'84 Tecate Project W/ Pics

[81Rmachine]

Its about time i post some of my progress on my recent project as im getting to a point where i could use some input from you guys. I picked up an '81 250r and an '84 kxt 250 this summer for 300 a piece. They both needed alot of work but i figured they were worth it in parts. The 250r was kinda jimmy rigged which prompted me to use it as a parts machine as I bent the frame on my own 81 a couple winters ago. The tecate however was more original and complete and since id never ridden one and always thought they were pretty cool, i was interested in fixing it up. While Ive worked on my share of kawasaki dirt bikes, I've only worked on their 4-stroke 3 wheelers so this was new for me. A carb kit, air filter, clutch cable, and rear brakes had her up and goin and I immediately fell in love with its power characteristics. It has a strong tractable bottom end which pulls into a very impressive mid range and doesn't sign off until you really get the r's up. For a non powervalve engine I was very impressed. I've always been a Honda guy but I admittedly really like this 3 wheeler, It was a blast to ride. Heres some pics of how i bought it, and yes someone painted the factory red fenders black with lots of body filler under it! Ill get some pics up of my progress right away.

[81Rmachine]

The first update is a bit unfortunate. I let my brother ride it who knows what hes doing by the way and I just told him to take it down the road go through the gears and see what its got. Well long story short he did and when he came back the engine was kind of having trouble idling so i hop on and ride about 20 feet and hear an intermittent banging and crunching from the crankcase and immediately shut it off and pushed it back up to our shop. While It could have been worse I wish I had been riding it when it decided to go because I think I could have saved it some damage. I pulled the pipe to look in the chamber and when i spun it over and got a glimpse in the cylinder I could see needle pins on top the piston and knew right away either the wrist pin or rod bearing had shelled out. So the engine is currently out and since I've been a machinist/ head porter for the past couple years I had enough experience with a grinder to try and rechamber the head and get most of the damage out. Obviously there was some real deep dents that weren't worth getting out and while welding was an option the extent of damage really didnt justify the time. I mainly just wanted to get rid of any potential glow plugs in the chamber.

The jug was scored and the original electrofusion bore had been wore through at the top of the ring travel so I sent it to Millennium Technologies in WI and they stripped it bored it over 1mm and replated it with their NSC plating which is supposed to be even more wear resistant than Nikasil as it contains carbide as well. Let me just say to anyone contemplating getting a cylinder replated, don't even think twice about sending it there. These guys do great work and as an engine machinist I can tell you I'm very picky as i do machining on race engines everyday at work. I even put our profilometer in the bore to check the surface finish. We use a profilometer on every block we hone to tell us in millionths of an inch the exact surface profile which gives us an idea of how much oil the bore will hold. I was impressed with how well the ports were chamfered and how great the bore geometry and piston clearance was. I sent my piston along as well as I wont hardly ever hone a block at work without the customers pistons first so I can make sure the clearance is set just right. After I got the jug back I surfaced the deck and turned the base on the lathe just to square it up and you can see in the picture where all the high spots were.

The crankshaft was in need of a rebuild so I ordered a Pro-X one of the best rods you can get for these little engines. I'll post pics and details on the crank in a separate thread. I'm currently waiting for a water pump bearing, gaskets, and a few other odds and ends to get the engine put back together. I've wanted to put a tach/hour meter on this as its going to be a new engine and i want all hours logged and also a temp gauge and i figure with the price of those Im already over half way to a Trail Tech Vapor with all the bells and whistles so if anyone is running one on a 3 wheeler, I'd greatly appreciate your input. Im also trying to figure out my rear tire situation. Ill be riding this over winter and have already decided on 4-Snows for the rear except they're only in an 8 or 9 inch rim and personally I like the looks of a 9 over a 10 inch anyway. Ideally Id like to go to a Honda 4x110 pattern as I have Honda stuff lying around. I'll be posting more updates soon. Heres the old grimy lower end after it was pulled out.

[jays375]

Sorry I'm not much help.Just glad to see you bock on 3WW.

[TecateDan]

Forget which machine but you can get 4x110 hubs for the tecate axle splines from something else. I made a set for mine that work great..

The first update is a bit unfortunate. I let my brother ride it who knows what hes doing by the way and I just told him to take it down the road go through the gears and see what its got. Well long story short he did and when he came back the engine was kind of having trouble idling so i hop on and ride about 20 feet and hear an intermittent banging and crunching from the crankcase and immediately shut it off and pushed it back up to our shop. While It could have been worse I wish I had been riding it when it decided to go because I think I could have saved it some damage. I pulled the pipe to look in the chamber and when i spun it over and got a glimpse in the cylinder I could see needle pins on top the piston and knew right away either the wrist pin or rod bearing had shelled out. So the engine is currently out and since I've been a machinist/ head porter for the past couple years I had enough experience with a grinder to try and rechamber the head and get most of the damage out. Obviously there was some real deep dents that weren't worth getting out and while welding was an option the extent of damage really didnt justify the time. I mainly just wanted to get rid of any potential glow plugs in the chamber.

