What's required to make my 1974 Honda TL125 trials bike street legal? | GTAMotorcycle.com

What's required to make my 1974 Honda TL125 trials bike street legal?

Trials Guy

New member
Hi Guys,

I need some help. I own a 1974 Honda TL125 trials bike that I want to make street legal. The good: I have blue plate registration (marked unfit, no plates). The bad: the bike has no head light, tail light, indicators, horn, battery, wiring harness, speedometer, etc. Basically, I am starting from scratch.

I would appreciate any help/guidance on what parts are required and what work needs to be done to get a safety certificate and plates. I have heard that indicators may not be required (hand signals okay). I have also heard mixed views on whether a speedometer is required. I have been told that the lower power requirements of LED lighting may make this process easier. However, I still want the bike to look somewhat vintage.

Also, does anyone know a shop that is good with vintage bikes that can do the work? I am in the Brampton/Mississauga area.

Big surprise, I don't want to spend a ton on this project. The bike is only worth about $1,200.

Thanks,

Trials Guy
 
For a speedometer, look at bicycle speedometers, they can be cheap ($20-$100), they are small and they require no power. You can put an LED bulb in a standard reflector to give you a vintage looking headlight (with a crap pattern that will blind people, but I can't imagine you are putting 1000's of km on this bike).

Honestly, as you are missing everything, I would see if I could buy/build a system with everything in the headlight (battery/LED light/horn). Run a wire to switches on the brake levers and another to the tail light. Just take the battery out once in a while to charge it. Does your bike have a charging system?

Something like these as a starting point (obviously neither is suitable as shown, but the idea of light+battery box is the important concept):

images

Safety_Hazard_warning_Light_traffic_hazard_warning.jpg
 
Great idea for the headlight/battery combo. I would not have thought of that. I like it too because I may want to use the bike for vintage trials and this would allow me to quickly disconnect most of the weight/$$$. Do you know if a battery powered system that is not charged by the bike will meet safety requirements?

You are correct, I will not be driving this bike a lot (500-800 kms per year max).

No, I do not believe that my bike has a charging system.
 
I remember reading somewhere that ontario is no longer allowing bikes initially manufactured for off road use, to be converted to road-legal.

This could be wrong, but this is what I remember.
 
I've heard that too. However, I think I have the hard part done -- I already have blue plate ownership. Once I have the required parts installed and a safety certificate, I don't think the plates can be held back.
 
I've heard that too. However, I think I have the hard part done -- I already have blue plate ownership. Once I have the required parts installed and a safety certificate, I don't think the plates can be held back.

You have the blue plated ownership so youre good.
Just get a safety certificate and you should be on your way!
 
As the owner of 2 TL125s, I would suggest that the TL would make a terrible street bike. If all you want to do is ride it to and from an offroad site you would be wiser to simply buy a cheap trailer that you can pull with your car. Unless you find a sympathetic shop, the likelihood of a simple battery powered light system won't convince a mechanic to risk his/her license on your conversion. Having said that you will need brake lights so that means brake light switches on the front + rear brake levers or ones that are built into the cables. parillaguy
 
Finding insurance might be a bit tricky.

Baja Designs offers a bunch of dual sport conversion stuff, including an entire headlight assembly (headlight, rectifier, battery, flasher relay, etc) which mounts to the front forks with rubber straps. But to run the headlight it says that rewinding the stator is necessary on many smaller bikes. A quick Google suggests that you have a 6volt charging system... not sure if that is AC or DC. AC makes using LEDs more difficult, although some LED taillight/fender kits kits are AC compatible. With 6v I'm guessing the headlight is going to be pretty feeble no matter what you do.

You can get a $7 spring-type switch for the rear brake (mounts on the frame and hooks onto the rear brake lever with a coil spring). You can get hydraulically operated brake switches too, but it looks like it has a cable operated front brake? You might have to drill the brake lever and fit a spring-type brake switch instead, which could be a pain to mount.

Have a browse through mx1canada.com. For my KDX I got a bunch of stuff including brake switches and the fender kit from them, and most of the rest was cobbled together from Princess Auto stuff
 
A trip to rosey toes?
 
Finding insurance might be a bit tricky.

yup,, call around for insurance like as if the bike has a legit safety,, when you have secured an insurance co then.. go to the trouble to make it legit ...
good luck!
 

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