Need help identifying old trike.....!!Updated with pics!!

[zombie_17]

My grandfather passed away a year ago and we just got started cleaning out all his old sheds. In one of them we found a trike but its unlike any other i have ever seen. On the side of the plastic it says TE 390, and has an arctic cat snomobile engine with belt drive. Then in the front it looks to be like a home made fork assembly, without shocks, with a twist throttle. My uncle told me that maybe it was a kit you could buy and you put it together yourself but he doesnt know for sure. As of right now i dont have any pics but should be getting some shortly. Anyone one know what this might be?

[tyman]

get a few pictures sometime and we can probably help.. yes i see you will be getting some shortly... but from the sounds of things its a home made, buck-board..... aka rough ride.... not sure.. never heard of any do-it-yourself kit... atleast with a 390 and no shocks.... hmmm..... lookin forward to this thread...

[zombie_17]

i just found out that maybe it was made by a company called tomcat as there is the letters "TC 1" on one side. as for pictures the trike got hauled out to another farm and it could be a week till i get any

[G-Ram]

i'm definately bookmarking this topic...i gotta see some pics

[Unclediezel]

TE 390 Is listed as being produced By "TIGER ENGINES" ----(Hmmmm--Nah ---CAnt be)---And was primarily used for power generators.

[grundlegrabber]

I once had a Boa Ski TS290, produced by Alsport, that had a twin cyl Kohler snowmobile engine on it. It had a fiberglass bucket seat and long forks with a leading link and little shocks. There were several companies that made trikes like that, but I haven't seen many nice, functional ones.

[TravEX]

Welcome to the board! Looking forward to this one too!

Travis

[theonlyjosh]

pics pics pics lol... sounds neat!

[zombie_17]

Well i can tell you for sure it wasnt anything made by Tiger beacuse it looks to be more on the utility side of things. As for pics it might be awhile....

[scooterroo]

tigers ran rotax motors, you'd know if it were a rotax.

[82300R]

i bet its one of those commuter/bigfoot/adventure vehicle/pacesetter trikes. wish i could find one running near by. i remember when they used to sell them new at a local lawn mower shop back around 1980,81 or so.:)

[zombie_17]

Finally got some pics of it. After more looking i think it is home made beacuse of the totally solid front end, but where would someone find plastic like that for it. There was a license plate on it and the last time it was insured was in 1992. I cant find the papers to tell me what it is though..

[zombie_17]

some more pics

[zombie_17]

heres the last ones

[scooterroo]

not sure of what it is, i do see kawasaki on the one pic. heres a pic, this looks alot like it. got this of the main page under picture pages, miscellanious pics,#1.

[85ytz250n]

It is infact a Commuter TE 390, as evidenced by the name molded into the gastank.

Barry

[theonlyjosh]

very weird, does look a lot like a kaw, i dunno much about em, but i thought it was a kaw right away just by the look of everything, interesting though...

[zombie_17]

That pic definatley looks alot like it, especially the foot peg/nerf bars and the back plastic.
Do you know what it is?

[zombie_17]

whoops... commuter te 390. Was this a company that made these as a whole or just kits? Also is the engine any good, like is it a powerful engine? What kind of other trike would the engine be comparable to? Thanks

[85ytz250n]

It is infact a Commuter TE 390, as evidenced by the name molded into the gastank.

Barry
I already told you what it was. The frame is probably best suited to the motor in it, but you could replace it with any horizontel shaft engine. The engine size is offset by the variable speed belt clutch. Looks like it is definetly a utility trike probably best suited to put putting.

Barry

[82300R]

that is exactly what they used to sell at a local lawnmower shop back in the early eighties. they were called commuters. knew a guy that had one.

[ausatc70]

wow, good find none the less!

[mrlong]

My uncle built and sold theese bikes out of Cascade, Iowa in the early 80's we always had them on our farm. Not fast at all.

[atcjam]

zombie_17
It's a commuter trike made in Cascade Ia.I own one , a 340 cc. Good luck on finding parts. I need a needle for the float,haven't found one yet. If you find out where to get parts let me know.

[Headsup]

Yea it looks home made, No idea where to even start..

[ATCeeya]

^^ good job reading the posts above yours

[dcreel]

PSSST.. Look at the date.. :lol: At least they used the Search function for their 1st post..

[Silverado]

here is the 3ww link to another

http://www.3wheelerworld.com/showthread.php?104640-commuter-TE-390

[pacesetter3]

The 3 wheeler in the pictures is a 197? Pacesetter. Yes they were made in Cascade Iowa and they only made 500 of these neat machines!! they re very hard to find in clean condition like the one i own.

Thanks