Clocked the Tri-z today

[westcoast TRI-Z]

Well guys, I finally found time to get a reading from my etrex gps. I made two runs up and down a flat stretch of road on a very wide shoulder for about 1/8 mile.

The reading was 59.4 mph pegged in 5th. Now here's the conditions:

-It was a little overcast but about 65-70 degrees.
-It was on full tank of gas.
-I weigh 155 lbs.
-I live on a hill, 300 ft. above sea level.
-I rode around for about 5 min. to warm it up.

My pops bought this Trike off the dealer back in 1985. Since then, it has been ridden fairly hard. It's 99% original and stock. It only has had one engine rebuild(2000). 5 years later, its only made few trips to the dunes, hasn't been ridden much. It runs perfect. Now, several things to consider:

1: It does have a little hole in the first bend of the pipe. It's had holes before and they did affect the performance a bit.

2: The tires are not the stock tires. The rear tires seem a bit smaller from stock but i'm not sure if that would affect top speed drastically.

3: The chain has quite a bit of slack, it needs replacing as well as the sprocket.

I know the reading sounds slow, but it sure didn't feel like it. The only way the reading could be off, if the gps wasn't calibrated correctly, however my dad is sure that it is right. One last thing. I clocked my 1986 Toyota Camry with the gps and lo and behold: the gps read 60 but the car's speedo was reading 66-67. What are all your thoughts?

[edog]

66-67 sound more like it.

[TimSr]

I know the reading sounds slow, but it sure didn't feel like it. The only way the reading could be off, if the gps wasn't calibrated correctly, however my dad is sure that it is right. One last thing. I clocked my 1986 Toyota Camry with the gps and lo and behold: the gps read 60 but the car's speedo was reading 66-67. What are all your thoughts?

It will seem slow to the armchair racers, but I sit back and laugh when guys are posting about driving these things around at 75mph. When you start hitting 50-60 mph on any offroad machine, you are going extremely fast - the kind of fast where a minor mistake can cause disaster, and the fear begins to set in on most rational people. About every kid Ive ever met who was doing 45, swore he was doing 75. Ask ScottZJ about when he was clocking drags! 60 sounds reasonable to me, but you may as well say it was 80, not for calibrating the gps, but to calibrate to other peoples standard judgement.

[edog]

Very well said TimSr.

[westcoast TRI-Z]

It will seem slow to the armchair racers, but I sit back and laugh when guys are posting about driving these things around at 75mph. When you start hitting 50-60 mph on any offroad machine, you are going extremely fast - the kind of fast where a minor mistake can cause disaster, and the fear begins to set in on most rational people. About every kid Ive ever met who was doing 45, swore he was doing 75. Ask ScottZJ about when he was clocking drags! 60 sounds reasonable to me, but you may as well say it was 80, not for calibrating the gps, but to calibrate to other peoples standard judgement.

Naw, I accept the speed the gps recorded. I believe it to be calibrated and more accurate than any car's speedo. You make a good point about going 50 mph offroad. It was by no means slow, and I am not ashamed of the speed. The Tri-z is a powerful machine that will get to speed fast! It deserves ALOT of respect.

[Dammit!]

Smaller rear wheels will definitely lower your top speed a bit. Everything bone stock a '85 Z should top out in the mid 60's in most conditions so you're not losing much at all. The fastest mass production trikes ('86 Z, 85-86 R and 86-87 tecate) all top out low to mid 70's stock.

[El'Capitan]

I thought the Tri-Z was suppose to be faster than the 350X, my 350X tops out at 70-75

[petesatc]

Well i can get just under 70mph out of my stock 85 250r flat out down a road........i got a nos engine and new oem tires on her ...it feels alot more but that's with my head down on the tank.......350x 70-75????? my 350 would'nt go above 62mph!!!

[SpeedBump]

Different feel offroad for sure. I know how fast my T4 runs from all the Drag Racing I do. I have watched guys who think their machine REALLY FLIES get REAL bummed when they barely can break the LEGAL SPEED LIMIT (65mph) after tellin everyone they got a 80mph Bike. I have another gear left and mine pulls 70-75mph in 500'. I am confident I could hit 80mph with a bit more room. Sad thing is...I AM ONE OF THE SLOW GUYS! For comparisons, If you go back and watch the video of me draggin 350Xhilaration's X, that was only about 55-60mph. Feels fast, but really isn't. Great to see somebody get some REAL #s.

[straight pipe]

well it's not the gps. i clocked my 250sx last weekend doing 57.4 mph on pavement..had her screaming.gps's are accurate. i found out my truck's speedo is bang on (i thouhgt it was 5km's too slow) and my wifes grand cherokee is 10km's too slow which is good cause that gives me the green light to install bigger tires to get the speedo closer. i was amazed at the reading my sx did ,but i have mud lights and they balloon lots at high speeds...i was able to walk by a 05 rubicon...felt good
edit-57.4 on pavement but on loose gravel i can only get around 54mph

[OldSchoolin86]

Top speed is like hp, people love to say what they've heard like they actually know.

[RedRider_AK]

Now you guys imagine what the LRD Performance Raptor 787 must feel like, they made it top out at just under 100 mph. Read about it in Dirt Wheels like 2 months ago.

Is that spam?

[Kintore]

With my stock 22 inch tires, I was doing 113 Km/h topped right out. Thats like what 60-65 mph? I dont know the conversion.

That was plenty fast for me, I cruise to my friends houses doing like 60-70 KM/H with 20 inch tires. And thats a nice speed to just take in the scenery and cruise into the sunset....

[Speedster700HP]

With my stock 22 inch tires, I was doing 113 Km/h topped right out. Thats like what 60-65 mph? I dont know the conversion.

That was plenty fast for me, I cruise to my friends houses doing like 60-70 KM/H with 20 inch tires. And thats a nice speed to just take in the scenery and cruise into the sunset....

113 (0.62) = 70 mph Not too shabby!

The 6th gear helps quite a bit for th Tri-Z. westcoast Tri-Z is absolutely losing top speed by having shorter rear tires, the 5-speeds should still hit around 65+ mph, similar to a 350X, but with faster acceleration.

And it really does feel scary going that fast off road, eh? I clocked my piped 350X next to my car and it was around 67-68 mph.

[El'Capitan]

down at the beach today i just clocked the 350X at 60-62 in the top of 5th. i guess mines just different