The jug was scored and the original electrofusion bore had been wore through at the top of the ring travel so I sent it to Millennium Technologies in WI and they stripped it bored it over 1mm and replated it with their NSC plating which is supposed to be even more wear resistant than Nikasil as it contains carbide as well. Let me just say to anyone contemplating getting a cylinder replated, don't even think twice about sending it there. These guys do great work and as an engine machinist I can tell you I'm very picky as i do machining on race engines everyday at work. I even put our profilometer in the bore to check the surface finish. We use a profilometer on every block we hone to tell us in millionths of an inch the exact surface profile which gives us an idea of how much oil the bore will hold. I was impressed with how well the ports were chamfered and how great the bore geometry and piston clearance was. I sent my piston along as well as I wont hardly ever hone a block at work without the customers pistons first so I can make sure the clearance is set just right. After I got the jug back I surfaced the deck and turned the base on the lathe just to square it up and you can see in the picture where all the high spots were.

The crankshaft was in need of a rebuild so I ordered a Pro-X one of the best rods you can get for these little engines. I'll post pics and details on the crank in a separate thread. I'm currently waiting for a water pump bearing, gaskets, and a few other odds and ends to get the engine put back together. I've wanted to put a tach/hour meter on this as its going to be a new engine and i want all hours logged and also a temp gauge and i figure with the price of those Im already over half way to a Trail Tech Vapor with all the bells and whistles so if anyone is running one on a 3 wheeler, I'd greatly appreciate your input. Im also trying to figure out my rear tire situation. Ill be riding this over winter and have already decided on 4-Snows for the rear except they're only in an 8 or 9 inch rim and personally I like the looks of a 9 over a 10 inch anyway. Ideally Id like to go to a Honda 4x110 pattern as I have Honda stuff lying around. I'll be posting more updates soon. Heres the old grimy lower end after it was pulled out.

[cochran]

Forget which machine but you can get 4x110 hubs for the tecate axle splines from something else. I made a set for mine that work great..

1985 KLF185 hubs which will go on the stock Tecate axle to run the Honda rims.
I believe that was the only year. Doug Creel found this information out. This allows you to run an 8in rim on a stock 85 axle.

[cochran]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kawasaki-NOS...4d0a5d&vxp=mtr

[MIK6]

1985 KLF185 hubs which will go on the stock Tecate axle I believe that was the only year. Doug Creel found this information out. This allows you to run an 8in rim on a stock 85 axle.

They also fit early 86/87 finishline axles. I have a set on my 87 w FLine axle.
86 klf hubs fit 2nd gen T3 splines.. just some more info.. lol

[cochran]

Did not know that. Good information!!

[81Rmachine]

Appreciate the info I think I found on a thread on here also that they have to be from an '85 because they have 13 spline axles as well. I may just look for a set. Hey Cochran I see your in Bemidji its sure nice and warm there right now ill bet haha. I graduated from tech school up there in 2012. I don't miss 30 plus below, the occasional 20 below in SD is good enough for me.

[cochran]

Appreciate the info I think I found on a thread on here also that they have to be from an '85 because they have 13 spline axles as well. I may just look for a set. Hey Cochran I see your in Bemidji its sure nice and warm there right now ill bet haha. I graduated from tech school up there in 2012. I don't miss 30 plus below, the occasional 20 below in SD is good enough for me.

Yeah it is cold. Good thing I have a heated shop. Saw -40 without windchill on TH. It took your breathe away.

[81Rmachine]

I did see a set of hubs from an '85 tecate and noticed they were 13 spline as well, and while I agree there is a huge selection of 4x156 rims there's nothing smaller than 10" and 4 snows only go to 9" and as I said I do like the looks more anyway. The price of the klf185 hubs on ebay isn't too appealing, not to sound cheap but for less money I can get 4x100 to 4x110 2" adapters and space it out at the same time. The 4x4 pattern is 101.6mm in metric so I could easily put them on the cnc at work and somebody please correct me if Im wrong but the tecate studs should be 12mm and so I could just plunge a new 12mm hole in the old 10mm hole bringing it out to a 101.6 pattern and since they're so close I'd have a perfectly round hole again. Just an idea...