Reliability - Mitsubishi TLE43

A

Alaskavan

Guest
I just hit 1000 miles an my Mitsubishi TLE 43, and I don't even know where the head bolts are. I've never needed to take the plastic cover off. When purchasing a motor, I think it's a good idea to consider maintenance issues. The only problem I've experienced with the motor was a spark plug not firing correctly at high rpm. And when that happened, 20 miles out of town, I limped home with a maximum speed of about 24 mph, rode it to work the next day, and changed the plug. No biggie.

I have experienced problems with the mounting, but I blame myself for that.
I: a) Should have bought support struts for both sides (Staton recommends it); and b) shouldn't have hit that big rock.
That said, I would not rcommend a friction drive if you intend to ride in inclement weather. When the drive roller is wet, it's near useless.

Just thought I'd share these insights.
 
:cool:Thanks for the sparkplug tip, Alaska. my MITSUBISHI has a mid-to-high speed range. changing/checking the plug should be the easiest fix.

what sparkplug and gap are you running?

i like my MITS engine also. more guts than my 1.6hp SUBARU, and not much louder.

upon recommendation from Dave Staton, i upgraded from friction to gear chain. i'm glad i did.

Myron
 
I put in an Autolite 2974. I just eyeballed the gap. It looked to be somewhere in the .25 - .30 range.

I bought a couple of those HD Hubs from bicylcle-engines. I'm thinking about doing something with one of them to get away from friction. (Something a bit unusual, but I'm not ready to post about it yet. The idea is still gelling.)
 
:cool:you could build a rack system. STATON sells a 3:11 gear reduction box that replaces the clutch. with that, the rear sprocket might just be 48t, with an 8-tooth engine sprocket.

it used to take me 35 exciting minutes to travel 5 miles to work. that was with 1.6hp ROBIN/SUBARU and friction drive.

with MITSUBISHI engine and gear chain, it takes me 25 hair-raising minutes, a 28.57% decrease in driving time.

in average morning traffic, my car gets me to work in 21 minutes. i'd probably reach work faster on my bike if i used the main roads. however with the way morning rush hour people drive, i'd be taking my life into my own hands.

my only beef with this MITSUBISHI engine is that it takes a LOT of pulls to start the engine, even when warm. the ROBIN started within 2 pulls.

Myron
 
Last edited by a moderator:
:cool:Alaska, i bought and installed the $1-something AUTOLITE plug. the original NGK plug looked ok, with brown color(good sign).

it seemed to smooth out top speed. i was wondering why i was having that problem when i realized that i was spinning the engine at 8700rpm.(peak hp is @ 8500rpm.):eek:

when i change to a bigger drive sprocket, rpm @ 30mph should drop to 7800rpm. the miss should disappear at 30mph(41mph if i had 26" tires).

as of late, i've been driving my DAHON every weekend. it's all "gas and go".
 
Mine was hard to start until I figured out that I'd err'd when putting the carb cover on. It was sitting so that the choke wouldn't work. I fixed that and she starts good.
 
I didn't have the 2 prong thingies in their slots on the bottom. I wrote about it in that thread about dumb things some of us have done. I forget the name of it.
 
A note about the Mitsu engine. I didn't prep it for winter, and I didn't bring it in the house. Today, as I was digging a path from the road to the house, wide enough for the trike, I came across my K-2.
101_1416_1.jpg

101_1418_1.jpg


I took it inside the cabin to let it thaw out a little.
101_1419.jpg

I replaced the gas/oil. She cranked right up. I took it out for a bit of a ride. Despite how my yard looks, the road is clear. I'd forgotten how quiet the Mitsu is. Good motor.
 
I probably have 1,000 and 500 miles on my TLE 43 engines: "Mitsu" and "Bishi".:D

Like the others I've never lifted the covers, except to install expansion chambers. I'll probably pull the plugs and read them(might be running lean with improved exhaust and non-adjustable carbs).

The front engine position took the high rpm beatings from 1.25"-1.375" rollers pushing to 35mph. Now both friction spindles are 1.5" diameter.

Both engines are now singing happily. :D
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Back
Top