caravan_monster

Hopefully, I'll hear something back from the help request form today, or that will be another trial missed because the sport:80 site doesn't work. This forum doesn't see much traffic these days, but surprised we're not hearing more of other riders having similar problems. I've tried it on up to date firefox and several iterations of chromium browsers, but the sport:80 interface puts the process into an endless loop every time, so it is impossible to complete the entry and pay. Do club riders chat online on Facebook or something? - it would be worth investigating if they are having trouble. If the problems at the competitor end are widespread this is a priority to address because there is no point putting on trials if they are difficult or impossible to enter. Trials riders are a polite bunch and especially the less confident will think "Oh well, I don't want to make a fuss. I'll try and enter next month", until they give up and drift away.

Still cannot get the sport 80 site to process a trial entry. I'm decently web and computer literate and find it hard to believe I'm alone. The entries for my local club appear to be about a third to half of the total I would expect at this time of year, with 48 hours to the entry deadline. Would have tolerated problems for a month or two, but 5 months into '23 is unacceptable. Any thoughts on effective ways of complaining to the ACU and pushing them to dispense with sport 80?

Or the simple and reliable solution of paying cash and signing the form on the day, as has worked successfully across the board for many decades. Going outside the scope of this thread, I don't think I'm alone in getting sick of being expected to use smartphone apps only available via Apple or Google Play Store to carry out tasks that didn't previously require them. Even further off topic, it is worthwhile to consider the wider implications of going cashless and employing corporate products as sole gatekeeper to accessing products and services.

I know it's a pain for clubs handling cash and forms out the back of a van on in the wind and rain, but taking away the facility to enter on the day is going to lose casual competitors, which is not something the sport can afford to do. These are the riders who enjoy the day out but for whom trials is not their central focus and previously would often have made the decision to attend the local club trial at the last minute. They'll miss a few entry deadlines for trials they wanted to ride on the abysmal new ACU site and get sick of it and drift away. Lose them and that's entry and club fees gone, observers gone, people introducing friends and family to the sport gone and fewer people buying bikes and equipment.

Been round the houses with extra super duper special oils, polishing the tabs and basket fingers, dimpled plates etc. Think I tried the Apico dimpled plates at one point and they were somewhat all over the place on thickness, whereas the oem honda ones are iirc three distinct thicknesses. The aftermarket ones came with more plates than required, suggesting they could be relabelled CR250 packs. My experience with the 315R clutch 'cures' were that they work temporarily then fade away. Normally that quickly that they aren't worth the time and expense. The most successful compromise I've tried described here: https://www.trialscentral.com/forums/topic/69963-315-clutch-fix/#comment-482783 This was a compromise because it works, but there is a fine line in setting the biting point at the lever. Too far out and it will slip very slightly, but this is only perceivable if you bang it wide open at 30mph in fifth. Too close to the bars and getting neutral with the engine running gets finnicky. Bike gets used maybe thirty times a year on the easy route or practising. Set it up and it's still going fine. Think it's on 10/40W diesel engine oil now. It's a 2000 year showa model, can't remember if there were different clutches over the model years? Edited to add, I'm using the standard oem plates (obviously fewer of them).

After many years of trying to solve 'can't get neutral' and varying levels of annoying drag with thin oil and messing with clutch plates the old man's fix on mine still works fine. I suspect there are non believers though https://www.trialscentral.com/forums/topic/69963-315-clutch-fix/ If it's sitting low, the linkage plates might be wrong way round or no oil or gas left in the shock. The manual says the shock is non repairable, but https://proracing.co.uk/ sorted mine no worries and it's still fine some years later.

Are these the parts you need?

@niponn I have a set of showa forks but the damper rod is broken because I didn't grind off the factory peened over end that retains the nut when disassembling to clean. Could you build a complete fork with this, or did you break the same part as I did I put 4rt forks on my 315 so these are surplus.

