straycollie2

Heavy duty roofing felt has a very abrasive texture. (Try dragging your knuckles across some and see how effectively it removes skin!) Place a strip under / infront of each driving wheel and hey presto - traction! Or at least better traction than you get from mud and ice. And if you can find some offcuts / leftovers from anyone re-roofing a shed with a leaky roof (mine doesn't leak, thankyou for your concern) it's cheap too. Plus it rolls up neatly for storage. It certainly managed to extricate the delivery driver who got stuck on next door's driveway during the bad weather last year.

During the snowy weather last year we found a couple of strips of shed roofing felt very useful.

From reading this discussion I feel that often the main problem is not with the stopping, but with the hopping. It's the hopping when stationary to reposition wheels for the optimum line that takes up time, slows the flow of riders through a section and allows the expert riders to clean ever more difficult sections. As a (less than) average standard rider, I may take a momentary feet-up pause to regain balance, prepare for the next obstacle etc. I would feel aggrieved if this resulted in a five. Judging when a rider is 'stopped' is subjective and often varies between observers. So in and ideal world, I'd like to keep the stopping, but get rid of the stationary hopping. But, anyone who really believes that a change in rules is suddenly going to bring in a huge influx of new riders is living in La-La Land!

Do you have room at the front of the flat for any kind of storage shed?

Hi, We use a Ford Ranger double cab to transport two bikes without problem. If you have passengers on the back seat you will also need to stash riding gear/ spares etc. on the pickup bed. We use plastic storage boxes with lids that clip on tightly! These slide down between the two bikes and are held in place by a sprung, load bar. The Ranger is our only 4 wheeled vehicle and so has to be the family car during the week and bike transport at the weekend. We much prefer it to towing and storing a trailer, which we did for many years. Hope this helps!

Last time I enquired, a new genuine Scorpa sidestand was quite expensive, so I repaired the old one. Is your's beyond repair? Regards Straycollie2

My personal preference is to use Silkolene Pro RG2 grease (in tub rather than aerosol form). I regrease steering head and rear suspension bearings with this once a year and it lasts well. Regards Straycollie2

Hello, the bushes in the swingarm mount don't need to be removed in order for the shock to come out. They don't pass through the shock absorber, only the ally part of the swingarm. The shock may be a tight fit in the mount, so some gentle persuasion might be required to free it. (At least this is all true for my '08 as I've just cleaned and regreased the swingarm/ shock bearings. Different years may not be quite the same, but I don't remember my '01 being much different). Regards Straycollie2

My partner has recently purchased one of these in black,

Hi, I found Ryan Leech's DVD, 'Mastering the art of trials' very useful. If you hunt around on the internet you can get a copy for

Hi, thanks for your response, but I obviously didn't explain myself very well. It's not the large tanged bit that retains the cable nipple, but the small washer about 6mm dia that is part of the needle/ slide assembly. However, I also emailed Birkett's the same question and the official answer is that it sits on top of the needle circlip when the needle is inserted into the throttle slide. Regards Straycollie2

Hi everyone! I've completely stripped the carb on my SY250 to give it a good clean. However, since coming in from the garage to eat tea, put small dude to bed etc. I can't remember how the needle/ throttle slide assembly goes back together. There's a small washer with a tab/tang on it, does this go underneath the needle clip (between circlip and throttle slide) or on top of the needle clip (between circlip and retaining plate assembly)? Hope this makes sense and that someone can help!

Hi, I've recently updated from a 2001 SY to a 2008 model and while I love my new bike it is clear that the intervening years have been a process of evolution rather than revolution. Unless you are really keen on pursuing competitive trials I would suggest that the condition of the bike you're looking at is probably more important than the model year. Regards Straycollie2

As a Scorpa owner I tend to find that engine spares ordered from a Yamaha dealer are cheaper than their Scorpa equivalents, but I'm afraid that I don't have prices to hand.

Hi fellow SY250 owners, I'm going to treat my bike to a new airfilter! Has anyone used aftermarket versions, Apico, Jitsie etc. or is genuine the way to go? Any comments?