TTR renovation - Part 5 - back in working order

Old and new inlet rubbers

The ratchet guide arrived with the new inlet rubbers and I was able to get the old ones off. Turns out they were four piece when they should have been two piece... The rubber inlets  had completely unbonded from the internal aluminium flanges that bolt to the head. I should have realised this back at the start when I removed the carb and they seemed loose, another lesson learnt.

I fitted the new bits and buttoned it all back up to see how it ran. Started first kick from cold after a couple of priming kicks, so much better there. There was a rattle coming from the kick start though, plus the kick lever was getting stuck as it wasn't auto decompressing properly, so I didn't run it for long. I got back then went briefly to start it to check an unrelated  indicator problem, but got a kick back, firing my knee into the handlebar (that was another two days limping), so back into the garage and back apart. Turns out I'd stupidly not aligned the ratchet guide properly with the decomp lobe the other side of the kick start gear - hence no auto decomp. I also found that this time, it had smashed up the bolts and tabs making up the kick start stop. My first major mistake on this one, but thankfully not too expensive - back to motorcyclespareparts.eu...

smashed up kick start stop

Meanwhile I got some help from the horizonsunlimited forum, where jjrider kindly took a photo of an old mechanism he had lying around and sent to me. The problem with the kick start issues on this bike is that I only have a TTRE electric start workshop manual  - it's all I've found anywhere online. So its fine for most of the bike, but I'm blind on the kick start stuff, hence I made the mistake in alignment. In case it helps anyone reading this, the straight vertical side of the kick start ratchet wheel lobe, should align with a dot that reveals itself at the end of the ratchet spline on the kick start shaft, once you take the circlip, washer and spring off. Anyway, that's all now back together and I've been out today - the bikes running really well with the new inlet rubbers, it's easy to start with no kick backs and all the back firing has gone.

There are lots of bits that still need doing to sort it out, stripping and rebuilding calipers, new chain and sprockets etc - but I now know it's a sweet running bike, worth spending the time and effort on.

So there's my tale from a mechanically conversant but lacking in experience perspective. The various photos I took dismantling it were a great help and nothing is ever as daunting as it might seem if you've not done it before - so if in doubt go for it. Work sensibly and methodically and you won't go far wrong, as ever Google is your friend. I certainly won't be taking bikes to workshops much any more!