TS185 budget race build.

[LWC82PE]

You cant really slide the forks out the triples as the top clamp needs something to grip onto. You could slide them through maybe 12mm (half of triple clamp height) and then have new extended fork caps (similar to 78 RM) turned up to 33mm to give back some clamping area. Or an easier way is to fit a spacer approx 10mm between the bottoming cone and the damper rod. This will also increase travel. You will need longer M10 x 1.0 bolts though. They are hard to find but i have found a few places with them. Yes i agree the rear ends are a bit low. If you are on a tight budget there might not be many choices for shocks. I am putting 342mm Fox shox with 1/2" longer lower eyes on mine and will paint them black rather than keep the red bodies. A small amount of trimming/grinding is required on swingarm (even with the longer eyes) for lower spring retainer to clear as these are emulsion shocks and need to be run with body at top unlike the originals. Travel will be around 5.5" with axle past the mid point of the slot. Stock is about 4.5" at mid point.

It looks like those ebay shocks are for 10mm mounts. You need some to suit 12mm.

[James Lee]

OK thankyou for the info.I will get some spacers made for above the forks and think if I increase the rear travel as much as possible it will be a better bike.If anyone has a set of shocks that will suit please send me a PM.Cheers,James.

[James Lee]

Ive been thinking of adding a plate welded in above the axel mount plate on the swing arm to increace travel slightly but also slightly lay the shocks back,Has anyone else tryed this?Im just wondering if the stock shocks will bottom out before reaching full travel?
Also what does everyone use as a heat shield to protect the side platic from melting on the exhaust?
I am building a few budget VMX bikes at the moment the others being XT250s and dont want melted side number plates on those either.

[LWC82PE]

Tell me how far from the swingarm pivot you want to put the lower shock mount and i will tell you if you will gain anything. Stock is about 393mm. But basically you are pretty limited with what you can do. You either gotta move the lower shock mounts back as far to the rear of the swingarm  as possible (like 77-82 TS250) to enable a longer shock with more shaft travel or you need a banana shape swingarm. If you move the shocks further forward on the swingarm, you gain very little if anything than you would if you just fitted slightly longer shocks with stock swingarm position. You need to step up the shock length and stroke considerably to gain much more travel and this is why a banana shape swingarm helps because it gets the axle height back up higher so the chain does not want to saw through the swingarm excessivly but allows a longer shock to fit in. You will notice on the stock swingarm that the shock mounts are a little below the axle. This is in principle what a banana shape swingarm is doing in that it allows a longer shock to fit in but keeps the ride height and swingarm/chain angle the same but gives more wheel travel. The real issue on these bikes though is the distance between the swingarm pivot and the top shock mount. It does not lay the shocks down enough to get the kind of travel that a RM has.
By the way, the shock alone does not determine the wheel travel. it is the shock eye to eye length, stroke and chassis geometery/lever ratio (swingarm pivot to top and bottom shock mounts and swingarm pivot to axle distance) combined that determines wheel travel.
The new RH side covers you buy have a silver heat proof material glued on the inside of them

[James Lee]

 Thanks for the info LWC82PE.your very knowlagable.Im having problems with this bike running hot that doesnt make sence,It is running rich up top as it 4 strokes but isnt blowing smoke and it ran that hot that it started to melt the oil bottle and melted the inner guard.Im wondering if it needs more oil?So I really need to know how to adjust the self oiler and go from there.Any tips?

[LWC82PE]

I highly recommend you get the following service manuals for this bike. You will be fighting a never ending battle trying to rely on Q&A on a forum. They are well worth having and you wont regret buying them.

Haynes #797 (ISBN 1850102600)
Genuine Suzuki #99500-21107-01E)

The Haynes ones you can find everywhere, the Suzuki one you need to order from Suzuki dealer. The one i listed above covers up to 2001 models. You could however, get a older 1980's TS185er factory manual from ebay. there is usually plenty there, especially on ebay UK. An 80/81 TS185T or X manual from USA will be ok apart from some minor differences in wiring/electrics and carby specs as their models have pre-set mixture screws.

Do you know the history of the bike? Is there a chance someone has messed with oil pump settings at some stage? The manuals show how to set this up. There is a tool which i have that you connect to the pump and check the flow rate at a specific RPM and length of time. Cant remember how much it cost but part number is 09900-21602.

I bet the exhaust needs a good burn out too to get the old oil/carbon out.

[James Lee]

The bike came from the tip so no history.It had a big crash as the forks were bent and broken tripple clamp.I undid the screrw on the side of the carb and the lines line up on the oil pump.It smoked hard for the first 10mins till the pipe cleared and the new motul came through the line.I cleaned out the oil bottle too.Its running the 195 main so thats right.Its just major exhuast heat that is the trouble.I would think it needs richening but the 4 stroking in peak revs says it needs leaning.Ill keep playing with it.My mate is having his first race on it with QVMX in a couple of weeks but I have another TS he can ride if we cant get this one sorted.

[LWC82PE]

I have heard the too hot exhaust thing before. Someone posted on a forum about how they would all melt the side cover and would need the oil pump adjusted from new, but i have never had that problem with mine at all. If it was very low on oil i would expect you would have seized the engine though. I will see if i can find that forum post for you. I had a 200 main in mine when last ridden.

Ok i found this when i googled 'TS185 melted side cover'

All the ER's we had (Farm bikes in the 80's &90's) needed the oil metering backed off. (1st 800km service action)

One coked the pipe so bad the rh sidecover melted off, pipe glowing red from the head to the muffler and caught fire.

the muffler on those things used to melt the side panel if you rode it without a rest for more than 40 mins so it would be interesting on the long haul

I never had that problem and would ride it for hours at a time, many long stretches 100kph, full throttle, top gear.  I could not kill it. Was using Penrite TS40C mineral oil which was great. Cant get the same stuff anymore.

[cyclegod]

The exhaust outlet at the cylinder/exhaust area is notoriously leaky, the two gaskets that make up the seal between cylinder and pipe are a poor design and when the bike fires it can blow out gases where these gaskets are and it can also suck air in making the exhaust charge burn much hotter. I fixed my last TS185 by replacing the exhaust clamp at the cylinder with a plate of similar thickness which after I bolted it up to the cylinder with new gaskets and spring I welded it all the way round to the exhaust pipe to make it impossible to leak ever again.

[LWC82PE]

That's a good point. The stock sealing is a bit iffy, I always use added silicone on mine so that's probably why i have never had leaks there.

[James Lee]

Thats some great info thanks guys,it all make sense,the same way acetylene needs oxygen to burn hot.Ill just try making/replacing the exhaust gaskets for now and sealing them up,maybe then Ill try lifting the circlip one notch to see if it revs clean.Thanks so much.Ill report back tomorrow after the test ride.
I wish it was easier to post pics on this forum,we have an awesome natural terrain MX track and the old bikes just look great running round there.Ill be taking my SLR camera out there tomorrow.

[James Lee]

It turned out the exhaust bolts were very loose going into the barrel.I cleaned up the original gasket and a swipe with silicone and shes all good now.No more overheating exhaust.Thanks so much for the replies.I dont think I would heve ever worked that one out on my own.

[LWC82PE]

I prefer to use studs with nuts instead of bolts. Many of these barrels have worn/stripped threads due to the bolts going in and out many times into the aluminium, so using steel studs with nuts stops this.