Basket Cases

[Twinshock200]

Thanks Greg, but I'm not finished yet, I'll be doing all the SQTA events next year so I'll see you around.
As a senior I find the costs of a licence, entry fees for local events and titles events and the seemingly ever expanding locations for Qld events prohibitive and a great stimulous to give the MQ licence the flick. We also used to have decent value for our entry fees but the number of sections are diminishing and the severity gets worse,,,,,,,,,, am I throwing up a few reasons why the sport isn't growing in Qld ???
The only area that seems to be growing is in the number of Twinshock bikes out there and I'm sure there would be more Classics if the sections were more suitable,,,, and that brings me to the subject of a T/shock, Classic club being formed which I raised 7 years ago but now its 7 years to late for me to push it any further.

One message I would give to the Qld clubs, who are mostly presided over by some ex Australian champions and A grade riders,

"Guys have a look at the numbers in each class at your events, the majority are average riders who want to go to work the next day without having to rebuild their bike before the next event, reduce section severity, who cares if there's a tie for 1st place on 1 mark lost, we have tie break solutions, furthest clean, highest number of cleans, first to finish, oldest rider and we could make a dozen more"
I've done all the jobs in running a club and I've set more sections than most blokes would believe but that doesn't count in some eyes,,,,,, as some might have noticed at Conondale my new hobby still only has two wheels but I can sleep in it, take a shower and watch TV,,,, watch out you old grey nomads, I'm coming to get ya !!!!!
Galps

[Greg Harding]

Hi Everyone,

Chippy asked for a photo so here is our Ariel 500cc at Conondale in November 2016. In keeping with this forum's subject here it is again in 2013 as a collection of parts about to be shipped from Belfast to Brisbane. The engine is from a scrambler hence HS on the timing cover. The frame is from a trials Ariel HT. My brother Jon collected the frame and engine 30 years ago. I managed to find and make the missing parts and put it altogether for the first time in early 2015. It needs to be geared down and tuned for trials but is already fun to ride.

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Love your work Peter, almost as much as I loved the sound of the Thumper when you ride off!

On a side note, is that a Wig Wam in the background or is it a Tee Pee?

[David Lahey]

When I got my KT250 to a ride-able state in about 2002, first off I ran a second-hand 13T TY175 front sprocket that I had manually reshaped the spline on, to fit the KT. A bit later, I managed to buy one new 13 tooth 428 chain sprocket for it.

A few years after that I was lucky enough to buy a NOS genuine Kawasaki rear sprocket from a friend in South Australia.
Now it is 2016 and sometime in 2017 the sprockets on the bike will probably be worn out enough to need to be replaced. Of course I have known this time would eventually arrive so have been looking for a replacement 428 chain front sprocket for a long time.
The photo shows the packaging for the one I bought in 2002 and you would think that with the wonders of the internet it would be pretty easy to track one down. I didn't go to the trouble of trying to phone the manufacturer in the US or anything else drastic, but did try things like looking up the JT and Renthal sprocket catalogues every now and then, and trying to work out if there was some other bike that shared the KT spline dimensions and ran 428 chain (there are plenty of bikes that have that same spline and run 520 chain)
So for anyone else interested and Chippy in particular, there are two eBay sellers currently listing 13T 428 chain KT front sprockets for reasonable prices, and if you read the listing you will see that there apparently is another bike that uses that sprocket (that will catch Greg's eye)

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/231853401030 ... EBIDX%3AIT

As for the blue cloth I used for the photo, I'm working towards getting a silver platter like Greg's but am not quite there yet

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[Peter Sampson]

Greg,

Wig wam or tee pee haven't you got anything better to think about? Perhaps you're too tense!

Peter

[TerrY]

Greg,

The tent is really neither. It closely resembles a TP but a wigwam is quite different. A wigwam is the dwelling of the eastern tribes and is quite a different shape - look it up on Google. The TP is used on the prairies and can easily be moved as required. Greg's tent resembles the TP in shape but is a modern take on it using modern materials. Didn't it blow down at Stanthorpe??

Cheers,
TerrY

[David Lahey]

I think Greg's tent/tipi has collapsed at quite a few trials, without even having to resort to sabotage

[Greg Harding]

Hi Everyone,

After studying that photo in detail, I can't see Myself!
Maybe I am Intense?

Now did someone mention ? Here is my latest aquision, it jumped into my trailer and followed me home.

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[David Lahey]

You have certainly lived up to the man image Greg

[JC1]

Chippy asked for a photo so here is our Ariel 500cc at Conondale in November 2016. In keeping with this forum's subject here it is again in 2013 as a collection of parts about to be shipped from Belfast to Brisbane. The engine is from a scrambler hence HS on the timing cover. The frame is from a trials Ariel HT. My brother Jon collected the frame and engine 30 years ago. I managed to find and make the missing parts and put it altogether for the first time in early 2015. It needs to be geared down and tuned for trials but is already fun to ride.

Welcome to the forum Peter. Did you compete on the Ariel or your Bantam?


That's quite a trick bit of kit. Ceriani forks, Bantam rear hub & lots of alloy. A little birdie tells me it has shed a full 20kg compared to a standard Ariel HT5.


I missed this year's event. Did Rob Leggatt ride his little 4 stroke Honda classic?


And another good find Greg.

[David Lahey]

For the last few years my KT exhaust has been a bit too noisy for me to hear clearly the lovely drive train whine that is such a feature of the KT. The causes of the extra noise were:
A very thin (original) header pipe that had already split along the seam and been rewelded
A hole (noise and gas leak) near the cylinder end
The muffler had a dodgy baffle I cobbled up in a hurry about 5 years ago after the original one fell apart on a trail ride

No-one sells off-the-shelf exhaust headers for the KT250 so I made one from preformed tube bends and a piece of 10mm steel plate! (for the end ring)
After fixing those exhaust problems, I was amazed at how much better the motor ran, especially down low. Now I can joyfully revel in that wonderful whine again and it is even easier to ride

I took photos of the work on the header at the time and have finally got around to posting them up