My first trike, a 1974 Alsport Trisport

[jeffp1956]

Hello everybody
I just bought my first trike. It is a 1974 alsport trisport. I saw one of these for the first time when I was 19 years old and I have wanted one every since 30 some odd years ago. It seems to be mostly intact I still have most of the rupp engine but it has been replaced with a 440 Yamaha air cooled sno mobile engine and the wiring is a mess. but I'm satisfied with the condition here are some pix. If anyone has any information that can help me with parts technical info ect... do not hesitate to drop me a msg or email I would appreciate any help that this forum can offer

[TriMotoMan]

woa that thing is cool

[MonroeMike]

Welcome Jeff

I see a plate, is that street legal?

Check with the guys over at OMB (especially Steven Durham). They will probably be able to give you the info your looking for.

http://www.oldminibikes.com/forum/more-than-two-wheels/

[harryredtrike]

welcome to 3ww.you will love it here.that sounds g/y:TrikesOwn

[jeffp1956]

Yes it is street leagal I intend to get it running and commute to work with it

[fabiodriven]

That thing is straight up bad ass! It must be scary fast.

[Bryan Raffa]

got any close ups of the motor compartment?

[LonesomeTriZ]

I love those things. I hope I can get another one some day and actually restore it this time.

[aaron7]

Wouldn't want to idle in traffic with a snomobile engine; unless it's liquid cooled. Wouldn't last long.

[rm250romper]

Man that thing is badass! :TrikesOwn

[Bryan Raffa]

needs a v-max 800 liquid:naughty:

[jeffp1956]

I have gotten to get a better look at my trisport it is a 1974 RTS 290 and then did some research on the motor and found out it is out of a 1976 GS 440 Yamaha snowmobile. I have some questions about this engine : 1. This engine appears to have oil injection, is it feasible to utilize it in this application 2. This engine is manual start only but I think it has a place for a electric starter does any one know of a source for electric start kit. Also I found out the hand controls are from a 1978 Yamaha XS 400. I may be posting this in the wrong forum if you can help me with this please let me know, and does anyone know a good snowmobile forum that could help me. thanks in advance
Jeff :beer

[Rasuel]

Awesome find! Any close ups of the engine compartment?

I don't know a whole lot about snow mobile engines, but I do know they hate 2 things. Heat, and a lack of air flow. Forget sitting in traffic. If you run that puppy in the summer heat it's gonna give you problems, even cruising. That engine compartment doesn't look like it has much, if anything in the way of ventilation, and most sled engines are made to run sub zero. I've over heated sleds just cruising on a warm day in the winter, say a degree or two above freezing. If you do find a good sled page, particularly an for older sleds let me know. I've found it difficult to find one that has much in the way of activity.

[jeffp1956]

Update :
I finally slowed down enough to ride my trisport for the first time today and that thing really hauls ass !! the tires are very weather checked so no highway riding I just blasted around the buildings and the parking lot at work when I first started it up it was only running on 1 cylinder and once I got rolling the 2nd cyl kicked in and I grabbed a handful of throttle and we were off to the races I backed out of it (no rear brakes and very Little front brakes) . Any way when I brought it back in to our shop I noticed it was leaking fuel. A quick inspection revealed that the secondary clutch had rubbed a hole in the fuel tank because the fuel tank had no support brackets of any kind. I repaired the tank and I am trying to figure out how allsport supported the tank originally. I also figured out after bleeding the rear brakes that the master cyl is leaking and appears to be bypassing internally ( it wont pump up under any circumstances ), so I have some work to do

[350XJEDI]

that thing is cool ,I want one bet the copsaround haer have never seen one on the road . i think e street bike moter would be better ,water cooled , more gears ",good luck ",luv to see more of this one ????anyone???

[Xhumeka]

1. This engine appears to have oil injection, is it feasible to utilize it in this application

Great find mate! Welcome to the site!

Are you saying you're not using the oil injection system? Are you premixing your fuel then?

I have only read about this, but here is a concern about premixing instead of using the proper oil injection setup:


You may have problems, although I've heard of it being done. The problem is that oil injection is usually done between carb and cylinder. Carb is therefore jetted for pure petrol/air mix. Not to sound too complicated, if carb meters fuel/air at say 50/50 then yours would be mixing petrol/oil mixture with air at same ratio. This would give a leaner mixture as you have added oil to the petrol side of the equation. Premix is also thicker viscosity than straight petrol, so jetting might have to be changed. I don't have personal experience but know the theory.

From: http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100117140413AAS1JC8

Also - sometimes old bikes take a LOT of pumping before you can bleed all the air out of them. I thought the same thing as you about a 250R I recently picked up, but after about TWO HUNDRED PUMPS it finally started pressuring up.

[bcredneck]

never use oil injection on a old motor the way you find out it donsent work is you blow your motor its happed to me on my fist 2 storke and i will never trust them again

[4sandgoddess]

WOW I Love it! I just recently got my own 74 Alsport Tri-Sport with the original kohler k340-2ax It is also the street legal model. Mine was left outside with the spark plugs removed to endure the weather conditions at a closed down airport for I don't know how many years. Once i started openin her up I realized that pretty much everything is near new on the inside with the acception of the left cylinder. It had filled up with rain water & rusted in place. After much time & patience got it busted loose and am now having it bored for the .020 pistons I found. a few good places for vintage parts are of course ebay (check daily) & partsreloaded.com I even found original owners manual....and the wiring schematic that I'll add to my album on here....If you come accross anywhere to get actual Alsport parts & would let me know, that would be GREAT!!

[SonicTronics]

Great find mate! Welcome to the site!

Are you saying you're not using the oil injection system? Are you premixing your fuel then?

I have only read about this, but here is a concern about premixing instead of using the proper oil injection setup:



From: http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100117140413AAS1JC8

Also - sometimes old bikes take a LOT of pumping before you can bleed all the air out of them. I thought the same thing as you about a 250R I recently picked up, but after about TWO HUNDRED PUMPS it finally started pressuring up.

Though we were having the same issue while doing my buddies 250r brakes only to find out that his brake lever actually wasn't bent at the right angle (wrong lever) to depress the plunger entirely in. After a couple hundred attempts we pushed by hand with a punch on the plunger and it took about 3 pumps to start stiffeneing up. Definitely felt like a complete trailprotrailprotrailprotrailprotrailpro after that.