Trials Australia Forums

JC1 wrote:Brent, I just went back to p228 and the pics of your bike and you are correct in thinking they are not RL forks on it. The RL sliders are quite different shape at the bottom, above and below the axle. Also RL forks have the oil drain screw at the back not the side and do not have a lug on LH slider for the brake cable.

I will chase up a set of RL forks when I get the bike finished. The current forks have about 4mm less offset so give a little more trail. I don't know how much it will affect the bike but then again the frame is so different I'd probably never know.

Hi Everyone,

brent j wrote:My bike appears to have SP250 fork legs and they could be longer than RL, I’m trying to work this out.

Brent, I think the SP 370 I had here had 36 mm forks, those forks of yours look a little Hondaish to me, maybe XL 250, the model after Motosport? Here is a photo of RL forks:

David Lahey wrote:Well a virtual ride on the Hardwood T L ahhhhhhh is probably a good thing because if I had a real ride down there in the lush mountain terrain, I'd be worried about getting more bullet holes in the tank. Have you been riding too close to some hemp production facilities again?

Ah David, I think like Brent's bike this could tell some stories, when I first heard about it, all I knew was it was a TL and it was Red. My first thoughts was it must be the TL 125 that I tried to buy many years before that someone had painted the tank red and they called it a "Fully Imported Model" and wanted way too much for what it was. The look on their face was priceless when I told them there is no such thing as a TL that was made in Australia! To me it was like looking at a Grey Fergy with the Bonnet and guards painted Red to modernize it to look like a Massey Ferguson. Anyway I digress, I was pleasantly surprised when I turned up and saw the bike but dissapointed about how incomplete it was. The owner said that was how it came to him and the previous owner had no clue why it was incomplete. My theory is someone had a TLR 250 and raided all of bits for spares that were the same and easily unbolted and then sold what was left?

Sourcing all of the bits I needed took quite a while and I had help from a lot of people, I won't mention names as I am worried that I will leave someone out. The bashplate served some time grinding over Denman Rocks and the seat base came from North of you. The header pipe and carby came off TLR 250s that has been featured in these pages. Believe it or not but the rear shocks came off a "Custard Tart"! The rear guard and silencer were reworked from the TLM 200 featured on the home page along with throttle assembly and cables. The Handlebars came with the BLOODY and were not used on it as they did not suit the BLOODY colour scheme. The rear rim came off the TL 125 that also featured on the homepage and then there is the brakes, well that is another story.

The inlet manifold was quite elusive as they are different to XR 200 but I eventually found one in the US on dare I say it ebay, bought and paid for it only to have the owner inform me he would not send overseas! A little bittersweet but I found another bloke in the US selling a TLR 200 Reflex air box that had the lid I needed and was kind enough to give me his address so I could get the manifold sent to him. He then sent both lots over together so it worked out in the end, Happy Days!

Now back to the Virtual rides, there have been some issues and I am prepared to admit I probably shouldn't have parked it in a log jam? So I have moved it to here:

It seems some people, (I won't mention any names here either) have had issues taking off, wobbled and ended up in the River! Anyway it is fixed now and here it comes: [marq=left]TLAhhhhhhhhhhhh[/marq]

My spare standard frame above my Greg Harding inspired modified frame. The corrugations on the door behind give a good indication of the difference. The second pic is a comparison of the rear engine/swingarm area. Getting there......

The things that give you motivation.
Hopefully the parts I'm fitting now won't have to come back off until after it's been running and I decide to tidy it up. Wasn't sure about the position of the rear guard at first but it allows full travel and it's starting to grow on me. I'm so tempted to take the week off and finish it.

RE CUSTARD TART was a Honda rebuilt and restored to a high quality engine wise by a well known and respected engine builder on the Gold Coast ,that has built and still does build high performance road race motors ,also very skilled in all types of motorcycle motors ,including trials, the rest of the thing was painted and powder coated in a CUSTARD TART YELLOW color I rode this motorcycle on a few occasions it preformed really well and was a seriously competitive and also a fun motorcycle to ride ,,,,it just looked like crap ,,,,eventually was sold to Tim B and a conversion was started to make a Rothmans Honda replica Repainting and replacing everything except the motor and frame ,,,,,, the custard tart rear shocks were removed and stored for sometime as new ones were fitted ,,,, I was in need of some parts for my project ty 80 that Greg had ,,, we were working out a deal for swaps as no amount money seemed to interest Greg to any great degree for the parts he had that i wanted ,,,He asked me if i knew anyone who had shocks for a tl 250 honda ,,and i answered i do and i have ,,,,, deal done ... ,,,,JB

Reading about CUSTARD TART, I recall another Custard Tart which was a TY I think and ridden often by MR. So there must have been more than 1 Custard Tart. I don't remember the Honda one ridden by JB.
Would some one with a better memory please explain???? Was there a batch of Custard Tart paint that fell off the back of a truck and circulated around the southern Qld trials community???
I await an explanation.
Cheers,
TerrY

RE CUSTARD TART Hi Terry this custard tart HONDA was originally owned by RR ,,,,, I was lucky enough to be offered a couple of rides on it ,,,then it was on sold to TB , and was undergoing transformation to a Rothmans replica in my workshop ,, nearing completion but not quite finished ,,, it was on sold and some original parts were left over ,,,JB,,,,

brent j wrote:The things that give you motivation.
Hopefully the parts I'm fitting now won't have to come back off until after it's been running and I decide to tidy it up. Wasn't sure about the position of the rear guard at first but it allows full travel and it's starting to grow on me. I'm so tempted to take the week off and finish it.

Love your work Brent, and the comparo pics. Thanks for posting progress.

No doubt the SP forks are too long but it looks like the shocks are too. I realize it's only a mock-up, but if it's any help my Koni catalogue lists 13" shocks as replacements for the RL and I'm guessing that's about the length of the standard RL shocks.

Regarding the forks I noticed that the parts list/diagram for the SP/DR250 forks shows a spacer atop the spring so as you are probably aware you could shorten those forks as a temporary measure by shortening/removing that spacer and placing an equivalent spacer under the top-out spring (in a way that won't interfere with the rebound damping flow). No doubt spring rate will still be too stiff but it might at least get you some test rides to see how it handles until you can get some RL forks.

I would expect the small amount of extra trail given by the SP sliders would give a small improvement to the RL's steering geometry so it might be worth your while to keep using the sliders even when you get some RL forks.

Looks like I've got another "custard tart" on the way, my wife prefers to call it "Buttercup"

Twinshock200 wrote:Looks like I've got another "custard tart" on the way, my wife prefers to call it "Buttercup"

What does it taste like Roger? Butter or custard?