Monster in the Making

[nstyle73]

I picked up a washed up former-racer that had been put out to pasture with some Mud-Eaters. For now I'm going to make it into a Monster Energy themed flat track inspired rider. Nothing fancy, no powdercoating, just some parts left over from my previous build and some cosmetic decals etc. It came with a +4 axle, RAD bearing carrier and axle nut, JP Racing airbox cover, KX250 ignition and 38mm Mikuni carb. I rode it around the yard and the pilot jet was partially plugged so its in parts now, but here is what I am starting with. Should be a quick refresher.

Don't let the pictures fool you, the plastics are all broken except the front fender, but the seat is great and the KIPS label is intact.

[dcreel]

Was that front numberplate on it when you got it? Looks like a different variation of the 84-85 Tecate numberplate. Any idea who made it? Looks nice..

[nstyle73]

It doesn't have a name or anything that I can see. It might be from an 85, but I thought the forks were different and since it slides over the brake guides, I think it might be specifically for the 86/7 The middle part is a plastic mesh, which I think an aluminum honeycomb that matches the JP would be pretty sweet. Since it has the KX ignition, I will probably keep it even thought the guy sent the headlight and brackets.

[ATCeeya]

Very nice. I cant wait to get my paws on an 86/87 tecate. If you dont mind saying how much did it set ya back?

[T3 LOPES]

very nice tecate! whats your plans for this monster? the # plate looks like a ufo with a little extra style. very cool

[nstyle73]

I gave a little over a grand, which I figured the less common parts were worth that. I forgot to include the axle pics. I'm not sure what kind it is as it tapers, unlike the Durablue I have seen.

[scooterroo]

wow, nice find. is it me or are the t3's popping up all over the place lately? nice to see em, and even nicer to see them being fixxed, restored, etc... keep us posted on your progress.

[nstyle73]

Well, this keeps cutting me off so I'll make this short. Its great to see more T3's, it means there will be more parts made/reproduced and more that make it to Trikefest as a result

[nstyle73]

The PLAN is to just make some cosmetic upgrades to keep it a nice rider that can be occasionally beat on. Mechanically, its pretty sound. I pulled the top end and the nikasil looks good and compression tests at 165psi. I put a glass-beaded head, head gasket, base gasket, and clutch gasket on. The front and rear bearings feel and look good as I took both apart to clean things up. The chain is pretty new and the sprocket is an aftermarket blue anodized 38T in good shape. Depending on tires, it may get replaced. I would love to find a CalFab to complete the old-school package, but wouldn't everyone. Here are a couple pics of the front fender, and DC Plastic shrouds.

Edit: I couldn't attach the pics. Sorry

[nstyle73]

I took a few more pictures. The hubs are painted and the engine is all back together. The swingarm actually ended up being polished under all of the crap that was on there. Its by no means perfect, but with a little work, I think it will look pretty decent, especially for a rider. The axle could use a coat of chrome at some point, but it is just kind of dull with minor surface rust right now. I need to make a couple exhaust hangers as the pipe was tied up with a shoestring, then clean up the rear plastics.

[scooterroo]

wow, nice. i didnt know dc made the tank covers in black. thats cool as all hell. i like the 250r front fender on there also. i have been in search of a green one for my t3 flat tracker project. really cool man, keep up the good work.

[taiterator]

That RAD bearing carrier is sick!!! Nice T3 you picked up there, congrats!

[nstyle73]

The bearing carrier is pretty sweet except that the outer pieces are worn a little, so right now it feels like there is a little play. I'll have to see how it feels when I get everything tightened up.

Although, we should all feel lucky to have T3 Repro parts, the DC plastics fell a little short on the quality scale to me. Especially compared to the Hornet powersports shrouds on my other bike. However, they are functional and come in black, so they were just what I was looking for. The fit is ok at best as is the finish, BUT they look cool from about 5 feet away.

[scottyms]

any idea what the wavy rotor is from?

