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Tlr 200 Project


gravityisnotmyfriend
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I've been looking for a project for the last several months. My wife and I have been trying to find a hobby that interests our son. He's not really interested in the sports he's tried out - but give him something mechanical, and you've got his undivided attention. We were bombing around the yard in our go cart, and I decided we should lube the chain before putting it away. He asked why I was doing it and if he could help. So, I showed him what to do and how to do it. Then, he asked what the shiny thing was on top of the engine - I told him that it was a valve cover. He asked to see what was under it - so I pulled the cover and he was fascinated to watch the valves move up and down while I pulled the engine over and explained to him what was happening.

I went to put the cover back on, and he asked if he could do it. So, I handed him the socket and let him work:

IMG_20141001_165815426.jpg

That was the point I realized that Ethan and I needed a project with an engine.

So, I found this '86 Reflex. According to the previous owner, the engine had low compression. He had replaced the piston, rings, and valves, but the cam seemed to be binding. He had moved on to other projects and just wanted it out of his garage. I picked it up dirt cheap. I figure the worst case scenario is that Ethan and I completely tear down the engine and find it too expensive to fix. He learns everything about how an engine works, and I part it out and make money on it. Very little risk, so I brought it home:

IMG_20141027_171049582.jpg

The bike seems to be almost all there. After inventorying everything on the bike and in the box that came with it, it looks like I'm missing a shifting lever and the cap that threads into the middle of the LH case. Looks like a worthy project, so I wheel her down into my basement shop, and me and the boy pull the engine.

After tearing into the top end, the cause of the failure is obvious.

camjournal.jpg

There is a pinned bearing on one end of the camshaft. The pin wasnt lined up with the hole when the valve cover was tightened down. The hole became elongated, and it looks like some of the material from the edge of the hole got squished to the bottom. This caused there to not be enough clearance for the pin. So when the valve cover was tightened down, the bearing became distorted. It is now fused to the cam.

Looks like I'll need a new head and cam shaft at a minimum.

Good thing I've got both!

Instead of messing with the valves in the original engine, the PO used the head off an ATC200 that had good valves. So, I've got the original head and the ATC camshaft. I just bought new valves and lapped them in last night.

It's trick or treating tonight, but hopefully we can start reassemebling the engine this weekend.

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Didn't get as much done on the bike over the weekend as I would have liked. I wheeled her down into my basement shop for warmer working conditions:

IMG_20141101_202738649.jpg

Got the head back on

IMG_20141101_221736086.jpg

Then, the valve cover - and got her hung back in the bike:

IMG_20141102_132629654.jpg

I need to find an Oring for the intake manifold. The PO used a broken oring and sealant in there instead of putting in a new one. Always interesting to see these sort of "fixes".

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I got the bike put back together last night, but was concerned about the amount of play in the rear wheel. I checked the rear axle, and the nut was loose. Tightened the nut - and all the play went away! Great! Except, now the rear wheel didn't move.

So I pulled the wheel to see if I could see what the issue was.

IMG_20141104_063214108.jpg

Seems the PO didn't think this bike needed both wheel bearings. Glad I noticed this before trying to drive this. This thing has just been one surprise after another. :wall:

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I need to find an Oring for the intake manifold. The PO used a broken oring and sealant in there instead of putting in a new one. Always interesting to see these sort of "fixes".

Carb to manifold or manifold to carb? If its the carb side use a 2.5mm o-ring (and ID as per inner diameter of the o-ring groove)- see this post:

http://www.trialscentral.com/forums/topic/44385-tlr200-sticking-carburettor-slide/?hl=%2Btlr200+%2Bcarb+%2Bring

DO NOT USE AN O-RING THAT FILLS THE GROOVE; IT NEEDS TO BE ABLE TO COMPRESS.

The size isn't listed in the parts book as its part of a repair/service kit

If its manifold to head then the size is listed in the parts book (see cmsnl.com).

Edited by esteve
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Thanks for the heads up. It's the ring between the manifold and head. Pretty sure it was spec'd as a 3mm wide ring. Though, I am having some carb issues. So - here's the update:

Got the bike entirely put back together. Valves timed, all the wires hooked up. Valve gaps set to spec. But, kicking it over, I could hear compression leaking through the head gasket. I wasn't sure how many dowels and orings should have gone between the head and valve cover. My parts manual says two dowels and no orings. My shop manual (which covers the TLR 125 and TLR 200) says 3 dowels and one oring. So, I followed the shop manual and the head wouldn't seal.

