General Discussion Forum for TRX Enthusiasts...
Moderators: trixynut, Mincehead, dicky, phuk72, Jak, Kevtrx849
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sarahredrose
- TRX-Enthusiast
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Mon Aug 27, 2012 11:06 am
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by sarahredrose » Mon Nov 26, 2012 10:01 am
Help!!!!
Why is my TRX harsh and clattery to ride, its awful at low speeds and even at small thottle openings on the motorway it hunts and shunts. Its bloody awful to ride and impossible to ride smoothly. It has taken all the fun out of motorcyling for me, fun that i hoped to re live when i brought this great looking bike. I have put new chain and sprokets on it, geared it down, cleaned ot the carbs looking for blocked jets and passage ways, there is no visible wear on the needle jets either!
Im a loss to know what else to try? I have nver ridden a bike this horrible and its only done 30,000Km.
Are all TRX's like this or do i have a bad one? Come on guys come up with some ideas to make it ride as well as it looks,
Sarah

(Very dispondent!)
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Skybone
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- Location: Scottish Highlands
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by Skybone » Mon Nov 26, 2012 11:14 am
I was having "hunting" issues on mine up until recently, some suggested that it might be the needle jets/emulsion tubes on the carbs wearing oval (a common issue).
Have you tried replacing the air filter?
I had a look at mine recently, found it was a K&N, so cleaned & re-oiled it. Mine used to "hunt" at around 3000-3500rpm and 2250-2750rpm (UK legal speed limits basically!). Open it up, and it went brilliantly, but low down it was tortuous. Cleaning the air filter smoothed out the low end hunting, and got rid of the higher end hunt. Might not work, but worth a try if nothing else.
Hi and Welcome aboard BTW.

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bubbaad
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- Location: Manchester UK
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by bubbaad » Mon Nov 26, 2012 11:45 am
Does it get worse as it warms up ? Valve clearances perhaps ? Fueling, spark plugs/leads checked ? It's worth getting it right as the TRX is a great bike to ride......Good luck with it.
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Bullet
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- Location: Redcar. North East England
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by Bullet » Mon Nov 26, 2012 1:26 pm
+1 on Valve clearances or emulsion tubes.
I'm addicted to brake fluid, but I can stop anytime.
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Silver
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- Location: North Northamptonshire UK
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by Silver » Mon Nov 26, 2012 3:25 pm
You also need a bit of slack in the drive chain, i see you recently changed this. make sure there is at least as much slack as in the manual, also check there is some some play in the throttle cables. Both these things can affect the way the bike is difficult to ride at slow speed, also the on off throttle feel that makes it difficult to ride at steady speed.
Dave
2010 Street triple R 675 Road bike
2018 BMW G310GS
1988 Honda XBR500(converting to GB500 spec)
SZR660 road and track project
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Red Rex
- TRX-Enthusiast
- Posts: 972
- Joined: Thu Sep 21, 2006 6:31 pm
- Location: Oxon/Bucks
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by Red Rex » Mon Nov 26, 2012 4:48 pm
On standard gearing I found it a bit lumpy to ride around town at the legal limit. One tooth smaller on the engine sprocket sorted that out.
Otherwise , a tight chain is a bitch. (as stated above)
I guess you're not in the UK (?) but maybe post up where you are in the world and another member local to you could offer to take yours for a test ride and give feedback.
The TRX is a great bike to ride so you shouldn't be feeling despondent about owning one
Good luck
Rubber side down, Red side up is my preferred riding style.
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Mincehead
- TRX-Enthusiast
- Posts: 6345
- Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2009 1:40 pm
- Location: West Sussex
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Contact:
Post
by Mincehead » Mon Nov 26, 2012 6:00 pm
sarahredrose wrote:Help!!!!
Why is my TRX harsh and clattery to ride, its awful at low speeds and even at small thottle openings on the motorway it hunts and shunts. Its bloody awful to ride and impossible to ride smoothly. It has taken all the fun out of motorcyling for me, fun that i hoped to re live when i brought this great looking bike. I have put new chain and sprokets on it, geared it down, cleaned ot the carbs looking for blocked jets and passage ways, there is no visible wear on the needle jets either!
Im a loss to know what else to try? I have nver ridden a bike this horrible and its only done 30,000Km.
Are all TRX's like this or do i have a bad one? Come on guys come up with some ideas to make it ride as well as it looks,
Sarah

(Very dispondent!)
Sarah, can I ask, have you been used to inline fours?
For a parallel twin the TRX is VERY smooth, it`s down to it`s design with the twin balance shafts. TRX`s do still shudder and vibrate some, it`s impossible to design it all out.

