bow wow

Hi, I've got an '03 TXT and replaced all the linkage bearings and seals recently. I got them from a shop (AB motorcycles, merthyr), but they weren't expensive. It was a full kit containing all bearings, spacers and seals, and it retails for about

Ha! Solved it! Thanks for the link, but I've worked it out. About 3AM I suddenly woke with a EUREKA! moment. (insert double-entendre joke here!) The top hat bushes on the swingarm bracket go INSIDE the swing arm, they dont protrude like they do on the swinging arm pivot itself, they go inside the thing! You have to press the two bearings into the housing until they meet in the middle, then put the seals inside the hole and then the top hat bushes fit inside, meet at the middle and everything fits! Bingo! I couldnt wait to try it, and several nagging sessions later I now have a fully functioning plushly suspended gasser! Tips available for anyone else with linkage woes. Cheers.

Hi, I've got a slight problem.... no mother not that, its about my bike! I stripped the suspension linkages down on my new GG TXT250 Edition 03, then went away for a week, bought the new bushes, and fitted 'em where they should go. So far so good. Now for re-assembly, HELP! The two triangular plates that fit to the bottom of the shock, two dogbones and swinging arm, are perplexing me. The distance between the top hat bushes on the swing arm mount where the triangle plates fit is 57mm, the spacer that sits below it on the second set of triangle plate holes/dogbone outers is 51mm which means that the triangular plates should have an offset of 3mm per side. With me so far? But they are parallel?!. What is the part of the plot that I'm missing? Should there be two 3mm spacers/washers in there? the diagram of the pro which looks identical (I dont have a diagram of the TXT) doesnt show any and the exploded parts diagram (which I have) doesnt show any either. I'm lost! Either the spacer has a lot of sideways movement, there are washer/spacers I'm missing, the top hats are too thick or I've assembled it wrongly. Any clues will be vital in my bid to become the second worst trials rider in the centre!

Hey KOT, great weight saving tip coming up.. Take 2 SENOKOT tabs the night before a trial, (1 litre of concentrated prune juice or syrup of figs is a good alternative) and hey presto! come the day of the trial you will flush pounds and pounds of unnecessary ballast down the loo! Paarp! PS have you tried drilling holes in things to make them lighter?

I had the TLR up for 900 squiddlys, but by the time the p/ex deal went through and the dust settled on my brain, it worked out a fair bit less than that. Nevermind tho, I'm busy fettling the Gasser for its first outing and not looking back. You see I've always had this philosophy, whatever you do, even if it turns out sh*t, as long as you thought it was the right thing to do at the time, learn from it but dont look at it with regret, whatever it is. Because in the same circumstances, with the same lack of hindsight you'd always make the same descision. Nobody lives in advance of their actions. I am, actually, getting very excited about riding my new bike, more than I can remember with the Honda. I think I have made the right choice, I could have held out and sold the TLR separately thereby giving me the power of the folding paper, but I've always been a bit impatient and when the descision was made I had to do it then!. I also think I got the best of the bikes on offer (although the Gas Gas airbox design is utter toilet!) and can't wait to see how it goes between the flags. Thanks again for the input and see you all in the sections. PS the Beta wasn't all that bad, but it made a more interesting post!

I think the 03 may well be the same as the 01? - apart from a sticker or two - so any info on these would be great. Also who sells dog bones for GG's? Cheers, Paul.

Hi, Anyone out there with a 250 Edition 03 care to give a short review? What to look out for, what breaks, wears or tears? best fuel mix ratio? setting up? clutch drag? what fluids? what oil? etc.etc etc. I'd appreciate it immensely (and so would many others I'd imagine) as there seems to be nothing about them out there and I've just bought one! Also, is there a manual available? if so where from? Cheers!

Well folks, Its done. I feel like the dad in "the little house on the prairie" when he went out in the snow with the family dog and a shotgun, And returned alone. The TLR is now nestling at the back of AB Motorcycle's shed and I'm the nervous owner of an 03 Gas Gas edition03. The little TLR even started first poke for me when I was showing it off, if it had a little tail, I'm sure it would have wagged as I cocked the shotgun! So it went, and I made my choice. The 2001 Mont was great from the motor forward, but the rear end looked shag**d, the Beta wouldnt start, looked like a tip bike and its owner was about 22 stone, but the gasser started first prod and felt right when I rode it. So for my sins I got it. I know this is the classic thread, and I'm sorry to bring my story of selling out and joining the mono mob here, but I really appreciate your input, It has helped. So if your ever in an easy trial in the South Wales area and see a red faced man struggling and cursing on a shiny red Gas Gas, please don't say "I told you so"!!! Cheers, Paul.

