The fourstroke era !
1982 HONDA XR200RC
Bought new from Fowlers of Bristol, this XR200RC cost me whopping £1180.00 in November 1982. It didn't take long for me to get it muddy and soon the bike looked very used and abused.
I still own this bike, but it has been off the road since 1991 after covering about 75,000 or more hard miles !
Used as daily transport, trail bike, enduro bike and long distance trial bike, this machine was very cheap to run, returning about 80 Miles per gallon when ridden carefully.
Hopefully this bike will be restored to it's former glory one day. The engine has been rebuilt to a very high standard, and the frame is sitting in my loft space having been powder coated and clear laquered. All it needs is some time !
Work in progress !
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I still own this bike, but it has been off the road since 1991 after covering about 75,000 or more hard miles !
Used as daily transport, trail bike, enduro bike and long distance trial bike, this machine was very cheap to run, returning about 80 Miles per gallon when ridden carefully.
Hopefully this bike will be restored to it's former glory one day. The engine has been rebuilt to a very high standard, and the frame is sitting in my loft space having been powder coated and clear laquered. All it needs is some time !
Work in progress !
More info
1983 YAMAHA XT600
This was the first big bike I owned. I built it myself in the Summer of 1983 from the crate thanks to Keith Dobson of Bob Missen Motorcycles Melksham.
The bike was always a reluctant starter and had a bad habit of cutting out when in a queue of traffic. Added to this was the bad handling at high speed, an impresive weave would start at about 85mph and got worse if you shut the throttle. Experimented with tyre pressures and suspension settings, but it remained a scarey bike to go fast on !
Fell off this bike at slowish speed and cut myself up a bit, and vowed to be rid of it as soon as possible !!
Although a bit heavy to pick up, the XT600 was quite good off road.
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Part exchange this bike for :
The bike was always a reluctant starter and had a bad habit of cutting out when in a queue of traffic. Added to this was the bad handling at high speed, an impresive weave would start at about 85mph and got worse if you shut the throttle. Experimented with tyre pressures and suspension settings, but it remained a scarey bike to go fast on !
Fell off this bike at slowish speed and cut myself up a bit, and vowed to be rid of it as soon as possible !!
Although a bit heavy to pick up, the XT600 was quite good off road.
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Part exchange this bike for :
1986 YAMAHA XT600ZE TENERE
Although I didn't get on well with the XT600, I liked the power characteristics and wanted to go a bit further afield. The XT600ZE Tenere was bought from Richard Stevens Motorcycles in Devizes. He gave me a good price for my unwanted XT600 and I was lucky to get one of the few Teneres that was brought into the UK.
This was a monster of a bike with it's 24 Litre tank and tall seat height. Power was up on the old XT, and best of all it had an electric start as well as the kickstart lever.
As the photo shows, the Tenere was usable off road, but picking up the fallen bike was quite an effort !
Almost unbelievably I ran this bike out of fuel once despite it having a 25 Litre fuel tank, and I had to push it 3 miles to the nearest petrol station !
This bike was sold to Mark Fryer, and the money used to help fund our first home.
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A ' should have kept it ' bike !
This was a monster of a bike with it's 24 Litre tank and tall seat height. Power was up on the old XT, and best of all it had an electric start as well as the kickstart lever.
As the photo shows, the Tenere was usable off road, but picking up the fallen bike was quite an effort !
Almost unbelievably I ran this bike out of fuel once despite it having a 25 Litre fuel tank, and I had to push it 3 miles to the nearest petrol station !
This bike was sold to Mark Fryer, and the money used to help fund our first home.
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A ' should have kept it ' bike !
1975 KAWASAKI MC1B
This bike had been in the family for a very long time, initially belonging to my Mum, who used it extensively for trail riding and daily commuting.
Fitted with longer shocks and bigger wheels front and rear, the MC1B was an easy to ride mini trail bike.
A mildly interesting fact is that these bikes have a great deal of low end power, probably due to the disk valve induction.
It was registered as Kawasaki KM90 in 1976, but was actually a similar, slightly earlier 1975 model MC1B.
The reason I ended up with the bike was that it was in need of a complete exhaust system which was proving very hard to get. Thanks to eBay, I managed to get a usable item from the States. However since then the carb has suffered the effects of modern stale unleaded fuel and has basically dissolved into a green mass !
Now wearing the correct size rims, tyres and shocks, the bike is now :
Work in progress !
More info
Fitted with longer shocks and bigger wheels front and rear, the MC1B was an easy to ride mini trail bike.
A mildly interesting fact is that these bikes have a great deal of low end power, probably due to the disk valve induction.
It was registered as Kawasaki KM90 in 1976, but was actually a similar, slightly earlier 1975 model MC1B.
The reason I ended up with the bike was that it was in need of a complete exhaust system which was proving very hard to get. Thanks to eBay, I managed to get a usable item from the States. However since then the carb has suffered the effects of modern stale unleaded fuel and has basically dissolved into a green mass !
Now wearing the correct size rims, tyres and shocks, the bike is now :
Work in progress !
More info
1982 HONDA XL125/TLR250/CR250 Hybrid
My XR200RC was taken off the road in the early 90's, and I really needed a bike to trail ride on and as a back-up for the car.
