HL500

[mx250]

I have a new fibreglass HL seat base .........

Sounds like a good start for a new project ........

Another HL, just what we need hey Ross

[firko]

Seriously, the thing that offends me about HLs is all of the YZ125C/Xs that have been raped and pillaged for their fuel tanks. It amazes me that nobody has started making plastic replicas.

I realise that I'm echoing Marc here but come on Nathan, I'm pretty confident in saying that very few HL builders, if any have ever wrecked a whole bike to rat the tank for their HL, the donor bikes have long ago been 'raped and pillaged' for lots of other parts, not just their tanks. This old phurphy comes up all the time with us special builders. At CD5 I had one bloke tell me that it was a shame that I'd wrecked a perfectly good TM400 to make my Boyd and Stellings kit bike. When I told him that I'd bought it as a basket case from the US and that the only thing from an actual Suzuki on the whole bike was the TM400 motor he gave me one of those "Yeah sure" looks and walked away. As a known parts scrounger/wheeler dealer you well know how we get parts for these bikes.
As far as plastic YZ tanks, Pacifico, Vesco and a number of now forgotten companies made YZ 125C/X shaped tanks back in the glory days. I've got a couple myself. To be frank they look pretty ordinary on an HL. My HL building mate has one of my tanks on his bike for setting up and it looks fugly. There's nothing like the real thing. 

The current crop of HL's contradict the rules IMO,

I still don't understand how you find the HL's contradicting the rules? GMC has mapped out that his frames are exact copies of the original NV frames and I ticked off all of the other points in an earlier post. Nothing personal and I'm not trying to be antagonistic.....I'm just curious.

 

[vandy010]

  By late 1977 the original design had further evolved.

It featured weight saving YZ hubs and forks along with dural engine mounting plates and hardware. The whole package hit the scales at just on 112kg and offered around 250mm wheel travel front and rear.     

  The process was repeated in 1979 with a further run, featuring wilder camshafts, improved CDI ignitions and 38mm Mikuni carbs. Minor changes to the swingarm shock mounts upped rear wheel travel to 260mm, while adopting YZ400 forks delivered around 270mm up front.

 

so if 9" = 228mm then an origional HL would need to be back spec'd to fit into pre~78?
i don't even care if i'm wrong, i like HL's.
so if someone WANTS to put thier HL into Evo, then whats wrong with them jacking up the suspension?

i like em & i want one

[vmx42]

i don't even care if i'm wrong, i like HL's.
so if someone WANTS to put thier HL into Evo, then whats wrong with them jacking up the suspension?

i like em & i want one

You can't argue with that! So when can we see it Vandy? 

[motomaniac]

He certainly looks good at the start, but where did he finish?

Im not sure about this GP( the other pic) but he later won a moto and finished 3rd behind Hiekki and Roger in Luxembourg.He was then 7th overall in the world behind 6 factory riders on works bikes. He crashed in the final round and got zero points ,Noyce and van Velthoven had good results and moved ahead so he finished the year in 9th.

Final round -Swiss GP below

[/quote]

[vmx42]

Thanks for the info Moto.

Just shows it is a real pity that Yamaha didn't support their efforts. It would have been interesting to see what they could have made of it.

[Nathan S]

Firko/Marc, its more about the number of bikes that don’t get rebuilt because the seat/tank have gone, and are so expensive (relative to the rest of the bike).

The old YZ style plastic tanks aren't what I was talking about - nobody is going to fit daggy old deal like that onto a bike that they've lovingly built ( or rebuilt, if we're talking about YZ125s).

[motomaniac]

500 GP points after the second last round
MIKKOLA 272,WOLSINK196,DECOSTER 195,LACKEY 164,SCHMITZ 79,ANDERSSON 67,ABERG 62 ,VAN VELTHOVEN + NOYCE 56 ,BANKS +WEIL 42.

FINAL POINTS FOR 77

MIKKOLA 272,DECOSTER 202,WOLSINK (he also crashed latround) 202,LACKEY 168,ANDERSSON 85,SCHMITZ 85,VAN VELTHOVEN 83,NOYCE 74,ABERG 62,WEIL 47,BANKS 42 ,BAUER 29,KARSMAKERS 28 ,VAN DEN BROEK 18,POMEROY 15.

[Marc.com]

Firko/Marc, its more about the number of bikes that don’t get rebuilt because the seat/tank have gone, and are so expensive (relative to the rest of the bike).

There are about 4 of those tanks on ebay at the moment, and frankly the tanks come up on ebay far faster than Geoff finishes frames, so sorry man the evidence isn't supporting your story, anyone who wants to finish their YZ C/X are not being help up by HL builders.

I think Graemes article mentioned that by 1977 "the bike had further evolved", this is the thing where you start talking about suspension travel, the bike had no production year so would have benefited from continuous development through the season like any works racer. Plus Aberg flying the flag for Yamaha in the open class would no doubt have pretty good access to the OW suspension bin.

Not sure what susupension Gally ran when he raced an HL in the US, sure someone can tell us.

[JohnnyO]

Firko/Marc, its more about the number of bikes that don’t get rebuilt because the seat/tank have gone, and are so expensive (relative to the rest of the bike).

The old YZ style plastic tanks aren't what I was talking about - nobody is going to fit daggy old deal like that onto a bike that they've lovingly built ( or rebuilt, if we're talking about YZ125s).

Complete bikes are regularly dismantled and listed on ebay as parts, i don't think they just sell the seat and tank and then say shit what are we gonna do with the rest of this thing

[Marc.com]

Complete bikes are regularly dismantled and listed on ebay as parts, i don't think they just sell the seat and tank and then say shit what are we gonna do with the rest of this thing
[/quote]

Yes and i have single handedly pieced a few of them back together at not inconsiderable cost, as  conservationist and major shareholder in US Post. Heres a couple of recently orphaned motors that I rescued from being put in a Boyd and Stirlings frame . 

[mx250]

Can we have a photo tour of your garage/museum/warehouse Marc! It must rival the Smithsonian  .

[motomaniac]

I think Graemes article mentioned that by 1977 "the bike had further evolved", this is the thing where you start talking about suspension travel, the bike had no production year so would have benefited from continuous development through the season like any works racer. Plus Aberg flying the flag for Yamaha in the open class would no doubt have pretty good access to the OW suspension bin.

Not sure what susupension Gally ran when he raced an HL in the US, sure someone can tell us.


[/quote]

He tried works Yamaha forks in the Trans AMA but ran Cerianis for his GP succsess ( going on mag pics here)

From memory Gally rode a Pro Tec Yamaha the year Staten also did .They use KYB pro lines -38mm. Later the ProTec sponsored bikes had 43mm

[HL500]

Can I ask a few questions and please sensible answers.

1. Did anyone on this thread ever buy a new HL?  Theres a few oldies amongst us, me included.
2. Where any sold in Australia as production models?
3. Geoff (GMC) does the guy who let you copy the HL frame still have the bike?

Geoff (GMC) what about an XL500 based frame??  When are you building that?

[HL500]

I have a new fibreglass HL seat base if anyone want's it, or maybe I'll just smash it with the biggest hammer I have!
Cheers,
K

Please dont smash it , I will take it . I always had a soft spot for those frames . That seat might just give me the kick I needed . My Husky is nearly finished , so there is room for another project. Still have some 40 mm WP forks  and good  shocks should not be a big problem .

Mate, I'm of the thread a bit but  where do you get your Husky parts.  I have a WR430 and need a few?