Small is so big in Japan
By Barry Robinson on 20th Jan 12
The man who introduced the world to the Suzuki mini trialler with its multispeed gear-box and miniscule two-stroke engine, Peter Gaunt, has unearthed another Japanese gem.
The 75-year-old trials rider, a former Isle of Man road-racer, who lives at Harrogate and is a legend in his own right with the Gaunt Suzuki, the BSA Bantam and various other creations, has located an original Honda TLM 50 trials machine.
Honda made a pretty usable 250 TLM as well as a 200cc version plus the 50cc two-stroke five-speeder way back in 1985.
Peter's version weighs in at just 130lbs and is just as it left the factory 27-years ago. The engine has been bored to 62cc and is quite punchy, bearing in mind that Mr Gaunt weighs just the same as he did in 1957, when the writer indulged in practice sessions in the Wharfe Valley.
It seems that another skilled trials rider Mick Grant, also a handy man with a lathe, welding gear and a king-sized pillar-drill, has had the little Honda motor spinning on his test rig to the tune of 10,000 revs, so it must be typically Japanese – strong!
Peter rode the TLM in the Ilkley ‘New Year Trial', staged at Dob Park, Otley, on Sunday and gave ‘Mr PJ1', Richard Thorpe, a drubbing, despite the fact that Richard was on a ‘modern' TY Yamaha mono.
Sixty-two ‘cc' of nothingness on 20 rugged Ilkley sections was the acid test.The man who introduced the world to the Suzuki mini
trialler with its multispeed gear-box and miniscule two-stroke engine, Peter Gaunt, has unearthed another Japanese gem, writes BARRY ROBINSON.
The 75-year-old trials rider, a former Isle of Man road-racer, who lives at Harrogate and is a legend in his own right with the Gaunt Suzuki, the BSA Bantam and various other creations, has located an original Honda TLM 50 trials machine.
Honda made a pretty usable 250 TLM as well as a 200cc version plus the 50cc two-stroke five-speeder way back in 1985.
Peter's version weighs in at just 130lbs and is just as it left the factory 27-years ago. The engine has been bored to 62cc and is quite punchy, bearing in mind that Mr Gaunt weighs just the same as he did in 1957, when the writer indulged in practice sessions in the Wharfe Valley.
It seems that another skilled trials rider Mick Grant, also a handy man with a lathe, welding gear and a king-sized pillar-drill, has had the little Honda motor spinning on his test rig to the tune of 10,000 revs, so it must be typically Japanese – strong!
Peter rode the TLM in the Ilkley ‘New Year Trial', staged at Dob Park, Otley, on Sunday and gave ‘Mr PJ1', Richard Thorpe, a drubbing, despite the fact that Richard was on a ‘modern' TY Yamaha mono.
Sixty-two ‘cc' of nothingness on 20 rugged Ilkley sections was the acid test.