I've owned two 315 and they were both had clutches that dragged badly. A new set of dimpled steels would stop it for an hour or two and the htx oil would only really cause it to temporarily drag less. Polishing the tabs on the fibre plates would improve things temporarily. I'm pretty sure that the root problem is not being able to separate the plates sufficiently with the amount of lift available. Probably the worst rider in the club, but still enjoy trying. I did wonder if the spacer might be better situated in the bottom of the basket closer to the bearing, but all seems ok, no strange noises or behaviours. The clutch is common to the CR250 motocrosser, so honda would have designed it with the surface area to handle more than twice the power and much more prolonged use and heat and I wouldn't be too worried about removing 4 / 13 plates from the stack even if the bike was being used by a hard route rider. With the bike being nearly 20 years old, slightly thicker oil in the gearbox is probably a good thing. Ability to disengage the clutch properly just makes the bike more enjoyable to ride, especially with the queues at most trials. tbh even if the worst happened and it catastrophically destroyed the bottom end it wouldn't be the end of the world, sometimes worth taking a risk to try new things.

I've had the 315 for years and tried all the fixes, but didn't find them effective long term. My Father and his colleague suggested this and were kind enough to make it for me. By removing 2 fibre and 2 steel plates but keeping the same amount of lift (x), you get a bigger space between the plates when disengaging the clutch. ie standard = x / 13 plates is a smaller number than modified = x / 9 plates. It's just enough to be able to select neutral with the engine running and no more stalling in gear with the clutch disengaged. Done a few hours practice and a trial with this set up and it's carried my 15 stone around the fun route with no sign of any slipping. It had 5w 30 fully synthetic van oil, which worked fine. Just changed it for some 15w 50 fully synthetic that I use that for another bike, will report back if any problems show up.

I have a Douglas 2 3/4 hp, which were used as dispatch bikes during WWI. I have actually taken it along an easy gravelly green lane which you can rattle along in top gear on a modern enduro, trail or trial bike. It was a real eye opener with clincher tyres which have to be run at high pressure, rudimentary forks and no suspension on the back. Couldn't really go much above walking pace and even if I was more careless about damaging a nearly 100 year old bike, I doubt I could go much faster and stay in control. Combine that with tricky to use controls (eg changing fuel mixture every gear change), not much air filtering and ignitions that must have been very susceptible to water, those early riders and especially early trials riders were hardcore. As for dispatching in a warzone on such a bike, I would have rather taken my chances on a horse or on foot. The Douglas is actually quite rideable for bikes of that period, some bikes having no clutch and others like the Scott with surprisingly lively power to go with no brakes or suspension

My Dad was recently looking for one too. Afraid to say he couldn't find anything and ended up spending a load of time making one from scratch. It's super quiet and the bike runs well with it.

Came across the receipt for my keihin pwk 28 from Allen's Performance, inc VAT was £214 in 2014, which seems reasonable for a new japanese quality carb. That includes the fitting so it joins nicely to the air filter side boot. However, there are further jobs to do to the pwk to work well on the 315. I believe there is a tutorial somewhere on the splat shop site explaining it. I would imagine Allen's would be able to do this work. I did also buy some bigger mains and a few needles to set it up. Much better than a worn out dellorto

Thanks all some food for thought there. More recommends for the beta than I was expecting. Comes down to a choice between trying a 4rt for a change or sticking with a familiar 2 stroke in the beta. Fairly risk free decision in the sense that either should be fairly painless to sell on if they don't work out. I've noticed my dad does that, especially with tall or vintage bikes, but never got the hang of it myself. Much like trials, must practice more!

Any suggestions on easy to kick over bikes? I've had the 315r for years and it is perfectly adequate, but my right knee isn't brilliant and it is really jarring to kick over, whilst not the end of the world gets a bit much if there are queues on every section. The 4rt is certainly a candidate and the betas with the kick start on the other side. Anything else worth a look? Just want something fairly recent to keep on wobbling round the novice route, max budget ~ £3.5k.

Not many in their teens and twenties have the disposable income. If they are lucky enough to have a job, they are likely spending a much larger percentage of income on housing and transport costs than their parents were 30 years ago. It's a shame trials is a hard sell to older people as well. I know loads of middle aged enduro and trail riders who would enjoy trials if they gave it a go and got over the initial hurdles of riding a different bike and learning to read the flags on the sections. These middle agers would bring their offspring, as well as their time, money and land into the sport.

