jonnybmac

I payed 1,500 for mine and have the same feeling. SOme of my friends are scared to break and scratch theirs, I use mine for whats its designed for.. well, maybe its not designed to be thrown into rocks and off the top of hills but hey, its fun

Shercos are nice

Just stick a few tie wraps on it

Haha, thanks. I was uploading them and was abit gutted the camera didnt do it justice, and the fact it looks like theirs a kicker below the third rock too.. I have trouble balancing in a stationary position. Sometimes im ok but other times im not. I can stop and balance, but I cant get on the bike and balance from a start... Maybe I should spend half an hour a night in my garage practicing that. Good idea though to do the last bit first, then atleast im prepared for when I get ontop of that rock

Indeed I have, and now you know why I think this is what I am doing wrong, I'm relying on the speed to work using the rocks as a ramp to get me over with a little aided push from me at the top, rather than slow and actually jumping the gap correctly. I just fear I wont make the gap, its kinda awkward due to the sloped first rock, having to stay on the rear wheel and still give enough but not too much to get over the gap, I guess this is what I need to think about and work on. Thanks for the comments Thanks for the very informative post, its explained alot and I'll try and put it to good use in trying! Those are neither of the above, I'm donning a pair of rigger boots, I really need a proper pair of trials boots, was going to get some apinestar's this week but my cars just broke In terms of low, how low? In between horizontal and where it is now? Your absolutely right, I am relying on the throttle to hold the bike up, I can do big long wheelies, but I would refer to them as power wheelies as I rely on using my power to keep me going, and once the gear runs out the nose falls down. I've tried to slow it down but i dont know what gear I need to be in when doing them.. I do them in 4th which gives me a pretty good gap to go from, but I would love to be able to control the balance and do slow wheelies.. Do I need to practice holding the bike up without relying on the power to keep me there? Is this just holing it at that very ridgid point, near vertical where you can feel anymore and your going over? Whenever I try those, It tends to slow the bike down for me absorbing the momentum, but its hard to keep it right on the tip of that point, near vertical. I've tried using the brake to slow me down but it just slams the front end down so matter how soft I try to touch it, what gear should i be using to attempt these sort of wheelies? Maybe i need to work on my wheelies to practice the balance at that angle, I think thats whats helped to get to the stage im at there, even though its the wrong technique! Heres a short video on how I wheelie, if you can notice from this In terms of bending my legs, I've only just realised that and I stress enough to my mate that hes too stiff and he needs to bend his legs more, perhaps I need to take a leaf from my own book. Studying the videos it looks more like im just shifting my weight forward without actually doing anything(preloading the suspension), although when your going over the gap it does feel as though I'm actually jumping it, and not like in the videos. I have completed this rock a few times which looked and felt good, but no videos of the good ones sadly, ha. I asked a friend to record some specifically to place on here, because I was at my wits end on what I was doing wrong. Wouldnt consider any of that out of order. I do want to compete in trials, I just need to find myself a pair of boots. I was saving up for some decent quality ones, but due to car related issues meaning I need to save up alot of cash fast for a new one, I think I'll have to go for some budget ones for now. I know what I'm doing wouldnt be on the trials I was expecting to compete in, I've already been told these are more closer/are expert rocks, I just feel I'm way in over my head with this one, but I'm so close to nailing it, having got over it so many times although hit and miss, I dont want to give up and say its defeated me Kind of like an endo to the third rock? Think thats a little too much to be asking of me at this stage Thanks again for all the time to give good comments people, i'll try and put them to good use and hopefully nail this bugger

thanks for the advice and kind words, going to try slowing it down abit as i do feel its out of control and hit and miss, which makes me worry ill carry more bruises than i already own! I think the sound and picture are out of sync abit, altho i do get told im to aggressive on rocks, i just cant seem to suss this one without the start speed i carry. Ill maybe get a spotter but its hard doing 1 and 2 without going for 3 due to the awkward gap ahead. Ive tried lowering my front but i end up nose diving the third or just not making it. Is 2nd the right gear to be in

Theres only a real small line I can follow to land it the way Im doing, theres an edge that sticks out about a foor wide, to the left i a drop and too the right it slops too much and drifts away from where im taking off from. I add alot of gas at the start as everytime I've tried it slow I havnt had the momentum to get over the third bit, I've failed loads trying to smooth out that part Thanks for the compliment too, I have abit of no fear when its came to learning, I find falling off and getting somewhere from it progress, especially when yopur riding with people who have been doing it years and still struggle on the same things as me

