Messages

1

Suzuki / Re: RL250 forks - are they 35mm or 1.3/8inch ?

« on: February 03, 2024, 04:36:20 am »

yeah, I agree with everyone that they must have been intended to be the metric 35.00mm, and the difference is just tolerances.
 It just intrigued me that they measured close to spot on 1.3/8 inch , and under 35mm.
Just thought it was worth asking , as i have seen imperial (and metric) turn up in some odd places.

thanks for all the comments

2

Suzuki / Re: RL250 forks - are they 35mm or 1.3/8inch ?

« on: January 22, 2024, 01:34:42 am »

Thanks for replies
Had a go at enlarging the sliders with a hone, but this was painfully slow,

plus an engineering friend didn't  recommend it as he thought that  abrasive grit from the hone may become embedded in the aluminium sliders and then wear out the stanchions ?  ( he thought it would be okay if the sliders were steel where the grit would wash off )

So, plan B , got hold of a floating reamer ( i think that's the right name ?)  set this up in my lathe with the sliders , and used this to enlarge them.
even this was a slow process and did not leave as nice a surface finish as the original suzuki machining,
but have now got some Betor 35mm stanchions that fit.
have done a trial assembly and they seem okay.

have not ridden the bike yet, but it looks like a happy ending

3

Suzuki / Re: RL250 forks - are they 35mm or 1.3/8inch ?

« on: January 19, 2024, 05:33:35 am »

Thanks for the replies

I also 99% think they should be metric /35mm , BUT just wondered as I remembered one of my old Yamaha's that I had a parts book for , and there were a couple of imperial parts  -  small ball bearings I think ?
( And of course the wheels & tyres )

Over the years I have seen original metric /original imperial parts in  unexpected places

A new Japanese excavator with some BSP hydraulic fittings
Some Mikuni jets with imperial threads
Seat belt mounting bolts (imperial threads) on euro & Japanese cars
Whitworth bolts on a German tarmac roller
etc, etc, etc, etc,

And my favourite - a cheap set of Chinese drills that are marked in metric sizes, but when you measure them they are in imperial sizes !

4

Suzuki / RL250 forks - are they 35mm or 1.3/8inch ?

« on: January 18, 2024, 05:51:49 am »

Hello,
This is probably a silly question, but maybe not.
I have an RL250 Beamish with what I thought were 35mm stanchions that need replacing or refurbiing.

I also have some other 35mm forks from a few different Japanese & Spanish bikes and was hoping to be able to do some mixing of parts and use the leading axle RL sliders with some of the stanchions from one of these other fork sets.
It all looks feasible except for one problem - the RL fork stanchions measure 34.93mm, all the other stanchions measure between 35.00-35.10mm and won't fit into the sliders ( too small )

34.93mm = 1.3/8 inch ( if not exactly, at least closer to the imperial size than 35mm)

I have seen a pair of early TS250 forks advertised on eBay Germany as 1.3/8 dia

Is it possible they were actually made to an imperial size , or is it more likely to be another explanation ?

5

General Discussion / Re: Market place , e bay and other great platforms

« on: September 07, 2023, 07:10:20 am »

By far the best description I have ever seen for Facebook & Marketplace is -
" A breeding ground for mental illness"

6

Tech Talk / Re: Has anyone ever welded a piston, and used it?

« on: November 06, 2022, 08:09:57 am »

Are they really small holes ?
If so I think your idea of peening them is probably the safest & easiest

Or block them with something like a piece of aluminium welding rod of a suitable size peened to hold in place

Or maybe cut a thread, then put a small aluminium bolt in, cut and carefully file down on the outside, peen or some other method to retain

All the above sound like lash ups, but would avoid any potential problems that may come from welding + if a small piece of aluminium did come out it would probably not damage anything on its journey out of the engine

good luck

7

Tech Talk / Re: Piston skirt cut v inlet port drop?

« on: November 06, 2022, 07:54:05 am »

I am probably wrong,
 but if that engine has part of the reed straight into the crankcase , isn't that part of the inlet open all the time/360 degrees duration ?
Obviously depending on some vacuum opening the reeds.

