Jump to content

Garelli Works Bike!


jaylael
 Share

Recommended Posts

That was a great era for Trials bikes, loads of manufacurers having a go. Have you seen the article on todo trial.

http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=e...=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8

If the link doesn't work it's about the history of Spanish Trials bikes, on the second page are some really unusual bikes.

Derbi Trial, JJ Cobas, JP 325, Merlin, even a nice picture of what my Cota 330 should look like.

And we have to pump our own Gas here apart from the odd old fashioned garage in outback villages that time forgot.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

  • Replies 69
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Man I love those old spanish and italian weird bikes like JJ Cobas and Mecateco etc. The '86 Gas Gas of Gabino Renales were very beautiful handmade bikes with cobby welds on the strg. head from re aligning the front end rake as experimental mods. Those early twin shock Merlin/ Cagivas were neat too. I am amazed at how rare bikes like these have become. Not many Merlins about these parts.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 
 

The Garelli will be shipped this week about wednesday. Jim has to drive to Indianapolis and drop it off at Forward Air wich is 100 miles each way. I can't wait to see the bike in the flesh! I have contacted Andy at Graffics.co.uk and he has made some wonderful Garelli stickers for me which have already arrived and at a very reasonable price. Attached is a photo of the Garelli logo and the stickers Andy made. I highly recomend his services. If anyone needs obscure or custom made stickers please supports this fellow Trials Central member. I'm sure they will look great on the bike. Once I get the kicker problem resolved, (gulp) I will be ordering Works Performance trick "Lane Leavitt" trials shocks for the bike. They have special valving for trials use and three stage springs. It will be a good chance to try them out and I suspect they will be quite wonderful, and very expensive. That's the latest Garelli news so I'll sign off. Sincerely JL

post-13-1109512656.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 
  • 2 weeks later...

Well I finally got my hands on the Garelli! It is in fantastic condition, with fewer miles on it than I had imagined. It has a motoplat "semi-dino" points system and the timing was set a t 2.0 mm btdc so Donato and his minder are not resposible for the kicker breaking at least timing wise. I found that a new k/s shaft and k/s spur gear were included new with the bike along with a brand new countershaft for the trans which is not needed but what a neat thing to have spare! I have cleaned it out thoroughly and feel confident that I have removed all the broken gear teeth from the gearbox and clutch housing. The biggest obstacle to getting it running is the kickstarter idler gear is ruined/missing some teeth. Thankfully it did not hurt the ring gear on the clutch basket. :D I have nice hot spark and soon will have a Delorto carb for it. Today I installed a new chain and rear tire and put on cables and Domino controls. Friday I tracked down a local company who is going to make a new kickstarter idler gear for it. This should take about two weeks because they have to wait until they get a load for the hardening process. To custom build one gear is costing $175.00 and it should work as well as when new. For now I can just sit and gaze at this beauty! The tank emblems look so good on there and I have removed the lights and installed a nice blue front number plate with a Garelli sticker on it, plus stickered out the rear fender and swingarm like a Bernie probably had on the (one) day he rode his Garelli.. It is surprisingly light although I have not weighed it, it will do a magnificent nose wheelie when coasting downhill with a dead engine. I feel like a teenager again having this cool old bike which takes me back to another era in trials. I am very pleased! JL

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 
  • 2 weeks later...
 
:) Hey, JTLaw, thanks for the tip! I'm already bidding on it. I'm moto-poser. Hope all the other Garelli riders don't outbid me on it! Sure is a kind of ugly shirt isn't it? I hope to wear it when I ride the bike for the first time hopefully soon. The kicker gear isn't finished yet , but I ghot a Del Orto carb for it this week. It keeps getting closer! It's so cool, I go sit and stare at it until my poor wife yells from the living room, "What're you doing?" It's just pure SEX!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 
 
 

Donato and his minder showed up with two bikes and broke the kicker gears, shaft etc on both of them before saturday. No other riders that time. In 1987 at Bodines, PA Donato was riding a single shock Garelli with the same basic engine, and he never suffered any problems that I could tell. His '87 bike may still be here somewhere, but I really don't know where it ended up. Maybe Canada? Sure was neat! I would love to have it, not that I could afford it right now anyway. :ph34r: Jay

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 
  • 4 weeks later...
 

Roy: I've had a good look inside this and it's nothing like my old 240 Fantic. This is just plain in house Garelli, which makes it very cool to me, if a bit frustrating. The guy has had my gear made but still hasn't got forward with the heat treating process. The shocks are also being built, and are going to be Falcon shocks custom for this bike. Soon, very soon... :unsure: So to keep myself occupied I have been building a really neat '72 TM 400 into a racer. It's coming together nicely. I'll post a pic soon. Sure would like to be riding that Garelli though. Jay

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Just checked with my man in Italy and the Garelli motor was a Hiro unit. It was a fair bit different to the Armstrong and Aprilia units, main changes being the clutch case, flywheel cover, and a magnesium head and barrel with a chrome bore.

However.....now we have established this, I wonder if the broken gears on Jays bike are the same as Armstrong.....they should be a lot easier to find than Garelli !

Martin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

This is indeed some interesting development. See, boys and girls how you can learn from this interactive media? I guess it's an obscure subject. :hl: If I ever give up on this "gear guy" I will pursue the Armstrong/Can-Am angle. I wonder how many internal parts are interchangeable. Does this mean that the Garelli can be jammed into a kind of mysterious neutral from sumping it out hard, which I love to do. :D Isn't it Woody who tells about pushing the Armstrong/CCM Hiro bike for literally kilometres, with the tranny stuck in neutral? Great story Woody! I might have to work up to riding this thing any distance from the truck, if it ever gets running. It will right? Someday? Jay :unsure:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 
 

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share


×
  • Create New...