trialsrfun

Nigel I renewed the primary chain & tensioner during the recent overhaul, springs are all exactly the same length & the clutch basket is in really good condition as is most everything else. When the clutch was put back together again particular care was taken (following the advice given here)to get the same amount sticking out on the threads when the springs were tightened up & to get an even release on the pressure plate. Is it typical of this type of clutch to be sharper on take up than one with mixed type plates. Going off it a bit the engine pulls amazingly well from nothing at all & the gear ratios & overall gearing seem just about right for most anything I have yet ridden. My mate rides an SWM Rotax 280cc I think, the Bult is sharper with more pull but the Rotax is very very smooth & forgiving & gets the job done very well, both bikes handle very similarly with a sort of indistinct sense of direction presumably due to not having much fork trail (leading axle, fork legs & steering stem not parallel) as yet we cannot say which bike might grip the best, weight feels much the same.

Woody do you know if the ignition from a TY mono fits the TY175 engine, if so what is involved.

The distortion on the three plates is about 3 to 5 thou measured with a feeler gauge blade from the plate glass. Am unfamiliar with this type of clutch with all steel plates and as these have slots etc cut into them I suppose there will be a degree of flex when under spring pressure but if this distortion is sufficient to cause trouble then I had better get replacements. Thank you all for the help.

I have now stripped, thoroughly cleaned & checked all the clutch parts as well as the operating lever in the mag case, nothing appears to be worn or damaged. Pushrod is straight, ball bearing ok as is the mushroom & thrust race, handlebar lever & cable are fine. All the plates were laid flat on plate glass & all but 3 seemed perfectly flat, the other 3 maybe a thin feeler gauge blade could be slid between the clutch plate & the glass, does this mean that they should be replaced or would such a small amount of uneveness not matter. I do have the longer (front brake arm fitted) to make the clutch lighter to operate I think this is fitted as suggested. Everything is back together for now following the above advise with good tqf in, clutch action is a little better though take up is still a little bit harsh & neutral is sometimes possible to find, much easier than before to ride (though any worse & it would have been unrideable) should the 3 plates be replaced or left alone or do all the lot need renewing.

Bike is fitted with Domino dog leg levers (like fantic etc have) I too thought that maybe they did not pull sufficient cable so I tried about three types of lever including the Amal type that were fitted as standard. No one lever seemed to make any difference though.

I have now ridden a trial on my recently restored Bultaco 350 model 199a the blue one but find the clutch take-up too sharp. It has the all metal clutch the plates appear to be flat & in good condition not blued or burred on the tangs, everything seems ok, the clutch does not slip but take up is sharp making bike control difficult also it does not clear very well making it very difficult to select neutral with the engine running. Has anyone any ideas has I have tried everything that I can think of without success & this problem is spoiling what is otherwise a very nice bike to ride.

If indoor style sections are to be a feature of the World Outdoor Trials Championship might this reflect onto trials at a lesser level, if so I see this as a threat to trials as surely riding through a variety of natural hazards is what it is all about. If this were to happen then I think trials entries would plummet just as happened when to ride a section hopping, reversing, static balancing etc was required. At that time trials seemed to be on the way out, that also carried over from the top level. Since we reverted back to the old style marking system trials have really taken off. I think these manmade sections owe more to the TV camera & packing in the paying public than to what trials is really all about.

While messing about on the computer & doing a search on yahoo for different trials models I found a new for 2006 Honda RTL. Quick find a picture but no not what I thought at all, it is a big (suv) pick up truck so I do not think that we shall see a new Honda trials bike with that name again.

Just when everything seems ready to go on our TY175 we have noticed some end float on the gear lever shaft (in excess of 1mm) & a less than perfect gearshift action. Has any one else had this happen & know of a cure.

Thanks folks job done, we made a holding tool from a piece of tube with two metal strips one welded each side, clips came out fairly easily forks seem oiltight now.

Beta Rev 3 03 sprocket sizes are as neon says exactly the same as the 04/05 models.

Hard to understand why the Japanese factories destroyed their works machines, worn or damaged parts & prototype items that did not work as intended yes but whole bikes especially those that had won championships it seems such a waste. The publicity gained by keeping them on show or used occasionally would be considerable but for some of them to be out there the factories must not have bothered too much or kept very poor records of those that they produced. I wonder how many of each type they made anyway.

