Tri-Z vs. 250R

[BIGKAHUNA]

Please forgive me if this has subject has been beat to death but I am new to the board so bear with me. I am currently in the market to purchase a 250cc 2stroke quad or 3 wheeler. Having only owned an 85 ATC250R, I am wondering how the TriZ stacks up to it. I have already gotten feed back on the KXT Tecate and sounds like it is a very formidabale competitor. Is the TriZ as fast as the 250R? How does it handle? Is it stronger on topend or on bottom? Those of you have ridden both and have formulated opinions please fill me in. Out of the the ATC250R, TriZ, Tecate which is the best purchase for the money. What about parts availability? Come on post away....any and all advice is GREATLY appreciated.

[Jeroboam7]

IMHO

I don't believe you could go wrong with any of the machines you mentioned!

As far as the easiest to get parts for the 86 250R is at the top of the list. The others may not have the largest aftermarket part selections like the 250R but many of the parts that are made for other machines will interchange with the Tecate or Tri-Z.

As far as performance the ball is in the air, and only the amount of money that a person has limits performance, but your best performer in all catagories would have to be the 250R, but again any of the three I wouldn't be afraid of having!

[TimSr]

I almost agree completely with the last post other than other than the part of the last sentence giving Honda the edge in all the performance categories. I only wish my TRX250R motor (pretty much same as the ATC) could deliver the low end power I get from my TriZ. Ive sure spent enough money trying to get it there! I was also quite impressed with the low end Mik6's Tecate delivered, and I dont think the R can match it. The R does handle well but Ill give the Kaw equal billing for handling. When it comes to parts and reliability, Ill grudgingly have to give that to the Honda, with the TriZ in 2nd. Something also has to be said for Honda's counterbalancer making it the one with the least vibration.

Id pick the R or the Tecate for MX, Ill take my Z for an Ohio harescramble with lots of hills, And I only give it the edge over Tecate for steep downhill braking, but as was said, none of these 3 would be a disappointment in any category. For the drag strip, I wouldnt want to place a bet.

[MR ATC]

well this is one area Tim and i strongly disagree (with no offense intended) yes the Tecate has a stronger Top end but a Tri-Z having better low end is untrue and to compare it to a Fourtrax 250R is misleading. the Fourtrax use's a detuned version of the ATC motor in addition to being in a frame that is almost 100lbs more so it may feel like it has less low end when in reality its pulling more weight. as far as the machines stand the Tecate was built as a race trike from the factory the Honda and Yamaha were built as all around machines. as far as handling both the Tecate and Honda are close but the TRI-Z with its akward gas tank placement and small forks have it a step behind the other two. that was then this is now. the aftermarket is full of stuff you can get for a 250R wereas the Tecate and Tri-Z are limited to very little if anything. Tecates are known for reliability and notorious for there stator problems Tri-Z's are notorious for there waterpump failures. While 250R's are not imune to mechanical failures nothing stands out as a real problem. also nowadays you see guys piloting Quads using 250R motors but to my knowledge no one use's a Tecate or Tri-Z motor powered Quad. so if your looking for the best all around and most reliable machine the Honda fits the Bill if you want to be differant or have the fastest stock 250cc 2stroke the Tecate is the winner

[BIGKAHUNA]

The TriZ sounds like it is formidable. The kind of riding I am wanting to do would be stuff like wooded trails, some sand and hills and such. Just how hard are parts to come by for the TriZ and Tecate? I restored my 85 ATC250R from the frame up and parts were fairly easy to obtain with a little research work but I really dont remember running across that many TriZ and Tecate parts. At any rate your post have have helped a bunch. Which bike was the strongest off the show room floor? If memory serves me correct I want to say the reviews I read had the ATC leading the pack with all round perfomance and handling with the Tecate falling short on the handling side and stronger in the power category. The TriZ is somewhat of a mystery to me as I dont recall reading a bunch about it. I think the suspension and maybe the swing arm may have been an issue. Any thoughts?

