mcman56

Comming from a modern bike, your first impression will be that a Reflex can not do anything. However, if you spend some time on one you will find that they are fairly capable..... but different. It takes a different riding style and for me a little time to adapt. One person described the Reflex as being analog where modern bikes are digital. There are only two areas where it really seems to lack. The first is sections where you need momentum to get over something followed by an immediate need to almost stop and set up for something else. I really feel the weight of the bike in that start/ stop/ start situation. The second is times when you would like instant power. Everything happens a little slower on a Reflex....but it does allow time to correct mistakes before they become crashes. It is quiet, goes a long way on a tank of gas and is the perfect Rubicon bike. I run a 9 tooth front sprocket, stiffer fork springs, fork brace, advanced cam timing, bored carb, real trials tires and proper jetting. Lower gearing makes the biggest difference. The others are more minor tweaks.

I could send it to anyone who is interested. If there is a way, I could even post it on this site.

That is the dipstick. I do have a scanned copy of the owners/ service manual. If you are interested, I could e-mail a pdf.

I have a Reflex model that comes with steel wheels and 12mm axels. XL & XR200 wheels are aluminium and readily available but are they a true weight advantage???? The XL/XR front wheel has a 15mm axel and bigger bearings. The XL/ XR rear wheel has a 17 mm axle, much bigger bearings and a slightly bigger brake drum diameter (same diameter as Reflex front brake). The Reflex could be adapted to the 17mm rear axel size and may pick up some rigidity but it probably is not be a good idea to open up the forks for a larger front axle. Does anyone have weights for these different wheels or tried the conversion? What does the English TLR200 have?

There was a change in the primary gear ratio around that time that would be seen. This would also be reflected in the rear sprockets so you could tell when it was changed. From my understanding the TY mono was based on the YZ490 so maybe some of those cluch parts work.

It does not make sense. But in America, if some is good, more is better and too much is just right.

At one point I saw the instructions but never did the mod. Basically, you had to pull the side cover to get to the shifting mechanism. There was a sheetmetal plate that limited shifter movement and you had to grind a slot to allow it to reach the other gear. It looked very straight forward. One thing I did learn about JR50s is that the steering bearings are the same size as bicycle steering bearings.

I have a 1993 clubman Model so it may be similar. It is light, with nice soft suspension and great brakes. The clutch pull is easy and it has a smooth shifting gear box. It kicks over and starts easily for my 100 lb daughter. It even has a little more ground clearance than my 02 Sherco. This is the only 80cc Trials bike I have really ridden so it is difficult to compare the power to something else. It has somewhat of a dual personality. The low and mid range is smooth and linear but the top end power has a significant bump in power. Max power to weight ratio is similar to a TLR200 but that bump is not very wide. It is quite manageable when it comes on to that bump (sort of "on the pipe") but can surprise you if the rpms drop and you fall off the pipe at a time you need all of that power. I rode it in a trial but weigh 160lbs so there were a couple of things it could not do. I suspect it would be well suited to someone closer to 100 lbs. Mine is actually for sale but I'm in the US.

Do boost bottles work on bikes without reed valves?

Which alloy will be used? What thickness?

What would be the disadvantage of increased compression? The SL/XL 125 adjustable needle does work well in the Reflex. Larger main jets are available from Honda and are the same as an XR100. A slightly bigger pilot jet will eliminate the cough and die syndrome but is not readily available. Drilling with a #78 drill (0.016") will produce a jet close to a #40 (.40 mm = 0.0157"). Stock is #38 (.38 mm = .015)

The Reflex (TLR200 ish) will respond to a bigger carb. Stock is 22 mm but a 24 mm was available. It looks the same but the oval bore of the carb is just taller. I do not know what model the 24mm came on but have modified a few 22mm carbs to match. It gives a significant improvement at the top of the power band with no change below.

Where can you buy these clone engines? Are the transmission rations the same as a Reflex?

The Reflex has a 6 speed gearbox. When sprockets are changed to something like 11/44, top speed is very limited. You can be in 6th gear at 20 mph. (I wish there was a way to change this.) Is the TL the same? The Reflex has a small thin steel skid plate (bash plate) in place of the larger Aluminium TL plate. The little levers on the brake drums are also steel on the Reflex instead of Aluminium.

