ideas on 86 t3 flat tracker...

[scooterroo]

welcoming any ideas and input on building an 86 t3 flattracker with a kx 500 motor in it. basically needing help with ideas for the suspension. i have never built a flattracker, so any help with setup is welcome. i have been told to go with the jimmy white manual fork setup, but thats for the 85 model, does that go with the 86 as wel? also whats a typical rear end setup? any special shock or swingarm work need to be done? i already know i want it as wide as i can get it, how do i go about lowering it? i know about the dogbne adjuster, is that the only way to lower it? i am gonna be running a 10 inch rim with a duro di-2020 flattrack tire on it on front, and either hoosier tri-tracs or american racers both 18x10x10's on 10 inch rims on back. what gearing should i look into? and lastly, does anyone have any pics of an old 86 t3 flattracker they could share for comparison purposes? thanks in advance.

[oldsking86]

Well for starters you want the front and rear lowered down to the ground, the rear I would yes go with the dogbone and have an adjustable one to lower it.

Swingarm wise you want to stick with stock length or shorten it by like an inch or 2... Gearing I'm not sure but I would think the front sprocket would be fine, might want to look into the rear one for an adjustments.

[BigGreenMachine]

At least a plus 2 on the swingarm. If you don't extend it you'll never have a chance of keeping the front on the ground under hard acceleration.

The dogbone on the 86 Tecate is adjustable Oldsking. If that doesn't get you low enough then a custom shorter shock would be the way to go. PEP suspension did Jimmy's suspension back in the day so contact them.

[oldsking86]

Ahh I wasn't sure if it was adjustable or not, guess that gives more reason for them being race-bread out of the box! haha

The swingarm I would defiently agree on BGM because I personally don't like them short but I used information that most other people like; I knew a guy with a 350PV 250r running a -2 swingarm here locally for flat tracking! I thought he was nuts..

Back to the topic in hand, I agree on entending the swinger and with the dogbone you should be able to lower it enough then.

[cr480r]

Do you actually race flat-track? or plan to? I would build it to fit your needs...

[digity x]

scoot does not race he just wants one to have just to ad to his collection.maybe he will get one of his t3's to run by winter? maybe''

[BigGreenMachine]

I think a 500 trail/play bike would be nuts. Put some nice 20 inch Kenda Klaws on it, a 10 inch front rim and matching front tire, nice aluminum KX skidplate for the belly and 400ex hubs/offset wheels to widen it out a little. Swingarm would need to be at least a +2 for the extra 20 hp. It would be a sick trail machine. Put a flywheel weight on to make it lug a little better and it would still do the lake thing come winter with a sprocket change.

I'm setting mine up as a play bike with only a +2, some 18's and I'll figure out what gearing to run when I get riding. Right now its 14/38 which I think will be damn fast.

[scooterroo]

well i got my eyes on a set of new oem 400ex hubs to wident he back outa bit, having trouble cracking the locknuts on the dogbone free, but i will get it eventually. turned the preload collar all the way down on the shock, and as soon as i get some new itps for the rear i will be slapping on either tri tracs or american racers on the rear. that should lower her down nice. a 500 playbike would be nice, especially for the pit i ride. but the trails around me are tight, so i wouldnt be able to open it up to much. if i move down to florida i just might be joining in on the flattrack racing scene, give billy and syko and the boys some mean green competition!!! hence alot of the reason i wanna set it up for flattrack. that and also the winter lake riding thingy, where i could open her wide open and ride it for a bit without running outta room. lol.

[BigGreenMachine]

You want used 400ex hubs because of the slop from use. They will fit sloppy on a 400ex axle but tight on the Tecate axle.

At least thats how it is with the Tri-Z boys.

I hear ya on the trail riding. I don't think there are too many places around here to open up mine but its being setup as an all around bike/mx'er. I do a fair amount of jumping and pit riding so it'll be pretty potent filling that role.

Definately studding the tires this winter for the ponds.

[oldsking86]

if i move down to florida i just might be joining in on the flattrack racing scene, give billy and syko and the boys some mean green competition!!!

Now that's the spirit! I'd love to see a kx500 T3 out there... Already seen a KX535 T4 here and man was it fast!!! Don't know if it's local anymore haha

[scooterroo]

would going with a set of the 400ex hubs and a set of spacers be too much for width?

[BigGreenMachine]

I doubt it. Your looking at staying under 50 inches wide.

[i58829]

That sounds like an awesome project bike.

my idea is you dont want it to be too wide unless you have an aftermarket axle just so your not flexing the ends and then chewing up bearings tearing around the yard.

[BigGreenMachine]

I think the stock Tecate hubs 4/156 pattern with 2.5 inch aluminum wheel spacers from ebay would be plenty wide and close to 50 inches. I know my two fifty could come on full throttle sideways out of a turn on dry pavement and not even think of highsiding while leaving fat black strips behind. Thats with 20's. I'm sure the 18's and 500 motor would be more then capable of sliding and not worrying about highsiding, especially on a lowered trike.

FUN!!!

[SYKO]

you dotn want an extended swingarm, and you dont want a rear tire over 9.5 inches wide, you need something that will let you half way stick and half way slide, I push my tires to the limit and plan on changing soon to another tire, me and billy have talked about it and researched it, we are most likely faster than they used to race flat track back in the day simply becouse our tires, back then they used basicaly lawnmower tires and not the typical flat track tires, sure we still slid but no where as much as they do, if you slide you loose speed, I try to keep all tires planted and grippin for maximum speed. also having a large motor may not work to your advantage, most of our tracks are smaller tracks orinialy built for go karts, you will never use the power of a 500 out there, and possibly get passed by any one of us racing, I did plan on going with a ct 330 but has since changed my mind and will go with my tuners idea of what I need to run. I do gear changes for differnt tracks and thats about it, I dont really fool with my motor any as long as its running I go with it as hard as I can! also the machine needs to be as low as possible but make sure you set your sag correctly, if not if you bottom out there on the track you will loos all tracktion and spin out. I hope you come down this way and join us, alittle more compition will be awesome and it makes for a funner race! as for how hard we ride, well my buddy dereck said everytime I came out of turn 2 I was partly sideways toting the front tire about 6 inches halfway down the straight almost every lap!

[SYKO]

oh yea forget using wheel spacers thats dangerous! put on a extended axle! spacers dont spin perfect and in east bay I could actually feal my rear tires wobble so much it felt like a high speed vibration, and I would feal my back end slide more becouse of it, now that I got an extended axle I did a bunch of high speed pavement runs and my tires roll perfect.

[BigGreenMachine]

You can gear down the 500 as much as you need to get useable power. The power is said to be like a fourstroke because of all the low end grunt. Vforce 3 reeds and a 10 mil reed spacer and you have lots of smooth roll on power.

As for the swingarm...get out there on the stock lowered chassis, some good tires and worry about how everything works before you go tinkering with length. The 500 is going to demand an extension, be it only a plus one or two for a little more control.

[scooterroo]

great info syko...if and when i say if, cuz its a big word, i do move down to florida, i will also be bringing the 85 along, perhaps set both up for flattracking. and i am also looking into getting a kips 250 as well as the 500 motor. the options are so wide open right now i have no idea where tomorrows gonna bring me, lol.

[BigGreenMachine]

Find anything?