dadof2

#9 less of the cheek please. In 1978 I was given 2 Chinese made adjustable spanners (bought cheap from a cash and carry). The 6 inch broke within a few weeks, the 10 inch I still have and it has withstood 37 years of hard use. I know of machining companies who have high quality machines such as Hass and Colchester. On occasions they have bought much cheaper Chinese / Asian machine tools and been highly impressed by the quality and longevity. Remember when Honda first came to Europe with those funny little step throughs. BSA, Triumph etc laughed and said so what they can't make proper bikes. Leyland also took no notice of those rapidly corroding Datsuns (now Nissan) They may only be making dodgy copies now, but give it time.

#34 No doubt some businesses are doing OK, but the general impression I got is that money was scarce. I was at a couple of marinas and virtually all the births were fully occupied, quite a lot of owners could not afford to sail and boat market was depressed so it would seem money was tight even amongst the wealthier. Some of the boat trips normally 55 Euros or thereabouts could be had for as little as 15 Euros, that smacks of desperation selling. Fishing charter boats could not attract enough customers to sail even at very low prices. Something the Israeli investors may be waiting for is what happens in Greece when they need to refinance some of their debt shortly. If Greece leaves the Euro it could significantly affect what a non Euro based company would have to pay for GG. May even trigger a Euro departure for other Mediterranean countries such as Spain which would enable them to devalue their currency and boost exports.

Quatar - what a ride from the Doctor, what next? hardly be a surprise if he walked on water or fed the entire crowd with 5 loaves and 2 fish. Texas - Congrats to Sam Lowes and Danny Kent - how long since 2 brit wins at GP level?

This has been going on for years, used to happen at the Allan (CCMCC) and Travers (NDMCC) in the 1970s. I know of some riders who won't enter the Allan as they feel they always get early numbers. It is an unfortunate fact that in many trials where the sections are predominantly streams the first 30 or so riders are severely disadvantaged. For most riders affected its just unpleasant but for championship hopefuls its worse. Some suggestions to ease the problem or its consequences 1) Repeatedly ride the sections when setting out the trial 2) Start 1/2 the entry 1/2 way round the course 3) Fully refund the entry fee of the first 20 starters and 50% of the fee for the next 10. 4) Put the championship riders in championship order immediately after the first 30, keeping the late numbers for the least able non championship riders. 5) Ballot the starting order at the start. 6) Have a mass start then section "closing" times on later sections and penalise riders so many marks per minute after those times

As I was in the area (bit south of Barcelona) I asked a few dealers and a hire shop about GG. Reply was basically "Who knows, Who can guess". I came across another business (nothing to do with motorcycles) where ex workers with banners were protesting outside about being "sacked" with wages owing. There was management notice inside saying company had had had cash flow problems but 80 workers were working under new conditions and hoping to make company a success. Company was probably operating at less than 1/3 normal capacity. Also many hotels very nearly empty and offering bargain deals. Quite a few builders merchants shut down and others very quiet. General impression I got is that things are pretty quiet and either in or just on verge of recession, certainly far from busy. Never saw a single GG or any other trials bike. Yam DTs seemed commonest but also a lot of asian / chinese imports.

Missing O ring? Screw too many turns out?

Agree with previous post do not go lean on an old air cooled motor. I never had any problem on my monts at 24:1. Try Smith and Allan fully synthetic at 33:1 (that is what I now use) and I get virtually no carbon build up and virtually no engine wear. Main thing is to get your carburation right.

http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=14477531625&searchurl=tn%3Dsammy+miller+trials%26sortby%3D20%26fe%3Don See the above link, this is the book you want. Perhaps some forum member may have a copy and could lend it. Perhaps with the current UK trend towards no stop trials Sammy should republish it. Kidderminster where the book is is presumably not that far from you. I would advise to always ride in the highest gear you can for a section. The higher the gear the easier the bike grips.

