Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125991
.. (Contim;edfrom page 27) The TY 175 weighs in at just over 180 p ounds soa kin g wet. Th e 175c c motor h as been tuned for t ractor power deliv ery (will dig holes nearly as well as the Honda - just ta kes more throttle), and th e power-weight combin ati on yi elds spar kling pe rformance. It almost m akes the six-sp eed gearbox seem a bi t superfluous. There's no exc use fo r attacking a section in th e wrong gear. " At tac k" is the right word, for , wa tchin g Bernie ch arge various sections, it was obvious h e was usin g more throttle and m ore m omen tum to do the same things with the 175 th an he ' was doing with the 250 . For a full -size ad ult , (which Bernie now is ), th ere's no substitute for ccs and torque . Boyd 's kid, Derreck, an average-size l l-year-old, took to the 1 75 with relish . It's the biggest (displacement) bike he can ride and still touch ground with both feet . Chris, a smallish slender lady, also en joyed the 175 the m os t . For people who are not brute-strong, th at 30 pound gap between th e 25 0 and 175 is of real significance. The 175 's shifter was vulnerable but malleable. After smashing it U-shaped twice and straightening it with a mid -size metric crescent without breaking it , we finally relented and raised it. Incidentally, th e two Yamahas wer e th e only bikes of the test group that carried a tool kit (stu ffe d under the fron t of th e main top tube). Boy d : I like the TV 175 be st for its size . It seems smoother than th e 250s and handles be tter. As far as being competitive, depends on the weight o f the rider. Ideal weight, I'd say 140 pounds. It m ay not be co mpe ti t ive in the Expert class . . . (ra ted the TV 250 bes t all-around). Jeff: They need to ge t rid o f the ligh ts , for sure. The head pipe could use a skid pl ate of its own.. Boyd : Engine gets a nine or a 10 for its size . . . still suffers fr om lack o f flywheel weight. In short, Yamaha has created a package between the traditional " mini-trialer" and the full -size bik e, coming up with the most engine a small person co ul d handle in a package th at handles with brilliance and precision. We all loved it, even the staffer with the buste d win g. So, what makes a great trialer? Ask Sammy Miller (but Honda probabl y won 't let him talk) . Given that the bas ic design has been executed correc tl y , all trials bikes are the same to a Novice . (The cri tical di fferences begin to be noticed ab o ut th e tim e one achieves Exp ert st atus.] Some are de fin it ely easi er to ride t han others, an d th at is eritical to the Novi ce o r Amateur. (To th e non-competitive co wtrailer as well.) Two things surp rise d us: a) That the Suz u ki h ad go tt en so much better in a short ye ar, and b) Th at the Yam ah a would rate high on everyone 's scorecard, fro m Novice to Ex pe rt , an d all for th e same reaso n - it was easiest to ride com peten tly . What we learned fro m the Su zu ki is tha t no bike can be an y better th an th e deal er /dist ribu to r ne twor k th at supports it, an d t hat the p erforma nce of any machine can be degraded whil e th e peop le han dl ing it are on the early p ar t o f t he " learning curve." Wher e trials is concerned, the entire j ap an ese indus try is on the early part o f the curve. We 're reminded of somethin g Gordon Farley said at a trials exhibition last year : " What most people forget is that th e Spanish ha ve been at this for what ? - 10 years, whil e the j apanese have just started. Lo ok how far th ey 've come. Wait ano the r three , five years , and th en see where they are ." Loo kin g at o ur curren t cro p o f j ap an ese triale rs, seeing how far they 've co me in jus t one or tw o seasons, we can ' t help bu t agree wit h him . Relevance is a kill switch in the right place . _ Cost effective , if not pretty, is th is PrecisionlMurphy exhaust. Honda IL 125: SUII DIe value Champ, inflation nolWiDlstanding By Lane Campbell The Honda TL 125 IS still, at $ 749 suggested West Coast retail, the cheapest honest-to-Murgatroyd adult-size trials bike you can buy. Th ough it makes no pretense o f being as good as (say) a 12 3 Cota, and though the en zine 's a trifl e • • 0 - • anemic for hauling a SIx-foo t, 200 Conclusion 42 From any angle, still a qu ietly functio nal package. pound turkey over cobby ground, with the money y o u save buying one, y o u can make it a very competitive an d very satisfying ride. Th e first of th e j apanese tri alers to hit the market, the " K2" version differs only in detail from its predecessors. Mos t noticeabl e is t he rel ocate d kill switch. ' (Sub ti tle - a switch in tim e saves five . ] Sin ce we also go t an earlier m odel to p lay with, this chang e was doubly reinforced on our co nsciousn ess after killing the older one th ree straigh t tim es in the sam e section by kneeing th e old switch