mrmikkelsen Posted May 30, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 30, 2019 Hey Gordh, I love it! How'd the gearing work out? What sprocket sizes do you have on there, and is first gear just the right speed? Neat little trials sized tank too. What's that thing off of? My original tank looks HUGE! Updates are coming soon. Thanks for sharing, Jon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordh Posted May 30, 2019 Report Share Posted May 30, 2019 Hey Jon, the tank is from a Suzuki jr 50 ordered from e-bay, I took a bit of a chance on fit but went on pretty well. Sprockets are 12-60. Everything I did was for weight savings, the stock exhaust on these are brutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmikkelsen Posted April 23, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 23, 2020 I am learning how to weld aluminum, so I built this airbox for the xl trials conversion. I know it is a terrible waste of resources, but I just didn't want to run an exposed sock filter. Though a sock filter fits nicely protected inside here now. I still need to give it a drain.... Next step, making a trials seat pan with an integral cover for the exposed rear tank mount, and a set of side panels designed to sit flush with the frame rails, but to otherwise look just like the stockers. First step, make them in card stock. More aluminum welding practice to come! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
section swept Posted April 24, 2020 Report Share Posted April 24, 2020 Theres just something about a ‘special’ maybe its character or just that its not like all the rest! There’s an idea, forget all those classes, easy route, hard route etc ...just have a ‘specials’ route. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmikkelsen Posted May 11, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2020 I've been playing with aluminum fabrication some more. My welding skills are awful, but my grinding and filling skills are really coming along..... I wanted the side panels to be stock shape, but narrower. These will get painted the standard stock flash red maybe even with the proper oem style decals. I wanted a flat trials seat base for a foam pad, but it left the rear tank mount exposed which looked awful. I built this little shell to cover that part of the tank to extend the tank line back I 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordh Posted May 11, 2020 Report Share Posted May 11, 2020 nice aluminum work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmikkelsen Posted May 12, 2020 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2020 (edited) On 5/11/2020 at 4:57 PM, gordh said: nice aluminum work Thanks Gordh, My riding buddy Ken Faro taunted me some time ago when I couldn't find proper side panels for an xl125 motocrosser I was building. "You can make those" he said, so somehow I did. First make them in paper. Then cut out a thick plywood piece that same shape. Then cut the 1-2mm thick aluminum sheet a little bigger. Clamp the al to the wood and hammer the edges around the plywood to roll the edges over, cut seams to allow them to fold nicely, and weld the gaps. Rolling the edges around the odd shapes that weren't wood-blockable was easier than I though it was going to be. I clamped a car tire iron tightly in the vise and using the tongue shaped tip as an anvil, I whacked the edges in shape with a dead blow hammer and it was surpringly cooperative. Tig welding aluminum is something I've wanted to try for years and it is just like golf for me. Just enough goes right to keep me trying but it is otherwise 90% frustration and expensive. Time and pressure Andy, time and pressure. - Red, from Shawshank. Edited July 17, 2020 by mrmikkelsen typos 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordh Posted June 7, 2020 Report Share Posted June 7, 2020 Jon , have you rode your bike yet ? If so wondering what you think of adding weight to the rotor. I would like to but it just doesn't seem possible with this rotor -stator design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmikkelsen Posted June 25, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2020 On 6/7/2020 at 11:51 AM, gordh said: Jon , have you rode your bike yet ? If so wondering what you think of adding weight to the rotor. I would like to but it just doesn't seem possible with this rotor -stator design. Hi Gord, I have thought about this, so I've been collecting flywheels to compare. I made a race bike out of one of these motors a while back and just removed the added on flywheel weight to gain more throttle response. This one though I expect will benefit from more weight. The XL's stock weight disc seems to be about the same as the atc200x flywheel that I have. I was hoping the atc's would be heavier. Since the stock weight comes off so easily, it might also be easy to have one made thicker the riveting it to the flywheel in place of the stock one. I'm going to ride it before doing anything like that though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmikkelsen Posted June 25, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2020 I painted the body panels, not a perfect match to the DC fenders, but for a rider it will be just fine. Stickers are made, including extensions for the rear tank cowling. I don't want to stick them on until last though. The motor is waiting for camchain guides. I bought some aftermarket ones, and they kept sending shorter ones, like they are made for the 125 shorter stroke motor. Not much left now! Seat pad, front wheel bearings, finish the motor, rebuild the shocks and figure out springs and damping, then put the pieces all together and make them get along. