hey i wanted to know how good are the old tecates, do they breck down all a lot , is it a lot of maintmance and stuff like that just the basics of how good there are becouse iv never seen one tell a qouple of days ago and man i think there are pretty cool. oh and how strong are the frames. thanks

 

I have an '88 Tecate-4. I think that they're pretty much like any 2 stroke quad -- given the right care they'll do just fine. You'll need to perform normal 2-stroke maintenance on them and you're probably familiar with that if you have the LT (avatar). Their frames are OK as far as strength goes but you have to give them a good look over. I had to section and replace the chromoly on mine between the footpegs
and the front of the motor. No big deal and now it's just as strong as new. Remember that they're 15 years old. I have yet to run into a part for the Tecate that I couldn't get. You just need to know the right sources. Overall I'm happy with it and I dig them because they're rare.

 

I found a similar question in the Yamaha forum, and responded to it. But I'll give my quick opinion here also. I bought one of the last new Tecate-4's in the country. I bent the axle on the third day I had it. Normal jumping, no bad landings, and I had hit the same jump on my 250R several times with no problem. I bent the frame during a cross country race for no apparent reason. I never figured out what happened to it, but it bent slightly in front of the motor. Other than that, it was a very good quad, and it had a strong top end. I sold it to a friend, and he seized it, but it was his fault. Before I sold it I bought a new carb. boot because the original boot looked like it was rotting (it sat in a crate for a long time). The dealer ordered the wrong boot, and I ended up with a boot for an '88 KX250. The inside of the KX boot was dramatically larger, and it bolted up perfectly. Since the quad used an '86 KX engine, I took a gamble and ordered an '88 KX top end when it seized. It bolted up perfectly, and I used the complete top end (KIPS included) from the '88 motor. It made a night and day difference in that quad. I have never ridden a faster quad, and it would smoke our friends modified LT500. Other mods were an FMF pipe, Answer VFC silencer and Roost Boost, offset front wheels, and an adjustable Excaliber axle. That was it. Again, it was brutally fast after the '88 conversion, and I would not hesitate to buy one today.

 

Just curious what year did you buy the Tecate? On a similar note I bought an old Kawasaki JS440 Jet Ski that sat in the crate new until like 01 when a guy assembled it and rode it about 10 hours total then sold it. Pretty neat for me to be out on the lake on a NEW machine that is over 10 years old [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/img]

 

Cool. I used to have a '78 JS440 and an '89 JS550. Those were fun machines. I think the 550 topped out at around 55mph or so. That really felt fast on a standup. The 550 was modded out as far as it could go but wasn't very reliable. The 440 on the other hand only had a few mods on it and ran great. It was reliable as could be.

 

The lack of parts is what I'd be concerned with. The plastic is no longer available from the factory, no telling what else was discontinued. I saw a Tecate 4 for sale last spring for around $1700, but it had been worked. If you live near a big riding area then parts may not be an issue but I would think you will still have to scrounge for some of them.

The Tecate 4 was never better than the Quadracer or the 250R so there isn't much demand for them. Plus it was only built for 2 years, so it doesn't have the following. I still think they are cool though.

 

I guess that it's just a matter of opinion. The big boys of the day were the TRX250r, LT250r and the KXF250. Each of the machines had their sweet spot. The TRX had the chassis/suspension, the KXF had the speed and the LT...well, I'm not sure what the LT had but it probably had something. But the truth is that unless you're talking about a LOBO, the T-4 could be made to handle almost as well as the stock TRX in most areas. So when I went to buy an older 2-stroke racer I went for the more affordable one. True, the 250r had more aftermarket parts readily available but the Tecate-4 parts are out there. I've been able to find everything that I've looked for but it sometimes takes a bit of work. The plastics are still available even though Kawi quit inventorying them. Talk to Dave over at ILR Performance. He has the contact over in Japan.

 

Just read some of the old shootouts, the Tecate was in last place both years. It also didn't do well at racing, the 250R and Quadracer dominated that area.

