5 replies to this topic

[frenchie]

During the spring and summer months here in sunny South West France, I need to commute around fifteen miles on a regular daily basis. Now have been looking adding another Majesty to the stable, the scooter not the trials iron or perhaps to wake the neighbours up in the morning, a Classic Enduro ie. PE or IT .
Having trawled the internet, it would seem they are not too readily avaliable. So my question... do they ever come up for sale ( In the uk ) if so what you d you expect to pay for one, I would prefer a 250 or above, in ready to ride condition.
Classic enduros seem to be heading the same way as twinshock trials here in France so might even have a pop at one or two of these also.
I know from reading the posts on Trials central several contributors, do have classic enduros so any advice would be greatly welcome.

Thanks very much

[scotty]

Hello, Theres no way i'd use an aircooled 70's/80's 2-stroke enduro on the road for a 15 mile each way trip as it would be a pain in the a***! stick to a proper scoot or trail bike trust me!!!!
prices min £700 for any decent 175 upwards? like you said if you can find one! as these bikes are now getting rare to find! personally i'd go for a 175 PE or IT Yam these were the premium class in there day, the 250's shared there chassis weve the 400/465 etc! so extra weight and size to contend with! stay away from the 400cc upwards bikes unless your already expert rated these bikes produced 40+ bhp back in there day in a chassis that couldn't handle it (ie suspension was crap) weve the jap bike ie IT's/ PE's the plastics are now incredibley hard to get hold of so try and get a bike weve full set of standard body work!
personally i'd try and get a pre 82 bike ie twinshock or cantelver(yam) because if you buy a it175/250j this will have rising rate rear suspension and may not be allowed to race in certain clubs as its leaning towards more modern type of bike design ie fitting of the first front disc brakes, IT200/ KDX200 as examples
good luck weve youre search, Ebay will be the only way to get these bikes now! Just keep looking!
hope this helps Nick.

[frenchie]

Thanks for the reply, I wasn t really clear its a round trip of around 12 miles so a little less , but I understand what your saying. I will wait and see if anything shows up and takes my fancy, but again with twin shock trials bikes the prices are firming up and anything good and or restored is well sort after.

Thanks again
Frenchie

[scotty]

I didn't mean to put you off riding on the road with an old enduro! id say 3-5 miles and youll soon be cheesed off with it! the main reasons are, Wild porting! (no power valve to smooth things out!) drum brakes! lights! (what lights!) noisey!!! intake/exhaust!!!! oh yeah always having to watch the front wheel from leaving the ground! (and this is on a 175cc bike!) but great fun plus who else has got one of these in there garage/ town/ city
best advise i could give you is pour over loads of pic's of the m/c say on the internet/ old bike mags of completely standard/ re new bikes sold at the time so to get an idea of what they looked like back in the day! (this is important) check carefully if buying on ebay and try to get close up pics of the bike/engine make sure the rear frame loop is present as these sometimes get sawn off!
check that its got the correct swingarm, wheels/ forks/ tank etc, etc, etc!!! std exhaust tailpipes are almost impossible to get hold off! just as with old trials bikes everything that can be swapped or up graded will be!
again good luck weve your search and let me know when you get something? Nick.

[sherpatensing]

Hello Frenchie,
I commute 14 miles each way on a Honda XR400R. It is the basic version with no indicators, no battery etc. I use Bridgestone trail wing tyres and have upped the gearing slightly to make it a bit more road friendly. Using hand signals is a bit dangerous these days, as motorists are not used to arms waving. I try to avoid riding in the dark for the same reason.

I know the XR is more user friendly than a PE or IT (I did use a 1981 KDX175 and a viscious Moto Gori 250 on the road) but riding your distance would be no problem. I even used to commute about 8 miles each way a few years ago on a Bultaco Sherpa 350.

[frenchie]

With classic enduros seemingly on the rise, is it possible to compete in these events on the Yamaha IT range, or, is it purely a twinshock affair.
Any views would be most helpful

Frenchie