dadof2

Ace news, hope perpetrator is caught. Hope Anne enjoyed her observing last week.

Saw a 4T SWM at a club trial, Well it was a yellow bike with SWM on the tank an a 4T motor, Anyone know what it is?

Is it the rules that are farcical or the misapplication of the rules by observers who have been pressured by abuse from riders and minders? Having witnessed unpleasant arguments at WTC and BTC perhaps there is a case for an observers mark being kept secret until the rider completes the lap. Speaking as both a rider and observer, the observer is very rarely wrong, riders frequently are. I have had discussions regarding marking with some riders recently (Centre level), prior to or after the event and not related to any specific incident and it was absolutely clear some do not know and have never read the rules.

Keep it simple, plasticised paper and waterproof indelible marker. Bit like the story of the Americans developing a Biro pen that would work in zero gravity, Russians just said, use a pencil. I do not like punch cards - take too much time. Ideally observers marksheets should have a place to sum the multi lap scores, this means less work for organisers at end and scores could be put up very quickly.

250 4T Beta, nearly as light as a 2T and very easy to ride. Have a good test ride before you buy anything. Try a Beta 200 2T if you can.

The weight does not bother me but I certainly agree about the tickover

Thank you to those who has said my post was valid. In an ideal world I would post under my name, but the internet is far from an ideal world. I was at trials for 3 days over bank holiday weekend and there were several comments made about GG and their current situation that were a lot more critical than I have ever been, and expressed in terms not repeatable on here. If I did post under my name perhaps 0.5% of my posts would be affected because they involve information from private conversations. There are many occasions when I would like to post under my name, or make posts that I cannot without revealing my name. So far I only know of one person who has made a totally "panic sale" of their GG but my son did comment there suddenly seemed to be a lot on Facebook. I mentioned Maico, but fortunately for GG owners MX is (or was) quite a bit different. There is quite a bit on a GG that can sourced elsewhere (Braketec for example), this was not the case with Maico. Also in MX, crash or impact damage is much more common so you need more of fast moving stock parts. Remember I am the owner of 2 GGs (not Pros) and it is not in my interest to devalue them of not have spares available.

Whether you should get rid of your GG will depend on how effective the importers are at continuing to source spares. A friend and myself were in this predicament when the Maico factory went bust. The spares supply dried up almost immediately and you did not know if you would have a running bike from one week to the next. The problem was compounded by dealers saying say would have parts by Friday only to not have them 6 weeks later. After several months of frustration we both ended up selling them at very low prices to a breaker.

Really sad situation Adam finds himself in and hopefully he will be able to sort something out without it affecting his riding too much. If memory serves me correctly Malcolm Rathmell used to carry they key bits of his works Montesa as hand luggage to the flyaway rounds and then get wheels and other bits locally. Regarding the UK WTC round I would be very surprised if the local GG dealer MHB of Brough (about 30 miles from Nord View) would not be prepared to put him up and provide workshop facilities, there is plenty of good practice ground as well. Maybe Adam could run a trials school afterwards to raise some cash. Don't want to burden Andy (site owner) any further but perhaps could he or someone open a bank account into which electronic transfers could be made, maybe a whip round at a few trials. Something WTC organisers should look at, because of falling pro class entries not just Rags is the payment of start money.

Several very good sections within 1/4 mile walk of start field where there is plenty of parking. There is a track that runs near several of the fell sections but I am not sure if it has vehicular rights or not.

I think the Radonne is pretty standard but it may be near 200cc, not 125. Its a fair bet the SYF is a 225cc with a high compression piston and larger valves and the suspension will have been re sprung and re valved but those are not expensive if incorporated in original production. Actual or perceived lack of power from these small engines is why, in my earlier post these lower cost bikes needed to be 250 to 280cc + 3 section gears to make them attractive. A friend of mine has a 250 4T kawasaki trail bike. Loads of soft controllable power and clean carburation (CV like the Beta 4Ts). In its present configuration (big sump, starter motor etc) the engine is too big and heavy for trials but the power characteristics are spot on. Back to the Mont 4RT, lets hope it is more than a sticker job, but not a big bore kit as standard.

Takumi Narita goes a long way to prove what I originally wrote. Its the perception of these "none top spec" bikes that is the issue not generally their actual performance, that is why I subsequently posted that they need to be a more generally acceptable cc and get some decent riders on them regularly in championships. I have ridden a TL 125 (bored to 150) and although it lacked a bit of power it was not far off 250 Bultaco performance regarding marks lost at club / centre level. Never ridden a Radonne so can't comment Ridden a 175 Yam (Scorpa?) 4T and did not like it, felt I could only use bottom gear and tended to catch my leg on rear mudguard when dismounting. Certainly not near 40 years better than the TL. I don't think these economy models are available in all markets, nor are they sufficiently less cost.

