Gripped, Sorted, Let's OFFROAD!

[Suntan Sid]

My XL125R project bike was run in a while ago so I thought it was time to see how it perfomed off road.
If you don't know the bike you can find it in this thread:-
https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=278824

When I originally built it I had too heavy a weight oil in the forks, but I changed that during the winter to some 2.5W oil, which improved suspension travel no end.
The bike's 34 years old and is as basic as they came then, the only adjustment I have on the rear shock is preload, I had this too stiff when I built it but have since backed it off, so I now have around 50mm static sag which, in reality, is about as far as I can go with it without getting a different shock and spring
I dropped the tyre pressures to 15 psi before setting off.

On Saturday I found a BOAT near Doves Holes and had a ride over that, it was just a flat gravel/muddy track nothing challenging?
The best bit is riding right through the middle of the golf course!

This is it, not my video!

Longridge Lane and Green Lane:-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFMAjp8VLkA

Today, after some reasearch, I managed to find a green lane a couple of miles from me, it's a UCR that runs from the A6 , near Buxton, to King Sterndale, not very long but I thought I'd give that a go.
Someone else has already filmed it:-

A6 - King Sterndale
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9U2YmDW4eo

TBH, it's a very narrow track and you tend to get stuck in the rut made by everyone else.

Anyway, the sun was still out when I got back to Buxton, 5 mins later, so I thought I'd have a go at Macclesfied Old Road, which runs from Buxton up towards the Cat & Fiddle, this was somewhat more challenging.
(My only real off road experience is pootling around on a trials bike and blasting around mountainside gravel tracks with no real obstacles, on a DRZ400E).

Here's a video, it's not me, but it's exactly where I've been today, although in real life it's a lot rockier than it appears in this video:-

Macclesfield Old Road
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFB8qB0LupU

I was very pleased with how the bike performed.
On the road the bikes feels under powered, off road it seemed to cope with everything, I guess the low power output helped soften things out.
I was particularly pleased with the suspension, the Macclesfield Old Road was very gnarly, plenty of large rocks and a few steps to catch you out but nothing bottomed out and I never felt like the bike was getting away from me.

All in all I'm well chuffed with it, I didn't expect a bike of this type and age to perform so well, as treat for the little blighter I changed the oil when I got home!

My one, and only, niggle is the side stand.
Does anyone have any suggestions on how to stop it waggling around on the lumpier bits of track?
I suppose I could try and get a washer into the mount, to tighten things up, I've had go at this before but couldn't fit a washer in, there wasn't enough clearance.

Looking forward to some more off road now, I'll take my camera next time!
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[Pigeon]

What a brilliant job, must be really satisfying to bring a bike back into service and not only have it looking shiny new, but also improving on the design

Lovin' your work sir



In terms of dangly kickstand, would a stiffer spring do?

Or maybe a large press clip. So you force the stand into a clip that holds it. Not sure how practical or safe that is though.

[mrbox]

just read your build thread for the first time what a lovely job sir!
I do have a soft spot for small cc Honda's

is it the correct side stand for the bike? the pin the spring hooks onto could be in the wrong place? could be an mtx stand possibly?
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[Suntan Sid]

[Suntan Sid]

Well I've just ironed out the sidestand niggle.

The sidstand end fits over the frame, it is threaded on one side, the bolt that holds it in place has a shoulder on it which means you can't over tighten it.

The problem was that the "U" shape, that fits over the frame, has, over the last 30 odd years, widened making the stand a bit sloppy.
Having tried and failed to insert a washer in the enlarged "U", I had a light bulb moment and realised that if I fitted an extra washer on the outside of the "U" it would give me a coulple of millimeters, before the shoulder on the bolt nipped up. Adding the extra washer allowed me to clamp the "U" tighter than it had been, forcing the "U" to close up!

Sidestand is no longer sloppy, result!
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[Howling Terror]

Perfect weather for it too.

Another short track worth trying is Charity Lane. A nice little challenge when it's wet.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.2457718,-2.0404004,3a,90y,314.62h,78.39t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sflOUIqX5hO6XE9aBq5dlyw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

https://youtu.be/w6wIDAManig?t=49s

I thought the XL125 was quite sophisticated for an 80s field bike.
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[Suntan Sid]

Cool, I'll give it a go sometime!
Not so keen on "wet" though, the bike will get dirty!
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