Hi Greg Remember that ty basket case I bought in a box for $400.
$400
Well after 4 months and $600 later I have turned it into this masterpiece of ty glory. It's fully serviced from the swing arm bushes up.
History
Not like my JC which is so restored it has lost it's character and my will to take it bush
JC
No one can say this bike is molested. I did have to paint strip several layers of white gunk of the tank to get to the original orange tank
Usable
Greg do you have a orange muffler cover like the white one in your parts bin, happily swop I can paint this one but that would spoil the look. This one looks like it was always white and is straight
Swop for a orange one
Thanks Eric
hindsight is a terable way to learn I'd rather be gifted
Greg Harding wrote: Paulo, no I am pretty sure the frame has not been modified as it rides very similar to my 4 which have standard frame geometry. Is your RL project complete or are you chasing parts?
quote]
G'day Greg, thanks for the reply. The main bits (apart from consumables) I'll be chasing are a decent seat base, muffler, and upper fork tubes. I can make the muffler, and even the seat base, but the fork tubes seem to be the hardest to find. Someone on another forum has mentioned tm250/ts250 forks as an donor option for the uppers, but I think they're longer and would have to be run up through the triples I'm assuming.
Having ridden the unmodified RL's I'd be interested on your take on the necessity of the frame mods that seem to be almost a given?
Cheers Paul
Hi Paul,
Sounds like you are handy at making things, certainly helpfull when working on old bikes. Assuming you know that the fork legs can be rechromed, are they not serviceable, as Takhli44 said if the tubes are pitted and not too bad you can superglue the holes. Fine wet and dry wrapped around the fork leg on an angle and then the oposite angle will finish the repair to match linishing marks similar to honing a cylinder. Would be surprised if TS or TM forks were longer (have not checked) because RL have quite long forks for a trials bike and so many other parts interchange.
As to your question about modifying the frame, again like Takhli44 said it depends on what you want or need the bike to do. Once done, it will never be good for a full restoration and there are other ways to get it to turn better without cutting the frame to change the steering angle. Yes I have heard the stories about how it changes the bike and makes it more rideable, but if they were that good, we would see them at trials. Fact is RL's are rarely seen competing which is a shame.
2017 Newsflash: RUST IS THE NEW BLING !
Team Hardwood, the only licenced trials riders in Coffs Harbour!
Miles of Smiles
Greg Harding
Tioli, The TY is looking good, have you been riding it yet? Sometimes the not so pretty ones can be more fun, personally I find that I am more prone to damaging a nicer bike because I am worried about it.
Pretty sure I do have an exhaust guard (would need painting). The white one could be original if it is off a D or JE model.
Just sharing where I am up to with the KT, the back wheel is back together with Davids spokes (painted again) and a wider rim off a TL125. So chosen because tubeless tyres fit better, this X11 tubeless was on the rim and quite hard to pop the bead.
The tally of pieces is reduced by another 106, have been cleaning engine parts and I am thinking that I won't count them!
2017 Newsflash: RUST IS THE NEW BLING !
Team Hardwood, the only licenced trials riders in Coffs Harbour!
Miles of Smiles
Greg Harding
Just sharing where I am up to with the KT, for some reason there were no top shock mounts? So I drilled and tapped the frame 12x 1.25, screwed in some bolts and Tigwelded the inner end to stop them working loose. Suppose all good creations have a bolt sticking out of each side!
2017 Newsflash: RUST IS THE NEW BLING !
Team Hardwood, the only licenced trials riders in Coffs Harbour!
Miles of Smiles
Greg Harding
Greg Harding wrote: Yes I have heard the stories about how it changes the bike and makes it more rideable, but if they were that good, we would see them at trials. Fact is RL's are rarely seen competing which is a shame.
They are rare here in the USA as well. I heard that was due to Beamish buying up a bunch for the conversion to Beamish? I had a choice between a TY & RL when I bought the RL and thought they rode about the same (RL was stock) but don't think I did anything tight. Perhaps I don't ride well enough to tell the diffrence. I owned a new one "back in the day" so I may have a bias. At any rate, I rather like the modified RL in the photo. Most of our vinues have pine trees, this one doesn't.
Attachments
RL250 Midwest, Wyoming USA
DSC01075.JPG (130.17 KiB) Viewed 5824 times
Don't let competition get in the way of having fun.
Greg Harding wrote: Paulo, no I am pretty sure the frame has not been modified as it rides very similar to my 4 which have standard frame geometry. Is your RL project complete or are you chasing parts?
quote]
G'day Greg, thanks for the reply. The main bits (apart from consumables) I'll be chasing are a decent seat base, muffler, and upper fork tubes. I can make the muffler, and even the seat base, but the fork tubes seem to be the hardest to find. Someone on another forum has mentioned tm250/ts250 forks as an donor option for the uppers, but I think they're longer and would have to be run up through the triples I'm assuming.
Having ridden the unmodified RL's I'd be interested on your take on the necessity of the frame mods that seem to be almost a given?
Cheers Paul
Hi Paul,
Sounds like you are handy at making things, certainly helpfull when working on old bikes. Assuming you know that the fork legs can be rechromed, are they not serviceable, as Takhli44 said if the tubes are pitted and not too bad you can superglue the holes. Fine wet and dry wrapped around the fork leg on an angle and then the oposite angle will finish the repair to match linishing marks similar to honing a cylinder. Would be surprised if TS or TM forks were longer (have not checked) because RL have quite long forks for a trials bike and so many other parts interchange.
As to your question about modifying the frame, again like Takhli44 said it depends on what you want or need the bike to do. Once done, it will never be good for a full restoration and there are other ways to get it to turn better without cutting the frame to change the steering angle. Yes I have heard the stories about how it changes the bike and makes it more rideable, but if they were that good, we would see them at trials. Fact is RL's are rarely seen competing which is a shame.
Fair enough, thanks for the info guys. I think I'll take your advice, fix it up and give trials riding a go first and see if I think it needs work down the track. I can always respray any weld mods that I make if I need to.
The fork tubes are completely rooted, so I'll try some others, see what fits and let you know for your own info.
Hi all and Greg I finally got my Kt started the other day as I thought I should try as it has never been started and with new piston kit from Fred and Debs in NZ and rebore. Just need to finish off throttle cable, get tank and side covers back from Graham Weiss (who does a fantastic paint job) and do something about getting it quieter ( has no baffle in rear muffler). However I'm getting a bit concerned for you Greg. Still a lot of parts that you have to assemble.
The standard KT250 muffler is not the quietest muffler around. Because I practice a fair bit at home (not that far from other homes), I like to have my bikes relatively quiet. I also love to be able to hear the cool whining sound that the primary gear drive makes on KT250s, so as part of getting the KT ready for Conondale, I have test-fitted a Yamaha TY175JC muffler, which are renowned for their noise control capabilities. I also tried a WES made for a TY250, and while it sounded very nice, was not as quiet as the TY175JC. Next weekend is my last trial before Conondale so I will be giving the TY175JC muffler a good try out next weekend and then deciding which to use at Conondale.
Here's a little one of my first ever (pseudo) trials bike.
I'm concentrating on gettting mechanically spot first and then I'll work on the cosmetics. It's actually not as bad as it looks, though. Ultimately, I want to get it registered as I reckon it could be the perfect bike for cruising around vinduro events taking photos.
I owned a new one "back in the day" so I may have a bias. At any rate, I rather like the modified RL in the photo. Most of our vinues have pine trees, this one doesn't.
