When I restored my Greeves TFS back in 2015 I machine polished the hubs and rims and assembled using stainless spokes. went over the engine cases and frame alloy beam with polishing wheel but still has the casting "orange peel look, " and the top end bead blasted. I got a tin of Simichrome polish from ebay. Cost a bloody fortune due to our dear government screwing me for import charges from the states, but its brilliant polish. other alloy bits of the bike are polished, mainly to give an easy to clean finish after muddy trials.
bought a 125 Gasgas for 350 quid last year. goes and rides ok for my easy section riding but needs tyres changing. Got some good 2nd hand ones waiting to be fitted when I need to. And my TFS Greeves only cost 20 quid, but that was in 1972...
I am putting my 109 series 3 safari back on the road next month. First thing I will be doing is to see if I can get my Greeves TFS in the back, and also if any room left, a Gasgas 125.... Watch this space...
Well, better late than never.Its finally back on the road. Spent this weekend making a ramp and a stand to sit under the bikes which went in no problem. The ramp and stand are made of scaffold planks and old roof joist wood. Works well but weighs more than the bikes {or feels like it does...). mk 2 versions to be made from ally and foldable.
Evening guys i had my 2 beta s stolen over the weekend only had the bikes 12 months . So to ease my pain lol im telling my self il get them bck at some point the POLICE will find them . But realistically how many of you guys have had them stolen and got them back .
Back in 1974, my Greeves TFS which was my pride and joy field bike, bought for the pricely sum of £20 (I was 13 at the time), was stolen by the local s##ts. The bike was reported stolen to the police and all relevant details supplied from the old style log book. 5 years later, got a call at work from police station in Bow, London. They had my bike. It turned up in a dealers workshop after they visited him about another bike he bought which turned out to be stolen. He had just bought mine and this visit turned out to be very expensive for him...I never thought I would see the Greeves again. It was my first bike and I still have it. When I applied for a v5 logbook, I had a vist from the plod that evening as they had been informed that I was in possesion of a stolen bike! That was hilarious, especially as when they came round I was working on it in the hallway of our little council house and could not swing a cat with the bike in there too... I was lucky in that the bike came back in better condition than when it was stolen. Had a Greeves tank instead of the old Honda one bungeed on, and a chaincase instead of the foot eating open drive.. Was glad we reported the bike as stolen back then, it paid off on this occasion.
some of these may of previously been posted but here's my dream innovations for the modern trials bikes (leave the old beauties to run like the gold they are);
- Air sprung, fully adjustable suspension on both front and rear. With crud/debris guards on the rear shock, the risk of body tube damage is limited and also wiper seal contamination.
- Adjustable geometries. Why not?We are not all the same shape/length and having a machine tailored to suit you can help a lot and prevent injury/discomfort.
- Hybrid engines - electric runs us around the trial and the pollution juice kicks in when we are riding sections ( A big dream to help this planet out a tad)
- More tyre choices - as good as Michelin are, why hasn't any other brands come up with anything? Different treads for summer/winter/compounds.
- Hope Disc Brakes - The Barnoldswick former aerospace engineers should give us a brake that works because no one else can. Do it please!
- Grease nipples on suspension linkages - Maybe in biased living here in Uk but cartridge bearings don't last that long even if un jet washed. I would happily pump a nipple with grease after each ride.
I know some of these will drive up costs but remember its a 'dream' list thats not by no stretch too far from the reality of manufacturing within that past decade.
happy xmas all.
Re the hybrid engine. I would not be suprised if somewhere in the world a hybrid bike is being developed for military applications. The electric for stealth mode and engine for all out speed.
I have been riding for about 15 months with my local club(eastbourne), on a 65 Greeves TFS. I ride the easiest route at the mo, more down to my ability than the bike. We get quite a few ride the harder routes on a variety of twinshock bikes .Yam TYs, Hondas, Spanish twinshocks, Fantics, and a few Brit bikes now and then, Had an Ariel Ht5 on a recent trial which was taxing all bikes due to the rain affecting grip everywhere. The Ariel did well considering how bad conditions were, and 2 riders, one on a Majesty and the other on a Bultaco did very well beating a lot of modern bikes. all of these bikes are ridden and bashed and come back for more. The best way to display a classic trials bike!
Better news than the MOD land used for trials. Now managed by an outside land agency who have hiked up the prices steeply. The Red Tape Trial at Bagshot next Feburary has been cancelled due to this and there will probably be others.
another option to investigate would be a split type aircon system. most of them have heat function and are now very efficient in terms of heat produced for power consumed. (1kw producing 6kw of heat for example). They also have dehumidification mode which is handy for workshop use, and of course cooling in summer if needed...
The Jack Thompson Trial was excellent. Had a great day riding. I will be back next year for this one. Loved watching the sidecar outfits negotiating the sections. (did better than me riding solo on easy route! )
Riding the Jack Thompson Trial at Canada Heights, Sidcup next Sunday on my Greeves TFS. Just seen the rider list and their bikes. Looking forward to this trial with all the classic British bikes.
When I ressurected my Greeves after being in boxes for 35 years I painted it myself with Landrover Marine Blue, left over from doing some bits on my old series 3 Landy.It has worn suprisingly well for a quick spray and is easy to touch in with an artists paint brush.Re pressure washers,I am lucky to have on my work van a Sealey cordless pressure washer. Runs for 40 minutes on its own battery or can be plugged into a vehicle cigarette lighter socket.It has a tank which holds 15 litres of water. It only works at 8.5 bar (125 psi) but its not so aggresive to paintwork and wheel bearings. More convenient than getting the mains machine out with hoses and mains leads. I havnt used it at a trials venue though as I dont want to upset any land owners..
