dadof2

Mick - did you get a chance to see riders in the sections at Richmond BTC at Reeth or were you stuck in front of computer all day? With the best will in the world section planners can't always set sections that prove to be of the right severity, possibly more so in this first year of no stop. Criticising the Spanish is almost certainly uncalled for despite the high scores. Over the years I have worked at setting out trials, mx and grasstrack with many different people and just like Mick they all have the best interests of the sport at heart and work damn hard to get it right and make it enjoyable for the riders. My view is that you should aim for a winners average score of about 0.3 to 0.5 marks per section, whilst at the same time the worst rider should average no more than 3 or 3.5. Cheers

We are very lucky but it would only take a bit of use be people from outside the area to overuse it and problems would start I have seen the no motorcycle signs near the beach at Thornton, Clevelys, St annes and Southport so I know what you are up against I also know of lads in the north east who get caught up in the police action against stolen bikes being ridden on common / waste ground. Is the Preston docklands MX practice track still going?. Maybe they could get a few lorry loads of boulders and logs to make some trials sections? Cheers

1) Handbook says 75:1 on fully synthetic. I do not like such lean ratios and some oil manufacturers are now showing 50:1 as the leanest ration for their fully synthetic but plenty run on your mix with no problem. 2) Depends on body position etc but 07 250 should lift front wheel easy. 3) Loose headstock bearings? Low fork oil? Too thin fork oil? 4) Front disc can be a bit grabby and squeally and maybe wear faster than some other bikes. 5) Tickover set too fast?, worn crank seals letting air in? 6) Plenty of 07 clutches are still working well so I would have a good look at it before replacing. Could be wrong grade of oil od the gaps between the friction blocks may need scraping out. 7) Handbook says 1&1/2 to 2&1/4 turns out. Cheers

Maybe you have just gone "stale". Put your bike away for a few weeks, maybe 3 months and try something different but still needs coordination. Maybe a bit of karting, clay pigeon shooting, jet skiing or motocross. Not talking about anything serious just things where you can hire the equipment or buy a cheap old crosser for practice track use. Its the mark of multi champions like Lambkin and Schumaker who can keep up concentration and motivation year after year, several could beat them now and then but could not keep it up longer term.

This is now maybe getting a bit complicated. Quenching to harden is hardening by heat treatment not work hardening. If we knew exactly what alloy the levers were made of it would be possible to know exactly how to anneal them, in practice we don't. In practice although quenching may make the aluminium slightly harder than slow cooling it results in a much finer crystal structure which is less prone to cracking during bending and more than offsets the slight increase in hardness. Really its a case of finding what works best for a given make of lever and sticking to that. Some cheap pattern cast levers (as opposed to forged OEM items) cannot be straightened because of the high level of impurities in the metal. Cheers

Tricks are pretty good, just been out practicing for 3rd time since Sunday night. We call it practicing but its more like a social gathering with a bit of fell riding and a few sections thrown in. there were 7 of us ranging from 12 to 55 years old on bikes ranging from a TYZ to a week old 250 gasser. From the highest point we were at we could see the areas where some of the best trials in Britain are held including, Richmond BTC, Scott, Reeth 3 Day ,Lakes 2 day, Nord View, Allan trophy and the white rose. Yes a very nice if a bit warm evening. Cheers

http://www.mlevel3.com/BCIT/heat%20treat.htm Suggest you have a look at this link - Water usually boils at about 100 C. Too low to affect the alloy

# 47 - why I had a maico. My first serios motocrosser was a maico, it was reliable, fast and I liked it very much. However along came the watercooled Hondas that left it for dead up the start straight, so the maico was replaced with a Honda. Honda was good but I never felt completely at home. I was then offered a new watercooled maico at a brilliant price along with a seasons deal for oil and tyres at trade prices. Maico went well at first then gradually fell to pieces and parts became unavailable as factory went bust. Hondas were not perfect either, front discs could crack (excess slotting?) and the clutch cases corroded as do those on Betas. Cheers

