Kawasaki KXT 250 tecate restoration

[Antreas Sp]

Hello guys, I'm Antreas and i'm located in Greece.Two years ago a very good friend told me he found and wanted to buy an old kawasaki three wheeler "deathtrap". That moment my mind whent somewhere to 1999 where i saw that kawasaki three wheeler for the very first time.It was an absolute monster, what a badass machine.I was 11 years old and i already had a yamaha 110 of course 2 stroke bike.The guy who owned the kxt-tecate was living near me so i get used seeing him a lot doing really crazy things! At this point i realy wanted one. But as i grew up i really forget about that kawasaki exists untill that friend talk me about it.Then he went to see it and he told me that he is not interested in buying it because that trike is for the scrap yard.I told him i want it and he told me take it.So i went to see it and it was horrible, it was a basket case trike left out in the rain for 10 or more years... Before that it has seen all the use you can see on a trike from a redneck. So looking at the engine you could see the welded on the shaft shift lever, welded flywheel on the crank, welded front sprocket on the shaft and welded kick lever. . . Long story short i bought it and one moth later i found another one that was also a mess but not that much and i also bought it. Since april 2019 i have read ALL the pages at trikesylvania-anything about tecates and i have been collecting parts and parts so i can have that machine like new when i'm done with it. So it's been a while since someone made a thread about a tecate restoration so i hope you guys like it and keep up with me just for sharing stuff,opinions and why not some good knowledge.
This it what i start with.

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[350for350]

It will be nice watching your progress.

[TSpencer]

Good luck. Looks like you have your work cut out for you.

[fieldy]

Ones in that shape are the best ones! I wonder if the airbox has been sawed? I probably know the answer. She's a beauty! Smart to get her.

[Antreas Sp]

Well the airbox it is indeed sawed but not at the point you would be excpecting it to be! Maybe some previous owner did it so it can have more air in ? Who knows!! This trike has A lot of work to be done so this sure will take a while guys.My goal is to assemle it with all the rebuilt parts as it is,then take it apart to be painted and then final assembly!I will try to post any progress cause i try to keep up with my ordinary work and stuff.Thanks


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[fieldy]

I was wrong. Can't believe it but it hasn't been sawed. Looks like some mice chewed it around the filter area but the panhandle part is ok. Most have been cut for more airflow but also to make the access to the carburetor easier. ect. Looks like there is a chance of repairing that airbox. Wild, those are $350+ in good shape.

[puckshot]

I was wrong. Can't believe it but it hasn't been sawed. Looks like some mice chewed it around the filter area but the panhandle part is ok. Most have been cut for more airflow but also to make the access to the carburetor easier. ect. Looks like there is a chance of repairing that airbox. Wild, those are $350+ in good shape.

Here is a few pics of my 84 im building 267135267136267137

[Antreas Sp]

Yeap, at first i thought of the mise also but then i said to myself maybe not! It must have been a very very hungry mise.Of course i'm gonna repair that airbox but i want you guys to ask about the mounting.It has only 2 bolts and then the neck on the carb but at the front upper it has no bolts.Was it secured with some sort of band from the factory?Cause from the vibrations it was rubbing on some points and it has some deep scuffs etc... My thounght is to secure it on the frame somehow...

[Antreas Sp]

Yes i really like restoring and save some ruff survivors!

Well that's going to be a very badass build.I see some parts from BVC.Are the tripples also from them?Are you going big bore also?

Well you know these three wheelers were imported only in the US.When they banned them,Japan couldn't ship them there so the big manufacturers instead of throw all these away they made them available to maybe some people in Japan and at the time many Greek guys were importing stuff (car parts-Honda's c50's) from Japan and that's how these machines came to Greece, ( From what I have heard)So my point is that because they banned in 1987 i have never seen an 1984-1985 model from upclose but i really like them a lot.
In the US you have too many and most people have it for garbage and they think of the 1986-1987 model as the king and i see prices there for that model go as high as 8.000
Here we have(i think only)( but i will say) many 1986-1987 models instead.
I wish i had an A2 model also!