[MR ATC]

well acording to the shootouts in the magizines back the the 250R was picked as the best all around machine with the Tecate taking first in the race only catagory the Tri-Z was quoted as being the best for novice level riders. the Tecate had the best Turning and Forks but the Honda had the best all around Handling...now that is there opinion my opinion is based on me being a former pro ATC racer i had my choice and i rode all three back in the day when they were all brand new. i chose the Honda and i still have it today. now funny thing the Tecate was rated as the best Racer but the Honda has the winningest record it was undefeted in Baja and the Tecate was named after a town in the Baja penisula...lol as far as parts especially performance parts they are almost nonexistance for the Tri-Z and Tecate but, just like the Honda they are based on the MX bikes and some motor parts are interchangeable however things like swingarm, axels ,pipes, good luck finding them for Tecate or Tri-Z there are some parts still out there but are hard to find. Honda's are plentifull as the pros still run 250R motors today. good luck with your search and no matter what you get in the overall picture they are all good machines

[TimSr]

Ill agree Honda has always been winningest, but when you go to the track and there are 300 Honda's, and 100 of all other makes combined, Winning 3 out of 4 only makes them average!
My comments about low end arent based strictly on my TRX-R. We hillclimb an awful lot, and one of the guys we ride with has an 86 ATC250R, and its actually more lame than my TRX for low end power, to which I credit my ESR TRX6 pipe. We swap trikes, and he'd be the first to conceed that mine has more low end, and I can easily outclimb him. He weighs about 30lbs less than me too. I do fully realize my TRX weighs more than my Z, and Ive taken that into consideration. Ive also ridden another guys ATC-R thats totally rigged for MX. It handles nice on the track, and it was easy to figure out why he was eating my Z, but his didnt deliver on the low end like mine either. Maybe its only MY TriZ! Funny, but I think its the only Z Ive ever ridden. I guess we'll need a good hillclimb competition at the next 'fest to settle this one!
I have often heard that the 86 TRX is a "detuned" 86 ATC motor, but Ive never had anyone who could explain what exactly that means. It certainly doesnt seem to make good sales sense to me, but then Honda rarely does in that area. Do you know in what manner its been detuned? Mine has certainly been tuned by me, so did I fix whatever it was that was detuned? Ive never gotten an answer to this before.

[BIGKAHUNA]

Why dont the big three manufacturers (Honda, Yamaha and Kawasaki) make single piston 2 stroke performance quads? I love em! I am cautiously optiminstic about this purchase cause I want a bike I can find repair and upgrade parts for. I guess this means I am gonna narrow my focus down to the ATC250R but, if I find a Tecate or a Tri-Z that is priced fair and has been taken care of.....I'm gonna get it. I ESPECIALLY like the 86 Tecate...Were the 84&85 Tecates water cooled?

[Jeb]

Isn't it true that all honda did to "de-tune" TRX motor from the ATC was to lower the compression with a thicker head gasket?

[Jeroboam7]

Bigkahuna,

I wouldn't be to afraid of finding parts for the TRI-Z most of the rearend is either from a Banshee, Warrier, Blaster, or even the Raptor has a few parts in common with the Tri-Z and most of the part numbers from the YZ cross to the TRI-Z as well so parts won't be to hard to find, as for the water pump that MR ATC mentioned I wouldn't worry about that too much well at least I don't I have redone Mine once!

[BIGKAHUNA]

That is one sweet bike...hope I can stumble on one somewhere..

[KingTecate]

In reply to Bigkahuna's question about 84-85 tecates being water cooled. Yeah they are. I have an 84 and its a rippin bike. Ive riddin all three trikes at one time or another and it seems like the tecate slides better in the corners. But thats just me. Also there might not be as many aftermarket parts for the tecate, but they can be found. It just might take a couple extra days to get the parts cause they are coming from all over the US. Ill have to say that my fav part about the tecate is that not many people have them and they turn heads no matter where you ride.

[Jeb]

Here's Mine. an 86 tecate, an 84 tecate and an 85 Z. 85z & 86 T3 run good. My Z is pretty quick and has quite a bit of low-end, but it's not stock.

(yes, I know the Z has no chain, I recently added the westcoast swingarm and haven't picked up a new chain and sprockets yet :-D )

84/85 Tecates have the radiator located up on the front forks, where a headlight or number plate usually is.

The motor is out of my 84 Tecate because it needs a complete rebuild.

[kafka193]

I have a Tri-Z 250 for SALE, that I just restored. Between E-bay and the guys here I didn't have any problem getting nice parts. Parts like Rear fenders, swingarm bearings, and bushings I did have to go to partsfish, to get factory parts. In one of my posts you wrote "Where do you guys find these bikes?" Well here it is. You can buy a trike like I did for $550 and put another $2450 into it, or you can save yourself some time and money and buy it from me. Go to this site to look at all the pics.
http://www.villagephotos.com/pubbrowse.asp?selected=100536
http://image1ex.villagephotos.com/extern/847450.jpg
http://image1ex.villagephotos.com/extern/847457.jpg

[BIGKAHUNA]

KAFKA................YOU GOT MAIL!

[HemiChallenger71]

If i remember right Jeb, u smoked a 300EX in 3rd gear WOT on the Tecate? Myabe it was soimeone else , but it was still a cool story.