Im in the same situation. I started riding with my local club last september on my newly revived Greeves TFS. Riding the beginners routes alongside the modern bikes is doable most of the time. Had one section that proved impossible to do. It was an uphill climb, very wet and slippery. there was no run up to speak of due to the route taking you between 2 trees and a dogleg to slow you down, and the roots providing a bumpy terrain. Try and take a run up and you just got launched out of the saddle. One of the top riders tried it on my bike and ended up the same! The suspension on the newer bikes allowed a faster run up to get the momentum to get up the slope. The Greeves is great on the classic type events like the Red Tape trial at Deepcut in Surrey. Earlier this year I bagged myself a 2000 125 Gasgas for a bargain. Despite being only 125 its incredibly agile and capable, once you get the hang of compensating for the smaller engine. Very tempting to just ride this instead of the Greeves but I will persevere with using the older bike for the mo....
Reading all this with interest.I am a 56 year old novice to riding trials events, all my previous riding has been on old waste ground back in the 70s and 80s on a 247 Cota, 250 Gripper, and, my first bike, bought in 72 for 20 quid and which I am presently riding, a Greeves TFS. I started riding in local club trials last september after putting the Greeves back together after it being in boxes for the last 35 odd years, (Eastbourne Club). Quite an experience riding sections laid out for modern bikes, but the easy routes for the most part are doable. The only limitation is my riding skill. There are quite a few who ride on twinshock bikes of all types, TYs, Spanish 70s bikes, Beamish, Fantics, and a few British bikes. One trial that I did last Feburary whichI thought was a great trial for classic bikes of all classes was the Red Tape trial, helld at Deepcut near Bagshot, Surrey. They seemed to have got it right with 2 routes, yellow and the harder red route. I rode the red route because I misread the entry form, not realising I could have done the yellow route, the weak link being me, the rider. The bike performed as it should. I ended up retiring after 3 laps due to running out of time, (spent looking at some amazing bikes..). This is one event I am definitely riding next year. It catered for practically all classes from 50s rigid up to a few modern bikes with everything else in between including specials, my favourite being the Ariel Arrow 250 twin engined bike. ( i cant remember if there was any sidecars there).. My bike's mods are basic, like Domino slow action throttle, modern plastic mudguards instead of the original Butler ones as I tend to break em a lot.. Renthal bars,folding footrests to comply with modern regs, chain tensioner and external ignition coil and condenser, and alloy rims with stainless spokes. Still using points ignition, it starts 3rd kick from cold no problem.( I will put a pic up tomorow.). Dont know if anyone else on here was at the Red Tape, but it ticked all the boxes for me with suitably challenging sections for the experienced riders and yellow for the novices and less agile older bikes.
the theory is that to get instant throttle responce you need a lot of clean filtered air at least twice what the motor cosumes on a full throttle attack ,i cannot see how sucking air through a foam filter without can do the carburationany favours ,i have home made airboxes on both of my greeves outfits including one of the last factory bikes both run on std amal mk1 carbs with probably the cleanest caburation i have ever had, i
Got any pictures of these airboxes? Reading this has given me ideas for my TFS. At present it has a Villiers air filter with a home made adapter to fit the amal concentric on the bike.
I am putting my 109 series 3 safari back on the road next month. First thing I will be doing is to see if I can get my Greeves TFS in the back, and also if any room left, a Gasgas 125.... Watch this space...
That makes good sense.I got a spare mag side engine case with lighting and ignition coils fitted. That has given me inspiration to experiment... I may even try wiring the other 2 lighting coils in series to give a decent lighting voltage.
My Greeves TFS with 32a engine had issues with the existing internal ignition coil breaking down when hot, being 50 years old and insulation breaking down. I got an external coil and condenser from Villiers services. The old coil, I stripped the thin ht windings off and fed the external coil from the remaining lt winding of the original. As my bike is fitted with lighting coils, I wired the lighting coil opposite the ignition coil (9 o clock position) in parallel with the ignition and mounted the condenser on the external coil bracket. A good earth back to the engine finished the job. I did a 100 mile long distance trial yesterday and the bike started ok hot and cold, with no sign of weak spark stalling at low revs.I did experiment initially running the bike with the lighting coil only, then the ignition lt only, to compare the meerkat between them. they both performed the same but there is a definite improvement using both in parallel, in the slow running of the engine.This was the cheapest option for me. Mounting the condenser is a good improvement, being away from the engine heat. For those who prefer to keep the bits inside the mag casing for originality looks, possibly using a condenser from a japanese bike from the 70s era may be an alternative, as they seemed very reliable back in the day, together with their contact breakers....
I got my Greeves TFS back together last year after it being apart since 1980. A guy at work gave me a good 2nd hand rear tyre which I fitted to give the best grip according to the wear. All good until mot time when I, and the mot tester both noticed the tiny arrow on the sidewall denoting the correct rotation for the tyre. Had to reverse the tyre to pass the mot....
re the frame being out of alignment, there was an article a few months back in Classic Bike with a company that specialised in straightening frames. Might be worth checking out.
)
Polishing ali castings?
in Twinshock
Posted
When I restored my Greeves TFS back in 2015 I machine polished the hubs and rims and assembled using stainless spokes. went over the engine cases and frame alloy beam with polishing wheel but still has the casting "orange peel look, " and the top end bead blasted. I got a tin of Simichrome polish from ebay. Cost a bloody fortune due to our dear government screwing me for import charges from the states, but its brilliant polish. other alloy bits of the bike are polished, mainly to give an easy to clean finish after muddy trials.