qcowboy

I built a whole bunch of trials-type obstacles in my "backyard" last winter, including a complete indoor endurocross course, and then invited all my friends for a weekend riding it. Here's a link to pics and videos of some of the ensuing carnage. http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=542781 For those who want a sense for what we built, here's a diagram of the endorucross course as I imagined it before we started building: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93/waterlaw99/Enduro-cross.jpg Now I'm making plans for something similar, only outdoors, and permanent.

I took the clutch cover off last night and verified that I have only four springs. I have no idea how to determine if they are the "right" springs, since they have no markings. I understand that the springs are available in soft, medium and hard, but I've never actually seen them for sale. It does appear that the actuator is rubbing on the housing it sits in. Maybe that's part of my problem. There doesn't seem to be any method of centering the actuator inside its housing. Am I missing something, or is it supposed to rub the sides? I polished the inside of the housing last night, and the outside of the actuator where they rub. Haven't reassembled yet to determine whether it made a difference. (Actually, I got motivated to strip the bike down and clean it thoroughly, so the bike is in a hundred parts on my garage floor right now. The smell of solvent pervades . . . I'm curious what kind of gear lubricant you all are using. The previous owner told me he used ATF, and I've continued to do so. Should I try switching to some sort of oil in hopes that it will better lubricate the three ball bearings and the actuator housing?

I've already extended the actuator arm by about 1/2 an inch. I made some progress last night by re-adjusting the actuator at the bottom end. I'll take any progress I can get, but it is still nowhere near a one-finger clutch. I'm hoping a clutch lever with needle bearings to pivot on will make a difference.

I do pretty much the same: 2nd gear unless it gets really tight or really steep. That's always worked well . . . at least until the vacuum leak grew worse. I need to work on my clutch skills too, no doubt. Actually, I need to work on my clutch itself first. It's really stiff. I rode in a class of two vintage bikes on the weekend. (I got second place, despite all those fives! ) When the class was over, my competitor was one of the people who suggested a gearing change. He also invited me to try his Honda 125. It was a lovely little bike, completely sorted, with the lightest clutch I've ever felt. I've ordered the same clutch lever and perch he was using, and I'm going to try stepping down to three springs rather than four, and see how the clutch feels. No doubt it will help.

My current gearing is 13/39. To be honest, I never thought the gearing was too high when I was learning. Actually, I always thought it was perfect . . . and I'm still convinced that it is. I was tinkering with the bike this evening, and discovered my problem: I had an intermittent vacuum leak downstream of the the carb. The boot that connects the carb to the intake tube was cracked. I suspect the weight of the carb was flexing that tube and causing a vacuum leak every time I rode over a drop. That makes sense, since the engine usually died at the bottom of some sort of drop. I knew that boot was in poor shape when I bought the bike. I ordered a new one long ago, and it wound up back-ordered. It finally arrived long after I'd buttoned the engine up and started riding again. It's been sitting in my tool box waiting for the next time I opened up the clutch cover. Guess what's happening in my garage on the weekend? I'll give the current gearing another try after I fix the vacuum leak. If I still like it, I'll probably order another set of the same gears. Martin, do you carry 39 tooth rear sprockets, or just 38s? (not like I'd be likely to notice the difference!)

I competed in my first trial last weekend on the TL320. I managed to make a grand mess of the event, and found that I killed the engine in nearly every section. Never had that problem in all my practice on level ground, but there was little level ground at the trial! A couple of the old timers suggested that I lower the gearing on the bike. Several people independently commented that the bike seemed to be geared rather high. Since my existing rear sprocket is looking well-worn, I suppose this is a good time to consider a gearing change. So what gear combinations work for those of you competing on TL320s?

Thanks for the reply, Arie! As you suspected, it is too late for me, but someone else may find the information useful later. As long as we're adding to the archive, I purchased double lip seals that were labeled for a 1970s Harley Sportster, and they fit beautifully. Leak is gone!

It would be useful if we could get a copy of those pages scanned, and provide a link to them in a thread here, so that they will show up in a Google search for future SWM owners. I'm willing to provide the server space and host them, if someone has a copy they can scan and email to me. (I could scan them here, if it is easier for you to photocopy and snail mail them.)

Thanks for the fork oil volume spec, Martin. Was there ever a workshop manual published for SWM bikes?

