Can't let anyone ride my Tecate ever again!!!!!

[ccdhowell]

This past Saturday I went out to a riding spot to break-in the new topend on my Quadracer, and I took my Tecate along to ride while the QR was cooling down. To make a long story short, my buddy went with me and we rode all day. Towards the end of the day he asked if he could give my Tecate a spin. Well, I've seen him ride his quad all day and he's a fairly competent rider and he saw me blast 2 dozen or so full speed drag runs and damn-well knew how fast my Tecate is. He cranked it, dropped it in first and eased off. He did manage to get into second gear, he started rolling on the throttle, it hit the powerband and he wheelied going about 20mph and lost it over backwards. My Tecate fliped over, landed, bounced up and flipped again landing on it's tires. I couldn't believe my eyes, I've been riding this trike 2 years + and have never done that, what a dumb-ass. By the time I cranked my QR and made it to the wreck site, he was up rubbing his backside, which didn't hurt him much longer cause I took a man-sized bite out of it for being stupid and showing such little respect for raw speed in trike form. He was very appoligetic, dang guy didn't say two words rest of the day and on the ride home. He told me to write him a receipt for the parts I use to repair it and he'd pay me for it. That was dang nice of him, but wish I could have avoided this altogether. I realized a few minutes too late that I have created a machine that is beyond the capability of the average to above average quad rider and I will never again allow mere quad riders to twist the throttle on my Tecate.

I haven't looked too closely at the damage, but at a minimum I need forks, they both look bent. The triples may be bent too, but I think the forks are just making them look whop-sided. Anybody got a good set of forks I can get from ya? PM me your shipped price to zip 71106.

I'll get it together again for TF and us Tecate guys will rule the drags.

BTW, I installed a 34 tooth rear sprocket with my 14 front on 18" Turf Tamers and holy cow it was great. I had to clutch it a little more to get it rolling, but didn't run out of gear before I ran out of nerve and my engine seems plenty strong to pull these high gears with gusto.

Chris

[300rman]

damn that sucks. stupid quadders, most of them are clueless.
anyone can get on a quad and hold it wide open......a bike or trike, you cannot.

[cr480r]

Are you sure the forks didnt just move in the tripples? When my old roomate wheelied my '84 into a parked vehicle in 2nd gear pinned the forks looked completely trashed, but were merely mis-aligned in the tripples... The twist throttle is very dangerous in the wrong hands...

[300rman]

yeah, a quadder that has never touched a bike should steer clear of a twist.
ive been using both my whole life, and prefer thumb because it is more controllable if it starts getting away from you.

[JohnBeton]

Just think how your first ride ever on a tecate was... You probably had the front wheel more in the air then on the ground...
That's what I think about when someone asks me to ride on my trikes, or quads...

Good luck with the repaid, and thank god that friend is a real friend and is willing to pay the expense.

[scooterroo]

this is exactly why i never ever let anyone else ride my stuff wether its a trike or a quad. one wrong move and your hoping they will pay for the damages. at least it sounds like he is going to be a stand up guy and pay for it.

[atctim]

tough lesson learned - sorry about this accident. I have learned over the years that you only let a few very trusted people ride your machines. Parts are getting way out of hand when you have to replace them. Even something so easily bent as a set of Renthal bars can cost up to $80 to replace.

[Erics350x]

You should lighten up if his realy your friend and be thankfull he's not badly hurt or worse. You can replace a Trike but good friends are alot harder to come by.

Did you warn him about how light the front-ends on trikes are?

[ATC-Eric]

Sorry to hear that Chris, and Im glad the only thing your buddy hurt was his ego.



Any cosmetic/plastic damage?






I give anybody thats about to ride my bikes the "talk." I give them a quick safety check, and let them know that if they break it they fix it. Sounds kinda mean, but I like to keep that up front. I have to much money in my machines to watch some thrill junkie ride it into a wall.


Sounds like your buddys a good guy though.

[atctim]

You can replace a Trike but good friends are alot harder to come by.



Yeah but they don't make trikes anymore - people make friends everyday!

[tri-Z ripper]

True that 200X only when it comes to riding my machines not powerfull enough to truly hurt anyone semi capable of riding!!

[i58829]

Man thats a bad deal, i hope he sticks to his word. I'm sure he will i bet he feels terrible about it. I dont like to let anyone ride/drive any of my stuff aside from my family and even then its only a select few. Good luck with the repair and hopefully for both of you it wont cost too much...

[DixiePlowboy]

A couple of guys I know that ride regularly where I do were looking at my Tecate roller the other day. Both couldn't believe how good it's looking. The dreaded moment came when one asked if he could ride it when I get it together, reminding me that he has let me ride his new 300EX a few times.

I gently lowered the hammer on him explaining that I have to be an amateur historian, part time archeologist, and had to be on very friendly terms with the bank loan officer to acquire some of the parts he could break on the Tecate, while everything on his quad is easy to come by.

Modify the E-bay sticker to read:

Tecate.....Yes it's fast AND EXPENSIVE, so leave a BIG cash deposit with me if you ride it.

[super90]

I learned that lesson the hard way, I use to let everyone ride my 200x, and even though its not a 250 2 stroke its still obviously a death trap in the wrong hands. I was sitting at the gas station getting some food when my friend comes over and asks to take it for a spin down the tracks. Gets it started up and stalls it the first few feet. By then I know it was a bad idea to even let him get on the thing but he finally gets moving and goes down the tracks and comes back. He goes up the little bank which is pretty steep, wheelies up it, goes out of controle straight into an aluminum shed!!!! Last time I let anyone ride it unless its one of very few trike riders that I know very well and know they will give me parts or pay for it if they break it.

