Basket Cases

Need help finding information or parts for that old machine in your shed? Someone in here will know!

Moderator: Moderators

brent j
B grade participant
B grade participant
Posts: 67
Joined: Tue Jul 28, 2015 9:42 pm
Bike: RL250
Club: Darwin motorcyle club

Re: Basket Cases

Postby brent j » Sat Jul 11, 2020 3:14 pm

JC1 wrote:Brent, I just went back to p228 and the pics of your bike and you are correct in thinking they are not RL forks on it. The RL sliders are quite different shape at the bottom, above and below the axle. Also RL forks have the oil drain screw at the back not the side and do not have a lug on LH slider for the brake cable.


I will chase up a set of RL forks when I get the bike finished. The current forks have about 4mm less offset so give a little more trail. I don't know how much it will affect the bike but then again the frame is so different I'd probably never know.



User avatar
Greg Harding
Golden Basket of Smiles
Golden Basket of Smiles
Posts: 885
Joined: Tue Mar 03, 2009 7:33 pm
Bike: NUMEROUS
Club: LRMTC & SQTA

Honda CREATION

Postby Greg Harding » Sat Jul 11, 2020 7:48 pm

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 :suzuki RL forks:
1594455990735.jpg
1594455990735.jpg (169.26 KiB) Viewed 2369 times

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
1594456040883.jpg (171.98 KiB) Viewed 2369 times

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: TLAhhhhhhhhhhhh


2017 Newsflash: RUST IS THE NEW BLING !
Team Hardwood, the only licenced trials riders in Coffs Harbour!
Miles of Smiles
Greg Harding

brent j
B grade participant
B grade participant
Posts: 67
Joined: Tue Jul 28, 2015 9:42 pm
Bike: RL250
Club: Darwin motorcyle club

Frame comparison

Postby brent j » Sun Jul 12, 2020 10:00 pm

My spare standard frame above my Greg Harding inspired modified frame. The corrugations on the door behind give a good indication of the difference. The second pic is a comparison of the rear engine/swingarm area. Getting there......
Attachments
24 Frames 2.jpg
24 Frames 2.jpg (509.31 KiB) Viewed 2320 times
23 Frames 1.jpg
23 Frames 1.jpg (408.78 KiB) Viewed 2320 times



brent j
B grade participant
B grade participant
Posts: 67
Joined: Tue Jul 28, 2015 9:42 pm
Bike: RL250
Club: Darwin motorcyle club

Results give motivation

Postby brent j » Sun Jul 12, 2020 10:02 pm

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.
Attachments
22 bike RHS.jpg
22 bike RHS.jpg (698.34 KiB) Viewed 2320 times



SQUAT 405
B grade participant
B grade participant
Posts: 64
Joined: Wed Jan 28, 2009 9:51 pm
Bike: beta 13 factort 300
Club: S.Q.t.A.
Location: Gold Coast Q.L.D.

RE Honda CREATION

Postby SQUAT 405 » Mon Jul 13, 2020 3:03 pm

RE CUSTARD TART was a Honda rebuilt and restored to a high quality engine wise by a well known and respected engine builder on the Gold Coast ,that has built and still does build high performance road race motors ,also very skilled in all types of motorcycle motors ,including trials, the rest of the thing was painted and powder coated in a CUSTARD TART YELLOW color :shock: I rode this motorcycle on a few occasions it preformed really well and was a seriously competitive and also a fun motorcycle to ride ,,,,it just looked like crap ,,,,eventually was sold to Tim B and a conversion was started to make a Rothmans Honda replica Repainting and replacing everything except the motor and frame ,,,,,, the custard tart rear shocks were removed and stored for sometime as new ones were fitted ,,,, I was in need of some parts for my project ty 80 that Greg had ,,, we were working out a deal for swaps as no amount money seemed to interest Greg to any great degree for the parts he had that i wanted ,,,He asked me if i knew anyone who had shocks for a tl 250 Honda ,,and i answered i do and i have ,,,,, deal done ... :P ,,,,JB



TerrY
B grade participant
B grade participant
Posts: 66
Joined: Fri Nov 25, 2011 5:42 pm
Bike: Beta 200
Club: WDTC
Location: U Brookfield

Re: Basket Cases

Postby TerrY » Mon Jul 13, 2020 4:03 pm

Reading about CUSTARD TART, I recall another Custard Tart which was a TY I think and ridden often by MR. So there must have been more than 1 Custard Tart. I don't remember the Honda one ridden by JB.
Would some one with a better memory please explain???? Was there a batch of Custard Tart paint that fell off the back of a truck and circulated around the southern Qld trials community???
I await an explanation.
Cheers,
TerrY



SQUAT 405
B grade participant
B grade participant
Posts: 64
Joined: Wed Jan 28, 2009 9:51 pm
Bike: beta 13 factort 300
Club: S.Q.t.A.
Location: Gold Coast Q.L.D.

Re: Basket Cases

Postby SQUAT 405 » Mon Jul 13, 2020 7:46 pm

RE CUSTARD TART Hi Terry this custard tart Honda was originally owned by RR ,,,,, I was lucky enough to be offered a couple of rides on it ,,,then it was on sold to TB , and was undergoing transformation to a Rothmans replica in my workshop ,, nearing completion but not quite finished ,,, it was on sold and some original parts were left over ,,,JB,,,, 8)



JC1
Expert participant
Expert participant
Posts: 387
Joined: Tue Apr 26, 2011 4:15 pm
Bike: Bul, KT, TY
Club: wdtc
Location: Toowoomba, Qld

Re: Results give motivation

Postby JC1 » Tue Jul 14, 2020 9:48 am

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.


"Men are never more likely to settle a matter rightly than when they can discuss it freely"

Twinshock200
Expert participant
Expert participant
Posts: 273
Joined: Sat Apr 16, 2011 2:19 am
Bike: Classics & Twinshock
Club: SQTA
Location: Queensland
Location: Redland Bay

Re: Basket Cases

Postby Twinshock200 » Tue Jul 14, 2020 4:44 pm

Looks like I've got another "custard tart" on the way, my wife prefers to call it "Buttercup"
Attachments
DSC09503.JPG
DSC09503.JPG (1.63 MiB) Viewed 2177 times


Pre 65 Classic bikes

David Lahey
Champion
Champion
Posts: 4062
Joined: Thu Jun 05, 2003 7:01 pm
Bike: Many Twinshocks
Club: CQTC Inc, RTC Inc
Location: Gladstone, Queensland

Re: Basket Cases

Postby David Lahey » Tue Jul 14, 2020 5:06 pm

Twinshock200 wrote:Looks like I've got another "custard tart" on the way, my wife prefers to call it "Buttercup"

What does it taste like Roger? Butter or custard?


relax, nothing is under control


Return to “Twinshock & Classic Trials”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 29 guests