trialsrfun

Good weekends sport and lots of interest, on Saturday the Five Nations trial goes off on the road after some sections at Sallywood Park, Bonanza trial is all at Sallywood Park then in the evening there is the grasstrack solos, sidecars & quad racing (39 races in all I think) and the Scramble on Sunday. The Bonanza trial according to the regs. should have been 3 laps of 15 sections but was 3 laps of 12 sections instead. Some of these especially those at the bottom of the hill behind the wire fence were well worn knee deep in mud and not very popular with the riders. There did seem less entries in this trial than previous events and quite a few riders were struggling with the muddy sections so maybe a rethink is due for next time with hopefully additional sections on the banks to replace those in the bottom, this would benefit the spectators who would then get a much better view. But on the whole a credit to the organisers who must put in a tremendous amount of work on this event.

Rode the Bonanza Trial this weekend, not enough summer weekends in a year. Bonanza & the Goodwood Festival of Speed as well as Beaulieu Motorcycle World all good events & on the same weekend.

Where are the Barnett clutch plates from and what is the cost, is there a web adress or anything.

Have fitted the clutch plates (all the same way sharp edge out) & spent ages carefully setting the pressure plate using the cable tie method & having test ridden it it seems much better ( I felt in control ?) but will let you know after the next trial hopefully soon. Thanks for all the advice.

Neon good to hear you got the bike, I found it hard to put into words a description of the 200s performance but you managed it very well, just reading it I could feel the enthusiasm coming out. I cannot help with the bearing problem but I am sure it will be a simple matter & easily fixed. Good luck keep us posted after you have trialled it for the first time, a comparison with the 270 will be interesting.

Yes that was it Honda SS50 4 speed pile on the revs went like the clappers, have not seen one in yonks.

I have never owned a four stroke trials bike but I have owned two Honda four stroke singles, the first when I was in my teens being a splendid little 50cc sports bike (do not remember the model number) but it was bright red with a very smart chrome high level exhaust but did it rev and go. One night a friend and I decided to ride to the local pub on the 50 and that he should ride it there with me as pillion, between my home and the pub is an extremely steep hill and because he was not used to the bike got his gearchanges wrong letting the revs fall and the Honda was going ever more slowly until it was on its last gasp, what happened next took a split second but is as clear to me as if it were this morning, just as the bike was about to stop I placed both feet on the road and stood up instantly the revs soared I was left standing in the middle of the road looking like the crazy frog with both hands clutching a dual seat by its centre strap and my friend riding out a giant wheelie and about to sit down on a tangle of all sorts where the seat used to be. Oh what happened to all the fun ? My other Honda was an XR100 enduro a Canadian import what a GEM you could paddle start it and race away it felt like a World Superbike.

Thanks Woody it sounds as though the latter TLR model would be the one to choose, until recently when I began to gather the parts together for my Cub project I had not really thought about owning a Honda trials bike but the more I learn the more interesting they appear.

Thanks for that, this four stroke yearning thing that I am suffering from is making me think I want a RS200 Konda model, are there many/any about here in the UK & what might be the value & spares availability.

Is a RS200 different from a Seeley & what did Kondo convert, knowing this will lift a cloud of confusion.

Neon my Rev 3 is a 250 but I have ridden a 200 & thought it a brilliant bike plenty of pulling power & not lacking anywhere I am no light weight either, have a look on the motomerlin website (look for the link) there is an excellent review of the Beta 200 there. All ther other makes of 200 are about 160cc so are nearer to a 125 the Beta is a full 200. If I were you have a test ride & go for it.

I have the Bieffe carbon/kevlar helmet in silver, well made & not too heavy plus a vented shell so not too hot, most important thing though is that the fit is brilliant. MRS Malcolm Rathmell is the Bieffe importer but not sure if the name has changed though.

The Sheffield bit was a little tongue in cheek point is I think we all prefer natural hazards to anything constructed, I just hope that the work done at Hawkstone reflects what nature left behind rather than being some type of supercross section but Martin Lampkin & co must surely be the people to create a top trial for us all to enjoy. The section at Duluth looked very interesting especially that undercut step at the end definitely spectacular to watch. Trial at Hawkstone with Steve Colley riding (yes I am a fan) & all the rest + Dougie (hope the injury is healed soon) to cheer for it has just got to be a brill weekend.