[86T3]

Andreas, that is a very nice start for your build. It looks like it has a lot of the hard to find parts like the headlight, airbox, chain and brake guards, sprocket guard. It even has original wheels and tires. Good luck on the build, please keep us updated

[Antreas Sp]

Yeah 86T3 you are right here are some very hard to find parts and some of these are in really good shape.This trike is a mix of two different trikes, one 86 one 87 so some parts are really messed up and others are in great shape as i said.I have the wheels and tyres you see mounted and i have another set that seller had which are really worn out, no thread on them even at the front tyre!

So on to the airbox, the filter cage was missing so i went up and order one oem kawasaki for a KDX 200 and it almost fits.It leaves a gap at the back that the filter itself wasn't able to "close" so i did a modification, i removed the shoulder that the cage had at the center bolt where it mounts and the gap isn't there anymore.Then the bolt at the center is too short so you can slowly drill it out (be very carefull it's a 10mm hex bolt in the center part of the base so you don't want to over heat that cause it will melt the plastic away) and put a thread on and use another longer bolt
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[vroomy]

Here is a few pics of my 84 im building 267135267136267137

Nice! Who made your triple clamps?

[puckshot]

I had the guys at BVC Trikes they are awesome

[legacy51]

Nice looking tecate! Looks like you will be using a skinny front tire? Are those forks shortened at all?

Cool seeing a tecate over in Greece!

[Antreas Sp]

These are my headlights. My very best the one with the glass as you guess. A little heat gun and the glass is off for cleaning. The other two just to make anything else, maybe a led conversion with other type of glass.What i want to mention is if you change bolts to the headlight beware not to use longer bolts cause they will intefere with it bending it and destroying it. Nothing special here just showing parts as i have been very busy working.Next will be shock absorber restoration so stay tuned.

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[Antreas Sp]

Hello guys, i have been very busy last week but i managed to fix the rear shock absorber.Unfortunately i don't have any pictures to post so you can see the before but note that the shock was given in a basket and it was already torn apart (and messed up)So after a lot of cleaning i installed a new moose seal head,a new moose upper bearing,a new KYB shock bumper,a new KYB schrader valve,new stainless oil hose and two TRW M10x1 bolts.It was very difficult to find these bolts cause every other bolt i found was just too short and obviously i didn't wan't to use the oem rusted ones that were also beaten up.!
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[Antreas Sp]

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All the part numbers from the parts i used, i'm missing the TRW bolts code, i will upload it tomorrow with an explanation what you need to take care in the shock so you don't have any leaks.
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[berlow94]

Just an FYI on that shock rebuild.
You do not want to use grease on any internal parts or seals that could possibly come into contact with your damper fluid.

Suspension internals are designed to be fully lubricated and assembled with damper fluid ONLY!

[Antreas Sp]

Just an FYI on that shock rebuild.
You do not want to use grease on any internal parts or seals that could possibly come into contact with your damper fluid.

Suspension internals are designed to be fully lubricated and assembled with damper fluid ONLY!

In case you didn't notice this is an oem KYB grease which is used to grease only the seal inside it's lip. If you do not do that then the seal gets burned out when you go and ride hard because of the heat generated from the quick stroke up and down at a suspension or a shock. Go read a manufacturer service manual and find out for yourself they do grease the seals. And what do you mean with FYI.

[berlow94]

In case you didn't notice this is an oem KYB grease which is used to grease only the seal inside it's lip. If you do not do that then the seal gets burned out when you go and ride hard because of the heat generated from the quick stroke up and down at a suspension or a shock. Go read a manufacturer service manual and find out for yourself they do grease the seals. And what do you mean with FYI.

I’ve worked as a suspension tech for over 10 years.
I’ve yet to read a manual that indicates using grease on INTERNAL seals.
Only EXTERNAL.

Once grease touch’s the damper fluid it changes it’s chemical makeup and viscosity which will cause inconsistent damping.


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[Antreas Sp]

I’ve worked as a suspension tech for over 10 years.
I’ve yet to read a manual that indicates using grease on INTERNAL seals.
Only EXTERNAL.

Once grease touch’s the damper fluid it changes it’s chemical makeup and viscosity which will cause inconsistent damping.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Then we are talking about the same thing.I didn't say i used grease in any of the internal components, not even on the outer o-ring on the seal head you see at the photo with the grease and if you see any component with grease just point me out.The only grease i used it is the oil seal LIP.