Thanks for the input people, If could afford it, i'd take the majority view and keep the Honda and buy a cheap mono. Unfortunately without selling the TLR all I could get would be an old piece of tat that would keep breaking down and wouldn't help at all! So i've decided to bite the bullet and flog the Honda. I've got three bikes lined up for inspection, all with p/ex possibilities, a 2001 Mont 315, a 2003 Beta 250 rev3, or a 2003 Gas Gas TXT250 (non pro). The mont is the cheapest and the Beta the most expensive, but they're all pretty close. Soooo, What would YOU do!!!???

Hi trial-ites, I have a conundrum... I ride a 1986 TLR200 its in good nick and almost every time I pass the garage I'm in there fiddling with this or that, making it slowly better and better. It doesn't cost much to keep going, virtually nil on fuel or oil, and replacing consumables, bearings etc are what you'd expect to do on any bike. And there's no linkage bushes to maintain. So ok, its cheap to run, Its nice looking and goes well. Here's my problem. Nearly all my mates ride modern monos. They keep saying I should chop in "the old nail" (bloody cheek!) and join them in the ranks of the banana frame brigade. I'm always near the bottom of our group in the results table, and the wisdom seems to be I wont get any better as a rider unless I get myself a competitive bike to judge myself on ( I have a book of excuses you see, Page 1, bike 22 years old, page 2 bike too heavy, page 3 knackered tyre etc etc etc...) and I should stop using the TLR as an excuse for not beating any of 'em. (actually I was best classic at a recent "easy" trial beating my 70 year old opponent by about 3 marks!) I have seriously thought about it, not least because the value of the Honda seems to be unfathomably high, and if I got the going rate for it - no reason why not - I could afford to buy a fairly recent Sherco or Rev3 or Gas Gas or something. There's another problem. I rode a mates 200 Sherco the other day, and it was like having cateracts removed! it is fantastic! loads of power (for me), its light as a twig, perfectly balanced, brakes work even when wet! such joy! the suspension does a bit more than boing over things and it starts first prod even when its been upside down backwards over a waterfall! But I still like the Honda. Its going up not down in value, it gets looks of admiration and envy from fellow competitors (who dont have one) and I can guarantee a "3" at nearly any section if panic sets in by sitting on the S E A T - (note to modern bike riders, a seat is the comfy pad in the middle of old bikes that you can actually sit on without having your knees around your ears!) and paddle through to the end cards. What would YOU do? chop it in and buy banana, or show a finger or two and keep twinshocks alive? I really want to know, because I am really, truthfully undecided and need input. - perhaps a solution may be to swap with someone with the opposite problem for a few months? Please help! My head may well explode if I change my mind one single more time!

Garage full of nice bikes an' you let a drop of rain keep you indoors? I recon you should have taken up basket weaving instead! :-> Did a fab trial at llandarcy on Sat, p**sed down steadily all day but trial was grreat 35-40 entry and everyone enjoyed it. Just get out there! Look up caerphillymcc .co.uk

[/color]YOUR RIGHT!!!!!!!!! Sod 'em all, i'm going to spend the next month in the garage with my MZ for company.....hhmmmm... maybe....!

Brill. This is the feedback i'm looking for, I've gone into it and to get a halfway decent competition pinky, it will cost me about

Hi, I am in the process of buying an unregistered, unknown year, ratty looking pinky. The following is a list of issues, but I'm mostly interested in the cost and availability of parts. Money hasn't changed hands yet, so I've got time to run away if the "computah says noooh"!! and it looks like a case of good money after bad. What advice can you give me? Rear suspension linkage bushes and shock mounts all have play, it clunks like a shunting engine. Can I get a bush kit? how much? Rear suspension weak and floppy - oooer missus! can the shock be re gassed and serviced? Grips and levers ruined. - universal? front fork seals gone, zero oil in forks! are seals costly? - easy to get hold of? rattles like a washing machine full of nuts'n bolts - although the bottom end is silent. - rings and little end, costly? available? silencer way way too loud. looks pretty standard, can it be re-packed or is it a case of a new aftermarket one. Whats best? - its really raspy - almost painfull. Rear mudguard not original, and ratty to boot, front one has been hand painted... are they cheap? Apart from all that it looks and rides fine, and its going to be cheap. Its been used as a field bike by a knuckle-dragger who was practically begging me to make him an offer below his

Hi, I rode trials back in the 80's but then had a severe case of speed fever! i rode MX, Enduro's even road racing. But now with more kids 'n ex wives than you can shake a stick at i decided its time to slow down and re-dicover the ART of riding a motorcycle rather than just looning about on one. I'm looking for a cheap bike to get me started, TY pinky is favorite at the mo. Anyone with one littering their garage, and want to get rid, just e-me. Cheers, Paul.