Who has an 86 Tri-Z?

[Trikeaholic]

seems they are not very common. I can only think of 5 between the 2 major trike boards, on ebay they rarely, if ever show up for sale. Why are they so scarce? and anyone else have one other than Darius, Chainsaw, YTZ250#1, almost forgot Lonesome TriZ,and myself? I would think that Skippy, 3Tigers, and Tunes have one somewhere in their collections, but IDK. Just curious on where all the 86 models went??? 85's seem to be a dime a dozen, and judging by the prices they have been fetching recently, The 86 Tri-Z is getting to be like a Tiger or 87 250R in scarcity. Feedback??

[dirtface]

Holic, Of all my years of triking, I have seen dozens of Tri-z. All being of the ' 85 year. I have only ever seen one '86 (red and white). So i'm thinking your on to something here too. Seem to scarce to me too.

[CHAINSAW]

Not sure why that is, big I will agree. The yellow and the black models I see all the time, but its a rare accurance to see an 86. Come to think of it, Ive never seen another 86 in person, aside from my own.
Could Yamaha of cut back the number of machines built that year, or did they just not sell? I dont see how it could be that they didnt sell, because with the few minor upgrades between the 2 years, the 86 is far superior.

[Trikeaholic]

there seem to be more 85 250R and 350X as well. Could it be, that most people rushed out and bought the first offering from Yamaha AND Honda, and either did not want to or could not afford to lose trade in on the 85 models they already had? or were 86 models (built in late 85 and throughout 86 possibly) been cut back due to lack of dealer orders? let me add, the ONLY reason I bought the total roach tri z that I have was because it was an 86, and even over a year ago, they were even more unknown. I rode steves at TF, Darius was around and it was about that time that chainsaw was restoring his. That made only 3 I knew about at the time, so I figured it was worth saving. Around here, Tri Z's are very unusual, only seen one, and it was a ratted out 85. My local stealer says they might have sold 1 86 model to possibly 10 85's,, but he could not remember.

[CHAINSAW]

There are a bunch around this area, all Yellow 85's. the red n blacks are out there, I have seen a few on the dunes, and on ebay in this area. The yellow ones were by far the abundant, although its rare to find one in really good shape.
I will agree with you on the 85 Hondas being the common ride. That also goes for 84 & 85 Tecates, you will see a lot more of them then you will the 86s and 87.
I have also noticed this about ATC 70's. There are a lot of 84 & 85 models around, and are the most common ones Ive come across. I think its safe to say that 1985 and 1986 would of been a good year to invest in Honda, Yamaha, and Kawasaki stock Or should I say, invest in 1983 or so, then sell in late 1985

[Jeb]

The 85 Honda ATC250R was pretty radical when it was released. I'm sure allot of people went out and bought one that year which saturated the market. In the real world, most people are not going to buy another brand new ATV the next year, especially with only minor updates. As for the Z, it was Yamaha's first high performance ATV. So I'm sure allot of people bought one. Which would take lots of buyers out of an 86 for the same reason. Another thing. In 86 you had two high performance Quads taking market from the 3-Wheelers. The TRX and the QuadRacer. Couple that with the bad press 3-Wheelers were getting and I wonder how many people who had been in the market for an ATC250R or Tri-Z in 1985 and hadn't bought one suddenly shifted into the market of an 86 TRX 250R, an 86 QuadRacer, or perhaps were waiting for what Yamaha would offer in the 2-stroke sport quad arena? The Warrior and Mojave were out in 86 too, which were a couple of pretty radical new models. There were just more choices to lead potential buyers away from a 3-Wheeler in 86.

[Darius1502]

I noticed the same thing and thats why I snatched up an 86 R and 86 Z. Plus it being the last year of production makes them special.

I had forgotten completely about the 86 Tri Z when I was a kid. I sort of got out of 3 wheelers around early 86. I had the dirt wheels test of the 86 but did not really read it back then.

One day I was at an old county Yamaha dealer and saw a shiny red radiator shroud in the clearance rack. I thought....this looks like a 'Z' shroud....but red?

Then I remembered the old Dirt Wheels test from 86. I kept looking at that shroud all the way driving home. It was pristine...mint...shiny...bright red. I thought...man if this goes to Tri Z then one day I must have a trike that matches this shroud.

Sure enough I found one. I have seen alot of 85's....but I love....I mean love my 86.

I agree...I think they will be worth more. If production had continued into '88 we probably would have seen a blue and white Tri Z....like the banshee was that year.

[Darius1502]

excellent point Jeb....good analysis.

I don't know if the Banshee was released in late 86....but I am sure that would have driven alot of sales away from the Tri Z in the later months of 86.

I would love to be able to walk into a showroom and see 3 86 Tri Z's for sale in 86.

I wonder if any old Yamaha dealers have pictures of the showrooms from those days. Gosh...that would be awesome!!

I would die for those pictures...

I imagine the whole Yamaha line up in red and white...YZ's, Tri Z, etc. Just awesome.

[Darius1502]

Sorry if I am freaking out here...

I think the 86 Tri Z and the 87 200x are two of the best looking trikes ever. The 85 350x is third.

Interesting: I have the ATV News that Denn sent me and the Tri Z beat the ATC 250r for best 250cc two stroke trike

The 86 Z is the prettiest.

[3tigers]

i have 1 86 tri z,my buddy has 2,my brother has 2 and there was one at my other friends dealership the other day.he told me there might be one forsale coming in also.so i may get another 86.

[asc180]

I have 2 86 Z's but changed the platic on one to black and red.

[droopie31]

lol i like red n white, but riding a bumble bee around the dunes....its awesome! I just like the 85's cuz there different from everything else. Honda was all red, then yamaha decided to make a red one to i guess lol. I just like the change up with the 85, and how much different it is from everything else.



drew

[mike from long island]

i have an 86 frame,front forks and all but my motor is an 85 does that mean i only have an 85? plus i liked the yellow myself better then the black Z and red white Z. my bike was orginal 85 i bought from colorado but i pieced what you see from ebay,3ww,oem parts aftermarket parts where ever i could get them. i have only seen ytz250n (steve) at trikefest never saw one other then that in person seen many on 3ww

[Kintore]

Ill be picking up my mint 86 TRI-Z this week. I test drove it, my first performance 2 stroke unit. I almost died, good thing I learned on snow so I spun and didnt flip lol
Coming from a old 200s to this, I couldnt beleive it!
Soon I will join the elite club of the 86Z's!

[Darius1502]

Kintore...you gotta post some pics of it. If you need any help please let me know. I would love to see another 86!