section swept

Piles....?

Ah so you thought Beta and co were good at ‘graphics’ eh...not a bit of it!

Not bike related but I used a square biscuit tin as an air box on a Mini with a Weber 45DCOE on a swan neck inlet manifold...on hard acceleration the inlet roar made your ears hurt. I had a 1967 new Sprite trials bike and I swear the air filter was made using an aluminium saucepan and the lid was the inlet...never found any saucepan handle rivet holes though. It worked so I couldn’t complain. Biscuit tin also makes a natty headlight unit for pre 1930’s machines.

She is far nicer in the flesh and is a very amiable person. Met her at Brands Hatch where she was covering a feature on one type of car racing, I can vouch that when she was not mixing it with ‘ the boys’ she would spend her free time playing with a 2 year old child belonging to a fellow competitor....nice ?

That won’t react as quickly as stabbing the rear brake!

If the jetting is to spec then it could be ( everyone has to guess from here on) an ailing ignition possibly the condenser or the coil. Check that the fuel tank hasn’t succumbed to the dreaded Ethanol issues and also that the fuel tap flows freely. Check that the air filter is in serviceable condition and no blocked, trapped or mis fitted breather pipes. Take care with the kickstart as this can muller the flywheel housing by punching a lump out if the kick start is incorrectly set....do a search its a well known issue. I cannot extoll the virtues in using Ethanol free fuel enough to eradicate fuelling issues. Hope you can sort out the 349 ??

When the bike was put away had it just been washed? Water may have found its way into the exhaust system from not plugging the tail pipe. There has been many good suggestions about a ‘fix’ for your non-starting issue, but I would start by looking at any and all carb breather pipes, and the carb to air filter hose/trunk call it what you will. Only try starting the bike when you have sorted that fuel flooding, as each attempt just puts more petrol into the wrong places i.e. washing lube oil from any bearings, as it is oil misting from the evaporating fuel that allows the oil to do its job. The reason that you might have a ‘flash fire’ is simply the fact that with enough petrol sloshing about in, around and over the engine it only takes a random ignition source to ignite the now evaporating petrol! The kill switch may emit just such an arcing spark, the flywheel rotor and ill fitting ht coil connections may also help out here to. Its amazing just how complacent people are with such a starting issue they forget all about self preservation for themselves and others...be safe first??

Thats a bit unusual to have the main bearings nip up! By the time they have run out of oil the top end would have been seriously seized with the piston rings tearing away at the bore. I am always amazed at the way people predict how much X or Y is worth without any sight of a photo of the offending article. From your description it looks like there is quite a bit of expense thats going to be needed to sort out the rear suspension, the linkage needs checking for wear to but bear in mind you have a nine year old bike on offer and the owner has let you have the bike for a good look...good man. Your best bet is to look at other ads for the same or similar bikes and gauge the value from those and what you are prepared to pay. The swinging arm will undoubtedly be twisted if the bikes been used hard. The head bearings and front forks will also need serious inspection. The fuel tank may have swelled up due to ethanol fuel. Have a good look at the cooling fan wiring as it might be rigged to run permanently. On the other hand you might just have a nice bike in there. From my experience the I.O.M has lots of rocks which is not always a good thing for a trials bike in the damage department.

SM Hi-Boy frame. When you refit the engine leave the bash plate bolts just finger tight, tighten the engine mounting bolts, rear first, then the front. Now tighten the bash plate bolts, keep the bolt projections as small as possible i.e. no more than two threads showing. Head steady bracket and bolts should be easily assembled, if not re work the holes so that there is no adverse tension. Some have said that these Hi-Boy frames tend to crack near to the headstock reinforcing plates...I’ve not seen one but then most trials bikes can suffer frame breakages considering what they have to deal with. Your frame doesn’t look bad at all and the rust bleed should clean off fairly easily.??

From your description it could be that the fuelling is slightly rich, this is difficult as already suggested it might be a characteristic of this model. Ensure no carb breather pipes are kinked, trapped or incorrectly routed...see manual for guidance. What fuel/oil mix ratio are you operating with? If you make any adjustment to the carb make small incremental adjustments as an example turn any screw no more than a quarter turn, listen carefully to the way the running engine reacts...you are trying to achieve the smoothest slowest engine idling. Depending on the state of the engine...no air leaks, clogged exhausts, incorrect fuel/oil ratios, crank seals effective etc, air filter clean and unrestricted...you might just get down to eighth of a turn settings. I haven’t mentioned carb float height as you say it is a new bike so bear this in mind, it may need checking. Usually popping in the exhaust occurs on overrun, banging indicates fuel igniting in the exhaust which indicates either an air leak or too rich mixture. Happy twiddling. One screw will be the slide adjuster for idle speed setting, one will be fuel mixture which might be three and a half turns out from full in...screw in very gently until stopped then back out, but this needs to be done engine off. Its a base setting to work from. There will be another screw which is the idle mixture screw which works up to about quarter throttle then there is a transition from idle mixture to main jet and needle, once you are past quarter throttle its the main jet and needle all the way to TWO. As you are in the States altitude will play a greater part on carb fuelling the higher in altitude you go, this needs to be considered as a part of the equation.

Run the engine and carefully lay the bike over onto its side and rev the engine a couple of times. Bring the bike back upright and lay it over on the opposite side and repeat. Bring back to upright and mow rev the engine and see if it still smokes, this action usually clears the crankcase of any excess oil from the build up or standing for a while. Has the exhaust been cleaned out at all?

The black ones....made of a rubbery substance. Think you’ll find its a toss up between Michelin or IRC each to their own.

