The first steps
Nearly four decades ago, this humble machine raced at the iconic Sholavaram race track. The body was stripped and the motor was tuned and given an expansion chamber. The result was a high performance moped capable of 100kmph. TVS displayed it at the recent Motosoul event and it sported the racing number 39 owing to the 39 years of the bike’s first appearance. We too payed homage by giving our moped a ‘Scrambler 39’ decal. Needless to say this is what inspired the TVS racing division and we think it surely deserves a pat on the back.
Let me tell you that the chassis of the XL is one tough cookie. We went through three cutting discs before we took out a sizeable chunk of the thing. Overall the bike felt light and we could even lift it without much effort now. The design demanded a fancy paint job and we dismantled the entire body which is held by just No 10 nuts and bolts. Inspite of seeing so much abuse, we could not find and rust across the body and all the bolts needed were a squirt of WD40. Next up to further aid weight reduction, we chopped off the mud guards. Not only to make it lighter but also to give it the scrambler look which, we were aiming for. One final test fit later we sent the body work to paint.
While we were left with the rolling chassis, we decide to clean it up and touch up paint as well. Thereafter, we added gas charged shocks at the back and even hand built new mountings for the front mudguard and the fancy new tail light kit. The front suspension was upgraded too and now features the one seen on the
new generation XL HD. Other ancillaries like the brakes were also redone. A wider handlebar was added to give it a proper scrambler like riding position. Last but not the least hand guards and a headlight grille were installed as we know we were going to drop it. Overall the rolling chassis was ready now. The colour chosen was a rather racy red and we also got custom decals made to set our XL apart. Assembly took a full weekend and voila, ‘Fabulous Little Pogo’ was born.
Seeing the little moped parked next to the new generation XL clearly reveals it dimunitive dimensions. The new XL also features 4-stroke motor and even mod cons like electric starter and a larger fuel tank. Us on the other hand remain raw. The crisp sound of a two-stroke, the tacho bouncing off to the red line and the smells make us happy. The bike is light and acceleration brisk.
Wheelies are child’s play on the little moped further accentuated by the wider handlebar. Once it warms up, the little moped goes through dirt with ease as well helped by the block pattern Ceat tyres. Top speed has increased as well and I just wish we could get a disc brake kit for it. Last but not the least, the modified suspension helps too and we rarely stop by yumps! Just take it and the little moped flies through.
So there are two take aways from this story! First, cheap can be made cheerful too and second, one (read me) should keep their big mouth shut else there will surely be something next to build around the corner!