tecate Qs

[this guy]

How reliable are the 84 tecates? I am coming up on one and a parts bike, don't know much about the old ones a little background would be nice before I commit. how reliable in comparrison to an R?

[MagicJames]

Some people swear by Kawi, some people swear by Honda...
Many of the hard to get Kawi parts are being reproduced by Jswineheart, and i know John is a great guy, and loves to help people. Sprock and Eric are making big bore kits, so as far as that goes, you can still get "performance" parts for them.
I'd go with a 85 tecate before a 84 or try to find a 85 front end so you have disc front instead of a drum brake, but ... That's just me

[this guy]

thanks for the info, I am really looking foreward to getting this machine and restoring it.

[eyecekold1]

They are way cool bikes different than an r. They can be reliable if you fix the flywheel. The stock bikes have glued magnets that unglue and take out the stator.
You can use a 83-86 kx dirt bike ignition or buy a ricky flywheel to fix that problem. They come with a twist throttle which is different. . . a good number of people have gotten beat up by that feature. The jug is nikasil which means you can't just bore it and go, you have to bore it, nikasil it, and go.
I have all tecates and I love them to death wouldn't trade one of them for an r. Thats me. I don't mean to make them sound bad because they are awesome just letting you know what I have found a bit bothersom about them.
Good luck:cool:

[dcreel]

my 84 has the ricky stator flywheel and stator and has been running 20+ years on the same bore.

[this guy]

Thanks guys, that really helps me out, I was offered a tri z as well, but I am really leaning towards the tecate, it has the ricky stator and what appears to be a blown Olins shock, what color is the stock one? This one is gold and has a yellow spring. has a nice silencer on it too. The plastics are sure ugly though. Anyone know what kind of wattage the ricky stator kicks out? It comes with a parts bike and I'd like to see how salvagable it is.

[ScottZJ]

Well I have had both for many years...off and on. If I want to just have a trike that can sit for months and months, then hop on and ride with no problems then honda it is. But if I want a fantasticly powered great ride, the tecate is on top. Now tecate needs to be maintained a tad more than an R would but as long as you do the upkeep and mods listed above, it can be just as reliable as honda with a style, flare and power that most tecate owners have grown to love.

[85Tecate]

I have an 85 and love it. Parts arent too bad to find, its got plenty of power, decent suspension (if the rear shock is any good) But you can use a 300ex rear shock with very slight mods. The stator and vibration is the bad things. Flywheel magnets come loose and tear up the stator. But its an easy, but costly fix. Myself, i re-expoxyed my magnets and havent had a problem yet. Loctite EVERYTHING!! Trust me! Other than that, its a great machine. I couldnt compare it to an R because ive never ridden one.

Also forget the fact of replating the cylinder, just buy a sleeve and resleeve it.....

[this guy]

Personally I'm a replate guy, but thanks I'm going to go load my quad up right now to drive over to his house and trade. I'll post pics as soon as I get it.

[this guy]

so aside from the stator(which it already has) and the brake system, any other concerns I should have? Oh, I heard the frames have issues too, whats the deal on that?

[this guy]

won't let me load them.

[dcreel]

The frames sometimes crack on either side behind the seat mounts just forward of the rear hoop of the frame. If it is cracked just throw a bead on it and go. It isn't a big deal. For pictures go to www.photobucket.com and host them there. It makes it really easy to post on here.

[this guy]

anyone know anything about the silencer?

[dcreel]

You got a real nice Tecate there. The rear fenders look to be in great shape. The bad thing about the silencer is that they put a screw through the mount into the silencer.

[MagicJames]

You got a Nice machine, congrats!!

[eyecekold1]

Looks good. The head light and the mud flaps are nice those are kinda hard to find on those bikes, well at least for me. Glad you got it they are lots of fun.