Basket Cases

[Bully fanatic]

Wasn`t that Cheltenham address where Trail and Track came from? Or was it Peter Stephens shop?

[Greg Harding]

Hi Everyone,

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Wow, what a find, two piles of puss advertised on the same page.
Not referring to Omodeis, just to avoid any confusion.

Yes I agree Rod, the plastic perches were every bit as bad as the plastic levers.

Wasn`t that Cheltenham address where Trail and Track came from? Or was it Peter Stephens shop?

Graham, I am pretty sure it was one of the Trail and Track crew that came up with the idea or pushed it at least?

What about plastic sprockets, they make you chain last longer

Here is one that I have had for a long time:

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My research when I got it was they were made for Desert Races so I assume good in sand??? They are quite flexible and I have never been game to try it. Interesting the feel of the plastic sprocket is reminiscent of theTuffwheels that I had on one of my Redline BMX bikes back in about that era. They came from the States as well and were far superior quality than the plastic levers and perches in the add above.

[David Lahey]

I can't actually remember what was wrong with the plastic sprockets and don't remember riding with one, but with the right type of plastic, there should be much less rubbing wear caused to the chain by the sprocket and the pin and roller wear on the chain should be no worse than with a metal sprocket.
Does anyone remember what caused the demise of plastic sprockets?

[tat ty]

I recall having a bright orange plastic sprocket in an effort to match the red orange paint on a TY175. I don't recall ever having an issue with it.

[David Lahey]

Wasn`t that Cheltenham address where Trail and Track came from? Or was it Peter Stephens shop?

Pretty sure it was the address for Trail & Track. I wonder why they were selling handlebar levers? I'm trying to remember if T&T gave unbreakable levers some sort of positive spin in bike tests or hop-up articles because they wanted to sell more.

Anyway, Rod motivated me to have a look in my shed to see if I could find a plastic lever from the era and was amazed to find three different types. The red one is quite a bit stiffer than the black ones so might not be quite as woeful to use

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Two of them were branded.

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and they were all less than half the weight of an aluminium lever!!!!

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[David Lahey]

I noticed in a photo in my previous post that there was a brand on the red lever so here's a close-up of it. It didn't ring a bell with me

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[David Lahey]

You sometimes get some pretty weird stuff on old bikes when you buy them. This is one lever from a pair of levers that came on the weirdest TY175 that I have ever bought. I think they are bicycle handlebar levers.

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[Kurt]

I have managed to take the TY175 for a proper ride on the weekend and I am impressed with the improvement made by the fitment of the DT175 head.

The carburation has not been affected and the bike ran sweetly once warmed up.
The power is increased throughout the rev range and it does not have any savage peaks added.

The greatest improvement is off the bottom end when you have the engine labouring, the duration of this zone is much reduced before the pipe/power producing zone of the TY175 engine is reached.

[Greg Harding]

Hi Everyone,

I have managed to take the TY175 for a proper ride on the weekend and I am impressed with the improvement made by the fitment of the DT175 head.

The carburation has not been affected and the bike ran sweetly once warmed up.
The power is increased throughout the rev range and it does not have any savage peaks added.

The greatest improvement is off the bottom end when you have the engine labouring, the duration of this zone is much reduced before the pipe/power producing zone of the TY175 engine is reached.

Do you have one of these Kurt?

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It would be interesting to know the difference in shape between the two heads. Maybe trace the shape of each combustion chamber overlapped in 2 different colours? Also the actual capacity of each head? Maybe the heads have the same shape with more machined of the DT one?

While we are on TYs, does anyone know what this 428 10T sprocket is off?

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It is the same width and fits the spline albeit with a little resistance but not compatible with the retaining nut and tab washer.

[David Lahey]

It would have to be a pretty special nut and washer for that tiny 10T 428 sprocket.
From memory the 1970s sprocket splines are the same as TY175/250