I would have a drive about and see if you can find any CCTV cameras that cover the roads through Wilpshire or where the road enters Blackburn. In addition to private property cameras there may be some at filling stations, ANPR or traffic master cameras. Anyone in area with a dashcam that might not have "taped over" yet As you have quite a narrow time frame you might be able to identify some van registrations and have police check them.

When checking ignition source coils the voltage output is a far better guide to condition than resistance. As I will explain. As a coil ages the insulation can break down and the coils start shorting together. This has the effect of lowering the resistance. As a coil ages the joints between the thin coil windings and the thicker wires breaks down gradually, this increases the resistance. One fault cancels out the other so the resistance readings stay within tolerance. When it comes to the voltage (and current) produced, both faults result in reduced voltage and reduced current so the fault is clearly measured. In general, as a coil ages the current generated falls even more than the voltage but this needs a sensitive ammeter linked to an oscilloscope to be accurately measured. It is this loss of spark energy that often causes poor starting even though a spark can be seen when the plug is out of the engine.

"need" when used in the way I have has a particular meaning in English that probably does not translate correctly or well to Belgian. In this instance It means that in the opinion of the writer, the sport overall would benefit by a less capable bike in that it should cost less and the sections would not be as challenging or potentially dangerous. The 2 bikes pictured were regarded as too inferior (and in the case of the Yam rather overpriced) for what they were. They were, or were perceived to be too far off competitive to be good sellers. Were someone to produce a bike in the region of 250 to 280cc, either 2T or 4T, fit it with steel none adjustable forks, single pot callipers, use standard fasteners etc. but still 3 usable section gears and looking like a proper trials bike. This should be able to be priced at well under £4k. Put some decent riders on them at BTC or BTC experts class to show how near, performance wise the £6k bikes they were and it could be a good seller. There are a lot of people who have a mental block at throwing near £6k bikes at rocks, they are much more prepared to do it at £3.5k. Need to keep parts prices down as well.

Since the issue of valve clearance has been raised I will add my thoughts. I would generally advise setting valve clearances on the slack side, up to 0.002" greater than manufacturers spec. It usually gives better idle, better starting and better fuel consumption. It can make the engine very slightly noisier (but not as much as a lot of other factors) and in theory there may be a slight loss of top end power. Try it and see.

No business has an automatic right to survive, no matter how well known the brand. A brand can come back after a long absence, e.g. Triumph motorcycles, but it is in no way the same company as the original.

Valve clearances? Air leak in exhaust?

Post a photo of your shock

The coil in the yellow wrapper at about one O'cloch is the ignition source coil. Find the two wires that come off this, resistance should be 200 to 250 ohms. The best way to check this coil is (with flywheel on) spin the engine with a power drill or push it in a low gear. With the spark plug out and the source coil wires disconnected they should show 25 V ac or more.

An iridium plug will nearly always improve both starting and running. It is best to ride the bike as soon as you start it but only gently until its fully warmed up. Leaving it ticking over to warm up takes a long time with an over rich mixture and can soot up the engine and plug Riding it too hard when cold can cause harm as clearances will not be correct and oil will not be circulating properly.

In a traditional section ridden in a traditional no stop style it is the terrain that determines how a rider loses marks, if something makes him wobble he tends to dab, if the bike is slowing to a stop its both feet down to push for a 3, stopping either due to lack of grip or striking a large object and its a 5. With the modern interpretation of no stop, encouraged by sections that often consist of obstacles and "lining up areas" it is the riders intentional behaviour in seeing what he can get away with by way of near stationary lining up moves that often determines if he gets 0 or 5. Wonder if others think of the above and what implications it has for CoCs in stting out trials that will or will not result in observers having to make more difficult judgements.

Have a word with John Lee Motorcycles (I hope I have got the right dealer). I think they prepared exceptionally well running but very standard 250 Yamaha engines for Russel Carr and others in the mid to late 1970s. The dealer could have been Lee Brothers of Sowerby Bridge as they are a lot closer to Skipton where RC came from. Sorry I can't remember which one - quite a time ago.

What everyone hopes for is a new version more capable than the last What the sport really needs is a new version less capable and cheaper than the last A somewhat tricky set of circumstances to resolve?

Glad you got it sorted. Just thought I would mention something I came across on a clutch recently. Clutch was working OKish but not giving the bite point it should or had previously. All it needed was a change of fluid. Started to change the fluid then master cylinder piston would not return far enough to uncover fill port on return stroke after bleeding. The master cylinder spring had weakened slightly with age. When the return flow of fluid is assisted by clutch springs there was no problem, it only occurred after bleed stroke. This weak spring gave exactly same symptoms as you had on brakes.