A local rider did as you suggested and removed the baffels in the box on a US Reflex model. The odd part is that he did not notice a difference in sound or performance

I think the 80 I have ran that way from the factory. It has no reed valve and was tuned like a road racer. Peak power is pretty impressive for an 80 and may be more than my TLR200. This is the only one I have seen in the US so I can not compare it to another but have seen things written saying it was peaky. Is there another 50 in your area that you could compare it to? I hear that Bill Pye is the Fantic expert in the UK so maybe you should give him a call for some advice. What year is your 50? Going up 10 or so main jet sizes helped a slightly. I spent a lot of time unsucessfully trying to "tune" the problem away before looking inside the motor. I even replaced the needle thinking it may be worn. A plugged exhaust pipe could have a similar effect. (Look at the volume of an MX pipe verses a road race pipe.) I cleaned mine with no affect. I also checked timing and looked for air leaks. I do have a copy of the original owners manual that shows detailed carb settings and other specs. It is from 1993 and covers the 50. I think it shows the peak power of the 50 about 1000 rpm higher than the 80. I could scan and send you a copy if you send me an e-mail address. I put a lot of thought in to the mods I did but it was not a huge amount of work. If there is sufficient piston to cylinder clearance, cutting the bottom of the cylinder is a fairly straightforward task on the lathe. The mod can be reversed by using multiple base gaskets. While researching on the internet, I found that a lot of this type of work is done on scooters like Vespas and they have similar sized engines. See http://www.mbdevelopments.co.uk/lambretta/lt5.html

I'm not sure what a series 7 Fantic is but I recently had a similar experience with a Fantic 80 Clubman. It says 49.xx cc on the cases so I believe it uses the same bottom end as the 50. The bike started fine but did have an uneven idle. I found that the carb slide was worn and air was getting around the slide at idle. (The slide looked lumpy and the wear was obvious.) The bike also had the high load bog issue. You never really felt it come "on the pipe" but it would really "fall off the pipe" like you describe. (This 80 is a full size bike.) Very rich main jets had some minor benefit but did not resolve the issue. Eventually I looked inside the motor and found the squish clearance (piston to head) to be around 0.080". There was also some significant misalignment of the transfer ports on one side of the case/ cylinder interface (up to 3/16"). To retard the port timing for more low end power, I machined 0.035" off of the bottom of the cylinder and used a slightly thinner base gasket. In addition to retarding the port timing, this bosted the compression and brought the squish clearance closer to where is should be. I then used a base gasket to match the cylinder and case tranfer ports with a die grinder. At the same time, I removed any gross defects/ bumps that I saw in all of the ports. I have never done this type of mod before but the change was amazing. Peak power feels the same but the mid range and bottom end of the power curve have been filled in. The change feels like an improvement of 50% or more at some areas of the power curve. It will no longer "fall off the pipe". The last thing I did was to add a flywheel weight. It was a nice addition and made everything smoother and hard to stall. This was a rewarding project but now my daughter is not interested in riding.

How does the TLR compare to the Scorpa power wise? Is it 125, 145 or 165cc? I have a TLR but have never tried the Scorpa

How much did you lengthen the head pipe? Is it the same diameter?

Do Boyesen two stage reeds in a 2.9 require leaner jetting? I was running 36/118 with the needle next to the richest position. Recently, the bike has started fouling plugs occasionally and the plug is always black. It is now 35/118 with the needle in the leanest position and is still kind of black/ brown. The only change I can think of is the reeds. I tried a 114 main but it knocked (pinked) like crazy.

On the Reflex, you can bore the carb for more top end power. Low end stays the same.

I installed Boysen Reeds in a '97 TXT270 with a very good result. It gave the bike very smooth yet strong power at low rpms. Prior to changing the reeds, the bike had a "hit" where there was a step in power. The step could make the bike difficult to control in tight turns and similar situations. I did not notice any other changes. I used the standard dual stage (power?) reeds. Recently I put a set in a 2.9 sherco with no affect. The original reeds looked just like the Boyseen ones. (I bought th bike used so they may have been changed.)

A folding lever from an XR100 fits the Reflex TLR200. They are available from the aftermarket in the US.

There is an ebay posting that states: Gollner mods Included - gear box, changed gears 1-2-3 to give lower and closer gearing, more usable than the normal TLR200 Does anyone have details on this? Looing at a TLR gear set, it does not look possible to have a lower 1st gear.

Has anyone experimented with cam timing on a TLR200 Reflex? Can advanced cam timing give more response? Are there any negatives? Since the Reflex was a street legal bike, does it have different cam timing from the English/ Japan trials version? It did come with some smog equipment.