maxwell smart

Hi Jonny, Thanks for the tip on the hebo zone4 , I have liked the look of that helmet. Boner I think custom shaping the eps foam has been an accepted method of getting a poor fit to be acceptable , everyone may not agree but the helmet has to be comfortable or it will hinder safety more than help. helmet manufacturers can never cater to every head shape, theres too many variables for a line of helmets to be correct across the board for everyone. my problem with trials helmets is it seems they focus the weight high on the skull, which seems like it is counterintuitive to keeping good balance, too much influence up too high. aria helmet has a philosophy of adding extra material around the bottom base of the helmet to make the apparent weight perceived less influence to the riders balance, ive wondered what the aria trials helmet would be like to wear, as I get older if I decide to stay in trials I may get one of the aria trials helmet shipped over .

I hear u s.s. but I figured I would try a bit of a custom fit before I gave up on it completely. Finally I ended up throwing it away anyhow. I wish I could get a quality trials helmet but in the states theres no way to try anything trials oriented for fit so I gave up and just use my aria motocross helmet. Not sure how anybody likes the quality of the airoh helmet I had , to me it seemed like some kind of Chinese junk that was made for max profit, not max safety, hardly above a kids toy for riding bicycles. After using handmade aria helmets for over 30 years now it will be hard to compare any helmet to what im used to. On the other hand my wife likes her airoh just fine , she has no problem with the fit and feel of it.

Hi Boner , I had the same problem with my airoh trials helmet I purchased in 2015 when I started in trials. it would not fit even close to correct, too tight front to back and too loose side to side.i tried to custom fit it with a spoon and hammer on the eps foam with no joy. I wear my motocross helmet now . I have always had to wear aria helmets in motocross and road course to fit my long oval head shape, I wonder if there is any trials helmet that will fit me correct . p.s. check your headlight thread someone posted the correct part number to achieve your install on that. maxwell

Hi sportsawyer, Thanks for adding in this thread the correct part number headlight wiring to address the problem I ran into installing the headlight and map switch to my 2015 . I had a feeling honda had to have made a new harness by now but I hadn't looked at any new parts lists. Im sure this will help boner get his headlight on. Best regards, Maxwell

It sucks honda is not providing the correct wire harness with the headlight kit. the easiest and cleanest way for u would be to nip off the 12v wire right behind the four pole connector and crimp on a insulated bullet connector then run a chassis ground to the ground point with a ring terminal on the frame side and bullet connector on the headlight side, and put bullet connectors on the headlight harness to mate the headlight to the bike. it would essentially be plugged in the same as the kill switch but in a different place. if u want to play around at night the headlight is very bright and illuminates the way very well.

me and agent 99 enjoy our hondas

Hey Boner, I was wondering if u would ask about this. what year do u have, I ask because the headlight kit I purchased had a connector to plug in to a four pole weatherproof connector under the tank behind the headstock. It is the same connector that the map switch plugs into. The map switch is two wire, and the headlight is two wire connection. The problem is marrying the two together. My 2015 didn't have the map switch so it was an easy plug in, but I added the map switch at the same time as the headlight. I had to make a custom harness to plug both items into the same connector on the bike. If u look at the wiring harness diagram in the owners manual u will understand the wiring connections needed to wire both items. Or u can eliminate the map switch and plug in the headlight directly with no modifications. If u eliminate the map switch it leaves the ecu in full power mode. The map switch connects chassis ground to the map/sw. input for low power mode. The headlight is the 12v wire and chassis ground for voltage to run the light. To make my custom harness I sourced the proper weatherproof connector to match the bike from an electronics distributor along with the proper terminal pins and crimper and put it together, not easy but I am an electrician so I have a bit of an edge there. For the 2016 and newer bikes they should supply the harness with a new map switch included already wired to share the connector on the bike. Hope this helps understand it a bit better, I will keep watching to see if u have any additional questions . Good luck, Maxwell

Matt, One thing I would like to add is my 2015 had the short kickstart lever and was a pain to start in the best of conditions, usually two kicks minimum. I now have the long kickstart lever installed and finding the bike starts on the first kick now most of the time with the extra leverage. I have not experimented to see if I can start it with the headlight on since I installed the long lever , it was not impossible before the lever change but was very difficult. I am curious now with the long lever if it will possibly be easier or no problem at all with the headlight left on. They do look cool with the headlight visor installed, the repsol team runs them. I weighed the original number plate against the headlight visor and found very little difference with the bulb and visor only a couple grams heavier .