And since we are at an open forum where everyone can say whatever he wants and here are other people who really want to know and read about right stuff here is a service manual from a KTM dirt bike which says use lubricant to the seal

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and if we go to page 226 product T511

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and have a look at google this takes us to
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SILICONE GREASE.

So here is your first service manual in 10 years as a technician that indicates using grease at a seal.

[berlow94]

I didn't say that you were. FYI means "For Your Info". I was just trying to offer a friendly piece of advice.

The article you posted tells you to grease a collar that is not coming into contact with damper fluid. It's on an external seal.

[Antreas Sp]

On my first attemt to assemble the shock oil was pouring out of the rebound adjusting knob so i tore everything apart and i removed the adjuster so i can see what type of seal has to be in there that needs to be replaced. In order to do that you need to remove that plug that holds the spring with the ball that "clicks" your adjuster everytime you rotate it.
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In order to do that i center drill a 4mm hole and i tap a m5 thread just to "catch" it and remove it and that worked perfect without damaging anything.So there is no seal anywhere there so you don't have to do that.I made another new plug on my lathe and everything was installed back on.
The seal you need to replace is in the shock shaft at the point where it threads on the "body" of the rebound adjuster.In my case there was nothing in there.Someone has already remove these parts and they were missing.So i had an old kdx 200 shock which i torn apart to see what type of seal has in there so i can duplicate.And that's what i did.Again there is a bronze collar you need to remove which is i think 5mm so i tap a m6 thread and remove it.next to it was an o-ring and then a small teflon ring which is used so that the o-ring stays in place and not get damaged from the shoulder in the shaft.
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And here are everything together.I also made a new bronze collar to fit in the shaft.Assembled the shock and charge it with 150 psi nitrogen.
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[Antreas Sp]

I didn't say that you were. FYI means "For Your Info". I was just trying to offer a friendly piece of advice.

The article you posted tells you to grease a collar that is not coming into contact with damper fluid. It's on an external seal.

Your advice is appreciated, if grease touch’s the damper fluid it changes it’s chemical makeup and viscosity which will cause inconsistent damping.Your very right and anyone has to watch for this when doing suspension work.

The article i posted says to use grease to the seal that keeps the oil in the suspension.The grease is not meant to be used internally where it comes in contact with the oil but past the spring of the seal that has a cavity and if oil was to be in that cavity then you would also had oil dripping on the floor,busted seal.

That's an dust seal but you get my point.
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[berlow94]

On my first attemt to assemble the shock oil was pouring out of the rebound adjusting knob so i tore everything apart and i removed the adjuster so i can see what type of seal has to be in there that needs to be replaced. In order to do that you need to remove that plug that holds the spring with the ball that "clicks" your adjuster everytime you rotate it.
267375
In order to do that i center drill a 4mm hole and i tap a m5 thread just to "catch" it and remove it and that worked perfect without damaging anything.So there is no seal anywhere there so you don't have to do that.I made another new plug on my lathe and everything was installed back on.
The seal you need to replace is in the shock shaft at the point where it threads on the "body" of the rebound adjuster.In my case there was nothing in there.Someone has already remove these parts and they were missing.So i had an old kdx 200 shock which i torn apart to see what type of seal has in there so i can duplicate.And that's what i did.Again there is a bronze collar you need to remove which is i think 5mm so i tap a m6 thread and remove it.next to it was an o-ring and then a small teflon ring which is used so that the o-ring stays in place and not get damaged from the shoulder in the shaft.
267376267377

And here are everything together.I also made a new bronze collar to fit in the shaft.Assembled the shock and charge it with 150 psi nitrogen.
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Nice work!

[Antreas Sp]

Nice work!

Thank you buddy !