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmikkelsen Posted June 25, 2020 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2020 While I'm here, here's a picture of the motor in process. The engine covers were painted silver stock, but I know I'll beat it up and make any paint look awful. The new CRF's come with bare metal engine covers, so I stripped the paint, cleaned the parts with an acid solution designed to pre-clean aluminum before welding. They look like they just came off of the casting machine on the production line. The hardware all went out to Hayward Electroplating for a fresh zinc coating. That's the best $150 ever spent on a restoration, spokes, bolts, clips, everything looks brand new for what amounts to not a whole lot of money. The rod small end bearing was seized so it got a new rod kit. That's a big finned cylinder from an atc bored to 66mm to fit the new high compression Wiseco piston which should give it a bit more grunt. It needed the top end work anyway because a choke plate screw fell out of the cheap aftermarket carb it had on it. The screw was missing but there were a zillion indentations in the combustion chamber to tell its story. I left the stock transmission in it. Though the gap between first and second gear is wider than what the Seeley trials or the TLR had, what is a guy to do? I thought the xl125 six speed tranny would help, but the 1-2 gap is just as big in that gearbox. Maybe I should have fitted a TL125 lower end or tranny in this lower end, but I can't find anything on compatibility and didn't get one in my hands before I ran out of patience and put this one back together. Any ideas on that front would be welcome. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordh Posted June 25, 2020 Report Share Posted June 25, 2020 18 hours ago, mrmikkelsen said: While I'm here, here's a picture of the motor in process. The engine covers were painted silver stock, but I know I'll beat it up and make any paint look awful. The new CRF's come with bare metal engine covers, so I stripped the paint, cleaned the parts with an acid solution designed to pre-clean aluminum before welding. They look like they just came off of the casting machine on the production line. The hardware all went out to Hayward Electroplating for a fresh zinc coating. That's the best $150 ever spent on a restoration, spokes, bolts, clips, everything looks brand new for what amounts to not a whole lot of money. The rod small end bearing was seized so it got a new rod kit. That's a big finned cylinder from an atc bored to 66mm to fit the new high compression Wiseco piston which should give it a bit more grunt. It needed the top end work anyway because a choke plate screw fell out of the cheap aftermarket carb it had on it. The screw was missing but there were a zillion indentations in the combustion chamber to tell its story. I left the stock transmission in it. Though the gap between first and second gear is wider than what the Seeley trials or the TLR had, what is a guy to do? I thought the xl125 six speed tranny would help, but the 1-2 gap is just as big in that gearbox. Maybe I should have fitted a TL125 lower end or tranny in this lower end, but I can't find anything on compatibility and didn't get one in my hands before I ran out of patience and put this one back together. Any ideas on that front would be welcome. https://sites.google.com/site/vpcrabtree/home/xr200 Lots of good info here on these engines and what swaps among them. I have been keeping my eyes open for an xl125s engine for the 6 speed but few come up here. About the rotor weight I am going play around with it next winter, I'll start with the riveted on ring just seems like not a lot to be gained weight wise Your bike is looking great by the way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmikkelsen Posted July 17, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 17, 2020 The custom 15x37x12 bearings finally came in all the way from China so the original front wheel can work with the bigger axle forks. $20 and the local M&M Machine shop kindly bored out the backing plate to match. My brazing job on the front fender mount broke when I tried to bend the tab so the fender would fit right. I guess it is good to catch sub-standard work before it causes a failure in the field, eh? A careful eye can spot that the side stand is now on the swingarm instead of its original spot on the frame. That frame spot is now taken by the rear set footpegs so the stand had to go elsewhere. The stand is about 5" or so longer now, two stands are grafted together to make the one long one. I hope the spring is strong enough to keep the longer stand in position while riding. Remaining is the drive chain guide, reworking the shocks, sorting the rear brake pedal, front fender mount, and little details. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmikkelsen Posted July 18, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 18, 2020 I know it is a tiny step, but the front fender really makes it look more complete to me, so here it is. The control cables are way too long. What is the go to place to buy solder-on cable ends so I can shorten the cables? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmikkelsen Posted July 23, 2020 Author Report Share Posted July 23, 2020 A local decal guy made me some stickers pretty close to the originals. The white border isn't true to the originals, but it allowed him to stack the layers of colors easier. I need to find a tough clear overlay as these are quite thin and I'd like them to last. Is there anything better than plain old contact paper? The front brake cable is too long since it is designed to go around all the lighting and instrument stuff that this bike no longer has. Flander's still supplies cable ends, so I ordered some and plan to shorten the cables. We used to make cables in the shop where I worked decades ago, so hopefully I can get that done. I need to revalve and respring the shocks and I don't know a hill of beans about trials damping. I have a ty175, so I guess I'll try to make the shocks feel more or less like those? Light on the damping and light on the springs sounds about right. If anybody is actually following this old thread and knows something about trials shocks I'd love to hear your thoughts. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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