PROJECT HONDA TLR250 Pt.3

At the beginning of this project I wrote down a worse case scenario. I listed all the things that I thought might just have succumbed to over a decade of non-use – and next to them I wrote the current price of replacement. I figured if I couldn’t stomach that outlay then I shouldn’t even consider starting this job. Of course in the forefront of my mind was that eternal hope, that everything would turn out better than that. That the bike would come back to roaring life with little more than a wipe of an oily rag. Well, sometimes reality is just what it is, to fool yourself otherwise is indeed to be a fool. Yes, despite my optimism the poor wee TLR250 really is going to need some serious TLC – and parts replacement – if it’s to come back to life. There can be no shortcuts. Hey ho… Anyway, here’s progress since our last update: 1: OUT WITH THE CREDIT CARD Some people hate to spend money. I seem to have something of my mother’s genes, shopping – and bike parts shopping particularly – is something I can embrace. Helping me to spend were two excellent parts suppliers. Trail & Trials UK (www.tytrials.co.uk) and In Motion Twinshock Trials (www.inmotiontrials.com), both have excellent web-shops which list a fair few parts for my TLR with photos and descriptions to make parts identification real easy. John Cane at Trail & Trials is a good bloke and very much an enthusiast and very good on advice as clearly he’s dealing with guys restoring these old trials bikes on a daily basis. I like In Motion as its owned by Dave Renham who rode in the same trials events I rode as a kid (he was an expert, me a no-hope), he was a good kid then and I don’t doubt he’s a good bloke today – and I like that Dave’s still here, still involved all these years later. So first spend has been on consumables – an obvious immediate need. These things are in a constant need of replacement on a modern bike in use, so are long needing replacement on the TLR. New chain and sprockets, new tyres and new brake shoes were all a no-quibble purchase. Add to that a new gasket set for the (leaking) carb and a new air filter – again these were must haves. Then you add the small things that you might overlook, like a new fuel filter and hoses, new air filter and new spring clips. No big deal, but its always a mild surprise as to how they add to the final bill. All in all, though, good fun in making up a list and exciting parcels to receive (yes, maybe I do need to get out more).