The problems with the Tecate 4 was that it didn't handle as well as the other two and the power was harder to use (much like the three wheeler) but it was very powerful. Stock, it didn't have as good of suspension either. A couple companies came out with aftermarket a-arms that helped out with the bump steer and made it wider in front.

I'm not cutting down the Tecate, just setting the record straight.

 

I see that you're a Kawi person so I know that you're not ripping on the Tecate. I'm not trying to give you a hard time or get defensive. I just know that I read stuff that said otherwise so I did some searching:

Dirt Wheels, June 1987:

"Now, that is what one lap was like. In the following lap the results were reversed, with the Honda taking the win, the Suzuki finishing second and the Tecate-4 third. On the next lap the Kawie emerged on the top with the Honda second and the Suzuki third

Which 250 is best? It depends. The differences are so minute that, as we said earlier, on one of the three can and will win. Check out how the machines worked in the type of terrain you ride most often, and make your choice. With these three ATV’s there are no wrong decisions-only different circumstances."


3&4 Wheel Action, April 1988:

"The Tecate-4 blasted into the high performance arena last season bristling with the latest technology and futuristic looks. Like it's three-wheeled predecessor, the KXT250, the new Tecate-4 was a highly focused machine pointed at the racing pointed at the racing crowd. It fared quite well against the potent FourTrax and Quadracers mounts in the performance categories, but fell a little short when hitting the trails because of it's explosive power band. The Tecate-4 is back in '88 with its power band shifted around to suit a large variety of riders and terrain, and with a host of suspension changes designed to make the machine respond to everyday bumps and ruts with the plushness of the others in its class."


Now a change of pace --
December 1988, Dirtwheels ranks all three stock vs. stock:

"Last in the stock performance category was the Tecate-4. The Kawasaki had a great motor but we were disappointed in marginal-handling chassis. The green machine was just not in the same league as the competition. Stock vs. Stock, our order of preference was definitely red, yellow, and then green."

Which definitely backs up what you're saying. However, the two previous articles said differently. I've never ridden an LT so I can't speak for that machine. But I really think that it depends on the individual, the terrain
and the quad's setup. Also it depends on who was giving the magazine the most money at the time. Believe it or not, that makes a big difference on the reviews. The best off the showroom floor race quad was undoubtedly the Honda and it'll be interesting to see if the new 450r can fill those shoes. I've always been a Honda guy and owned Hondas for 20 years. But now I have a race-ready Tecate-4 and a Blaster (project). I bought the Tecate because I couldn't afford the 250r even though I had been mostly brand loyal to Honda my entire life. The Blaster was bought because I couldn't find an affordable 300ex. I don't really regret buying either of them over a Honda. I still feel that a Tecate is a fine machine and has been getting a bad rap over the years. Kawi had many reasons why they stopped producing the Tecate after two short years but performance wasn't one of them.

 

Hey it's cool to see you kept your old mags as well. I've got an issue of ATV Sport (formally 3-Wheeling) that has the 250 shoot out as well. I'll have to look up what they said but I don't recall that it was much different in results.

I know what you are saying about the mags. But, I have found Dirt Wheels to be accurate in its review of the Z/KXF 400 now that I finally got one. 3&4 had a real crappy shootout with the Mojave and 300EX a year ago that didn't even get the specs right. I even sent them an email blasting them for it and the editor was a complete dick. Ultimately it comes down to what a person likes and where they ride.

My brother has a clean, '92 Quadracer and it is a nice quad. There are a couple guys in town that used to own 250R's and Racer's and didn't care for the Suzuki's, mainly because they fell apart. My bro hasn't had a problem but he doesn't ride it hard.

When I saw that Tecate 4 last spring I thought for a second about buying it but then decided against it because it was in poor condition. I loved the way it felt sitting on it and it would have been cool to have something different that most people don't know anything about. There used to be a web site devoted to Tecates a few years ago called Remember the Tiger or something but I haven't seen it around anymore. Had lots of good info.