Hello Boner, The headlight visor has an area behind it on the right side that has plastic tabs that the switch will sandwich with nuts and serrated washer , u will find the lighting harness only long enough to mount the switch at this location. The headlight kit I purchased came with the visor , bulb and wire harness including switch to mount to the visor. The switch should orient face down to provide water resistance so the red button faces down. U have to hold the switch in place and give the mounting nut a good snug but be careful not to deform the mounting tabs ,or it will want to come loose later. As a side note I found the motorcycle would not start if the light switch is left on because of the drain on the voltage, its critical to turn it off before every start or restart of the bike or u will find a no start condition present. Good luck maxwell

Hello Lil' Willie's dad. my tl 125 and 250 have very nice mudflaps of rubber that are frequently available on auction sites,, and a lot of old bikes run atf in the forks u might consider that as a light weight fluid , good luck Maxwell smart

Hello, One thing u should verify is that the needle in the slide is positively held in place. if the hold down clip is incorrect or missing the vacuum of the engine will lift the needle in the slide at idle and supply extra fuel thru the main circuit causing uncontrolled idle issues . the needle should not be able to move up in the slide. another member here referred to this condition as hunting and hanging of idle. may not be your problem but worth a check. happy new year, Maxwell

hello on it if memory serves me correctly simply unplugging the switch will leave the ecu in full power mode. the ecu needs the map/sw pin connected to ground to achieve low power mode so unplugging the switch clears the circuit so it can never be grounded. the switch is open in full power mode and closed for continuity to ground for the low power map. there is a cap/cover available to waterproof the switch connection point that my 2015 4rt 260 came with so u can remove the switch and keep the wiring harness from faulting. the only reason I know this is I added the switch so I could achieve a low power mode for my wife to ride the bike with less power available. happy holidays maxwell

Hi Tcrhino, I believe increase in compression = greater engine efficiency. with the result as u notice increase in idle and fewer flameouts. I was reading an article a few years ago about direct injection in modern automobile engines creating an opportunity to raise compression, with the goal of increasing mileage as well as horsepower. I could be wrong as im no expert. just my opinion. Maxwell

Hello Colm, I agree about the braktec front master cylinder. My 2015 cota 260 wont hold pressure either. I have wanted to do the honda motocross bike master cylinder mod like the repsol team uses for a while now. I wish it was easier to get the correct line for the mod. I purchased a line from spain and was sent something that was not compatible , so I threw it the rubbish bin and gave up. happy holidays Maxwell

I would like to thank everyone for adding some great content to this thread, inspiration is always good.?

Hi Section swept, Oh trust me I do love to snow trial and actually broke in the bike in February in single digits, it teaches u how to work for the traction needed in lots of sections . It was just too cold to ride as long as I would of liked so I was working in the garage with the engine off as well. but I do ride in the snow as much as possible. Sirdabalot I agree that my training in the garage helps a lot once u gain the gyroscopic forces of the engine running. I have been working out on a zoo 26 inch trials bicycle for a couple years now and find that the skills that I've learned on that have really upped my game on the motorcycle as well as the paddleboard surfing I do in lake Michigan. I am wondering if anyone would enjoy a short video of my skills learned on the bicycle as a 50+ rider, hopping it on the back tire, bunny hopping static balancing, generally feeling like the rider I would like to be on the motorcycle , but its tough to get that motorcycle on its back tire the same as the bicycle. im wondering if the standard shock on my cota 260 is holding me back from progressing my skills to the motorcycle.

Hi , IM sorry I implied everyone should agree with me, that was not my intention, any opinions are welcome positive or negative, I just feel that when folks cut and paste they are singling out people so they can specifically prove them wrong sometimes. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and no one has to agree on everything, it is just stressful when u get singled out as wrong when trying to give out an opinion or share knowledge based on previous experience. My bad. Grammer was never my strong point. But I do enjoy this site and would like to add to its content here and there because I like to read on here and I see that's the case worldwide. kudos to Andy for such a great website. I just feel that when adding to a forum on the internet people should afford the same respect and common courtesy that is given in real time as when u are talking to someone in real life not on the internet as a keyboard jockey. I have seen a lot of people disappear from this site for the exact thing im talking about here. If this conversation gets out of control now because im mentioning my opinion about courtesy I will be the next guy to disappear. just my two cents.