[nstyle73]

The rotor is a CGR piece, I bought two sets when I did my other build and thought it might as well be on a bike as in a box. Its SS with a nitride coating. It takes a while for the pads to wear in and get a good bite.

[nstyle73]

I considered trying to adapt a set of 250R or Tri Z rear plastics to get black fenders, but was afraid the rear kick would interfere with the fenders. Any one seen a set on a tecate?

[nstyle73]

I started this past weekend, started in about 3 kicks, died then started in another 5 or so and then just died. It only ran for about 10 seconds at a really fast idle. I tried kicking it more and didn't have any luck so i pulled the plug and it looked great as it barely ran long enough to get it dirty even, so I checked for spark while I had the plug out and I had spark on the first kick, but none after that. I initially figured that the pilot jet in the carb could have something in it as the tank had been drained and then refilled after I put a petcock kit on it, but looks like it could be a spark issue. What was the big benefit of the KX250 ignition? If its going to cause me problems, I'll just put a stock setup on it. The wiring looks a bit suspect on the kill switch part as both the stock kill switch and some other momentary kill switch are both tied into the wiring with those press type connectors. JUUUUUUNNKKKKK..... I also swapped the 36mm Mikuni from my other bike because I really wanted to ride in the snow and couldn't get it started either, so looks like time to sort out the wiring.

[nstyle73]

Disconnected the jerry-rigged electrics and cleaned the connections and the spark was back. The wiring doesn't match any diagrams in the KX manual, so I'm not sure what it is actually from, but it works. The carb is accumulating crap out of the tank and needs a good cleaning as cleaning the pilot jet would get it fired up for a few seconds.

[nstyle73]

I pulled the flywheel off of my other T3 to check the timing as I've been having kickstarter problems. It is shown in the second pic with the single timing mark on the stator plate. So I pulled the flywheel off of this one to see where it was set at for reference. It has three marks and looks to be advanced according to the T3 manual, but I don't believe it to be a T3 stator. The cdi and stator don't match a KX250 wiring diagram completely either, as it has: W/R, B/Y, B/W, and W/G wires coming from the stator. I think I'm going to set it back to the T3 mark shown in the Kawasaki manual rather than the KX250 mark shown in the Clymer manual. Also, I assume the flywheel on the right is stock and the one on the left is a Ricky Stator perhaps? The right one came off of this bike.

[nstyle73]

I set the timing backto the center mark, pulled the varnished TM38 and put an old Keihin PWK38 on in place of it, and it started on the second kick and idled great. The PWK has a 178 main in it as a starting place after I took the 190 out that was in my R. The needle, pilot and airscrew will probably all need tweaked, so I took the stock airbox apart so that I could just use a filter and not have to put the airbox on/off for every jetting change. Lots of little things eating up time, like a leaking kickstart seal, exhaust leak, etc.

The only real visual progress has concerned the rear fenders. I stripped the white paint, sanded the tops and applied some "250R" type number plates. You can still see the white that will be hidden under the seat, and a little bit on the underside that I need finish cleaning up. Not too bad for being white. Just can't wait for the Cosmic Quads seat cover to get here.

[nstyle73]

I put the fenders off of my other bike on so that I could ride in the snow. I finally got some pilot jets, so I think I need to move from a 42 down to a 40. Everywhere else the bike seems to run pretty well, but I"m sure jetting is just starting. I also put on the "flat track" tires the previous owner included. I thought maybe it was a real race bike and had real flat track tires, like Hoosiers or something, but when he pulled them out of the garage, I thought......'at leas the rims look nice' I had to swap on a 14/35 gear set to compensate for the 18" tires. The bike is set up with the forks slid up through the triples about 3" and the rear lower, and with the 18" tires on there, its about 4-5" shorter than my other T3. It looks pretty nice wide and low, but the stock front tire is just too tall for my taste. I think a 10" rim like in the Mad Scientists Lair may be necessary. All of the body work needs clear coated and fastened on still.

