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Fantic 80 Twinshock


john b
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To be fair, I think Woody is only stating what most people that ride in twinshock trials think, or say when talking on a Sunday morning amongst themselves. There is a line that is acceptable and the emergence of Mono's with shocks needs nipping in the bud, and the pruning has already started by the sound of it.

What baffles me some what is why do top riders feel they need to ride bikes like this when in fact they would head up the results anyway, without the associated baggage.

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To put the subject into its original perspective , as I've since spoken to the owner of the bike mentioned in my earlier comment.

The original poster asked for opinions on converting a mono to t/s. My reply pointed out that many people don't like the idea and although not everyone says so outright, that's the way it is, with a lot of background chuntering whenever one appears. On the flip side there are those that don't have a problem with it, as don't some organisers.

The purpose of mentioning what happened at the weekend was to highlight what could happen. Look at the picture of John B's lad a bit further back in this topic, all smiles after an enjoyable day riding his bike. Imagine the same scenario after a day riding the converted Fantic. All happy, then you get wind of someone complaining about the bike, especially if he's had a decent result. Maybe they lodge a protest and the organisers decide to uphold it and he's excluded from the results How's the lad going to feel if that happens, he's not going to understand at his age. Day ruined and left wondering whether to ride the bike again.

Now back to what happened at the weekend twinshock event. I was under the impression that the bike had been moved to the mono class because it was deemed a converted mono. The owner has spoken to me and is pee'd off and has told me that wasn't the case, it was moved because of the 38mm forks due to a misunderstanding, the bike isn't a converted mono.

From my own perspective, the purpose of my mentioning a bike being excluded was purely as an example of what could happen with the Fantic which would be upsetting for a young lad. Nothing more and not to bring a debate about concerning individual's bikes.

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Whats wrong with a standardish TY 175 ? If they are well set up they are very capable - esp with a light rider.Easy to lose a bit of seat height with a foam pad instead of the original esp if added onto a Miller tank/seat unit.Plenty of go with a bore out to 200cc,there are plenty of options,without the jacked up height of a Whitehawk.

And its not going to lose any money if looked after...

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Many thanks for all of the posts and replies - certainly sparked some debate !

Thanks for the note about Christopher and Hendriks lad being the future of the sport. Chris rides modern as well at C Class British Championship level - but would ride twinshock/classic all day long. Not sure of the reason, I ride both - he just loves the older bikes.

If anyone knows of a Fantc 50/80 twinshock, or a TLM 50 please please let me know and I will give anyone a good price.

I do agree that the converted mono's can and do give a competitive advantage (and in most cases the riders are that good they don't need it), but I hope everyone appreciated the thread was to see what is possible to keep a young lad in the classic/twinshock scene.

Another photo riding the Whitehawk in a 'normal' club trial on the easy route.....

post-79-0-89208300-1404852241_thumb.png

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John ; Great photo's

At your son's age and size I was riding a TL125 when they first hit the market here in the states . Back then being small and light I had to learn technique more than anything as I couldn't manhandle the little honda . If your tl125 is in good shape , put him on that and let him practice ... Then build him a trick twinshocker you both agree on . I just moved my son (15 , 5'4 140lbs) from the big wheeled ty80 I built for him to a reflex ('cause I couldn't find a tl125 ! and the ty was swapped for it :) ) My son is actually learning the skills needed now , and at every event I take him to , he gets positive reinforcement from all my riding buddies and does better because of it .

And I'm just like your son :) I like my trick 240 Fantic better than any modern bike I've ever ridden , And I just enjoy riding the old girl . (don't tell my section I said that !) I watch Ryan Young ride my 240 with his big grin and know in my heart that she's a lot more capable than I will ever be ...

But your son is young and may aspire to be a world champ ... Time will tell and he'll grow faster than you think :)

Best of luck and have fun , and give your son a hug from me .

Glenn

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Many thanks for the kind comments Glenn - ill pass them on !

Anyway .....latest update .....

The TLM option got me thinking, searched on eBay and believe it or not there was one on there. Phoned the guy, struck a (very good) deal - bike should be with me in a couple of days !

So thankfully it's a 'proper' twinshock, no legality issues and more importantly Christopher has a bike he can compete on comfortably next year .....happy days !

Photo of bike is below........

post-79-0-61147200-1404905205_thumb.jpg

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John,

Pleased you sorted it - i'll look out for you both at Twinshock trials ......If you want to "Trick" it see if anyone has any pictures or information on Peter Gaunts TLM ....I'm not sure what cc it actually is now - but I know he beat me on it !!!!!!!

Cheers

The Wobbler...

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Thanks

I'm sure we will bump into you !

There are some pics on line of peters tlr - it looks very trick !

I think it's 62cc at the minute

And he always hammers me .......

Cheers and thanks for the info and advice on here

Cheers

John

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Great Find ! :)

I've never even seen one on this side if the pond . I would think that to be a fantastic little bike that will only go up in value .

And the fork sliders sure look backwards to me too ... I'd add some aluminum rims to shed alot of weight . Hope he enjoys it and kicks some a$$ on it !

Glenn

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  • 2 weeks later...
 

Just as an aside (and glad you got sorted out) I had a play for a few hours several years ago on one of the monoshock florescent 80's, thought it was a great little thing at the time, with a bit of thought it was probably capable of being ridden by an adult and would have made an excellent step up from a big ty80 etc it certainly had enough power to do simple sections with my adult weight on board :)

I think 80cc big bore kits were available for the TLM50 but i'm not sure if the porting was more suited to road use rather than trials, I certainly remember 1 person using a big bore version to commute on in Birmingham, If only I had known they existed when I was 16

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