g4321

Alloy plate and pop rivets hold many mudguards together - I can supply either at a small cost to keep your Mental-techno active! Correction they are not unrestorable just not restored YET - tell the world how many trials bikes in bits you have in your garage now then Ken? How many trials bikes do you have John - or don't you have enough fingers and toes to count that high.

So thats why you bought a PC then?

You may need to bend a lever to fit the TLR in a suitable position for trials riding. Try a visit to your local bike shop or breakers with your original lever - they are likely to have a universal Honda one to fit.

The Yam would be a lot less expensive, probably a little faster and more powerful but but a lot less interesting! You are also a lot more likely to park up next to an identical 600 Yamaha than an NR750! Me I prefer my motorcycles with a little more character and tend to buy/ride bikes which are best classed as different, so I guess I know which one I would prefer. I totally agree with your comments on the VFR750R - thats my one in the picture.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Honda-NR750...itemZ4591780965 Not a trials bike but who cares , this is more exotic than most other bikes on the market.What would I prefer than this - A Britten perhaps? Don't tempt me, lets see if I sold my bike(s), my car and drained my bank account......????. I guess its dream on until my lottery comes up Gordon

As far as I am aware the change was made to the 2nd and 3rd gear ratios to bring them closer together on the 200's. There were other changes to jetting and to the clutch. I have a couple of articles on the modifications made to the bikes - SOMEWHERE! I have a Gollner 250 and it appears that there was no gearbox changes made to the 250 (I have had the engine in bits and checked the gears) - some say there was but it depends who you talk to what story is correct. There was an 'uprated' oil pump fitted to the 250's (a special drive gear was made to allow the oil pump to run faster). If anyone has a definitive answer on what was changed I would be interested. Gordon

Judging by the smile on his face the last few times out I thought he was planning to ride your Tiger Cub next year! Or is the Scorpa a 'bribe' to keep him from riding the cub!

There was once the same debate in the local motocross club meeting - the members decided NOT to run an event before they even realised that the SACU would not grant a permit. As someone else said there are 51 other Sundays in the year to run a trial, I strongly agree with John and Andy. As far as I am aware its still the case that neither the SACU or ACU will grant a permit for any motorsport event on Remembrance Sunday. If you must have a fix on a trials bike that weekend why not get your club to run a Saturday trial?

Anyone out there have any experience of or know of problems with gearbox on TLR250 Hondas which causes the gearchange to be very stiff and hard to change gear. I was thinking along the lines of possibly a bent selector fork but if anyone knows any better I would like to hear any suggestions. As you know its a total engine strip down to access the gearbox hence I an still toying with the idea of leaving alone since otherwise the motor is very good - but if there is a weakness I dont know about then I am as well to strip it down and fix it.

The original Honda cable is pretty good in my opinion, its a fairly thick wire which should give minimum stretch/flex. Alternatively try a Venhill cable - their clutch cable I bought was excellent quality. As for brakes I have a TLR250 (well 2 TLR250's to be precise), one had good brakes, one so so but usually acceptable. I also have tried everything to improve the brakes, I tend to regularly change the shoes when they show signs of wear - the worn ones then go into the back wheel. Clean the inside to the drum using a wire brush every 3 or 4 'wet' trials and wire brush the shoes. I have tried grooved shoes and grooving my own shoes using a hacksaw - not yet convinced this helps, the grooves tend to clog up with mud and brake debris/dust. I have tried named brand shoes as well as inexpensive aftermarket shoes - there probably is a difference (EBC sintered shoes were good if my memory serves me well but twice the price of el-cheapo brand and not really longer lasting on my bikes). I have also tried a different style of shoe with a different spring arrangement. A clean drum seems to have more effect. One thing I did find was that the 'stay' that locates the drum in position has some play in it from standard, I have shimed this up on both bikes using thin steel (from a tin!), this also helped a little. When very wet the brakes can be poor but I now know what to expect. John is correct, it makes an appreciable difference. I have learned to drive round the drawbacks of the brakes on the bike - anyone else who tries it after riding disk braked bikes claims there are no front brakes on my bike! When I ride a disk braked bike I tend to lock the wheel all the time! One thing to think about is that the TLR200 has a smaller lining than the 250, the 200 has only 95mm by 25mm shoes while the TLR250 has 110mm by 25mm shoes. The 200 size shoes are usually found on 50 cc Hondas, so it may well feel to be under braked! Gordon

Is there any point in replacing the seals without replacing the main bearings, any wear/play in the main bearings is going to wreck the seals in a relatively short period of time.

Warm up the hub first - hot water, hot air gun or even blow torch. Makes removing bearings a lot easier!.