Only 4 replies to this topic has no one read it, when I go to Hawkstone I do not want to stand & watch the best riders competing over something imported from Sheffield then probably dragged back there ready for next time.

Personal preference here depending on height, build etc the only way to know is fit or remove the spacers & try the machine, do nor rely on the feel in the workshop go & ride it. My mate has them fitted to his SY250 he is 6ft 2 " tall.

At the last trial I rode someone was riding a Firefly with a Villiers engine it was a very tidy machine. I have not seen one before are there many about in or out of use.

The clutch cable is std. with a long front brake operating arm set at right angles.

Nigel I renewed the primary chain & tensioner during the recent overhaul, springs are all exactly the same length & the clutch basket is in really good condition as is most everything else. When the clutch was put back together again particular care was taken (following the advice given here)to get the same amount sticking out on the threads when the springs were tightened up & to get an even release on the pressure plate. Is it typical of this type of clutch to be sharper on take up than one with mixed type plates. Going off it a bit the engine pulls amazingly well from nothing at all & the gear ratios & overall gearing seem just about right for most anything I have yet ridden. My mate rides an SWM Rotax 280cc I think, the Bult is sharper with more pull but the Rotax is very very smooth & forgiving & gets the job done very well, both bikes handle very similarly with a sort of indistinct sense of direction presumably due to not having much fork trail (leading axle, fork legs & steering stem not parallel) as yet we cannot say which bike might grip the best, weight feels much the same.

Woody do you know if the ignition from a TY mono fits the TY175 engine, if so what is involved.

The distortion on the three plates is about 3 to 5 thou measured with a feeler gauge blade from the plate glass. Am unfamiliar with this type of clutch with all steel plates and as these have slots etc cut into them I suppose there will be a degree of flex when under spring pressure but if this distortion is sufficient to cause trouble then I had better get replacements. Thank you all for the help.

I have now stripped, thoroughly cleaned & checked all the clutch parts as well as the operating lever in the mag case, nothing appears to be worn or damaged. Pushrod is straight, ball bearing ok as is the mushroom & thrust race, handlebar lever & cable are fine. All the plates were laid flat on plate glass & all but 3 seemed perfectly flat, the other 3 maybe a thin feeler gauge blade could be slid between the clutch plate & the glass, does this mean that they should be replaced or would such a small amount of uneveness not matter. I do have the longer (front brake arm fitted) to make the clutch lighter to operate I think this is fitted as suggested. Everything is back together for now following the above advise with good tqf in, clutch action is a little better though take up is still a little bit harsh & neutral is sometimes possible to find, much easier than before to ride (though any worse & it would have been unrideable) should the 3 plates be replaced or left alone or do all the lot need renewing.

Bike is fitted with Domino dog leg levers (like fantic etc have) I too thought that maybe they did not pull sufficient cable so I tried about three types of lever including the Amal type that were fitted as standard. No one lever seemed to make any difference though.

I have now ridden a trial on my recently restored Bultaco 350 model 199a the blue one but find the clutch take-up too sharp. It has the all metal clutch the plates appear to be flat & in good condition not blued or burred on the tangs, everything seems ok, the clutch does not slip but take up is sharp making bike control difficult also it does not clear very well making it very difficult to select neutral with the engine running. Has anyone any ideas has I have tried everything that I can think of without success & this problem is spoiling what is otherwise a very nice bike to ride.

If indoor style sections are to be a feature of the World Outdoor Trials Championship might this reflect onto trials at a lesser level, if so I see this as a threat to trials as surely riding through a variety of natural hazards is what it is all about. If this were to happen then I think trials entries would plummet just as happened when to ride a section hopping, reversing, static balancing etc was required. At that time trials seemed to be on the way out, that also carried over from the top level. Since we reverted back to the old style marking system trials have really taken off. I think these manmade sections owe more to the TV camera & packing in the paying public than to what trials is really all about.

While messing about on the computer & doing a search on yahoo for different trials models I found a new for 2006 Honda RTL. Quick find a picture but no not what I thought at all, it is a big (suv) pick up truck so I do not think that we shall see a new Honda trials bike with that name again.