john b

Smokey 125 I have a Whitehawk 175 for sale....... much cheaper, cost effective and competitive ... just a thought cheers John

My son still has his whitehawk 80 (std ty 80 engine) and although now on a whitehawk 175 can flick the little one about - loads of grunt, great engines Ive seen a few exhausts on ebay, come up quite regular cheers John

Nothing that I've found Surely a competent welder/fabricator could bring it back to life? Might not be the best looking but will be functional Cheers John

If I was after a modern bike I would buy it. Bargain at £2K when you consider what else is available ! Cheers John

Weardale by nature of where it is tend to be rocky but great trials, no harder than any others. Lambshield is a great trial with a huge lap. Like I said .... We are spoiled in the north east ! Cheers! John

Hi Callum Me and chris have confirmation back of entries ! We are going down Friday night See you and your dad there (I've got money on your dad for the win !!) Cheers John

Hi Callum How's things ? You doing nostalgia ? I think it's just the time of year (summer hols) and lots of trials (wed,sat,sun). Winter comes along and we are back to 100+! Cheers John

Good on you - never enough observers .... People don't realise how lucky we are in the north east with the efforts people make to put trials on .

Mmmm Maybe a more polite request to the hardworking people who put trials on for the north east every week of the year for us might be appropriate ???? John

Thanks for the replies guys Tlr mark, I will still keep my current tl125 and trial it now, just fancied a hi boy as it is a new build, and has the 150cc engine. I could do work on my Tl, but to be honest would rather leave as is. I have too many bikes in the garage(s) at the moment, hence the need to sell tlr first before I buy another. To be honest I'm cooling to the idea of the hi boy- as you say nothing wrong with the tlr... Lets wait and see Cheers John

Hi there Any opinions ? I'm looking at a hi boy with rebuilt cg125 engine bored out to 150 Just not sure on it not being a tl engine ........ I run a tl125 for trials at the minute which I plan to keep as well Thoughts? Cheers John

Thanks for the advice guys I have had the silencer stripped and repacked, but ive tried without silencer and still the same effect might phone bill pye tomorrow for his thoughts thanks again john

Hi there My Fantic TX250 125cc still wont rev out. Stripped carb, cleaned etc. Bike starts and will rev but over half throttle will bog. Removing the carb boot, so it just pulls with no air filter is a little better, but still not right. Inside the carb boot (joining to the air filter) is also very wet with petrol ?? It is a dellorto carb, shown below. Is this the right carb ? Is so what are factory settings ?

Hi there Just finishing rebuild on the bike, and it fires up but holding the throttle on full only just gets it to tick over and wont rev out. Checked needle is moving with the slide - it is ! I did get it to clear and rev but then had a fluff and backfire. starting up again and it just ticks over holding the throttle pegged. Timing ???? As always ...........was OK when I took it apart !! Any help appreciated cheers John

Hi there I tried the bantam route and despite the fact I have an engineering background and access to engineering facilities.... its just so expensive and time consuming to get something near competitive (and by that I mean finish a trial, not win the scottish !) . I ended up just selling on as a project at what it cost me and going down anotger route. I found a "less popular" pre 65 at a reasonable price , a sprite 250 for £1100. I then spent another £500, the main item being electronic ignition and its now a reasonably competitive bike for£1600 which to be honest you would struggle to convert a road bike for. my advice would be look for the less fashionable (sprite, cotton, greeves) which can still be good value. I did break the bank with my sons which is a greeves tfs250 which I paid £3000 for, but is absolutely immaculate, competitive and a credit to its previous owner - more popular james , bantam , francis barnett etc would be £5000+ Cheers John

Cheers Joe Certainly sounds good Defo come for the Friday - I don't think we can do Saturday but might decide between vmcc or twinshock trial on the Sunday ! Thanks again for the info Cheers John

Thanks joe ! We were planning on doing a vmcc trial on the pre 65s on the sunday, but may have a rethink ! might come down for at least the friday night easy trial - presume that would be ok? cheers John

My sons TLM 50, competing now! He would probably have a go but he's only 13

Hi there - thanks for the note, a lot of people recognise Chris these days !Not sure - who runs it ? (Is it over a bank holiday ?) Cheers John

Great pictures and good to see the progress! - great bike Father and Son Hondas (TLR200/TLM50)

Latest purchase - should arrive next week!

The following youtube gives an example of a very talented rider, I have no idea who he is and I'm not picking on him or saying he's a pot hunter. That is Ben Butterworth at the nostalgia 3 years ago. A very very good rider I see in the results regularly in classics (lost out on 3 way tie at captains trial at the weekend). In the results I see him at the top, but not necessarily cleaning everything, and others not far behind. I have to say over the last year in classics we have had nothing but encouragement for my son - and these will tell you to your face, but the tiny minority of whingers never will.... Cheers John

Appreciate the response, but where does age come into 'pot hunter' and 'Genuine Enthusiast' ? My son is 13 - if he won it would be on ability, and he has equal or more genuine enthusiasm for Pre 65 than most people (he lives and breathes it)

A bit off piste but I thought I would share.... Me and my son ride twinshock (on Hondas) and Pre 65 on genuine pre 65 bikes We did our first vintage trial a few weeks ago, after joining the organisation, checking with the organisers etc. Had a great day, some very friendly guys, good trial. The following week we were at another (twinshock) trial, and were told confidentially that after the trial there were a couple of dissenters who thought "kids shouldn't be riding pre 65" Now my son is 13, a good rider, capable, organisation member, polite, respectful, helpful (he observed his allocated section for a lap no arguments) - and was riding probably one of the most eligible bikes there (1955 James) ! Are we put off ? Far from it - I thanked the guy for him telling me, and said we will definitely be at the next trial ! I understand this thread is about "rules" and invariably rules will always get bent to the point of breaking - what is that breaking point is the issue, but we cant let politics spoil a great days sport (which is the point of my post...... ! cheers John

Away from all of the politics....nice little bikes ! Are they available for sale ? Cheers John