A plastic coater who is used to 'bike' work will do this as a matter of course - if you need to mask parts off yourself i would be considering changing the plastic coater you use. Alternatively turn down a couple of wooden blanking plugs for the headstock bearings and hold in place with a bit of threaded rod & 2 nuts. A similar technique should be used for the swinging arm bearings. I have had 2 frames coated in the last couple of years and the firm I used advised me to leave the masking/blanking to them. I had no problems with ANY threaded holes or machined surfaces - they used a wax or resin in threaded holes. Even although they advised this course of action I made up blanking plugs as described above - just in case for the headstock bearings. Gordon

,Superhondaman' I got your Email but have been unable to reply - seems like your Email address is dead. Anyway as the operator used to say The number you require is:- 50352-KJ2-000 - Engine Cushion Check out your Email address under your profile & get back in touch Gordon

I only have trials bikes with drum brakes and in practice have only competed on drum braked bikes so I am well aware of their potential failings. I try to ensure my brakes are 'up to the job' as much as possible and know very well how they will react when applied. I for one would not be happy riding a bike where I could not predict the performance of the brakes, be it drums or discs. I componsate for the shortcomings of my brakes in my riding, entering steep downhill sections only after I have 'dried out' my brakes. To a rider of a modern disc braked bike drums can be frightening but if you are used to the bike it should be no real problem - even to a mediocre rider like me - yes you may well drop a couple more marks but ce la vie. What you have got to realise is that in Scotland there are only 4 or 5 trials a year primarily aimed at twinshock or p65, the remainder of the year a reasonable number of riders do compete on P65 and TS bikes in 'normal trials'. Its because of this I would like a disc braked front end, in my case not particularly for better brakes but because of the chance of better suspension. I hope that your crusade against disc braked twinshocks is driven back at the border! Each to their own.

Seen a few pictures of a chrome front pipe for the TLR200 and TLR 250 - any suggestions on a source? Gordon

Personally I cant see what the fuss is over discs being fitted or not - its rider skill that counts, have a look at. http://www.trialscentral.com/cms/showartic...?articleID=1706 Notice the guy with the lowest score overall on the B route (Alan Crayk), he was riding an old twinshock Montesa, drum braked of course, note that the majority of the bikes in the trial were the latest super dooper gas gas, beta, Montesa etc , all with discs front and back. Reading what is posted in this thread he couldnt have done well because he did not have the advantage of disc brakes. Guys I will be delighted if you try to ban discs South of the Border, then I will be able to afford a disc front end for my TLR on Ebay since there will be no more over inflated prices. If someone wants to sell me an obsolete disc front end at a bargain price they no longer can legally use please let me know.

I heard a rumour about that earlier on today!

This is definately NOT the case North of the border. The guys who ride P65 bikes in Scotland enjoy their trials and are heavily involved in the running of the trials clubs. There is no distinction of 'Us' and Them up here, you will see a rider on a P65 bike riding the same sections as as someone on the latest tricked up all singing, all dancing Gas Gas and more importantly riding round with them. I'm pretty sure Boofont will back me on this one. Locally it would suit me since 99% of the time I am the only guy out there on an aircooled mono (and its not a 2 stroke!) I am quite happy riding an older bike in a 'modern' trial - perhaps because it gives me an excuse for my bad scores. Perhaps if a class was run it would drag a few more older bikes out of the woodwork - or 'Big Johns' garage???

I wonder is this observer open to bribes? Take your Sherco so I can see it in the flesh!

Wonder how long your 05 Raga special Gas Gas will keep going - what is it they say one Six days trial and they are worn out?. They are lovely to ride (for a 2 stroke) when they are going though I must admit. Older Gas Gas trials bikes seem to be very thin on the ground, old Fantics & Yamahas you see but not Gas Gas. There are a lot of TLR200 and TLR250 Hondas still running well - the youngest is going to be 10 - 15 years old now. I suspect the % of TLR Hondas still running is higher than the percentage of 5 year old Gas Gas's still running. I do know what you are getting at with chocolate cams- some early 80's Hondas did have a bad reputation. Yes I do have a couple of TLR Hondas and might be slightly biased - as you are in favour of your Gas Gas - there is no doubt that the gas gas is a much more competetive bike but there is one major problem that is it is a 2 stroke!!!.

I think 'Big John' would agree - RTL250 Honda. Its now worth about 3 times as much as any of the other air cooled mono's.

The cam timing can be adjusted by lengthening the bolt holes (by filing) in the cam sprocket.

Perhaps the lack of brakes when the drums are wet is why some of the TS riders in Scotland want a disk front end - in Scotland there are no sections laid out fortwinshocks - they have to ride same trial sections as remainder of novice class. The only difference is Scottish Championship rounds where these are really aimed at P65 class.