Probably need it for bullets in that part of the world

You may well find Dexron III ATF gives too sharp clutch take up. Typically at 90 to 100 degrees C (The temperature of your engine; D III viscosity is 7 cSt 10w-40 viscosity is 15 cSt 75w gear oil viscosity is 9 cSt A 10w-40 or 5w-40 oil designed for combined motorcycle engine and transmission will probably give the best all round performance. Something like Putoline light gear oil is also good. ATF is not recommended by Beta and it is designed for hydraulic systems and clutches that work in a very different way to those found in trials bikes.

It was the horrendously crap Selettra ignition (made under subcontract in Israel) that gave the early Gasgas 50 Boys such a bad reputation for failure. Caveat emptor

#21 Triumph have already disguised injectors as carbs on their classic styled bikes. Perhaps I should replace the shock on my Beta with a Piece of urethane rod, I could then go on to dominate the rigid class

Or change your rear sprocket to a tooth or two more

Classic trials are for classic bikes Just ride it on the easy or clubman course in ordinary trials, you will have no problems there

Edit - post withdrawn, misread original post

Using different materials for different parts of the frame is far from new, Greeves from the 1960s with the cast alloy front down section for example. The similarity between the Benelli and the Vertigo frame is probably no more than coincidence but something must have inspired Vertigo to use this construction. Very shortly after the Vertigo was announced DL said they had looked at other bikes for their strengths and weaknesses. Perhaps this look round did not just extend to trials bikes. The Benelli price that is interesting. Full road kit, 4 cylinders and EFI all for about £4,500. Benelli are not made in very large numbers so it could be expected that the Vertigo should have a very competitive price. If I were specifying a trials frame I would probably go for simple ferrous tube like Sherco and Gasgas. Vertigo must have their reasons for doing otherwise and it seems to work.

Weather here (Northern England) can't decide what to do, T shirt one day, snow the next.

From their own perspectives both shareholder and workers demands are probably reasonable. The shareholders will have had enough of investing into a seemingly bottomless pit, they will want to see some change that should give them a chance of a return or their money back. The workers will feel that they have done nothing wrong, so why should they suffer. Some common ground and a compromised will have to be found. Se va de mal en peor , recuerde British Leyland Means Its going from bad to worse, remember British Leyland (as in failure to control costs and management vs unions)

British Leyland workers actions were similar to those now proposed by GG employees, by striking or threatening strike action at an inopportune moment. I have a lot of sympathy for the GG workers as the new management is proposing to lay quite a few off and reduce the wages of the rest. I have very little knowledge of Spanish employment law but it is possible that the shareholders see it being to their benefit to provoke a strike, close the factory (temporarily) and then resume production on their terms and free from some of the baggage of the past.

Se va de mal en peor , recuerde British Leyland

Pasted wrong link - mixed up Spain and Yorkshire, still both good videos from a great era.

After the first WiTC of this series I started a topic "how to beat Bou" and suggested analysing slowmo videos. Bou is not the only rider using the double bounce technique, quite a few much lesser ability riders use it to splat a big step.

Quite high scores, yet no complaints and scores competitively close together. We need more mud and rivers sections demanding continuous riding, not dry rock hopping with rest areas in between.Where has WTC gone wrong?

The filler plug is near kickstart. 10w - 40 engine oil or 75 gear oil about 700cc I think there is a sight glass lower down case from kickstart.

It is likely a small fragment of metal like those on your drain plug has gone between the crank pinion and clutch basket gear teeth. This makes a knock like you describe. First flush the gearbox a couple of times with clean oil, just warm the bike up, no need to ride it. Then take the case off and examine the clutch basket and crank pinion teeth for anything stuck to them or any dents. Use a good light and magnifying glass. There are two probable sources of the shards of metal: 1) chips off gear teeth or dogs particularly if bearings are starting to go or 2) chips off the kickstart teeth, check these at same time you check the primary gears. Next step depends on what you find