Ha! Finding a spec for almost anything on this bike is a major trick. (Did they even publish a shop manual for SWMs?) Even without a spec, Stork sussed out the problem, though. I found the 5.5 to 6.5 inch air space spec out on the internet somewhere, in a discussion about Betor forks on some other old trials bike. Seems last time I changed the oil in the forks, I got the message that the measurement was taken with the forks fully compressed. Somehow, a month later, I forgot that part about compressing the forks. That was my problem: way to much oil. I had filled the forks within 6.5 inches of the tube tops with the forks fully extended. Tonight, I removed most of the oil, compressed the forks fully, and then removed some more, until I had a 5.5 inch cushion of air above the oil. Forks extended again, springs back in, caps on, and I love my nice soft front suspension again. Thanks (once more) for pulling my fat out of the fire. The collective wisdom here found the answer once again! Seems I'll be riding in my first trial in Colorado this weekend. The bike is ready, thanks in no small part to all of you!

I took the bike out for a good thirty minutes ride, and it does not appear that the single fork seal is moving, or leaking. So far so good. I've noticed a new problem, though. The front forks seem awfully stiff compared to the way they worked before I replaced the seals. Initially I thought the stiffness was due to a change in fork oil. (I had ATF in the forks before, and switched to 7.5 weight fork oil when I changed the seals.) Now I've drained the fork oil, and switched back to ATF. Sadly, the forks still feel awfully stiff, as if I'm no longer getting full suspension travel. It feels especially harsh when I wheelie and the front end comes back down, or when I hit a hole with the front wheel. When I push my weight straight down onto the pegs, it feels as if the rear suspension travels a great deal farther and more freely than the front. Before the oil/seal change, the suspension was much more balanced, front and back. I've got my fork oil level at about 6.5 inches from the top of the tube, with the springs removed. Any ideas on why it should get stiff after an oil/seal change?

Thanks Martin and Stork! There is no spacer in the forks. I've decided to follow Martin's advice, and try riding with a single seal in place. Just finished fitting it all back up, and took a very short ride in the dark. I will report back tomorrow after a proper ride and let you know whether the seals stay in place. My fork tubes are in very good shape. No nicks of any kind. I'm fortunate to live in a desert, where rust is rare. Rubber dries out quickly, though. The old, leaky seals were not torn, just dulled on the rubbing surfaces. The top lip was very dry and hard. I have no idea how long those seals were in place, since I only acquired the bike recently. I can promise you they saw hard use for a few days last month at Moab, though!

Howdy again Gang! When I took my TL320 down to Moab last month, with a fresh change of the fork oil to ATF, I found that the seals leaked a great deal. I decided to change them, so I ordered a set of seals for 35mm Betor forks. They came as a set of four separate seals, apparently meant to be stacked on top of each other for a double-lip seal. Last night, I dismantled the forks and removed the old seals. The old seals were not stacked, they were a single seal on each side, each with a double lip inside. One fork leg was embossed with the words: "Honda F seal, 9125-273-000". So it would seem that someone had the fork legs machined to accept a Honda seal, though I suspect this may have been done at the factory, as the embossed wording is very crisp. The new seals I bought are far too small, and when stacked, they are too tall as well. So I will need to buy the Honda seal. My problem is this: the part number supplied does not appear to correspond with any Honda part number. I measured the seal, hoping to just order a generic seal in the correct dimensions. I found it to have an ID of 35, OD of 47, and height of 10 or 11mm. Sadly, I can't seem to find anyone selling a seal with those dimensions. Can anyone shed some light on the correct seal? Is this a common feature on 1982ish TL320s, or is it something that was done by a previous owner?

I used a Sony Cybershot DSC P8. It is a fairly simple camera, and I have found that it takes very good photos, both outside and in the studio. I like it so much, that when the sand finally killed mine, I went out and bought a used one on ebay, since I didn't want to have to learn the controls on a new model. It is not as small as I'd like, for carrying it on a bike, but I always manage to take it along despite its size.

After all the help you lot have provided, I thought you all deserve to see some photos of an SWM on its maiden voyage on the Slickrock trail near Moab, in the desert of southeastern Utah. I spent a long weekend there, riding the TL320 on Slickrock and Hell's Revenge trails. Slickrock is a single-track trail (bicycles and motocycles only) about 12 miles long, about ninety percent solid sandstone, and ten percent loose sand. It is a very fun place to play, and to practice riding obstacles. There is no real visible trail, so volunteers mark the rock surface with white lines every ten to thirty feet so you can stay on the trail. The white lines make for an interesting "section marker" for those who want to practice controlled tire placement. Hell's Revenge is very similar, except it is open to jeeps and all terrain vehicles, so it is much wider, and the trail is more visible, as the jeep tires leave visible black marks on the rocks. Anyway, here are the photos. Hope you enjoy them!