LOUD PIPES SAVE LIVES
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Snod Blatter
- TRX-Enthusiast
- Posts: 405
- Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2012 8:40 am
- Location: Worksop, UK
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by Snod Blatter » Mon Nov 26, 2012 8:23 pm
Another +1 for valve clearances, mine was hunting quite noticeably at the revs that skybone mentions. I found that one inlet had closed up to less than 0.1mm. Now that I've set them up I can just about run along at 30mph in 4th with stock gearing
It is still harsh and clattery though, and lashes like a good 'un compared to my venerable CB250 Two Fifty, but you get used to it and eventually realise parts aren't going to break or fall off!
'95 4NX with K&N filter, Motad Venom cans, YSS PD valves, Ohlins fork springs, 530 C+S, Green CDI, 11/16 radial master cylinder, +30mm jack up dog bones. Enjoyable money pit.
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bagmaker
- TRX-Enthusiast
- Posts: 342
- Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2010 5:29 am
- Location: Melbourne Australia
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by bagmaker » Mon Nov 26, 2012 9:57 pm
sarahredrose wrote:Help!!!!
Why is my TRX harsh and clattery to ride, its awful at low speeds and even at small thottle openings on the motorway it hunts and shunts. Its bloody awful to ride and impossible to ride smoothly. It has taken all the fun out of motorcyling for me, fun that i hoped to re live when i brought this great looking bike. I have put new chain and sprokets on it, geared it down, cleaned ot the carbs looking for blocked jets and passage ways, there is no visible wear on the needle jets either!
Im a loss to know what else to try? I have nver ridden a bike this horrible and its only done 30,000Km.
Are all TRX's like this or do i have a bad one? Come on guys come up with some ideas to make it ride as well as it looks,
Sarah

(Very dispondent!)
Hi Sarah - just say the word as to where and I am sure one of us will meet up with you and swap bikes for a few minutes to check it out.
We are a helpful bunch!

there are only 3 types of people in the whole world
those who can count
and those who cannot
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fung
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- Joined: Mon Aug 23, 2010 2:00 am
- Location: Gold Coast. South East Queensland.
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by fung » Mon Nov 26, 2012 11:13 pm
+1 Sarah.
Let us know where you are and someone will jump to help you.
We are all here to help each other out

cheers
fung

I WOULD RATHER WEAR OUT THAN RUST
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vicar
- TRX-Enthusiast
- Posts: 36
- Joined: Mon Jul 26, 2010 10:27 pm
- Location: Lancs/merseyside border uk
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by vicar » Tue Nov 27, 2012 1:42 am
Hi all the previous post are probably right but mine was the same when I got it. I cleaned out the carbs no change, bought a kit off fleabay for the carbs no jets or tubes just O rings and seals £13 fitted them and the bike was transformed. every thing looked ok in the carbs ,just thought it was worth a try. The previous owner had been trying to fix the bike and had fitted new coils etc etc etc. The seal that was gone is under the posts that hold the float pivots and if you were not looking for it you might not notice it exists..........Vicar good luck
IF only one bike was enough.......................(still room for another one)
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sarahredrose
- TRX-Enthusiast
- Posts: 2
- Joined: Mon Aug 27, 2012 11:06 am
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by sarahredrose » Tue Nov 27, 2012 11:20 am
Thanks for all the tips guys x it would seem there is plenty of things to try. I live in Auckland, New Zealand (originally from Nr Birmingham in the UK) and yes i used to ride fours before but i have riden ducati's before and ather twins and my TRX is most definatly 'one sick cookie'
Anyone on here live in Auckland who could give it a test ride for me and some feed back please.
I do also have a horrible suspission that it may have been dyajetted of simular as some of the sump plate bolts are drilled for wiring, Can i tell if the carbs ahve been buggered about with?
Sarah
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Con Rod
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by Con Rod » Tue Nov 27, 2012 12:12 pm
simplest way to tell is to take the float bowls off and look at the numbers on the jets, if not standard then.....
for what its worth, and this may upset some with dyno kits, but I am running standard jest sizes, albeit well tuned, and I am very happy with the power delivery and performance.
I reckon the standard TRX is a good performer that does not leave you wanting for performance.........I dont run it on the track though.
if it has been jetted at fellow member sourced full carb kits at a very reasonable price here:
http://www.motorcyclespareswarehouse.co ... -parts-kit
these have been tried and tested by a number of forum members and if you wanted to do a full workover on your carbs picking up a set of these is the way to go.
details of the car set up can be found here:
http://www.trx850.com/phpBB_forum/viewt ... bes#p81248
and here:
http://www.trx850.com/phpBB_forum/viewt ... +uk#p88732
Paul
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slow codger
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by slow codger » Thu Nov 29, 2012 12:01 pm

Without seeing anything, I would suspect the emulsion tubes. Do a search on here and you will find plenty of threads about them and pictures as well. Take them out and check they are round and not oval. TRX's run rich as normal, a quick way to lean them out is to fit a K&N filter, doesn't need any adjustment to the jetting either.
Dave E
An infiltrator from the dark side!
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Smithers
- TRX-Enthusiast
- Posts: 62
- Joined: Fri Jan 15, 2010 2:06 pm
- Location: Tauranga, New Zealand
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by Smithers » Fri Nov 30, 2012 6:14 am
Hi Sarah, I live in Tauranga and would be glad to assist you with the issues you seem to have with your bike. Over the last two years I have improved my TRX considerably by tidying up faults that were associated with previous neglect, poor adjustment and damage that the unfortunate previous owner incurred. It was an OK bike before but is now a machine I will never part with ..... but there are things that can be improved on these machines to make them the brilliant bike they can be, and these improvements need not be expensive and are sometimes only adjustments...... wire locked bolts are not a good omen though! Feel free to give me a ring 075446273 or 0275730566...... We cant have you giving up on this machine, you would be missing out on one of life's better experiences.
Cheers Kevin