Ogy, I guess I'll have to agree with you on this subject!! I have a collection of about 10 Tecs in the garage, most without carbs, was thinking of scrapping them till I got the news a couple of months ago, I think they suck, too!!! It's not that I don't know how to make them run, either. I've gotten bikes with the pos, Tec motors on them, but usually pull the motor, in favor of the Briggs, some of the motors I have, have been a parts engines, in that if a bike I'm working on, is missing something, I'll rob it from the parts motors, now most of them are to the, short block. Like I said I was thinking of scrapping them, but with the news of Tec, folding, I'll hang on to them, and maybe list them later on as the weather gets better, maybe the old blocks will be worth something???
Fordman50, don't berate yourself, I used to swear by the good old Briggs and Stratton, still love to see them too, but I bought 2 of them, 6.5 clone engines, and installed them on 2 different bikes, both operated very well, and the power was just awsome!!! I really liked the placement for the kill switch, and thought that the in tank fuel gauge was neat, only had one time that one of the bikes failed to start,
forgot to turn the gas valve on, lol, after I figured out it was off, it started right up:doah:
I think that what Tecumsa is going through is a sign of the times, and a good lesson learned, they were looking for the cheaper labor, to increase their profits, then bringing their motors over here to install on some of those higher priced lawn machines manufactured by Sears and others, then when their pos motor wouldn't run anymore, usually because of that tempermental carb, the unspecting customer would look at the catolog for a replacement motor, hmmmm let's see a 3.5 Tec starting at $350.00, now the question is do I buy a new motor, or a new machine??? Most of the time it was a new machine, us Americans sure are wastefull sometimes, but that was good for me, cause around these parts, I'll buy anything with a motor that don't run, I'll fix it and resell it, made a pretty good living from that in the past, and plan on it till I can't turn wrenches anymore.
I plan on buying more clones, and as time ticks, I'm sure I'll be getting into a tear down and rebuild of that clone motor, I'll evaluate the internal's of the motor at that time, but from what I see now so far, the China Clone is affordable, compatable, & reliable.
Now before anyone comes on here blasting me about, Made in America crap, as Tecumsa was doing, same as I, I'm looking for the better deal, their product I consider unreliable because of the carb, and electronics, Briggs, I love them, but as with Tec, they are very high priced, new! Therefore, why would I want to put a high priced motor on a minibike frame that I know someone is buying to beat the crap out of. If I ever do a show of any of my mini's where I want to stick to original, darned right, I'll put a vintage briggs on it, and give everyone a run for their money, but new, or, next to new sells, so when a China Clone fits and the bike is going to be for sale anyway, I'll stick a clone on it.
dave