[Kfx-xc-racer88]

It looks awesome, but i'd put a black seat cover on it!!

[nstyle73]

LOL, yeah, I'm waiting for the seat to get here, the fenders AND seat are off of my other bike. The blue does look dumb.

[hang&rattle]

Man nstyle73, you have 2 killer Tecates. The latest is really neat with how you have it set up. To cool.

[Rollingmenace]

looking good man.. what kind of pipe is that...my tank covers will be here tomorrow... i started tearing mine down tonight cant wait to get started with my build....

[nstyle73]

Thanks for the compliments. The monster one is kind of rough, but I thought I would ride it harder that way. The pipe is just a stock one that I painted with ceramic paint. I'll see how it holds up.

[nstyle73]

I have my PWK38 on the bike right now with a 178 main and a 40 pilot and the TM38 that came off of the bike has the following specs:
Needle: 6FJ41 (I thought it said 6FJ47, but I can't find that needle listed anywhere)
Clip in 3rd notch down
Throttle Valve (Cutaway in the JWR): 4.0
Float Needle Valve: 3.5
Main: 370
Pilot: 40
I took a look at the JWReplica manual, but don't really know if its worth trying to replicate since its for the 85 bike. Right now I think I'll stick with what was in the TM38 maybe unless something really looks out of place to someone. It took a lot of cleaning and new jets to get it respectable. Hopefully it runs when I put the carb back on.

[nstyle73]

I figured out what the slop in the rear axle carrier was finally. It was missing the special washer that is relieved on the ID to fit over the splines for the brake rotor hub. I found one I had for a T4 and put it on and it took up the slack. I bolted on some peg extensions and worked on the shrouds some more. A head gun, utility knife and some sandpaper have the triples hitting the stops without hitting the shrouds. Next up is further jetting, bleeding the rear brakes and waiting on a seat. The seat/fenders and airbox should make it look a lot better.

[BigGreenMachine]

Looks killer!

[nstyle73]

I got the seat back from Tammy at Cosmic Quads and it looks great. I'm putting rings in it right now and putting a stock stator set up that I had jeswinehart lighten and work his magic on. My headlight shroud will be a welded up OEM piece painted black to match the rest of the bike. I put the TM38 on with a 35 Pilot, 370 main and I think it needs richened up in the mid to top. I put one of those cheap tach/hour meters on to help with tuning and keep track of maintenance. It seems to need a clutch and is doggy on the very bottom with good mid-bottom range and great mid-top and top end. The cylinder is stock with no porting and the bore is 70mm. I'm going to put a reed spacer and a set of reeds in it when I put it back together.

[dcreel]

Looking good man.. That seat is definitely sharp. She definitely makes some sweet seats.

[Mosh]

Dang man..You are building some bad ass Tecates..Friggin awesome. Great work!

[nstyle73]

I appreciate it, but most of the cool parts and stuff are from members here on the board. Cosmic Quads made some awesome seats, and John Swinehart and sblt500r both have made several parts and been very helpful. I have limited machining, fabricating tools and skills, so the guys on here have been the source for reproduced the hard to find parts.

[nstyle73]

I painted my headlight shroud ( I know you shouldn't paint plastic), put a number plate decal on and got the headlight setup going. Perhaps a green headlight shroud with a black number plate would have matched the rear fenders better. I wasn't going to run fork boots, probably a set of seal savers, but I found these in the discount cart at the local shop for $5. I replaced the FMF Ram valve with a stock valve and carbon reeds and that is taking some rejetting. Once I get that done, I'll put the airbox on and there is a 10" rim in the works to complete the lowered stance.

[HondaRidr]

Finally, a monster themed trike!! It looks great!

[matt86200x]

Very nice, that seat cover is awesome

[playasridebmx]

that thing is sick

[nickvanorman]

Tim "Ripper" Owens would be proud of this one. haha