ross brown

Did I miss anybody. How about the manufacturing motherland... Which brings us to... España Ezap (for electric bikes only?). as for the 'Limey Zap'. I don't think that one will gain much traction.

Hi. How tweaked is tweeked? And how easy/hard was it to get it aligned? I quite fancy doing something similar to my TL250 at some point. Ross

The bushes that went into my 4RT are 18 months old now. Still good. Mind you I haven't been whacking the linkage into tree roots of late.

Usual - kid goes over bigger log than dad. Fearless.

Look under Trials Transport Forum. I like the simple and clean approach for tie down points that the Dave Cooper rack uses: two tie downs and no need to tie them bike to the back of the car, it's all to the rack.

Now that's funny as I haven't seen a piece of 35mm for at least a couple of years. If the seal needs cleaning again, I'll try using a jpeg and let you know how it goes. Cheers. R.

The real benefit is the extra weight (there are 3 stickers per side, so 6 per wheel in total) keeps the front wheel of my 4RT on the ground. Seriously. Cosmetic benefits only as any rock that will scratch a standard rim will probably also puncture and tear a rim sticker; and a torn and flapping sticker looks more untidy than a simple scratch on a rim. Still, they ARE a great way to refresh the look of bike after a couple of years.

Damn. Wish I could weld. Really Nice job. Can you tell us more about the hubs and rim work? Cheers Ross

Kev69, scroll through this forum. Search 'bling' and 'tips' and you'll have hours of reading. The Gent who owned mine before me used to stall it. I bought it and stalled it constantly. Loved it but stalled it-because I tried to ride it like an old thumper and force it down to a tickover pace going down hills. Once I accepted that 4RTs have a very high idle speed and used the clutch earlier the problem went away. Effectively, I had to change my riding style. Smiles got even broader then. Three things that made an immediate difference early on with my 4RT: wider more rearward pegs, 44 tooth rear sprocket, and Jitsie DB killer to keep the noise down (important for driveway trials).

FYI. I thought I needed a new fork seal on my 4RT a few months back after noting oil weeping onto one of the fork legs. Turned out that it was just foreign object/dirt holding the seal ever so slightly open. All it took was a credit card run around the edge of the seal to the leg and restore the oil-tightness to working order.

For experienced riders - an open face. Only way to go. And the more air flow the better to keep your head cool. On a tangent, I've just agonised over what helmet to get my 11year old to introduce him to bikes for the first time. And there is a third choice. It is a down hill helmet. There's been quite a bit of discussion in the US on this. It's the foam inside of the helmet, rather than the helmet's outer shell, that has the job to slow your head down so it doesn't take the full force of the impact. The problem with a very stiff helmet liner - one engineered to withstand the brutal impacts on the street - is the helmet with a stiff liner won't be compliant enough to cushion smaller impacts. The latest Downhill helmets provide the following: Bigger vision area (higher and wider) than a MotoX full face helmet. Jaw protection extends down lower than a MotoX helmet (helps with vision and protects chin more). Neck is cut higher than a MotoX helmet (more movement and helmet does not cut into neck when head is extended up. Meets a variety of EU/US/AU standards. But not Snell standard. Essentially, the difference is Downhill helmets are designed to cushion impacts and thus be safer at lower speed crashes. Whereas MX helmets withstand higher speed impacts, but the harder foam transmits more force through to the human head. Remember that the Snell standard (and for 20 odd years I used to believe this was THE ONLY standard to have but have since changed my mind) was created for road bike helmets. Of course, having foam that crushes more easily means you might have to replace your downhill more often. Nothing wrong with that if it saves your head. So I went out and bought a Bell Drop for my sons. It was designed from the ground up by the same team that created Bell's Moto-8 motocross helmet and has a laminated Fiberglass Shell. Vision, light weight and Bell quality are all top notch. For a rank beginner, I'm happy to save my kids teeth with a full face while they learn some basic skills. At least until they can prove to me they can fall without landing on their head. Then its onto an open face.

If your restoration aim is very much financial, then I can't help but think that you should flip it on and invest in an RTL. This would be a better option for reselling at a high $ than a restored Jeffries. I note that over the last three years that various Honda specials that appeared for sale at the TwinShock Shop that didn't exactly fly off the show room floor. The pool of deep-pocket buyers is rather small me thinks. Or you could return the bike to a 'ridable condition with improvements'. Imagine Jeffries were doing it again today - but starting with the same 1970s engine stock. You could for example source a new black front mudguard from a modern Gas Gas. Shocks, fat bars, EBC brakes, CDI etc etc. Now that would keep you occupied for a few winter nights.

A riderless out of control bike is a lower-probability-but-higer-consequence event at a WTC event than at clubman level, what with the close proximity of a group of spectators pushing to the edge of the Section. So at this level the dead man switch keeps an event safe. For we Clubbies, it probably is more of an aid to keep our bike safe by avoiding a handlebar end and throttle jammed open in the dirt while we pick ourselves up. On a less serious note, I bought myself a lanyard switch a few months back.... I found that with it on the handlebar you CAN scratch your forehead (the elastic lanyard stretches quite a way while staying attached) but that you CAN'T scratch your back (it only stretches so far before letting go). Nothing like belting along in 4th gear between sections with one hand on the bars, the other behind your back, and suddenly the engine dies. Also, being magnetic, the damn things wander. Here's mine stuck to the side of the kitchen drawer, which is not much help when you've driven nearly an hour to a trial to find that it is not on the bike.

