Trials bike a trial

Fired up the TL125 yesterday to run out to the end of the road for the paper and – seized transmission.

Crap!

At $300 a couple of years ago, it’s not like I have a lot of money invested in this 1974 Honda trials bike, but I don’t want it to become a garden ornament either (although there are a few of those out here in our neck of the woods). So in the probably vain hope that it’s something relatively minor and easily repairable without having to double my investment, I pulled the engine out, only to hit my first roadblock – getting the flywheel off. (This is the part where I realize how dumb it was of me to give away my spare parts and toss the shop manual from the first TL 125 I had.)

Thankfully there’s always the internet where I discovered that the right way to do this - as compared to the pry-bars and hammer approach I was considering - was to use a 14mm X 1.5 bolt and gently turn the flywheel off the crankshaft. Aha! But six 5-pound coffee cans of assorted nuts and bolts later I discovered I do not have a 14mm X 1.5 bolt in my possession. So there'll be a short delay until I can get into the city and get the requisite bolt.

This project may take a while.