Thanks for the input everyone! I'm not too worried about changing bikes affecting my results (can't get much worse) It's about time for a change and maybe inspire to make time to ride more trials. Sounds like a 4rt might work well for a less competitive / for fun rider.

Perpetual easy route wobbler toying with the idea of trying a 4rt after years on the 315 (2000 model year, I think). The appeal of the 4rt is in being easier to kick over (bad knees - the jarring movement of kicking the 315 over ~40 times / trial is not great) and it might be good to ride something different for a change. I really don't ride enough, but do my best to ride a trial every month, so not absolutely sure it's worth the money. Could probably stretch to around a 2014 4rt and would hold onto the 315 for the short term. Anyone else gone from the 315 to the 4rt and how did you get on ?

I'd agree that it's a 2000 model, same as mine, with the coloured fork coating and the older style rear caliper. My one has red mudguards and the black carbon fibre effect tank (no Dougie replica stickers though!) I still don't believe anyone will pay over £2k for it

From asking around, it sounds like honda are starting to run down the parts supply for the 315. Fatigue has to be a consideration on a 15 year old bike, but on the plus side, the build quality is good, not much breaks and there seems to be a reasonable supply of second hand parts around. Depends on how you feel about dealing with the second hand parts market. To ride, the power is softer and it feels heavier than more modern offerings, but you still see the occasional one on the hard route. When the time is right, I will be buying the best / newest 4rt I can afford with the intention of holding on to it for a long time. That is only because I'm not keen on using second hand parts. Otherwise, I would stick with the 315 because it is solid, good to ride and I like it. Price wise, some have been asking silly money for 315s that is difficult to justify for a mass produced bike of that age that isn't anything rare or special.

Thanks for the idea Mr.Nou ! Unfortunately, the probe had broken off (it is thinner with a finer thread than the plug cap one), so looks to be beyond repair. Hopefully a replacement and new ht lead will end the reluctant cold starting and intermittent playing up which has been getting annoying.

I set about removing the old ht lead on my 2000 315, with the intention of replacing it. It was difficult to twist off at the coil end. Assuming it had been siliconed in, I gave it a good dose of brute force and it broke. It looks like the lead was glued into the coil. Before I spend many more hours of my life trying to poke the bits out, does anyone know if the lead and coil were a one piece assembly and I'm wasting my time, or is it a conventional reusable item with a screw probe that winds in to the ht lead ?

It could be running a bit lean from an air leak or lean jetting. I find my 315 fan mostly comes on at slow speed in first or second gear.

The parts question has crossed my mind the other day when I realised my 315 is now 15 years old. Not had any problems getting parts yet. As I remember, the engine bearings and seals are standard fare, maybe the linkage had odd sizes. Piston kits look easy enough to find, and once renewed should last a long time. Foot pegs and levers aftermarket. Wheels and plastics 4rt. I think it is correct to say most trials brake systems are shared with various mopeds, so aftermarket should take care of that. It'll be parts uniquely specific to the 315, like the exhaust and kickstart Johnnyboxer mentioned, I could imagine becoming a problem. Those asking prices seem steep ! I thought a 315 would barely fetch a grand. Saying that, even if some nutter offered £2k for my bike, I think I would hold onto it. It's just fine for a crap old man to ride club trials on. I would only seriously consider replacing it with a 4rt, and at the moment it just doesn't seem worth the upgrade cost and effort involved in learning to ride a four stroke.

If fuel (kinked fuel line or blocked jet) and ignition (check spark) are ok, bearing in mind the age of the bike, it's probably worth checking main bearing seals and reeds. More often than not, if the main seals have gone, the bearing will have too. Easiest way to check is remove flywheel cover, firmly hold flywheel and feel for up / down play in the main bearing. To check the reeds, remove the carb and then the reed block from the engine. Check the reeds close properly and aren't broken or frayed.