[Antreas Sp]

Well it's been a while guys, i just work a lot around my house and i don't have much time for the tecate!Nothing special today i just rebuild the rear brake master cylinder which many other tecate owners just replase with a ninja 250 which fits right on. But i desided to make the tecate one like new so i used a moose racing kit for a ltr 450.Part number on the photo!
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And here it is how it was inside, all the oil has turned like wax
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I also replaced the o-ring and the snap ring from the side that the hose from the oil tank attaches to which was very hard to remove since it was very good stuck in there so i used a heat gun and heat it around and that did the job, do not use an open flame cause you will melt the plastic
I want to tell you to be careful when you clean all the stuff from in those two holes, one is big and you can get anything to clean but the other one "which i didn't know it was there" is a tiny hole like from an airjet from a carburetor which i manage to clean with a single strain from a clutch cable.If you zoom at the photo you may see it.
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Also if you have a hard time removing the snap ring look for the flat spot on the plastic piece and remove it from that spot.I used a stainless steel snap ring.
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[Antreas Sp]

On to next part guys, when i finish my project i want to ride at the dunes (actually beach here) and i cannot find any front sand tyre at 11" size and i saw a lot of guy's change the front wheel for a 10" size so i took a risk and order the widest 10" Douglas rim (i think 6" wide) i found which i was hoping to be able to machine it and make it fit at the hub which i did! So it had a small hole in the center for other trikes which i make it bigger and drill new holes for the 4x170 tecate hub and everything was a tight but nice fit. I had to machine a little bit of the diameter of the flange nuts also so they go flat and not on the radius of the rim. And i installed the sand star already! I checked it on the tecate and left to right fork its 0.4 bigger gap on one side which won't affect riding.
And this is gonna be on only for sand riding,on regular use i'll have the stock rim

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[86T3]

I have an 11 sand front tire but it's a buffed knobby type tire. Someone out west was selling them, I could try to dig up the info if you want, but it looks like you already have the solution.

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[Antreas Sp]

I have an 11 sand front tire but it's a buffed knobby type tire. Someone out west was selling them, I could try to dig up the info if you want, but it looks like you already have the solution.

267744

Hello T3, yes i would like you to see if there is still an 11" sand tyre available!

[Antreas Sp]

Hello Guys, it's been a while but i'm still here trying to find time in between my daily routine to do some progress.It was a very busy summer for me.
Today i had a look on the kicker. As i mention before 1 engine i own has the kicker welded on the kick shaft. (not the oem one)
The second bike i bought had the kicker welded on the boss at the "open" position cause the boss had snapped and i think this is typicall on these machines as i have seen several cases where the kicker boss has failed.So i had a KDX 200 kicker laying around and the boss would fit the KXT shaft perfect,same splines! So i measure again and again and i cut the kicker from the old boss and tried to fit it on the KDX boss to find out that the KDX 200 boss is 1mm bigger in diameter!So i think it won't fail at the future like the Tecate one.So only thing i have to do is to bore the kicker and it will fit fine as i was lucky cutting it on spot!
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[Antreas Sp]

Ok guys finally some progress! I fitted the kicker on the boss and i realized that the KDX boss is a bit shorter from the KXT one so the kicker had a bit of inteference with the shaft nut but that problem solved with a touch of the kicker on the sander!

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[Antreas Sp]

Engine has been dissasembled and the cases have been welded at all the areas that were broken! One big chunck of aluminum was missing from the cases at the point where the engine mounts with the frame and swingarm. This happened from the previous owner when he tried to remove the engine loosening all the mounts, swingarm,head mount,front of the engine,# mount underneath-he never saw that mount which was covered with mud and he thought engine was stuck in the frame and took a hammer and bit the trailprotrailprotrailprotrailpro out of the engine cases until he broke them! Video with the guy who helped with welding aluminum!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMkSeUL60OM&t=366s&ab_channel=Xalasis715

So here they are welded and ready for wet blasting!

Chain problems fixed! :-D 268677

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The kicker they welded on the shaft caused a hole at the clutch cover! 268679
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[Antreas Sp]

Next is gonna be the shift shaft which is totally destroyed and you cannot buy a new one anymore.

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[350for350]

When I see things like you've found, I want to grab the person that did it, shake them around, and ask what they were thinking.

