Yamaha TY250
Not all teenagers spent last year’s lockdown in front of an Xbox or pretending to learn maths over Zoom. Fifteen-year-old Roddy Meadows, for example, spent much of the time in the garage with his dad Paul, restoring this monoshock Yamaha TY250.
‘We thought it would give us something to do,’ says Roddy. ‘Dad found out about the TY from a guy in the village, and it had been sitting in a shed for 16 years. It was in a terrible state – when I first saw it I thought “my God we’ve got some work to do there”.’
But Paul, who has worked on his own road race bikes for years, was confident they could turn the TY into something Roddy could ride at the local trials park and perhaps even compete on. ‘The engine had been rebuilt before the guy put it away, but he couldn’t start it – there was no spark,’ says Paul. ‘It was complete, road registered on a Q-plate, and had matching frame and engine numbers. I paid £500 – I tried to haggle but he was having none of it.’
Once in the garage, Paul traced the electrical fault to the kill switch. ‘We got it running to make sure there were no oil leaks and then started stripping it down,’ says Paul. Because of the simplicity of trials bikes, Paul and Roddy could see most of the problems a mile off.
‘The original DID rims were like powder so we replaced them with Excel ones,’ says Paul. ‘We kept the hubs and used stainless spokes. The mudguards had seen better days and been patched up so we got some NOS (new old stock) originals. The tank cover and seat were painted and we changed all the nuts and bolts to stainless.’
The rear shock was beyond repair so they bought a Falcon replacement, the frame and swingarm were sent away to be blasted and they rebuilt the forks. Roddy was in his element, learning from his dad as the bike came apart. ‘Dad only has one pair of hands so I think he enjoys having some help, and my company obviously. I like seeing how things work. When you start taking things apart – the carburettor, for example – and see all these tiny pieces and you realise without each small piece, it wouldn’t work… It’s really interesting.
‘We both got frustrated at times when parts wouldn’t move, and it was a sort of pendulum – when I got frustrated he calmed me down and the next moment he’s frustrated and hitting something with a rubber hammer and I’m like “what are you doing?!”.’
Because of Paul’s spannering experience, some simple techniques helped the rebuild go smoothly. ‘I made sure that when we stripped it we took photographs and bagged things up and labelled them, so it wasn’t too bad,’ says Paul. ‘TYS are basic bikes and fairly easy to work on, so it was reasonably straightforward. I never felt daunted because everything came apart, as they do with Japanese bikes, and they can only go back one way – unlike some of the British bikes where you can put things upside down.’
The pair are deservedly proud of the result. ‘I’d do another project, 100 percent,’ says Roddy. But first he wants to get the hang of the TY, which is a different beast to the modern Gasgas 125 he usually rides. ‘The power delivery is different, it’s a lot heavier, the suspension is very different, it’s got drums instead of discs so the braking is a lot softer. There’s a multitude of things that I have to think about. The TY takes me out of my comfort zone, and to think that I’m going to be riding it at our local trials park up some very steep hills… ’ Paul, meanwhile, is a tad more philosophical about the project. ‘Roddy’s at that age when he prefers to ride them while I get pleasure from getting something back in action rather than letting it rot away. The TY could have been in that shed for another 10-20 years, but we’ve salvaged it. And when my son rode it round the garden his face said it all: chuffed to bits.’
‘It was in a terrible state – when I saw it I thought “my God we’ve got some work to do there”.’