davetom

The sport may have its faults but the vast majority just enjoy it . It won’t be changing in a hurry, so either you do, or sell your bike to someone who wants to ride it .

Why don’t you ride Taverners, and why aren’t they more popular, if there’s lots of riders wanting that sort of event ?

In all these years of complaining on here, Spud hasn’t ridden in any Taverners events that are pretty much how he wants things . If the whole sport changes tomorrow to his way of thinking, who’s to say he’ll bother riding anyway ? You’d think the Taverners events would be as popular as the Talmag, but we know that riders just bring a bike out for what is more a celebration than a competition. Its the same with the Banbury vintage run, lots of bikes have their only outing for one Sunday afternoon . He could’ve organised a trial with all the effort wasted on here ?

The thing you don’t get spud , is that if you were to ride your bike more than an hour or two a year, you’d see it get gradually trashed , tank dented, maybe cases cracked, struggle with 70 yr old suspension etc and you’d realise why we alter our bikes to ride regularly and safely. Can you not see how it gets peoples backs up when someone who doesn’t compete in a sport decides that the majority who do compete are cheats that are only in it to win and fiddle ? You haven’t exactly had a rush of like minds, and you said that you can’t be bothered to do any organising yourself ? This thread is crazy and doesn’t represent Classic Trials at all, in my opinion.

So what class for Unit bikes that don’t want to ride the easy route ? Are we allowed in ?

Can Spud post a pic of him on his bike just to prove this isn’t all some elaborate wind-up, because that’s what it looks like 👍

So you have 10 classes, plus their sub classes for original/modified, plus possible age handicaps as well . We’ll have a class each , at least there’s more chance of a trophy ! What class do I ride my B40 in, if I don’t want to ride the easy route ?

I used NJB shocks. He does a few different ones for C15’s and is very helpful if you call him. Mine were around 350mm centre to centre, although length of forks matters too. There are other shock options from Falcon , Rockshocks, Betor and possibly more

As Peter says, try reaming it out a little. The Triumph pin is larger as you have found . Best to have a couple of bushes spare as it can be a bit hit or miss- often the last cut can be too much. Adjustable reamers move around if they are held by the hand only, and the ends of the bush gets more of a cut than the middle

Sorry I was asking Karl what hub he was using ?

What rear hub are you using ? Chain clearance has always been a problem with C15s, you can pull the wheel rim over a little by slackening the spokes one side and tightening on the other ( or get a wheel builder to do it ). I widened my swing arm 1 inch to give me more room to play around. Ultimately the dimension from the centre of the front sprocket to the centre line of the engine never changes, so it’s either move the engine to the left a little and alter your rear sprocket accordingly, or move the wheel rim to the right . You won’t end up with a lot of clearance either way; my chain guard virtually rubs on the tyre and chain simultaneously, so don’t expect miracles, but it works just fine

Do you ride the Talmag on your Ajs ?

These rants are just wasting everyone's time. At what point will you throw your dolls out the pram and go through the thread deleting all your posts, as has happened in virtually every ' discussion ' you take part in . Yes, you are very lucky to have inherited an ex-works big four stroke, and understandably don't wish to alter it, but for the rest of us mere mortals who want to get to work on Monday, riding something with a few lighter bits and nicer suspension is less of an issue. Have you ridden many events in the last 12 months, I know I would if I was lucky enough to have been gifted such a bike..? The pre 65 eligibility Horse has not only bolted, the stable has been developed into a barn conversion .

They start about £245, various options, have a look at their site for more info

Went for Rockshocks in the end, all good so far. It was interesting to see how much 'stiction' there was on my 5yr old shocks. When apart, the springs were fine and the damper rod moved easily, but when together I could hardly start go compress them. Once the stiction was overcome,they were OK,say from 1" compressed. No complaints though, 5 years of abuse has to have some effects

Thanks lads for all the replies, don't know if it's the beer but I'm falling for the Rockshocks.. being able to rebuild easily is useful, I fall off quite often, and the wife could be persuaded to make up the extra cost with Xmas coming.. decisions,decisions..?

Thanks, I've had NJB Trikshox for the past 5 years and they've served me well, just wondered what the others are like. Of course what I really want is a shock that will turn me into some sort of trials god, instead of the 'making the numbers up' clubman that I am now, but that might be asking a bit much

As above, for my C15... I've budgeted about £150, not bothered if the Alloy ones are lighter, just wondered what current opinions are.. I've looked back through the archives and there's fans of either, but a lot of the opinions are a few years old so things may be different now? I see a lot of Betors about, but is that because they look a bit sexier or what ? Cheers

That explains it then, thanks. Are multi lap off road trials a modern invention ?

What was the queuing like back then ? If you had 20-30 starting each section surely you'd spend a lot of time hanging about ? Sections would change a lot after being ridden 1000 times too ?

I don't have a problem with fairness, no. I regularly ride against different bikes,there are blokes riding billet Bantams that I usually beat, and others on original big bikes that ride rings round me. Maybe I should have more of a competitive streak but I just go out most weeks and enjoy riding. Yes that is my bike, it looks different now, and I don't live at that house anymore, I'd have given you a pic if you'd asked, I find it a bit creepy that you've gone through 8 yrs of posts to show me a pic of my own bike

The HT was dangerous with me on it, I'm sure more skilful riders cope fine

Ha, nice one Spud. Sorry to burst your bubble but I did ride it in the mud at events. I'm not very competitive, which is useful at my skill level , so I chose a manageable bike that I could ride every week without getting hurt. My C15 was my version of Don Morleys in his book, call it highly modified but all the geometry is virtually the same, bar the subframe being lifted, which was done back in the day.The front frame has had all surplus lugs removed, again as back in the day . Rear hub is Rickman, not sure what front is but its heavier at 8lb than the usual Bantam hubs people use . My bike weighs the same as a competive 60s C15. If I only wanted to ride one event a year, the HT would be perfect, it was a lovely looker, but I try and do 15-20 trials , hence the BSA. You ought to get out more yourself ?

Spud ; C15 has standard engine and original frame with subframe mods as per back in the day. Til recently I owned a completely original HT5, steel everything, but it weighed a ton, and was ok for parading but as I'm self employed, was concerned that if it ever fell on me, I'd never work again . Cheers, I'm off this topic now for life

The annoying thing for me is that I dont think the mood on this forum is in any way reflected on the ground. Fairness or otherwise isn't a subject of concern, with different age blokes riding different sized/ equipped bikes with varying skills