TD VERSUS TY




 

Great sections at Holbrook AZ 2004

 After winning the 2004 AZ Twinshock Championship and some rounds of the AHRMA MC Int series the
little TY175 was retired to the museum as the 250 Superglitz had become the weapon of choice. She
was a lovely bike with everything, and I mean everything chromed! My platers had done the frame,
engine covers, forks and yokes and all the ancillary bits too...... ended up making Harley owners jealous.



 

Scottish type sections at Keith's Mine AZ December 2004

  I can remember test riding it when I finished construction thinking, well, if you can't win on this there is
no hope! Lighter than the 250 and it always seems quicker and tighter in the turn than its big brother I
was very pleasantly surprised by its capabilities from a bike that I had always "pooh, poohed" as a boys
bike. I built several of them over the years and they are a delight to ride. When all the "mods" are done
they are about 25 lbs lighter than the 250. 

  Of course many items are interchangeable and you can go both ways with items like forks and wheels
but in truth I haven't noticed much difference. Some better rear shocks improve things as like the Ossa
the rear end always looks like its collapsed when a 200 pounder is aboard. A word to the wise here
though if you change the rear shocks for longer ones you might want to drop the fork legs flush with the
crown or it will handle like a Harley, and do be aware the side stand will no longer reach the ground!



 

As she was on first completion

 Ignition settings are critical on this baby so make sure you do not exceed 15 on the points and 22 on
the plug which uses a different model to the 250. If you need a new carb Mikuni and Yamaha no longer
make the OEM carb for this bike and you will have to pay through the nose for an adapted flange
mounted one that has been machined to be a bayonet fit. Other things of note on this model seem to be
the bore and rings which are critical for good performance and anything going wrong here will give the
"skin off a rice pudding puller syndrome" as the 175 does not like mud, crap and water in the system
unlike big brother who will eat it all for breakfast. Don't over tighten the head bolts either or you may find
the barrel has gone "hour glass shaped", looks good on the female but it means the piston isn't 
touching very much.

 Enough of the good and bad points, and back to the story........so, around May 2008 Baby Superglitz
gets dragged out, has a rear shock change and is made ready for a trip to Milliken. It starts fine, has
loads of power but man is it noisy. Further investigation revealed the crankshaft and flywheel can
easily be lifted so she must go into surgery for new main bearings, seals and all the other bits and
bobs. The strip down begins at home and all is dismantled and placed in boxes while I await all the
parts for the rebuild. Then along comes the recession!



 

The "OR" is made ready for the patient

 With all the worries and collapse of the building industry at the mid point of 2008 Baby Glitz gets
sidelined while I continue after the current rounds for the Cub and Royal Enfield. Then its time to make
the big move to Colorado and get things organized up here. Then it gets too cold to do anything
although the mind was willing working on engines below zero seems somehow to lack charm. As
more and more bikes leave for their new homes I can finally get round to old faithful but by now she
has gone into a sulk and whatever I want to do she seems to want to fight me at every turn. Every bolt,
nut, screw or whatever is rock solid and refuses to budge and even Father's advice of "don't force it, get
a bigger hammer" does no good. The ridiculous Phillips heads all turn out and require the use of the
impact wrench to shift them, the crankshaft nut tries my patience to the full along with its sister holding
the clutch. The inner clutch basket shatters! but fortunately a new one is sourced on ebay and finally we
seem to be getting close to splitting the cases. Here again one has to ask why use Phillips headed
bolts? I guess Yamaha had a job lot of them but as crankcase bolts they are a pain in the arse and
required the impact driver on every single one to get them to shift.



 

Finally apart !!

 With all this hammer work I'm surprised the Sheriff didn't arrive and cart me off for "engine abuse" but
yesterday it was like the lady finally succumbed to my persuasion as the last troublesome bolts came
free and then the cases opened with a degree of ease that I wasn't expecting. Now time for some very 
HOT water to warm the cases and get the bearings out, and of course they are different sizes to fit the
crankshaft. A bit "James Bondish" with hot water on the case and ice cubes on the bearing. You may
remember the phrase...... "Domino your body has given me much pleasure......... now zeese for heat,
and zeese for cold"



 

Open bearing surgery

 New bearings in and after removing the old oil seals with the trusty tire spoon the new ones are fitted
and I'll be ready for replacing the transmission and sealing up the cases when I've run down town to get
a new set of metric bolts. Maybe Allen heads this time  which is what I usually do as they are much
easier to get undone. Seems I had all the allens I needed and with everything in place the cases were
suitably glued and screwed and so far all looks good. Ancillary bits are going on, linkages all working
and with any luck she will all be back in one piece by nightfall and then another morning to refit back in
the frame and bolt up all the other bits and bobs.



 

Out with the old

 Stator fitted, on with the flywheel and engine sprocket, turn her round and fit the new clutch and all goes
well. De-gum the piston and barrel from this awful fuel we are forced to use and complete the top end.
Must find, or make an oil pump cover this morning as the old one is nowhere to be seen. About 2 hours
work left to fit the engine, carb, exhaust and chain. Connect the ignition, fill up with oil and pop on the
tank seat unit and prepare for the test firing.




 

Left side done


 

Right side complete

 Nearly there! Engine in, chain on, ignition connected, brake, clutch all connected. Just the carb to clean
and exhaust system to fit along with the repolished bash plate. A little polishing of the front wheel and
all is ready to test, photograph and put on ebay and see if anyone is interested in another superb trials
bike.




 

Ready for sale

 Everything seemed good until final adjustments. Having fitted a 12 tooth engine sprocket I may need to 
take a link out, and this time I tried the ball bearing between the clutch push rods and it doesn't like it! I 
finally remembered this engine goes better without the ball so the side plate will have to come off again
and take that ball out. Other than that the rest of the assembly all went well and the photo shoot for ebay
was completed on time and I even managed to watch the 2 Superbike races.



 

Sure is pretty !




 

All color co-ordinated

 While on the subject of ebay I noticed that "TL250 Barn Find" that went for an outrageous price of $3500
in an unrestored state has been put back on, slightly cleaned, but still less than immaculate, for an 
incredible $5700..... are you completely mad ????  If that sells I'll give up! ....... P.S. The Honda TL 250 
was only made for 2 years and is hardly an outstanding Trials bike either then or now and I can't believe
any serious rider would pay much more than a $1000 for one in ANY condition. Perhaps the owner is
confusing it with the TLR series which is much more desirable but still a bit pricey at that money here
in the USA. 


 


The END of Babyglitz



TONY DOWN