mark.drechsler

Project Marlboro

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Or ‘How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the TRX’

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve really liked the TRX850 since I bought it a couple years back, and it made me regret not buying one back when they were being sold as the desperately unpopular critter they were back pre-Y2K. Sadly though the green was my least fave colour to start with, and the green on this one was looking old and tatty, along with the once repainted yellow wheels looking very battered. With shed space all filled up and my opportunities to ride far less frequent than when I was working at Yamaha World, a cosmetic overhaul was the most logical step. Take a bike I loved riding, and make it one I could also love looking at. I’ve always loved the retro Marlboro Racing colour schemes, I’ve seen a couple of other TRXs done up in similar tribute styles overseas, and riding around on a Rainey YZR500 tribute would feel pretty bloody cool…

The starting point – aside from the yellow wheels, blue spot calipers, Keihin flatslides and aftermarket cans, one stock 1997 TRX850.

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Project 865 – summing it up

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Ok, I realise the last few posts have been a bit of a rambling storyline, so I thought I’d put together one post that summed up just what was done as part of the Royal Enfield 865 conversion for all those contemplating doing something similar. Here goes nothing…

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Project 865 – the final result, really this time…

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Well, my last post was meant to be the final one for Project 865 – all that was needed was some final dyno tuning and a before and after HP chart…

…until I got the call from the tuner, which went along the lines of ‘we can’t adjust the ignition timing with a Power Commander ECU, and if we tune it to make the most of the mods you risk blowing your engine, so yeah, maybe you should swap to a Powertronic ECU which allows us to tune both the air/fuel mix AND your ignition timing…‘

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Project 865 – the end result

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In my last post I went over the goals of the 865cc conversion on my 2022 Royal Enfield Continental GT and how the project should ‘in theory’ happen. I’m very happy to say that things went more or less exactly how they were meant to, and the bike is back on the road and through … Read more

Project 865

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Royal Enfield have undergone quite a stunning renaissance in the past few years. As the oldest continuously operating motorcycle brand in the world (one year older than Harley Davidson, just for the record, and there is probably some debate about Indian and Peugeot as well in terms of who did what at the beginning of the 20th century and who has been in continuous operation since) there has been plenty of time for ups and downs, but the transition they have driven in the last five years has been impressive.

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