Thank you everyone the websites have now joined my favourites, I had no idea that Honda had produced so many trials models but I now see the different models. Found the 2 strokes especially interesting as I previously knew very little about those. The red 360 at the show was identical to that pictured on the Belgian webpage, what a bike that tapered downtube clearly visible & the engine just fills in all the spaces. If only !

Thank you all we hope to have a go this Saturday. We have the seals ready.

Have read through the Honda section here, I think the confusion is the 2 stroke models, I presume that they were introduced after the 4 strokes & before the Montesa 311 ? never seen one in a trial though Were any of the 360s sold as I said the one at the show was really something

Always warm the alloy hub with something like an electric heat gun not excessively hot but enough to expand the bearing housing and to release the bearing, if you remove and refit the bearings when the metal is cold a little bit of alloy from the bearing housing sticks to the bearing & is lost & pretty soon the bearing is a loose fit in the hub If this is the case you can get bearing fit (a liquid in a bottle) but warm things up & you should never need it same as above for mains, gearbox bearings etc

The Majesty 175/200 frames are very different to those of the 250/320 the swing arm pivot is behind the seat tubes on the smaller bikes & in front on the larger ones, also because the 250 engine is so much bulkier than the 175 the overall frame dimensions are greater the front forks are of a greater stanchion diameter, think the wheel hubs are the same though I know of one small Majesty (it was built for & ridden by John Shirt Jnr) that has TY250 mono forks & wheels I suppose these could be added to any Majesty but not so sure about those weird z spokes though on the mono wheels

Could someone please tell me about the range of trials Hondas & what was made when at last years Coventry Off-Road show there was a fantastic looking red 360 were they ever made for sale I seem to remember Lejuene & Saunders riding these possibly with monoshock suspension John Shirt Jnr rode I think an RTL but what were the RS models there was one for sale on the website recently & the mention of various Japanese trials shop versions then there are the 2 stroke models, where do they fit into the range & when were they made

Have a look in the Yamaha section at the Majesty picture etc

ps forgot to add the filler cap on our tank is on the right hand side the threaded ring for the top is secured to the tank with with epoxy resin (araldite) we found this when fuel started to seep out from around the top the adhesive seemed to have lost its strength I guess from contact with the fuel we removed the ring cleaned off the old resin and refixed it successfully

My sons bike is identical to the one belonging to Johnnyboxer with the Majesty engine covers etc, the Godden Majestys also had the gold Akront wheelrims as on the picture, everywhere we ride the Majesty gets admirers with the chrome frame & especially the gold wheels ours has a steel rear silencer which I am told was fitted as std to the TY125 & is a better option than the 175 silencer The only alteration we have carried out was to lower the footrests on these bikes the folding footrest brackets are welded to a plate which bolts to the swing arm pivot bolt & to a captive nut on the frame we used the big wide Miller rests & the flat plate is shaped from a strip of 2" x 1/4" steel with a metric fine nut welded behind on one side for the swing arm bolt to attach to as std the rests were so high that he almost had to sit down to have a dab if I can I will try to post a pic of these

Our bike appears to be the same as yours Paul but has the chrome frame, slab sided alloy tank & red & blue seat, very good to ride & turns really well. Have you seen the ones on the yamaha-majesty.com website I have seen the bike with the ex-works engine it is really something, the engine cases are magnesium and I am told that there are many titanium parts inside as well as electronic ignition which was fitted to the factory bikes pity there are not more works bikes & bits around from that era as they are really interesting there then seemed to be much more ongoing developement & variety than we seem to get at present, but then again I suppose that they have already done it all. It would be really interesting if Honda ran a seperate team to Montesa with different works special bikes fingers crossed it could happen

Will try ther air wrench trick first problem is we do not know what it needs down there having never had the forks apart the legs on a 250 are a bigger diameter so would the hexagon ? be the same size on 175 what size did you make the one for the 250 I could see if it would fit thanks everyone

Need to replace the fork seals on my sons TY175 Majesty problem is holding the internals while unscrewing the allen bolt at the bottom of the slider Is it possible to make a special tool for this or is there another way

Kermit the Frog for works rider ! Really unusual bike, you have a great collection with the Garelli & Hodokas the last Italjet I saw was for sale a couple of years ago at one of the off-road shows do not know the price though Let us know how it rides Good luck