found a super-rare rusty diamond!!

[JKautoFab]

I was at the local bike salvage yard that is notoriously overpriced to get some china bike parts and ended up negotiating for this. he had a baja warrior with rusty forks, no front wheel, no motor, bent up motor plate, dented fake tank, but good rear wheel and brand new tire... i wanted just the unbent fork holders and he said he wanted to sell whole and wouldnt come down off 100 dollars!!! ut:


anyway i thought he would try to bend me over when i mentioned wanting the trike. it didnt have rear wheels on it so i looked around the yard and found some aluminum 8s with small squareish lawn tires on them that were labeled yamaha tri moto that had a close enough bolt pattern and threw them on the pile. after a little back and forth i got him down to something i actually think was reasonable.

ill get pics of the rest later, but here are the teasers. lets see who recognizes this rare beast.

 

[YOOP]

tiger 500. I'd consider it more of an atv (three wheeler) not a trike

let's see the rest

 

[YOOP]

 

[mipowdercoater]

Who said a tiger 500 is super rare ??? its not common but its not super rare.

 

[minibikin']

Wow pretty awesome!


Sent from my Texas Instruments Speak and Spell...

 

[mrtwister]

powdercoater ., its pretty rare to super rare aint it ..?? .. ive never even herd of one ..but that's not saying much ...

still pretty cool... reminds me of the Honda 250R three wheelers ..

 

[JKautoFab]

a trike is a three wheeler yooper lol but yes its more ATV than what this site is generally about but i figured you guys would appreciate it none the less. i will post some pics of the frame soon. no motor... rusty forks (gonna see if i can use my 250R honda forks) but great front tire, wheel, hub, brake calipers front and rear, swingarm, shock still good, axle looks amazing. fiberglass tank in great shape, just need to put in a fuel nipple. the rear plastic is cracked and cracking worse, so i plan on using it to make a fiberglass mold to pop a new fender piece (or two or five, depending on how often i wreck ) the seat is toasty but is aluminum pan so easy to redo! thinking about fixing a quick release for the seat (factory it bolts down and bolts hard to get to)

i know some will probably hate me for it, but ive got a liquid cooled 200cc chinese 5 spd with reverse motor i plan on using. I dont expect to find a rotax500 and if i did id probably kill myself with it anyway. the frame is super light so should be plenty of get up and go.

only issue i see currently is sprocket is on wrong side. the way the brake caliper mounts, i could easily flip the axle, but the shock is offset to that side and would get in the way of the chain... so i can either try to fix a jackshaft which would give me extra gearing options, or cut and center the shock. i like keeping things original when i can, but being that they are so rare, i am not expecting to find all i need to make it perfect. but i cant decide which way to go on that one part yet


and powdercoater, check this site about the 500. https://sites.google.com/site/tigerrotax/home says 7 found and 2 more in pieces. 250R production numbers were like 40k? all tigers were custom order machines... how is that not qualify as rare?? ive heard people say the 250r is rare and i would almost agree if there werent so many built but still getting pretty rare (go find me 5 250Rs real quick that arent in california) so yeah compared to that id say a tiger 500 is pretty :censure: rare :shrug: :laugh:

 

[minibikin']

Don't mind him JK, he's jealous...


Sent from my Texas Instruments Speak and Spell...

 

[KG5HP]

500cc trike? hold mah beer 'n' watch this...
ut:ut:ut:

 

[JKautoFab]

500cc trike? hold mah beer 'n' watch this...
ut:ut:ut:

haha thats why the warning label! for PROFESSIONAL atv riders ONLY.

also why its only getting a 200cc mill for now! still should be quite rediculous!

i cant wait to get started on this one. ive got a ton of other projects that really need to be done first but i think ive got 90% of the parts i will need to build this one.

 

[ATKRIDER]

In my opinion you have something pretty rare on your hands. I would bet that correctly restored it would bring BIG bucks. Just saying- :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

 

[JKautoFab]

you find me a rotax 500 motor and ill put it in there

ive seen 250r motors from 1500 to 2500 dollars. i cant afford that let alone what a real rotax mill would cost me

i do have a skidoo with a 650 twin rotax i could put a torque converter on haha but i think it would be a bit big... and scary ut:

 

[Txpowdercoater]

you find me a rotax 500 motor and ill put it in there

ive seen 250r motors from 1500 to 2500 dollars. i cant afford that let alone what a real rotax mill would cost me

i do have a skidoo with a 650 twin rotax i could put a torque converter on haha but i think it would be a bit big... and scary ut:

but others may be able to afford and maybe they are searching for exactly that.
I once found a 1969 V-7 Moto-Guzzi in a barn when I was looking at an old studebaker, it was loaded with super rare factory parts, I bought it as soon as I saw it and I sold it less than 3 hours later to a fellow who had been searching for that very bike for 10 + years. He knew it was around, and when I listed it, he was on it with cash in hand. It was "his" holy grail.

 

[JKautoFab]

yes but, its kinda my holy grail too. im a honda guy, but moreso a three wheeler guy. was going to build the 250 R, but this is way cooler, more unique, and a better built machine. my 250r's rear axle is flopping around in its swingarm with no bearings, no hubs, etc. best parts on it are the forks and im gonna try to use them on the tiger, whose frame and axle and hubs and everything is in better shape.

yes i probably could sell what i found for a heavy duty profit im sure, but im not sure i wouldnt have a better time building the tiger than the honda. i like the fiberglass tank on the tiger, i dont even HAVE a tank for the R


that being said, im tempted to post it for sale on craigs with no asking price and see what offers i get thrown.... heh heh heh....

 

[Txpowdercoater]

I recently bought a brand new plastic tank for my big red and it wasnt to pricey and fit like a glove.
The fiberglas tank wont be happy with todays fuels anyways without work first. Its not yer' Holy grail, its just cool to you. the 3 wheeler you have would benefit with new parts with your new found wealth from flipping the trike, just saying. do a craigslist, you never know what will call ya and all of a sudden you might find green looks better.

 

[JKautoFab]

i got a new plastic tank for my big red too. 200 bucks i think? its a clark replacement. 250R tanks i dont think have repros.

how will "todays fuels" bother my fiberglass tank? i run non ethanol in all my stuff.

and i thought the 250r frame was my holy grail till i found this ahaha

 

[taz79]

im going to give you a little advice there is guys out there that collect tiger 3 wheelers witch were hand built and depending on how much you have it could be worth as much as a new car and as for rare the 500 last I looked at some of my resources they had only found 2 or 3 and not complete and if I remember right there was under 20 made
:scared: so please let a expert on tiger atc take a look at what you got before you start any meager surgery I can point you in the right direction

 

[gobigorgohome]

death trap on 3 wheels

 

[Stangrcr1]

I suggest you go here.

https://sites.google.com/site/tigerrotax/home

That trike is worth a lot more than you think.

I really hope you sell it to a collector that will give it the love and pure restoration it needs.

 

[Txpowdercoater]

^^^ YOWZA! now you have others saying you found somebodies Holy Grail! flip that turd and fix your other toys up like ya want and at the same time you will know you saved one and by the sound of the info your getting, damn, less than 20 made, You DID SCORE!:thumbsup: