traf

I've been offered an air-cooled 125, the seller says it's a 1992 model , 240 I understand. Are there any particular problems with these? Thanks

I'll look around in France for twinshock 125 Honda that's registered to start with , need to be insured and registering a special might be a pain. The 100n wasn't imported here either, it was a 125 market. I don't mind a bit of work if necessary. Thanks

Just looking at various site's, items on eBay.com listed as 13mm, predatormotorsports say 15mm and another 14mm. Unfortunately my motor is in UK and I'm in France, so no way to verify. Would a rod kit be out of the question?

I came across a clean CB100N motor and bought it. I was wondering if this motor can be enlarged; sharing the same stroke as a 125. Otherwise are there any useful mods I can do with this motor? It came without it's carb or induction spacer, traf.

Well, I started something there. Yes I live in France and my group is quite liberated. After 35 yrs of Mazak bodied carb's I thought let's try this. Looks okay I think. Thanks all.

In my case I'm attached to a "Seventies" era club so it's not an issue. I had a quote for Mk1 Concentric+ manifold, £200+ . VM22 from my parts box is okay. Thanks

I wonder if anyone has ever fitted a Mikuni VM22 to a Villiers 7E spec motor. I was prompted when my 3rd and last Villiers S24 Concentric showed hairline cracks. I had a VM22 handy and a hose to couple it up. I've long held that the 24mm size was fit for road work, but maybe overchoked for a trialer. The carb came from a GP100 so I'm awaiting suitable jets and filter. Anyway I'd like to hear any experienced views, thanks.

I've just bought a 1990 240 climber. The previous owner had a "throttle stuck open" moment before a tumble. He can't recall hooking the cable,is this a fault with a secondhand model? I'd also like to obtain a manual and spares in UK,is there a good dealer for these older bikes? Thanks

Very kind, perhaps when I return,presently in blighty. True Francois and his buddies are a good lot,thanks

Hi, normally I'm in department 16, Charente. A group called Seventies trial16 exists,a friendly bunch. There's also a testing ground at Angouleme run by MCA, motorcyclists club angoulaises. You may be right about exports,but French have quite a few machines and Spain is just down the road. One thing I did note was price of things like Fantic piston prices,are such as Montesa's the same? Anyway its going to be more than a Villiers dykes piston at £12. Thanks

All sounds very positive, thanks very much.

It sounds like it's a bike I should get. Back in the day Wakelin Ward sold them,but I was racing a Greeves Silverstone. Are spares still available? Thanks

Returning to this site after long time,but same bike lingers in same barn, Norman B4/Villiers 8e moded somewhat. What I need is a running proper trials bike. My nostalgic favourites appear to be Montesa Cota 247, or as I never got to buy one in the day,a Fantic 200,though I have not ridden one of these. My local French club keep asking when will i roll . I've seen latter for not a lot of money, any opinions? Thanks.

Just found my gearings of 8E in Norman, 18tx51t primary and 13tx68t final drive. I'm not sure how to load photo from my USB,but will try,tahnks,traf

Well that is a refreshing change as the advert says,food for thought and tinkering in workshop. So a dormant thing under the blanket gets a bit of use. First job is top off and measure to see how far off I am. Mentioned was "top-hat " combustion chamber, well I had one of those on my Greeves Silverstone RES back in the seventies and it seemed to have edge over standard ,detonation with Champion was cured by affordable NGK's compared to a Lodge....Happy days...exchange Alpha crank 16pounds, pistons,9 pounds....you needed them missing gears gave you a 3-piece gudgeon pin! Keep you posted,traf.

Must post pictures,see you are also B4 owner.traf

Hi, primary drive was I think off 12D 125cc, I have all the facts written down in workshop and will check if you need to know. Gearbox is wide ratio now after some muddle years ago, gearbox sprocket 13T and rear wheel 60T if I recall. Will come back on this post-Christmas, thanks traf.

I am loath to swap the motor, I ran it in Vintage trials in 1980's in UK and was arriving at finishing trials even if my ability wasn't there,it was a fiver,gallon of fuel and Sunday morning sweat. At that time 32A was just more Classic period and reading Don Morley books suggested old Brass flywheel was a better thing. I don't possess a 32A anyway and all the necessary bits so i just need to get on with it. So what I have ; 8E based motor with present barrel at .020" O/S, .40" milled off top of barrel as I read in 60's this was the way,last mod was to dress bottom of piston to alter inlet port timing to 37A figure. Ignition is total loss 6 volt,4.5Ah battery and coil triggered by standard breakers.The recent addition was a decompressor type head I never had in the day. The conversation with a knowledgable colleague was modern fuel needs more compression and better flame, so it may be "off with his head" and mill some off or even reshape the combustion chamber. It's all well annd good to look at 1950's pic's and follow, but fuel,tyres,sections change. It's just a bit of fun that if it works I will take to Trials a distance away as here we get shot at by French Chasse (Hunters),already killed one rambler this year. I've had no 7E port figures so far to compare, one chap said they were hard-earnt secrets....My thought was in 20+ years of tarmac racing we always tried to encourage novices....it's not the World Championships is it. Thank you though for taking a look and idea, traf