Bear in mind I have only been riding less than 3 months, but I'm struggling with these rocks.. I dont know If I'm attacknig it wrong, my body position is wrong or what, On the second one It was near perfect if I hit my brakes, I'm only attempting the 3 rocks and the forth up the top I've been avoiding so far until I get it right with this. I've tried and tried and cant seem to get it right, and I have a huge fear now of falling off and injuring myself doing it which makes it all the more as I have to swallow my bottle and just get on with it. I've tried to give as many techniques as I could in some of the videos, practice different things, even put a few of my falloffs so you can see where I am gonig wrong. People who go up charltons will know what rocks these are, on the video it looks like theirs a kicker on the 3rd rock which isnt the case, I have to actually jump across which makes it harder as theres only a small lip I can hit, to the left is a straight drop and to the right its a little too far away to land it. What I do is slowly ride up, slipping my clutch, I pop a wheelie slipping my clutch and ride up and have the back wheel onto the second rock, I disengage my clutch, add more revs then pop it back out again to get clearance to the third rock, I fail when I vear one way, or if I dont get enough distance to clear it, either going backwards after landing on the rock with a clash of my skidplate or because I've either misjudged the timing or I've leant back too much and its got the front end too high for me to manage. Am I way beyond my reaches here in terms of skill of pulling this off? WOuld you say continue and learn it or give it a miss for a while? I've thrown myself in at the deep end, although I do practice sections for balance and stuff, I just struggle with rocks. I can get up single rocks or 5 foot pipes easy using a double blip, and it looks and feels controlled, I just struggle with making this one look anything but sloppy and uncrolled. Am I aproaching it the wrong way, attacking it wrongly? Is my body position off? I get the feeling I should come off the second rock slowly, so that im stationary with my front wheel planted on the third rock and my rear on the second, I just cant seem to grasp standing starts with my wheel up high already, is this something I should be practicing first? Is this even the correct technique or is the way I'm doing it already quite alright I just dont know. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

If I go out on my own I tend to just take it easy and do small things and ride about the woods with my Ipod in, wouldnt attempt things I know I may not do without others there to help me incase something bad happens

tree = bent

I payed 1,500 for mine and I've thrashed it already. I dont really care for the damages my bike takes, I'm learning at the deep end so I'd rather have a few dents and scratches than be a girl worrying over the bike too much. 2 clutch levers, 1 brake lever, new handle bars, new chain, sprokets, rear bushes, swing arm bushes, mudguard are just a few of the damages I've incurred

I remember once watching a video of dougie lampkin on a montesa stating how all his parts were made from carbon fibre, I dont really see the point unless you can afford to replace the parts as quickly as they get damaged!

You have to take into consideration that paying that sort of money wont get you much, in terms of newness and reliability. your better off forking out that little bit more and getting something half decent that has a bigger chance of it not braking, although no promices that it wont.

sometimes fuel filters can reduce the amount of fuel getting to your carb, i have one on mine but been contemplating taking it off as if im gonig flat out for a period of time, my bike just cuts out as though its starved of fuel, was ok until i put the filter on

anyone know when its on yet?

I have bumps scrapes and burns all over me and generally do damage everytime I'm out and I'm generally limping about most weeks. Its all part of the fun. I have a huge burn on my back where I fell off onto my mates bike and burnt my back on his exhaust on sunday

Mine did this and when I cleaned the jets out it worked fine

it will be eurosport but dont know when

A lad who I've spoke to at charltons has put a dent in his exhaust downpipe

Ipone could be a good name? jordi tarres? after the first gas gas wtc winner

Now then pecker

I have a saxo vtr which pulls my bike alright. Dont know about MPG but really your its only going to be the difference in one/two people in the back seat in terms of effecting mpg

Its open to guisborough club members on a wednesday

Well mine has a slow action throttle and thats all, I've been riding now 2-3 months and I feel as though I can handle the bike at all levels well. I've been going out with a friend of mine, well a few who I take it turns to ride my bike, and they've only ever rode one bike and its been my 290. They were abit scared at first but now have also said they wouldnt be without a 290 when they get a bike. I feel if I'd have gotten a 200 or 250, within a months riding I'd want to change to a 290. Granted you can probs do everything on a 200 that you can on a 290, but its nice to have that little extra power. Bit of a poor video, and I can do alot more now then I could then, but this is with less than a months riding and thats just going out a couple of times a week and it shows you I'm begging to handle the bike alright just from that. I always enjoy throwing myself off into the deep end and learning by mistakes and pushing myself to get there quicker. I always tend to try something new everytime I go out, or try and perfect something I never could before, just so I know I've benefitted from going out, as well as enjoyed it.. But then I do tend to throw myself up big cliffs and often come back down, or over rocks. One man I was speaking to had been riding 3 years and couldnt do the rocks I was doing, and when I said I'd only been riding 2 months he turned around and said I'm pushing myself too hard to be doing those rocks, ven though i did it. He has a point that I do push myself hard and often get injured with marked/dodgy knees and whats not but its all part of learning and you learn better from your mistakes

I disagree. There not that poweful compared to mx and enduro bikes that will take you for a ride all the time. I started out on a 290 and it was a handful at first but now I'm glad I got the 290 as its such a pleasure to play about on