bolt pattern, 85 had 4x156mm on all three wheels.

the 83/84 kx cylinder is the one used in the swap, and was a direct bolt on upgrade due to better exhaust porting. resulting in a very noticeable improvement.

dg is about the only ones that still make the pipe and silencer for them, but you can get one thru jemco as well, just will take longer because they are hand made sectional pipes. well worth the wait and money imo.

the 83 to 87 kx ignition is a more dependable ignition due to the screwed in magnets as opposed to the glued in stock mags on the t3 flywheel. however if you dont wanna run lights you can get a complete pvl igniton for them and they give you alot hotter spark.

as for the guts, the clutch plates, clutch push rod, and springs are not interchangeable on the 2 models. all the rest is basically the same.

you can get caliper rebuild kits thru bikebandit or your dealer, most parts are still availible, pads as well.

as for reed cages, i went the route of the v-force 3, but boysen makes a good one as well.

slap on a 38 or 39mm carb and you would have one heck of a beast on your hands.

hope this helps.

[3Razors]

Off topic but can anyone verify if the shift shaft is still available from kawasaki? I'm about to put a order in and don't want to get the dreaded "its discontinued" from the mail-order house.

Side note..the complete KX ignition you can use is from 83-86 not 87. In 87 Kawasaki completely changed bore x stroke over previous years and the cdi timing is programmed differently however you can still use the flywheel/stator combo from the 83-88 KX just not the 87 or 88 cdi.

[fabiodriven]

Are there any downsides to the KX cylender conversion? If it's just bolt-on horsepower, I may look into this. My pipe will fit the same? What's the deal?

[scooterroo]

pipes fit the same, bolts right on, only downside is trying to find one. and thanks razor, ment to hit 6 not 7. my bad!

[fabiodriven]

IMO to installing a KX jug is I lost all low end tourqe and a portion of mid-range as well.
In all fainess to the swap, I don't get to ride my Tecate near as often as I would like too so I am still experimenting with gearing to see if i can get the launchs I was getting with the stock jug.
I have some great advice from the 2 stroke guys as to what to change my gearing to from the stock gearing I have on it now.
I can tell you it will rev right up to 12K rpm + with NO problem.
I beleive the power starts to taper off at 11K rpm but like I said, I really don't have many hours on mine since I put the re-nic'd KX jug on it.

john

Nice- This is the info I figured I would get from somebody. I kinda figured it couldn't be a 100% gain. As a general rule of thumb I've always found when you gain somewhere, you're probably losing something as well. I do use the low end grunt quite often on my trike and definately wouldn't wanna lose that. I'll put this idea on the back burner for my 2nd 250 I'll be putting together after the 500 is done (sigh). It'll be set up strickly for MX.

Thanks Jeswine!

[Blown 331]

I just got my first 85 Tecate and don't even have it running yet but does it have a nikasel cylinder? Can I just bore to the next size up and get an over sized piston just like a 250R?

[3Razors]

Yes it has the nikasil on the factory cylinder, unless someone has gone and put a sleeve in it. You cannot bore nikasil..its designed to last forever properly maintained. If the piston/rings are a little worn, just throw in a same size new set and you are good to go.

[hadar]

All I know is that I couldn't get mine to run smooth with a 38mm carb until I had the kx cylinder. Stock t3 jug and the reprehensible 300 kit I bought could not handle the big boy carb. Due to the exhaust porting (or lack thereof) If you want a racing setup go with the kx jug, if you want trail and recreation keep it stock. Simple as that.