Ages ago I posted details of my Norman B4 fitted with 8E motor. Having gone through it and replaced seals,bearings,rings and correct gearings I was disapointed in lack of power. Still using 8E barel with 40thou off top I was wondering what are the differences in the 7E barrel and compression. I have a spare standard barrel,so a case of reboring the suitable one with 1H piston,any words of wisdom out there?

Thanks once again. Going through your suggestions the de-comp head I have and was on my list of "to-does",quite true I used to descend sections and have a gassed-up motor. The 26tooth and 16 tooth gears I have but were somehow set aside in some previous repair, and 3-speed is fine by me , just bought the 13 tooth gearbox sprocket,seals,rings etc for repair. The piston is old style 3/32" thick ring but NOS as you suggest and barrel is at +030" with 040" milled off top. For that 225 piston I only have this or worn +20" barrel. The ignition I'll leave as is for now but note what you say. Should have this done today and until I get alternative carb I will try the best of Villiers carbs . Next week there's a bike-jumble in Rouxmazieres so maybe a carb might be found there as French employed a lot of Villiers postwar. I did have 60 tooth rear sprocket but now put on 68 tooth in hope of mountain-goat ability. Main problem is it's been laid-up for so long with odd ride about the garden here. Not wishing to swipe anyone's secrets;just get this thing running near correct,anyway I'll keep posted and see if I can load-up my photos of the bike. Thanks

Thanks for your replies,sorry been a little pre-occupied with tornado we had down here in Central France. My original carb was the S24 and and after some erratic behaviour I found the first body was porous as Swiss cheese,temp fix,Araldite. Another S24 and a bit better along with other mods and things began to work. Later I fitted an S25,but I always these carbs were past their best even with new needles etc;hence the thought of a Mikuni; I happen to have a VM22 spare off my GP100. This has a male stub-fitting as does the Villiers manifold;on the 8E it swings to the left side,anyway a rubber tube would link it up.I do have 26mm concentric but most manifolds I've seen cater for the 9E. I think I am tied to the hammerhead crank having 2 or 3, a friend has offered full-circle when I can collect. I still have the brass flywheel but after a altercation with a tree-stump that broke three of the six quarter BSF countersunk and biffed the ignition coil I went to total-loss ignition 6volt system Bosch coil using the original contacts, a remote condensor and a 4.5amp battery from Maplin's for about a tenner. I'm not too certain what the best cylinder set-up is,anyone have experience of porting and compressions?? The exhaust is maybe the most detrimental thing as I made them, first the cross-over pipe going left to right over the top of the flywheel;this was a cut and shut and may reflect the gases back too soon. Then it was up to a cross-box with the tailpipe directing toward the rear chain in the hope of blowing off dirt. The bike was originally a B4, a roadbike with a 2T which was sold-off as I had the 8E. Engineplates I modified and later as I discovered unwieldly steering I simply put a rope torneque from the front to rear wheel, unpinned the downtube at the front engineplate and wound the rope until the wheelbase became like the Greeves Anglian, another leading-link trialer,much better. I also now have 10" of ground clearance and more once rear shocks go long.I have just ordered various seals ,rings and a 13-tooth gearbox to fit the 3-speed box coupled with a 68-tooth rear, a primary of 18-tooth x 51. In the box only the sleeve-gear (26t) and matching laygear(14t) are any different from stock.So to sum-up the problem areas are: exhaust,barrel,carb and rider . Look forward to finding some events for the bike here even if it means some kilometres ,thanks for replies and could use some more.

I've had converted Norman B4 for many years, originally a roadster with 2T engine, so I fitted an 8E and set about mod-ing it for Vintage trials in UK. Now in France and hoping to get it sorted again , so can anyone offer advice please. The gearbox is off a 125 12D I think with 17t sprocket and primary is also 12D I recall. The barrel for some reason I had .040" milled off the top to raise compression, perhaps not a wise choice. porting is standard and I'd like to choose a Mikuni I think inplace of the original S24 and S25's carb's I've been using ,question is which one? I'm about to give it a rebore as it's worn,are there any other choices than the Villiers in use? Naturally it has the half-circle cranks and one of those needs big-end replacement, anyone know of a full-circle crank for the 8E? There seems to be enough for 9E's but maybe someone can advise on 6E/7E/8E's? Thanks traf