In which case, then cutting the piston may have no effect, but opening up the port MAY increase flow.

8

Tech Talk / Re: Good high temp alloy putty?

« on: July 05, 2022, 09:08:39 am »

Hello, my only experience is with JB weld.
There are really only 2 types , the slow hardening "original" type, or the fast hardening "Kwik" type.

The slow hardening one is better, more durable, and will withstand a higher temperature, but tends to flow unexpectedly when hardening - you spread some on and get it to a rough shape that you want, but an hour later it has flowed away from where you want it to be !

Can't comment on Devcon, as I have never used it, but it seems to have been popular for decades

9

General Discussion / Re: Is TL125 the same mech's as SL/XL engines?

« on: March 07, 2022, 02:06:51 am »

This is going off topic a bit, but a friend who knows very little about bikes purchased a TL125 without knowing it had the wrong CG125 pushrod type engine fitted.
{ it looks to be a straight bolt in swap, with no mods visible }

when I first saw the bike and pointed this out to him , he had already had the bike a while and was pleased with how it performed.

He was disappointed , and contacted the seller , who was just as clueless and unaware the bike had the wrong engine.

My friend was going to look for a correct engine , but has now decided to leave the CG engine in the bike as it performs well enough for his needs, plus spares are cheaper & easier to obtain { the only downside is the reduced resale value of the bike}
 
Obviously the CG top end parts would be no use on a TL/XL/SL  , but maybe some bottom end / gearbox parts may interchange ?
{ I dont know personally, but could be worth checking for matching part numbers }

10

Tech Talk / Re: powder coated hubs

« on: October 06, 2021, 04:15:20 am »

Probably a good idea to strip carefully the contact faces
some powder coating is so thick you wont get the sprocket / disc to fit without stripping anyway
to prevent corrosion maybe put a little copper grease on the faces

11

General Discussion / Re: Can of worms

« on: October 31, 2020, 12:34:19 am »

What do people think of the Yamaha HL500
These seem to be a good investment

Like the CCMs of the era - I dont think anyone ever won a championship anywhere with these , but they have a cult following , probably just for being different and a 4 stroke

The NVT production bikes seem the most expensive , even though a well built replica is often a better quality machine

12

General Discussion / Re: Can of worms

« on: October 29, 2020, 09:41:57 am »

Nebo , I like your categories , but would like to add one more

Overpriced & Overrated Vintage Bikes

Top of this category for me .................................................................... any pushrod CCM

13

General Discussion / Re: Can of worms

« on: October 24, 2020, 09:08:40 am »

The prices I do not understand are the  Vincent , Brough Superior type stuff that sells for the same price as a small house .

I don't see nostalgia being a factor
- if you were a young man when these bikes were new , then you must be 90-100 years old now , and done with nostalgia { I would think }

are they just investments now ?

14

Tech Talk / Re: any of you guys did built his own vinduro bike from the frame?

« on: April 06, 2020, 04:01:36 am »

I don't know how you would identify the steel used on a frame easily ,
but you could have a close look at the existing welding for a clue
if the existing welds are - MIG or Stick , then its probably not CroMo
if the existing welds are - TIG or Bronze welded then it more likely is CroMo or something similar
whatever steel it is I would try and avoid stick welding if possible

15

Tech Talk / Re: Suzuki RL250 lower fork offset

« on: March 03, 2020, 09:02:39 pm »

I'm on the bludge again.
To try and work out if the forks on my RL are useable I need to try and find the offset from the centreline of the forks to the centre line of the axle. Just a couple of mm makes a very big difference in how the bike handles and turns. I figure I have a few options
1 If someone can measure the offset very accurately, and it's not easy
2 Someone can loan me a lower fork leg so I can measure it. Happy to pay post both ways (obviously) and even a cash deposit
3 I bite the bullet and buy a set of forks

Thanks
Brent

I have a Beamish RL250, early silver engine type- so should have same forks
happy to try and measure offset , but haven't long assembled the forks , so would rather not dismantle again to measure
how would you recomend measuring offset of assembled fork ?