Allan Quinney gave me a Honda XL125RC chassis and I grafted Honda CR250RJ suspension parts front and rear.
Also fitted was a special Honda XL185 engine that had been bored and stroked to 250cc using Honda TLR250 components. A 6 speed gearbox was fitted along with an ' XR's only ' high lift cam, 30mm Keihin carb from a Honda XR250, a K&N airfiter in the airbox, a super large plastic tank and a Honda MTX125 seat.
Tall, loud and very fast, this bike saw service until 2003, when it was pulled apart and some parts sold or given back to their owners and other parts used in different projects.
It would later rise from the ashes in 2005 in a milder and lower form !
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Allan Quinney gave me a Honda XL125RC chassis and I grafted Honda CR250RJ suspension parts front and rear.
Also fitted was a special Honda XL185 engine that had been bored and stroked to 250cc using Honda TLR250 components. A 6 speed gearbox was fitted along with an ' XR's only ' high lift cam, 30mm Keihin carb from a Honda XR250, a K&N airfiter in the airbox, a super large plastic tank and a Honda MTX125 seat.
Tall, loud and very fast, this bike saw service until 2003, when it was pulled apart and some parts sold or given back to their owners and other parts used in different projects.
It would later rise from the ashes in 2005 in a milder and lower form !
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1977 YAMAHA XT500D ' JAMES '
Classic ' heap-o-junk ' !
Bought sometime in 2000 from a South Wales bike shop and heaved into the back of a Renault Espace for the trip back to Wiltshire. It had loads of incorrect parts fitted, and a low cost restoration was performed.
Was easy to start and ran well.
Fitted in well with the other two XT500's and the SR500 we had at the same time !
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Another ' should have kept ' bike !
Bought sometime in 2000 from a South Wales bike shop and heaved into the back of a Renault Espace for the trip back to Wiltshire. It had loads of incorrect parts fitted, and a low cost restoration was performed.
Was easy to start and ran well.
Fitted in well with the other two XT500's and the SR500 we had at the same time !
More info
Another ' should have kept ' bike !
1997 HONDA SL230
Starting those XT's and that Honda Hybrid ultimatley caused some damage to the instep of my right foot, and to be able to continue trail riding I needed an electric start bike.
I read some reviews on small trail bikes and the two that shone above the rest were the Yamaha Serow and the Honda SL230. I went for the Honda SL230 because of it's alleged better power characteristics, which seemed to be correct after a short test ride.
Well, this low mileage 1997 bike was truly a dissapointment and ran like a poorly set up XL185, the suspension was crude, the seat forced the rider into an uncomfortable position and the fuel enonomy was bad. The lights were good though !
So after fitting a CRF230 cam, XR250 carb, a custom made seat, CR85 forks, yolks, wheel ( laced to a custom 21" rim ), disk, CR250 19" rear wheel, and lifting the rear suspension, I think the bike is just about ok now !!
Other modifications include a Honda XLR125R sprocket cover, a Honda TLR250 clutch cover, Genuine Honda luggage rack, brush guards and electronic speedo.
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Will probably always be ' work in progress ' !
I read some reviews on small trail bikes and the two that shone above the rest were the Yamaha Serow and the Honda SL230. I went for the Honda SL230 because of it's alleged better power characteristics, which seemed to be correct after a short test ride.
Well, this low mileage 1997 bike was truly a dissapointment and ran like a poorly set up XL185, the suspension was crude, the seat forced the rider into an uncomfortable position and the fuel enonomy was bad. The lights were good though !
So after fitting a CRF230 cam, XR250 carb, a custom made seat, CR85 forks, yolks, wheel ( laced to a custom 21" rim ), disk, CR250 19" rear wheel, and lifting the rear suspension, I think the bike is just about ok now !!
Other modifications include a Honda XLR125R sprocket cover, a Honda TLR250 clutch cover, Genuine Honda luggage rack, brush guards and electronic speedo.
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Will probably always be ' work in progress ' !
HONDA XL125 / 250 Hybrid
Having stripped down the fire breathing Hybrid in 2003, I missed the power of the 250 engine as the Honda SL230 was proving to be a bit tame.
So to make a cheap but usable bike I detuned the 250 engine by fitting a milder cam and much smaller carb. The ever suffering loft space was raided and turned up a tank, seat, forks, wheels and side panels. All I had to buy was the enduro headlamp.
The original TLR250 cylinder was sold on eBay for a fortune, and replaced with a Honda XL185S cylinder, bored out and relined to 70.00mm. Boring and lining was done by Steve Riley of Piston Broke engineering, Bristol.
A useful lightweight trail bike.
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So to make a cheap but usable bike I detuned the 250 engine by fitting a milder cam and much smaller carb. The ever suffering loft space was raided and turned up a tank, seat, forks, wheels and side panels. All I had to buy was the enduro headlamp.
The original TLR250 cylinder was sold on eBay for a fortune, and replaced with a Honda XL185S cylinder, bored out and relined to 70.00mm. Boring and lining was done by Steve Riley of Piston Broke engineering, Bristol.
A useful lightweight trail bike.
More info