Trials Australia Forums

Greg Harding wrote: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:

1594455990735.jpg

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 :Honda: could tell some stories, when I first heard about it, all I knew was it was a :Honda: 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 :Honda: 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:

1594456040883.jpg

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]

JC1 wrote:

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.

chippy wrote:Hi Everyone,
Reading with interest the transformations of some of these Basket Cases. I have another on the go, but very slow progress. Custard Tarts, Bloody Honda’s, TLRhhhh’s, Butthercup, I wonder what other names people or partners or wives have called their projects.

JB, I wonder if anyone has got any photos to share of the Custard Tart that you refer to? I don’t recall seeing such a thing..

Chippy

SQUAT 405 wrote:Hi Chippy ,,,, Sorry to say that no pix exist that im aware of , And to be fair you dont want to see em as this thing was very ordinary ,,,,, To give you an idea everything was CUSTARD TART YELLOW except the rubber bits ,,,,,JB,,,,,,,,,

brent j wrote:

chippy wrote:Hi Everyone,
Reading with interest the transformations of some of these Basket Cases. I have another on the go, but very slow progress. Custard Tarts, Bloody Honda’s, TLAhhhh’s, Butthercup, I wonder what other names people or partners or wives have called their projects.

JB, I wonder if anyone has got any photos to share of the Custard Tart that you refer to? I don’t recall seeing such a thing..

Chippy

As for names.................Greg Harding called his modified RL "squeamish", I assume as a cheeky slant at Beamish
Since I copied Gregs wirk perhaps mine could be called "Squirmish" as an acknowledgement of Greg's bike but a little different

David Lahey wrote:

SQUAT 405 wrote:Hi Chippy ,,,, Sorry to say that no pix exist that im aware of , And to be fair you dont want to see em as this thing was very ordinary ,,,,, To give you an idea everything was CUSTARD TART YELLOW except the rubber bits ,,,,,JB,,,,,,,,,

JB you've got me trying to remember if I've seen it or not and do I have a photo?

David Lahey wrote:I haven't found a photo of any custard tarts yet but did stumble across this interesting looking .
Photo taken at the 2008 Qld Titles

1594813185636.jpg (330.59 KiB) Viewed 2319 times

whitehillbilly wrote:I had an RL sitting next to your James, for many years in My shed.
Wonder where the RL went.
Unlike the James
I bet the RL is still in the tweed somewhere. Have to make some inquiries.
whitehillbillies