going to look at tecate ,,, what to look for ???

[ATC-RYDA]

ok guys i've never owned 1 of these machines and im driving about 3hrs to go look at 1 .. its a 85 kxt 250 .. i was just curious if these anything in particular that was maybe a faulty part on kawasaki's end that i should keep my eyes open for ?? the bike is running/riding and seems to be in decent shape .. but its gonna be a long drive and i want to look this thing over real well before purchase ... didnt know if there where possible weak spots in the frame ,certain engine parts to inspect , etc... any input will be greatly appreciated .. thanks guys

[dcreel]

Really the only weak spot on the frame is behind the last crossmember in the frame, in front of the rear of the frame. The frame will crack there, on either side or both sides. The bottom tubes of the engine cradle take a beating on a jumped Tecate. They sometimes end up ovalled. Besides that I can't think of anything. Check the drain plug for problems. Check the shifter to make sure it is tight and hasn't been welded. Tecate's seem to have been overbuilt to a degree. "Like a tank" comes to mind. The radiators tend to leak at the left hand bottom mount.

[fabiodriven]

^^^That and...^^^

Make sure it says Kawasaki on it. That says it all.

[bbford429]

I have a 85 klt 200c with all sorts of wiring problems any advise? I'm fairly confident the components are fine but the guy I got it from hacked the entire harness so I'm stuck trying to piece it back together in the dark!

[rasorroad250r]

From what I have found the tecate is made pretty well, pretty much everywhere. I have come to the belief that a running tecate will only be a running tecate for a short while until you get a decent ignition/ stator. I went through so many I finially just bought a PVL and was over it. Worked great after that. The shift levers can be a weak spot and the petcocks usually leak. Good luck!

[Gag_Halfront]

The rear shock is usually blown. Talk him down on the price if it is, but instead of rebuilding the crappy T3 one, take the money and find a 300ex shock on feeBay and swap it in. I got mine for $1 local pick up. Never have to worry about it again. :-)

I agree with most of the rest of what was stated here. I would add that of the 3 frames I have, 3 of them have bolt holes stripped because some goons think that torque is a good substitute for loctite. ;-P If there are any bolts missing, check the threads and see if they've been stripped out. Again, I wouldn't pass up the deal, but I'd try to talk it down a little because of it.

the one thing that I disagree on is that the frames may not crack like a 350x but they do _BEND_! It seems like a lot of tecates led hard lives and got wrecked a lot and that rear subframe tweaks out of shape. Stand behind the bike and look at the lines of the grab bar, plastics, and axle and try to get a good idea if it all looks parallel or not. My first one had a badly twisted rear subframe that I didn't notice when I bought the bike. It rode ok because the main part of the frame was still pretty square, but the seat was a little crooked and it felt almost as funny as it looked. Straight tecate frames are around if you need to replace it, but bent ones seem to be way more common in my experience.

[HuffieVA]

I agree, the rear part of the frame is the trouble spot, its not the end of the world, I just rebult the subframe on my 84 (it had been bent, straightened, broke and welded again and again) I cut it just as the upright braces meet the top rail, took some 5/8" round bar (slides tightly into the stock tubing) and a torch and made a copy of the tail section on my good 85, fabbed the whole thing including a new grab bar in a couple hours. Ill get some pics up if anyone is interested, so to me the rear of the subframe is not a deal breaker for my next one... I'd say the biggest thing is to make sure its pretty complete...