Trials Australia Forums

Anyone remember when Mick Butler won this event, 25 0dd years ago, Beating, Modified Bultaco's, TY's Montessa's Honda's, and everything else, Twin Shock ????
Terry Tefler, now owns my old 197 James Captain.
Roadster frame, from Brisvagas somewhere. 197 and 150 Villiers motors from Pioneer Cycles, Nambour, and weeks of work.
150 motor, went into Mick's CZ rigid. 197 into my James. both with 3 speed Villiers boxes.
Was sold to Mick when I got deported. ( Another story for SQTA Chrissy party ) And I was on the search for a genuine classic. The Greeves was found.

whitehillbilly

I rode that James Captain last weekend. Was more than a little impressed how nicely it steered, handled and pulled up high creek banks. Nicely developed considering it was once a street bike.

Hi JC1,
I tweeked the frame, heating the two steering tubes, then with a rope I wound it up and back till it was the same wheel base as the works James trial bikes.
I was hard on it, so broke everything I could break, then fixed the problems.Terry should never break anything.
It pull so much better than other Villiers 6E motor, Trial bike competing at the time. At on Trial, the barrel was removed and loaned for measurement made and ports checked. Think Ron Chadwick may have been involved.
Came back stock standard. I made the exhaust system.
Maybe be I just fluked everything spot on. Carby, exhaust, and timing setup.
I just dropped the base barrel gasket, and shaved a mm off the head, Did make up a full circle crank, adding alloy blocks to a 'T'
bob crank, and had it machined up. Don't know if Terry is running this crank.
Also it could swim quite well. See If I can find the pic.
Happy to see my Old James, still around, and being used, for what I developed it for. The roaster tank did leave nice bruises on my knees , at the end of a days riding

whitehillbilly

I tho't the rake seemed pulled in a bit for a street bike of the day. Who fit the Betor front end - you or Terrry?

I ran The stock STD front end. Rubber knee pads on Tank pic, was my ownership days.
Top seal being one 'O' ring, held in place by a split brass collar, made changing 'O' rings easy.
Loved the days of myself, having a strange idea/design, and lucky enough to have a couple of older engineers, retired, that gave me the time of day, to experiment.
Remember one saying, 'nothing is easy, when you walk in my workshop' any way the collar worked.
Not sure if Mick Butler or Terry made the changes.
The front bend of the exhaust was made by filling a exhaust pipe section with dry sand. wooden plug tapped into each end. Plumber mate heating with oxy and hand bending. Good old days.

whitehillbilly

whitehillbilly wrote:The front bend of the exhaust was made by filling a exhaust pipe section with dry sand. wooden plug tapped into each end. Plumber mate heating with oxy and hand bending. Good old days.
whitehillbilly

I helped my dad make an exhaust pipe for his 16H Norton the same way in about 1971. He bought a piece of straight copper tubing and used trapped sand for the header pipe sweep bend, using an LPG torch and soldered-on end caps. Fond memories

In the early 70s my mate produced a straight through exhaust for his XL250 as a school metalwork project. Trapped sand method. Topped the class.

Back when I was a lad that was how you bent tubes in school.

My brother picked up a tube that had been bent about thirty minutes prior to find it still very hot. He let out a rather loud F... just as the headmaster walked into the metal shop. The school got a tube bender the next year.