Hello, I was recently cruising thru the training forum and I notice there is no advice for training with the engine switched off. When I first purchased my new montesa it was the first of February and I was weather locked in the garage with single digit temps and two feet of snow in the yard. So I first focused on static balancing in a stationary position finding the correct vector for the front wheel so I could learn how to balance the motorcycle with my feet on the pegs not going anywhere. At first it was very difficult and I was only able to get 10 to 15 seconds on the pegs before putting my foot down, as the weeks went by with continued practice in the garage my balance improved and soon I was pushing to stay on the pegs thru my favorite song on the radio I would listen to . Then after that I would try to work on hopping the bike in the same small area without the engine running so I could focus my balance even further. With winter closing in on this part of the world I just thought this might help folks looking for a way to improve over the next few months of no riding . Drain the fuel and put the bike in a warm area with a radio and have some fun cross training for next season. There's a lot of muscle memory to be gained with this type of practice ,Good luck. Best regards, Maxwell smart p.s. I know about the no stop rule and all the other reasons people will say this a bad idea and is not correct procedure, please do not cut and paste this, just give your opinion and do not stress me out how wrong I am when im just trying to help the new guys

Hello, I personally think the narrow pegs are essential to be able to static balance or track stand a motorcycle. When I was restoring agent99's tl125 I thought the pegs were way too narrow, so I put a set of xr trail footpegs on the bike and immediately noticed it was harder to use my legs and foot to keep the required balance to stay up and on the pegs. I find when im balancing I need to be able to move my knees about freely as well as rolling my foot over the outside edge of the footpeg slightly. with the wider footpegs my leg was too tight and just made it really difficult to nearly impossible. just my personal experience and I could be totally wrong as im a novice in this discipline of riding. the wide footpegs ended up in the rubbish bin . if u find new pegs don't pitch the originals in case u want to go back. best regards , maxwell

a proper trials chain has 1.5mm link plates. all other chains have 2mm link plates to be heavy duty enough for mx use . the exra thickness is why they don't work well with the tensioner, its desgned for the narrow chain. also the light chain contributes to the response needed for certain trials maneuvers. u will feel the difference between lightweight and heavv duty chain.

the rpm meter has gone wonky. the first thing that has to be corrected is the setup of the meter for correct operation, that is essential. the 4rt has to be very close to 1800 rpms to operate correctly. scrutinize the meter to see if the button was pushed during its fall and changed the settings/ I think its reading half scale right now.

Hello Mal, one thing u should check, on my bike when I first got it running it would start and idle well but seemed to have a major carb problem when given throttle around the house, the seat was actually blocking the airbox opening and only letting enough air to idle but not run right at speed. remove the seat and try with the airbox opening clear of the seat and ride it to see if that changes anything. I took my carb apart three times before I found the airbox opening too close to the seat bottom. one more thing, check the gascap for proper venting, either blow thru the line or remove the cap gasket and do a visual on the vent orifice to see if it is closing off from oxidation.

The fork seals , orings, and sealing washers are all still available thru honda for a complete fork service. They are shown in stock at my distributor. a quick word about tl250 side panels, they were a flawed design. There was no support designed into the panel where your leg applies pressure when balancing the motorcycle in trials situations, the first time u lean on them a little u hear a crack, its the panel splitting. for side panels I found a pair on ebay that had both split in two. I mixed up a batch of epoxy resin from a quart bottle of surfboard building epoxy. I layed up the backside of the panels with epoxy and fiberglass to mend them back together , then for support I fashioned a roughly .375 inch piece of wood to epoxy to the backside of the side panel right where it runs along the frame at the top edge. the wood strip fills the gap that allows the panel to flex and crack. now they are tough as nails and I can have all sorts of fun static balancing the bike and run four laps around a trial and not hear the dreaded side panel crack. the aftermarket side panels are even more fragile than the originals, I tried a pair and cracked them very quickly before I repaired and upgraded a pair of originals for my bike. its kind of funny because the side panels were actually a featured item in the tl250 brochure as being newly engineered ultralight weight pieces that were a trick part of the new bike.

hello Mal, I built my tl125 and tl250 from ebay parts mostly, things like the plug cap and sparkplugs and gaskets are available thru honda still though and it is best to always check the microfiche first for availability, then go to used sources. I actually found on ebay a new old stock tl250 motor that I started for its first time in 2016, so my 250 has ultra low hours on it. my wifes 125 has a newly rebuilt engine with a sl125 cam and piston and top secret heat shield to open up the intake to 25mm instead of 22mm . for photos of me and agent 99s bike look at the post in honda forum "happy new year" we were playing on new years day in the snow and posted photos of the bikes.

hey, the spark plug cap will actually have 5k printed on it if u look close. and the spark plug has to be the original spec as shown on the parts list not the iridium equivalent modern plug. people often think the iridium upgrade is smart, but in reality it wont work on points ignition. I looked at ngk replacement spark plug caps on ebay to see the difference between standard and resister type so I could start spotting improper setup from a distance now. u could probably look at the ngk catalog to see the difference as well. I recently purchased a ct70 honda with a resister cap on it by mistake and it ran much better after a new standard cap was installed.