2nd generation T3

[Trikeaholic]

There is alot of talk about how "rare" these are. Personally, they were the most popular locally when I was a kid. There was a KAW dealer right downtown Ithaca, and Im sure he sold alot of them. He used to sit them out on the main drag through town when I was a junior/senior in high school. I remember one time he had like 8 sitting out by the road. As far as them being rare, that is BULL. As many of them were sold as any other machine. The reason that we dont see them often is because they are sitting somewhere with blown up motors/stators and or thrown in a dumpster somewhere. 4 guys I grew up with had 86 T3's and all of them said once they died, they couldnt afford to fix it, or get plastic so they junked them. probably had to so as well, with that bullshit cylinder you cant bore. (that is the suckiest thing about those trikes)I wonder how many others met this fate. Rare today? sure a running one! Sales figures? Hardly rare. Longevity? certainly more rare, because they dont last long. I love when people list a basket case for sale as "rare". There is nothing rare about a basket case T3, whats rare is if they are complete, like nitrovipers. That was a once in a lifetime deal. I hope whoever bought it will not trash it.

[TRI-Zbrian]

thats why i like my yamaha you can bore the cylinder out to 80 over and every time you do u just bore it there is no replating bull trailprotrailprotrailprotrailpro involved

[BigGreenMachine]

The Nikisil plated cylinder is definately the biggest mistake Kawaski made besides the stator in these bikes. There's no telling how many of these bikes are in sheds or junked.

[tecatecrazy]

that must by why all high performance engines use nikalsil now....because it sucks????

[200x Basket]

that must by why all high performance engines use nikalsil now....because it Bites????

thats right. the tecate was step ahead of its time in performance. I do not know what holic's problem is but the T3 is an amazing machine. I was )still am) a 250r fan until i finished my t3. that thing is a beast and made to race. i dont understand why someone would dump tons of $$$$ into a non racer trike to make it "look" like a racer and then talk crap about a purpose built racer??? the tecate did and does have flywheel problems but they are easy to work around and the are harder to find then any other race trike.

[Trikeaholic]

nooooo, All Im saying is that longevity wise, they dont last. FACT. There are many that are sitting because of this FACT. thats all. Besides basket, The only purpose built racer was a Tiger, and you dont see me bragging every day about the fact that I was LUCKY enough to find one and then LUCKY enough to find the parts to make it new. I like the T-3, dont get me wrong. I think this post was basically in response to one on ebay wich was $1400 buy it now, basket case with a KX motor, no shrouds, basically a pile of junk. Now, if parts were available, thats a different story. Just like a Tiger, anyone I ever see, if its not COMPLETE, its not worth jack trailprotrailprotrailprotrailpro. PERIOD.

[sportvette]

i like the tecates besides the problems. they seem a little more rare around my area than other trikes. i am not even considering tigers, which are extremely rare and awesome. among the common manufacturers the tecate is a little more rare than the honda 250rs, 350xs, and tri-zs in my area at least. these are my favorite bikes. right now i am on a tecate kick, it is the last machine i bought. i am hooked on restoring it. some prices are ridiculous. i feel that some ads on ebay are ridiculous. NitroViper has a nice machine, and even though it doesnt run, i think its a good buy. i bought a tecate for $950 off mike from long island, dont get me wrong it needed a lot of parts, but i was happy to find one in my area.

happy holidays,
mark

[BigGreenMachine]

When I got my 85 Tecate the stator was dead and the cylinder was scored pretty bad. The stator is relatively cheap to replace.

The cylinder on the other hand is not quite as easy. You have to bore out the Nikisil plating and have a steel sleeve put in and bored to factory specs. You can't just bore it out like you would a Tri-Z, which would make life easier and cheaper. Or you can replate the cylinder and after a while you will have to replate it again.

[ange]

that must by why all high performance engines use nikalsil now....because it Bites????

2 reasons it used:
More efficient cooling of the non-sleaved aluminum cylinder (thats where your "high performance" is)

And,
it's a better profit margin to sell a new cyclinder to a customer instead of selling them just a piston that they only make only $10 off of, and another $20 for the labor of boring it.

When I called around to get mine replated, everyshop said "we just sell them new cylinders, it's cheaper than getting it replated"

[KXT]

I had my 86 T3 cylinder beed blasted & replated for $145.00 which I didn't think was bad, In the past I had another 86 T3 that I had sleeved & had nothin but issues with the resleeving. I personally, would go for the nikasil

[JMiller]

I love my '87 T3, parts might be expensive, but well worth it!!!!!!!!! :-D