I guess I’m not the typical Classic Dirt Bike reader as I’m in my sixth decade, have been riding motorcycles since my teens yet have virtually zero experience of riding off-road. While I’ve been riding on the road for many years, and have had a yearning to experience the dirtier side of life, it’s only ever really amounted to a little bit of gentle green-laning and some greasy campsites. So I’d decided things had to change and the only way change could happen would be if I actually bought myself a suitable steed.
But what to buy? Classic Brit scrambler? Or lairy Vinduro two-stroke? Maybe even a finicky European trials tiddler? Well, as my motorcycling career started in the Eighties – with a grounding of a childhood spent on the Isle of Man – I started looking at off-roaders from this period, with a number of friends making comments intended to direct me either towards those machines suitable for green-laning, or for trials. Which is when I started noticing Honda TLR200s which would mean I could do both.
To cut a long search story short, the bike you