So, dropped the engine, pulled her apart and put it back together with 2 dowels. Put it back in the bike, and there was no compression leaks at the head gasket. Put the motor back in the bike, spec'd the valves and went to set the ignition timing. That's when I noticed that the front cam chain tensioner was not in its slot. The only way to put it in correctly was to pull the head - which meant the engine had to come out. AGAIN!

So, dropped the engine again, Tore it apart again, put it together again.

By this point, I was getting damn good at putting the engine in the bike and damn frustrated for my efforts!

Regardless, she's out of the basement and she runs!

That ride ended when I realized that a cam chain tensioner bolt had come out and the bike was blowing oil on my leg. I couldn't find the bolt I lost, but I thankfully had a spare. Put her back together and took her out a few more times:

She's not running perfectly. There's some valve train noise. I didn't check the valve tolerances after putting it back together for the third time. I suspect that the valve are a little loose. And, she runs best under full choke - even when it's warm. I've got the carb back off and all the jets soaking in solvent. Hopefullly she'll run better when I get her back together.

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  • 3 weeks later...
 
 

Don't give up on this site. There is plenty of good advise here, just be patient. Our friends on the other side of the pond do WAY more Vintage Trials than we do, and they are quite good at it. After all, where do you think I get some of my hare-brained schemes from? <_<

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I've got an '87 Reflex that I'm gonna start stripping lights off of tomorrow. Still has the stock Keihen carb on it and it stutters a little when you crack the throttle open quickly but from what I read that seems normal unless I do a carb swap. I enjoyed looking at your build photos Gravity.

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Since the last time I posted, I pulled the original petcock off since it had a rotten rubber gasket and wouldn't shut off the gas. I bought a cheap repro petcock off ebay, and found out it worked as well as I should have expected for a $17 petcock - which is not at all. The selector lever broke off in my hand and gas leaked out around the main seam of the body. So, sent that back, got a refund, and turned my own petcock outlet on a lathe.

IMG_20141202_154952366.jpg

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Installed that with a inline shutoff and filter and she should have been ready to go. But, I had a week of cold weather so I did nothing.

We had a beautiful day this past weekend and I had a few spare minutes, so I decided to see if I could get the TLR running. My boys were napping and my wife was working upstairs and was not to be disturbed. So, I got my daughter occupied and snuck out to see if my gas valve and petcock would work.

I hooked up all the tubes, put some gas in her and kicked several times to no avail. I squirted a little starting fluid in the air box and she popped right off... and died. I repeated that a few times and realized that there must be something amiss. Messed with the air screw a little, but it was obvious that it was only running on the starting fluid - not it's own gas.

I pulled the hose off the carb and gas ran out freely.

Put the hose back on the carb and pulled the float bowl drain screw - no gas in the float bowl. Well! There's your problem!

So, I set the float drain screw on the engine and was working on getting the float bowl off when my wife yelled from the house. Busted! The boys were awake from their naps and my wife wasn't done working. So, I pushed the bike back in the shed, picked up the tools, and headed in to watch the kids.

Well, it was a beautiful day and I couldn't waste it inside. I told Ethan what was going on and he was all about diagnosing the problem. So, we get everyone ready. My daughter and other son go play on the jungle gym - Ethan and I attack the bike. We get the float bowl off and figure out that the float level was much too low.

A adjusted the tab last time I had the carb off. And did it poorly. So, we adjust it correctly, and put the bowl back on. Turn on the gas and it flows out of the drain in the bowl! Brilliant! She's ready - except, where's that drain screw?

Feck! I left it on the bike when I pushed it in the shed. Well, I was pretty sure that's where I left it. So, we searched the bike, searched the shed floor, searched the grass along where I pushed the bike. I finally gave up and played with the kids for awhile.

I decided to close up the shed and try and find a replacement screw somewhere - but, first have one more look. There was a spot in the grass where I could see the rear wheel sat when I was kicking over the bike. Figured out exactly where the screw would have fallen if it came off the instant I tipped the bike up to push it inside. Sure enough! There it was. Looks like it fell off, and the back tire ran over it - pushing it deep into the bottom of the grass.

The rest is shown on the video. But, Ethan did get to go for the first ride. He sure was proud to have fixed his first bike. And, he even thanked me for helping him a little.

http://youtu.be/6vmJfyHjwng

Edited by gravityisnotmyfriend
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