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So not so well prepared by previous owner. Change that plug while you are at it as it will now be a constant issue fouling. When you time the ignition make sure the piston is coming up towards TDC and not travelling down the bore, a simple easy mistake to make if you don’t work on engines much.

Feked may have what you need. You could also consider getting two mudguards and cutting to fit the middle of one to the two ends of the other with plastic welding which shouldn’t be too difficult. Cutting thin strips from the waste mudguard pieces and the careful use of either a fairly large soldering iron or hot air gun...works for me... do this in a well ventilated area and avoid breathing in any fumes from the process. Done well you could probably hide the weld seams at the rear frame loop and near to the airbox with planning. ?

Have you changed...do you wear gloves? These can bring grief if they are too tight across the back of the hand etc. Before your next ride give your hands and wrists a bit of pre-ride exercise to improve blood circulation. Now you are controlling the throttle ‘fly by wire’ there will be little resistance to any twisting action and it could be this added to cautious throttle opening. As previously suggested, going back to the handlebars you had on the 4rt may be a benefit to you. A chat to your GP may be a wise move as there might be an underlying issue.

To be effective as a trials bike the steering head angle or at least the fork yokes will need to be modded/replaced to give steeper and quicker steering. Repositioning the rear shocks will have a similar effect but with the XR there is not a lot to play with. You will find that there are lots of Hondas out there masquerading as this model or that when in fact they are nothing of the kind, this is especially so with the TLR and RTL types in both 200 and 250 guise. You say ‘rolling chassis, do you have an engine? Because a genuine Honda Trials bike is worth so much more than a cobbled together version most buyers are very wary of being caught and know they their stuff. Your best bet might be to go for a trials camshaft for whatever engine 200? and look at jacking the rear up a bit to quicken the steering, dropping the front forks through the yokes a few mm might help too! Keep all the XR stuff safe and you will have two bikes for one. Dont get any welding done to keep the frame original ie repositioning the steering head and footrests unless it can all be reversed back. Then you have the electrics to sort out as the XR has a wiring harness much bigger than for a trials variation.

Hi IDC, I had just such a Sprite in the same year 1967 bought new at the factory in the then accepted kit form to save on purchase tax, cost my Dad £167 and some change. That nickel plated frame was a pain to keep clean from tarnishing, someone else who had one said he literally wiped EP 90 gear oil all over the frame to prevent oxidisation, bike looked as you would expect...a bit of a mess. Has you bike got the 37A engine with a large circlip holding a cover in place to access the contact breakers? The Sif-bronze welding was impressive but some say the frame could snap and also that the steering head bearings outer tracks were held in place against a fibre glass tube...this was reported in MCN when they covered all forms of bike sport. Can you post some pictures, there is a similar Sprite at Spinning Wheel Classic Cars and Bikes...web site, they are based in Dronfield Derbys. Roger Ennis can make you a new ethanol proof tank if you need one for very reasonable money. Hope you have a fine time restoring both bikes. Just recently sold my last ‘project’ so on the look out for another.??

Use a tie down strap or similar to compress the spring (in the stanchion) then try to release the bottom bolt. if that wont do it, its possible using a torch to peer down to the bottom and with a suitable length of extension bars fitted with a socket to suit what you see in the bottom, normally a bolt head. Hope you get it done.

Go back over what you have done, if you are not mechanically minded then get some one who is to check that everything is in the correct place. New or worn pads should not on a hydraulic system make any difference to lever travel, only air or a leak will cause spongy feeling at the lever. Therefore it could be that the master cylinder operating bar/pin has been pulled back and is not in the piston but sitting on the outer edge of the piston...difficult to achieve but too much force could do it...As its an essential to have working properly please double check what you have done before riding. There are dog leg levers that allow smaller length fingers to fit the lever blade comfortably. Has your lever got an external adjuster as this could be part of the issue. Let us know what you find.

Gloves too ?nasty splinters from those pallets

Transport film remover is quite a strong cleaning liquid, a friend of mine uses it on his buses and coaches...its good at getting the crap off seats and paintwork after the school runs, and what the general public do on buses (you wouldn’t believe it how about taking a dump between the seat rows all caught on CCTV)...pre Covid! Leave it on undiluted for too long and it attacks paint so include stickers/decals etc. Some time back at a Yamaha Dealers I watched as a rider who had been loaned a test bike liberally covered his ride with TFR went off for a fag and coffee. When he returned and pressure washed the bike the engine cases were stained and blotchy, the wheel rims didn’t fair any better, it would have been better if he had left the bike dirty! Plain water and a softish brush with gentle use of a pressure washer...if you must but a garden hose with a variable nozzle is best at keeping those parts on the bike that can flit off with a sudden 120+ psi blast. I also know that TFR in the screen wash of a car will stain the paint on and around the wash jets and where ever the liquid runs...If you have access to some for free I would leave it alone...car wash n wax is good at softening baked on mud etc.

C&U regs upto 1973/4

Watched tv programme about Captain Tom last night Thursday and if I can make it to his age and be as mentally able etc I will be well pleased. What a man and really into motorcycles big time. Plenty of film showing old trials back in the 30’s with Scotts and flat tankers being ridden forcefully through mud, rivers and up hills. To think that this gentleman managed to raise millions for the NHS by shear determination in pushing himself to walk a great distance all be it in his garden (daughters garden) whilst in great pain from a damaged hip! When women were mentioned you could detect that glint in his eyes...a bit of a lad me thinks. Brilliant.

At 40 years old I think you can use a squeaky bulb type horn. Save a bit of weight on your battery set up.