[ccdhowell]

Any cosmetic/plastic damage?

Eric, the front forks took the brunt of the beating. The front fender is fine, but sits sideways right now cause I have a bent fork, I think. cr480r mentioned a fork that is sitting crooked in the triples, never seen it happen myself, but of course that's what I'm hoping for. Time is tight so it may be a little while before I can look at it.





I give anybody thats about to ride my bikes the "talk." I give them a quick safety check,...

That's funny, I gave the guy my version of a "be careful" talk twice, once before he cranked it and a quick version again after it was running. Oh well, I'm getting over it now, but it sure sucks. I'm so far behind on atv mechanic work that it's gonna take me a year to catch up if nothing else goes wrong. When I started racing this year I didn't understand how much time and money my race quad was gonna suck away from the rest. Oh well, I'm committed now and after my recent topend refresh and a good pipe I have something for those new quads...race this weekend...boy are they gonna be surprized!:w00t:

Chris

[cr480r]

Eric, the front forks took the brunt of the beating. The front fender is fine, but sits sideways right now cause I have a bent fork, I think. cr480r mentioned a fork that is sitting crooked in the triples, never seen it happen myself, but of course that's what I'm hoping for. Time is tight so it may be a little while before I can look at it.
Chris

I was just saying that I have seen some severely twisted tripples on both my tecate and several dirtbikes that straightened right out with a re-alignment... I have also seen many trikes with bent forks... hopefully you'll be lucky and not need any or many parts... mine only suffered 3 bent wheels, a broken fender, center punched radiator, a rediculously bent axle, handlebar ends touched, broken controls, etc... ... lol... and my good friend didn't ever pay me a dime.... but at least I have a good story to tell around a campfire... I cant wait to tell his kids about it someday..:lol:

[hadar]

Man, that sucks Chris. I hope you get her fixed up again. I let my buddy ride my t3 in the woods. He made it about 1 foot before he was on his A $ $. I got lucky and no damage was done but it did make me think before letting anyone ride, make sure they can handle it.

[TRITecate350]

Chris, you need to sue the engine builder.... If it wasn't for him or her, the bike would arguably not flip over backwards and trash valuable parts. The riders not at fault at all. :)

[Kintore]

Sorry to hear that!

Ill let my select friends ride it, that own a trike. Quad riders well MOST of them just dont understand ya know?

[ccdhowell]

Quad riders well MOST of them just dont understand ya know?

Yeah, I know.:(




Sprock, where you been man? Did you guys get flooded up there in Mexico, Mo?

Chris

[TRITecate350]

Nope, no flood here. It is very muddy though.

[Mosh]

Sprock Bigbore kits should be issued with a free lifetime supply of rear grab bars.:lol:
And a child tether cord like the mini's have.

[lndy650]

ccdhowell...i have a whole front end off an 86 if you want or i know the triples are probably different but the forks might be the same... any way ill get rid of it cheap if you want any parts

[bigpimpin]

lesson learned, next time let someone use the 125m

[ccdhowell]

ccdhowell...i have a whole front end off an 86 if you want or i know the triples are probably different but the forks might be the same... any way ill get rid of it cheap if you want any parts


Thanks man, triples won't work, I like my radiator up there. I don't know about the forks, so I'm gonna post a thread about it to see if anyone knows.

Thanks

[lndy650]

ok hopefully someone knows i'll give em to ya for 20 + shipping if you decide you want them and if that sounds fair

[The Goat]

kinda sad considering you have about the only tecate in all of louisiana.

[killerklown]

That sucks is right..... I had a mint 86 250R I bought in 89, not mint after two seperate buddies dumped it. Both were OVER confident intheir abilities. One rode an 1100cc bike, and thought nothing of a little 250! Wheelied it over backwards going downhill on his GRAVEL driveway!!! Both guys promised to repay, neither did. OH well, finally sold my baby a couple years ago, and those guys are gone too. Good luck man...

[Tecate250]

Why do people get so ignorant over there abilities? I will not ask to ride a bike that I do not feel confident riding. I have let some shady people ride it. 2 rules No wheelies (due to no rear grab bar and no back breaks)and no jumping. I let a good friend drive it for about 5 minutes and he came back and said it does wheelie goodand jumps great.:crazy: That made me very angry.

[Dirtcrasher]

I make it VERY CLEAR that my ATC is in perfect working order and that the parts CANNOT be bought. You have to beg,borrow and steal nice parts and if you want to ride it, plan on paying full market value for the part you ruin.

[OldSchoolin86]

lesson learned, next time let someone use the 125m
That's no good either. About 2 weeks ago I took my EX and the 125m to work to do some wrenching in a warm shop. Long story short, I trusted one guy with the EX and let everyone else play with the 125m. Well one of the guys on the trike returned into the shop at about 30mph, tossed it up on it's side and nailed my ex and me kneeling by it. The quad took most of the hit but I think it's safe to say that the last years worth of MX stories that came out of his mouth were total BS! Thank goodness I had the rear fender off the quad it would have been toast.

It could have been worse though, someone died on my sisters honda V30 Magna test riding it in the parking lot a her work 8 years ago. She gave the guy the full speech and lesson how to ride but when a car almost cut him off he froze, mashed the throttle and went head on into a brick wall. Some people just can't be taught not to panic.

It's hard to believe that I'm still dumb enough to let people ride my stuff.

[seddon]

my buddy just flipped my 200 and broke the rear plastic i am so mad and he says he will replace it i will keep on him but i will never see it