Now who's giving the game away

Hi Larry I remember seeing a pic of your TL250 on the Chevy a year or so ago and thinking what a fun combination yotu have there. Have a look at your bike's kickstarter bend compared to mine. The kickstarter on yours reminds me of the one I had on my XL250 in 76. I can remember when I changed from XL to TL that the lever had a more exagerated curve that followed the engine cases on the TL and this allowed it to clear the pegs. See mine here

Right now there's two for sale in NZ on trademe.co.nz - Kiwi equivatech of ebay. One is fully restored for GBP1,300 and one modified for GBB700 pound.

I know what you mean, this engine should be measured by its girth! It is big, solid, and and the platform for all those XLs and XRs that have long since disappeared. I measured my shocks today and they are 390mm but look standard. And with the extra height of the swing arm (see TL250 Rehab thread for that story) the bike now has the same ground clearance of a 2012 Beta.

... the human cost of trying to move 300lb TL over a rocky section.

Nice purchase... the finish on the engine cases, fins and the wheel rims make it look like new. I'm jealous and would love to know the secret. I see the bike has decent pegs and a lightened brake pedal, and a flat sprocket conversion too. It took me moment or two to identify what was so different - and then I realised its the black frame. I hope you get some great rides on it.

Rising - very funny. By the minute no less.

Have a look at the range from Dirt Bike Bitz http://www.dirtbikeb...=lever&x=8&y=12 RFX Pro Series Levers - KXF (Pair) are green. And at the bottom of the page. Might not be shorty tho'. ASV has shorty levers - red, blue or black and they also bend forward so are pretty much indestructable.My own shorty levers are gold. Came from UK dealer Colin Appleyard. http://www.apico.co....t lever&x=0&y=0 Again, short but not green.

Last weekend, at the 2-day Ihatove Trial (Nelson, New Zealand. See pic below) I was fortunate enough to be given the chance to grab a short ride on someone else's TL250; many thanks Wayne. Jumping straight from a 4RT to the TL, I then got to go back and ride 6 sections after the trial had finished. So how does 37 year old technology feel? Engine off and just jumping on the pegs it feels surprisingly small. The top triple clamp is lower so standing on the pegs it feels as if you are standing over the TL rather than 'in' it as with the 4RT. The net effect is this makes the Tl feel shorter. Funnily enough the front end didn't feel heavy at all. The rear bake is tucked in nicely and while the bars are standard width, which is to say an inch wider each side than my 4Rt, all the controls felt normally weighted and fall nicely to hand. Feet were another matter. Period foot pegs are simply too narrow. First kick starting and again a surprisingly light force was required to move the kick starter through its arc and to the point where the engine caught and came to life. Once under way all feeling of lightness disappears. My 4Rt has a low geared 44 tooth rear sprocket on it so it felt like TL-1st was equivalent to 4RT-3rd. Which is too say a magic gear for hill climbs, but too highly geared. Section One had a steep down hill entry into a rocky a stream bed followed by a tight "S" once back up on the side of the stream bank.Let me try that stream section again. On second approach and now that the drum brakes are wet, I did not enter the stream in a more controlled manner. Instead, I came off the bank down into the stream with all the finesse of a rented Transit Van. No amount of squeezing the front brake lever back into the bars produced more stopping power. There was just none to give. I could give up twin-shock riding for the brakes alone. (My own TL has grooved EBC shoes so we shall see how they work in due course). Open the throttle on a more flowing section with a long uphill and you feel as if the torque of the TL could shift Daylight saving back an hour! This is why there should be one in everybody's stable! Buying Old Tech was the right choice after all. Let's try that downhill drop to the stream again. Revs drop way below idle and to half of what they are on a 4RT governed by the fuel-injection system mandated 1,800rpm idle. The clutch was lovely and I realised the bike does not want to stall when asked to grunt away from low revs. This is how I remember Thumpers to be. Knowing that the brakes are poor I adapt my riding style accordingly. And still I end up in the stream bed faster than I had planned and for an ungracious single dab. Balance? Well the weight is tiring. Narrower bars and wider pegs would help. Betor shocks worked well enough. No complaints there. The weight is as appealing as a choosing to travel by RoadMaster Bus. However, the motor has the appeal of an '80s Muscle Car. It's more raw than I remember. I handed it back to its rightful owner and I now have a renewed respect for pre-65 and twin shock riders. My TL is still in the metal workshop. The Rear frame tubes have been cut off and now need to be heated, crimped then welded closed to stop water ingestion. Then an Alu bracket made to support the mudguard. Here's the mudguard shown in the original position pre-cutting the tubes. You can see where the frame loop went over the top of thew guard. Note the 2cm, gap between the top of mudguard to underside of RS seat base. Below is the newly raised mudguard. Gap to the seat base has disappeared and mudguard has more of a 'modern' look to it. Ever wondered why TL250s feel heavy? Look at the thickness of the steel walls of the frame loop. All this just to support the rear mudguard.

HIgh Mudguard too. Looks to have original rear sprocket on it now. Cost me $115 for a 30 year old swing arm on ebay to be delivered across the Pacific from the US to here. A 'hundy' is nothing in the scheme of dollars that you will haemorrhage in order to bring your TL back to life. Whether you 'restore' it to spend the rest of its days doing trials, trails, or flat tracking- You Have Saved one.

http://www.musket.co.nz/product.asp?brand_id=&cate_id=&make_id=5&parttype_id=7&model=tl&partNo=&Submit2=Search Musket Mufflers builds TL and TLR replacement pipes. TL250 not shown on their web site but they do them. They made the CT200 pipe that I adapted to my '76 TL250. Search TL250 in Honda thread. Choice is easier if you do NOT want the "torque box" of the OEM header.

Yes. That's the video I meant to load. Many thanks. The 'Pros you can afford the better it feels!