Any modern bike regardless of capacity will cope with your weight no problem. All have similar seat height so no real best bike in that regard. As a beginner I'd keep away from a 300; 250 or 125 is fine. Probably comes down to findng the best condition bike in your price range locally if buying secondhand rather than narrowing your choice to one or two makes.
Van-derived car for me (Doblo or Berlingo). You don't have the lower speed limits imposed on vans, bike fits with rear seat folded and you've got the versatility of a family car the rest of the time.
Gave up using a trailer years ago, too little security for the bike and speed limits too low.
As johnnyboxer says, changing classification likely to be costly and not straightforward. Might as well buy the car version in the first place - usually quite a few Doblos/Berlingos around secondhand.
Like Cabby I have used a Doblo car for years. Carries one bike with the seats folded up or two with back seat removed (I have modified mine to be quickly detachable). Good economy, comfort and general running costs, and being the car version rather than van is not subject to lower speed limits.
From memory, most if not all Saracen production frames were nickel plated. Also the snail cam adjusters were situated at the swinging arm spindle, not the rear wheel. This may help to identify whether your frame is a Saracen.
Ron Goodfellow, the originator of the brand, (who used Bantam engines in his first bikes) has been a contributor on here in the past so further help may just be forthcoming.
Gauntlets!! Last time I saw those on a trials rider they were teamed with the old ankle length storm proof footing coat, excellent for disguising dabs from observers.
For a few, it's wearing gloves that just doesn't seem right. These people have a history going back to the 1970s, when of course Malcolm Rathmell coined the phrase that wearing gloves is like washing your feet with your socks on.
Do they switch the throttle over to the left hand side?
I there any top world or national rider who is a leftie?
I've never known any lefthanders feel the need to change to a left hand throttle, and would question whether they'd actually gain an advantage. It could be argued that clutch control is a vital element of the fine skills of trials riding, and all the right handers cope with that no problem, just as lefties do with the throttle.
Isnt riding a trial a voluntary exercise???? if theres something you don't like or think is too dangerous then don't do it.... Please don't turn the sport into a Nanny State... Work 6days a week is bad enough now, couldn't stand sunday morns listening to a "method statement" before doing something I & thousands of others have been doing for donkeys years in blissful unawareness to the dangers involved!!!!!!!!
I do agree with the principle that deciding to do a particular activity includes acceptance of the risk to self, to the extent that if I want others to mitigate that risk I'll ask them.
I agree with the above comment, however solid discs and sprockets were well overdue IMO. I still think more could be done to minimise fingers in chains, especially after the amount of people losing fingers and thumbs in motorcross. The only other safety equipment ive seen creeping in lately is the full face helmet. I've never had a facial injury (touch wood) but know of people who have and still ride with an open face. I think full face helmets would detract a lot from trials, but so do most safety rules when they are first brought in. Should we be wearing mouth guards like boxers and rugby players?
I also see a lot of older riders riding in competitions with no gloves, and even some new kids. I may be starting to come across as a mini hitler here, but surely wearing even the basics of safety equipment is a must, and something ive never seen enforced. My point is, if you cant enforce people to wear gloves at club level, surely you cant enforce much more
Only the rules are enforced. And, for clothing, that means only helmets.
If you have enough run-up, concentrate on gathering speed before the climb so that, if anything, you're starting to roll off the throttle as you're going up. Trying to gain momentum while on the slope is much harder.
Works bikes were 450cc at one time, pretty good for motoring round the Scottish I think, less so in the sections. Yes, Richard Sunter rode for them, also Mark Kemp, Jack Galloway and Nigel Birkett. I think all of them were glad to get back onto Spanish bikes when their contracts were terminated.
If you have read the above post and moved on without doing anything, read it again. See also the post from twostrokefourstroke in the UK trials forum last week.
Just because your mates haven't been talking about it or it hasn't been mentioned at your local trials doesn't mean it's not important. We seem to be sleepwalking into a situation where the activity we all love will be crucified. The threat is far greater than a lack of youngsters taking up trials, loss of land or complaints from the public is to our sport. That bike in your garage could become a redundant toy, even just to go practising. We'll be mortified if/when that happens and can only look at ourselves for someone to blame.
If this sounds like hype, unnecessary scaremongering or high-handed preaching which will go away, it's not and it won't.
I owned one for about a year when they were new and, as a trials bike it was a disaster, the power output was all wrong and the gearing was pathetic - so you can be fairly sure it isn't a good proposition as a bike to ride in current classic events (assuming one were prepared to risk such a valuable investment) moreover it isn't actually eligible other than in British Bike trials where it could be ridden in the twinshock class.
It could be ridden in the Kia championship, Yorkshire Classic trials, plus any trial with a twinshock class against the machines it was designed to compete with in the first place. Or, of course, any open trial with a suitable clubman route. So you could compete on it any weekend of the year round my way and have some fun out of your investment. Or just keep it in the garage to look at.
If you are in the UK you could try allensusedtrialsspares.co.uk for an original back box. As has been noted, these old Spanish bikes do seem to run better on their original exhaust systems.
cleanorbust - that's an interesting idea about using Araldite. I was initially thinking pop rivets or MIG weld (with a steel cover plate)
Will Araldite withstand the heat?
st pauls - it hasn't been cut before sadly so I'm doing it from scratch.
The front box has a recess on the outside where it fits behind the frame rail, so I'd only be able to cut a smaller section next to the recess. Because of this, I was going to cut out the inside (next to the airbox) so I can remove a larger section to gain access to as much of the internals as possible so I can sand-blast it clean. This presents a further challenge though, because there's only about 1/4 of an inch clearance between the front box and the airbox, so not much space for bolts to hold the cover plate in place....
Thanks again
Yes, you should find that araldite withstands the heat OK, and there should be enough clearance on the inside for the bolt heads (you could always grind the heads a bit thinner). You can use a fairly small widow to leave enough flat surface to fix the rivet nuts and still get access to the innards using some sort of tool to poke the packing into place.
Bultaco Nostalgia Revival Trial, 17 June 2017
in Classic Trials
Posted
A picture of Mart on the Bulto would have been in keeping with the occasion.