[Antreas Sp]

Okay guys 2022 is here.
I managed to restore the shift shaft using another shift shaft from a Kawasaki bike which is the same diameter for the oil seal and also has the same splines for the shift lever so a little bit of cutting grinding and welding and its done. The splines were damaged on mine from previous owner welding the shift lever on the shaft. So the part that is welded on the shaft and does the shifting when you press the lever was cutted of the old shaft and was welded on the new shaft and that was it.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220228/96a2889539e3e7e63b87e47ec8c66bdc.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220228/714187a68793ace06635d9cf2cc55081.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220228/7fe480c08c148baa5e936ab1b51edcdd.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220228/1e9f5a5f571830aad62d5f861a5292c6.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220228/0a86a2629d273c30dafc54740e84cdad.jpg

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[Red Rider]

Pretty slick, nice work!

[Antreas Sp]

Thank you Red rider. This restoration takes some time cause really every little thing on this trike needs attention. I currently have some issues with the place i store and work on these so it will sure take a long way untill i finish this.

[El Camexican]

You’re fixing things many people would have sold for scrap metal, I think that’s awesome, keep posting your progress please.

[Antreas Sp]

You’re fixing things many people would have sold for scrap metal, I think that’s awesome, keep posting your progress please.I want to thank you and all the other members here for the motivation you give to keep working on these old machines. That's the best to hear from you guys to continue work at stuff we love. Cause we live in difficult 'times' and sure mental health is the hardest to achieve.

So a small story for me is that i have worked in a lot of jobs throughout the years and one of them was at a machinist shop for 3 years. In these 3 years i learned a lot of stuff. And stuff i already knew how to do i managed to enrich my knowledge and thought about them. But the most valuable lesson i learned is that you can always rebuild,restore a really broken-damaged part that in first sight may look beyond repair. You just have to have the tools the time and the energy to do so. And i'm in that mood at this point so everything i see i try to make it almost like new and that's also a way to make myself better on making stuff.
So lets see if i can make this front brake master cylinder good. Someone tried to remove one of the bolts drilling it but he drilled the hole offset and now half of the bolt is stuck in there and the cap doesn't line up with that hole to do a new thread. That needs to come out.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220325/d99b5e97bb7081b8590d97602e317373.jpg

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[Antreas Sp]

Some progress done. I managed to remove that half bolt from the hole by welding a nut on it so i can grab it. Third attempt got it out.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220331/24a13e2c8213a34ed2814bc990e1e3d4.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220331/757c4bb434b38b7d102fe3705a38d7d0.jpg

So then i had to fill weld the hole so a little preparation getting all the rust out and bring some new aluminum up the surface so i can weld on.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220331/503f040f3857f03712f1191497283cb7.jpg

And after welding.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220331/b5bd05efb1619daddd179898b5092841.jpg

Then i sanded down the weld perfectly flat and i make the hole and threads and this was it.
Well i changed the sight glass also and the piston-seals. So i have a perfectly new master cylinder now.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220331/2148591a4d165f5f8753ce4b156bb1ce.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220331/43d6b0be28019a91a045149ebde6dd69.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220331/229cb9a9c37b777f6ce599abd6383627.jpg


Here it is next to another repaired one which had been broken at the point where the lever attaches on.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220331/aea3fbb9cf087454514a0460a202444e.jpg

[350for350]

Wow! Great work!

[El Camexican]

Wow! I wish I had your touch for welding whatever alloy that reservoir is made off. A lot of guys would have turned that thing into a dog dropping shaped ingot trying to do make that repair.

[oldskool83]

I appreciate people who think "I already have this lets fix it" I know that take way more time. Keep it up.

[Antreas Sp]

Wow! I wish I had your touch for welding whatever alloy that reservoir is made off. A lot of guys would have turned that thing into a dog dropping shaped ingot trying to do make that repair.Well you know, you must have a good welding machine with the ability to weld aluminium and practice again and again so you can deal with that kind of staff and 'win'.

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[Antreas Sp]

I think that's a correct restoration situation,to fix things you have but are trash... So next fix i hope is this poor thing once called silencer... For someone rubbish for another treasure
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220411/6033ce26aad570ed7d2ffee549cf7550.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220411/966e83d23bff3a09677947247a5766b6.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20220411/93f94223405d2474c3b1f35b917a28f5.jpg

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