After setting up sections with Murray and Joe and trying a few out on the TL, Murray Man let me ride his custom TMI framed TL-250. It handled great and had plenty of power. TL-250s have a reputation for being pigs but this one rode great????
When Murray pulled up on my TL-125 the first words out of his mouth were "How in the HELL do you ride that thing"!!!! I took another spin on the 125 and knew without megabucks pumped into the engine this just wasn't going to be the right bike for me even though I have always lusted for a TL-125.....
Anyway, Cowboy Joe, who has an insane surplus of vintage rigs offered to take my TL on trade towards a KT-250 that he had. After several kicks I turned the key to the on position and she fired up, first kick!!!!
Though this was a step up it still had it's expected vintage quirks and problems. Amazingly the bike was completely stock other than the handle bars, a missing tail light and the left hand grip. It even had a title to it!!!!
Anyway, the first thing I realized when I tried to ride my first event on it was that it had fork springs for someone about 70 lbs, rear shocks that might as well have been a hard tail and a frayed throttle cable that almost turned me totally away from vintage bikes all together!!!
After a little encouragement from a few valued riding buddies, I decided to put a few bucks into it and see if it made a noticeable difference.
I never got any "before" picture so here it is with updated bars, the lights stripped off, a number plate added, new fenders and stiffer fork springs installed.