wh ile trying to make an extra -long da b. Less noticeabl e are be tte r rear dam pers, ne w brake shoes and ligh ter rim s. Riding the T L 125 after being on the latest Spanish mach ine ry , it at firs t feels choppy , oversprung an d lac kin g in su spe nsion travel. On ce yo u sett le into its respo nses, yo u fin d the Ho nda to be, as ever, a basically so und t rials bi ke th at go es where it 's p oin te d , lofts easily , st ee rs with easy precision and trucks dutifully over roots and st ones an d logs, or wh atever asso rted tr ash you ride on. The TL 125 's main failing is it pl ain lacks gru n t. For a fu ll-size adul t, momentum management is exceedin gly critical, and some sect ions de gen erate into a " wic k it on and cha rge " scramb le, aided b y flailing fee t. Oh, fo r a little torque. There 's also a tendency for th e engine to stumble wh en th e th rottl e is snappe d open suddenly at low idle. Part of the cure can be effect ed in abo u t 15 minutes, by rem ovin g th e roc ker co vers and cran king in an extra 0.25mm or so (about one fu ll adjuster tum) o f valve dearanc~. This effectively ~ecreases exhau~t /m take overlap and. Improves breathing at super-low engtne speeds wi th o nly a small penalty at the top end . Re-set the idle and air -bleed after you button up the rocker covers. It will seem to be a new b ike in the tight, picky stuff. Mos t other mods cost money. You will likely want new alloy bars. Six inch Renthals fit th e tall guys re ally fine , m aking co ntro lled fore- and-aft weight transfer much easier. Next (an d p robab ly m ost cost-effec tive) is to ch uck the stock ex haust as far as you can chuc k it. Honda meant well when they bu ilt the TL 125, it 's as quiet as a whi skbroo m. Bu t it's just not efficient. Practically an y afterm arket exhau st system will be an improveme nt, but the price is more noise. The size o f the no ise penalt y varie s fro m sys tem to system. We've seen pipes by Torq ue Engineering teame d wi th Skyway or Trap p X-duso r mufflers used to go od effect, and we 've had th e opport uni ty to ex te nsively test a T L 125 with a Murphy 's Muffler fitted to a Precision Cycl e p ipe de sign ed exp ressly for th e Murphy inst all ation. It's a toss-up as to whose system is "b est, " though th e Murphy Muffler /Pre cision system was by far the q uie test. Also, th e st andard Murp hy Muffler is an app ro ved spark arrestor. The Precision pipe wraps aro und the cy linder and crosses under the carb to m old the ne cessary tuned len gt h close to the bike. Th ere's a "U"· pa th surge . ch am ber just ah ea d of the muffler which adds effective tuned length as it provides a pulse da mp ene r be tween muffler an d he ader. Strange bu nc h o f plumbin g, but it wo r ks. Early prototypes of th e system had a bad flat spot at m id-ran ge, b ut thi s has bee n tuned o ut. Re-jetting instructions co me with th e kit, as it radically affects the brea t hing ch arac te ristics of the engine. Another radical ch ange, surprisingly cost-eff ec tive , is to stroke (bu t not bore ) t he engine to 152 cc with a Powroll stroker kit . This not only increases to rque o u tp ut with no other changes , but also inc reases flywheel in er t ia noticeably. Our 200-pounder got a brief ride on a stroker and wa s suit ably impressed with its bank-climbing ability. The TL can be bored as well as stroked to ob tain roughly 170cc, but th is is not recom mended. The extra bore seems to screw up the breathing and make lo w-spe ed carbure tion nearly impossible. to dial in. Net e ffec t on the engine's trials suitability is m inus. Bob Nickelsen, who has helped Honda develop both the TL 125 and TL 250, distrusts boring and stroking equally. According to Bob , the kickstarter gear is m arginal in strength, and the added strain will eventually do the kickstart me chanism (or the supporting cas e structure) in . Bob specifies thre e stages of modification for the TL 125 t hat totally sidestep increased displacement. We hope to ha ve a detailed rundown in the near future. So wh at 's yo ur pl easure ? St ock, or tricked-out to the h ilt . Th e TL 125 can be an ything fro m a learner's first trialer to a ple asure co wtrailer to a co mpe ti tive Novice/Amate ur ride, depending on how much yo u want to spend. Bob Nic kelsen, wi th Ameri can Honda 's b lessing, will rid e a stan da rdd isplaceme n t (b ut sup er-t ric k ot herwise ) 125 in th e No rth American Trials Championship ro un ds, just to prove how good th e Ii tt le Honda can be . So if yo u flat can' t afford a Bul or a Cora, co un t y o ur coin s again . The TL 125 plus a bit of tr ickery may be as good as you'll ever need. P.S.: Wish t hey'd bu ild a stock TL 175 . . . _ Specifications Suggeste d retail Wheelbase Seat Height Dry weig ht (ctairned l Fuel capacity 574 9 50 .4 in . 30 .7 in . 194 lb . 1.2 gal. Engine displacemen t Bore & strok e 56 x 49 .5mm 122cc