I am not familiar with the exact details of the ignition on a 2004 sherco. Put alignment put marks on your flywheel and case that align when your piston is 2.5mm BTDC (before top dead centre). Run the engine at idle and check the alignment of the marks with a strobe. Rev the bike and see if the timing advances. your lack of power could be ignition or carb related. If the timing is retarded the engine will get too hot under sustained load and you could even seize or hole the piston. Some shercos suffered from a lack of fuel flow through the carburettor float needle valve, the cure is to drill it out a fraction. Lack of fuel flow causes the lack of power you describe and can have the same consequences as retarded ignition. I would speak to MRS again or AG bikes (Reeth) especially to get the exact timing details (2.5 BTDC is an educated guess) Do get the problem sorted or you mike be looking at a £400 bill for piston and barrel replate.

I suggest you take the barrel off and inspect it just to be on the safe side. polish off any seizure marks on the piston and check the rings move freely. Replace the pin gudgeon pin circlips as overheating could have reduced their springiness and hey may fall out in future. Setting the mixture rich and running a rich oil ratio is a wise policy for learner riders. Cheers

I agree with Billyt. The alloy will have work hardened by being bent and you need to anneal it to soften it before straightening. Rub a bar of soap on it and heat it until the soap chars black, then quench in water. Cheers

Slap some Dow Corning 861 or similar high temp sealant in. Cheers

I watched MotoGP on Sunday and guess what? the increase in minimum weight limit meant that the teams had switched back to steel exhausts from titanium, saving £5000 a time. Did anyone notice? did it spoil the race? Not one bit. I was talking to a bloke at a trial few weeks back and his lad was unable to ride that day = bent his disc the previous week and had been quoted over £90 for a replacement which he could not afford. I remember when I was motocrossing, the discs on my maico were only about 3 mm thick and full of slots. bent both front and rear in mud ruts at one meeting. How much better it would have been had they been 4.5mm thick like Hondas, they hardly ever got bent. There is something economists call price elasticity of demand, basically the lower the price the more you sell, so although restricting design of trials bike is not the only answer to boosting the sport it would make a useful contribution. Cheers

Motors TV Thursday at 20:00 447 on Sky CAUTION this programme will contain scenes of non stop action that some viewers may find offensive

Depends on your altitude, oil mix ratio, air temp, air density and humidity. Put it in the middle and give the bike a good run on 3/8 throttle and check the plug colour, should be milk chocolate brown. If it lighter lower the clip, if its darker raise the clip.

For fork oil level info try John Stoodley / trials parts USA website. You probably need a heavier rear shock spring. These are available in UK - do a web search under gas ags rear suspension. They are about £50 and come in 10 and 20% heavier than standard = supplier will advise which you need. Cheers

# Any more info on the new Mont / Honda? Cheers

Probably just 2 stroke oil out of your exhaust

A lad I know had a number of betas rider over the years both 200s and 250s. He then switched a 250 sherco, I think they were a good price from appleyards at the time. His results were same as on beta but he never really settled on it and is now back on a 250 beta. Try before you buy?

Zippy - You are misinterpreting my post. I did not say go back to twinshocks, nor did I say bikes have to be heavy. Monoshock has a great advantage over twinshocks and 70 to 75 Kg as I suggested is pretty light.as for cable clutches suck, properly deigned cable or rod operated systems are virtually indistinguishable from hydraulic systems, after all a cable is used for the most vial part of trials riding - throttle control. I know of plenty of MX riders and several trials riders who have had to pull out of events because of breakage of hydraulic components. Because cable components are much cheaper, therefore it is easier to have spares, also cable parts are much easier to replace in the field than hydraulics. I see my topic has started to drift into a general discussion on twinshocks vs modern and section severity. Cheers Edit - Montesa (or Honda as it really is) I don't thing there were any at Richmond BTC and I don't think they are imported into UK any more. How long before Honda pull out altogether? Ossa - The most technically advanced bike - look at the depreciation , approximately twice that of gasgas, how long before this has a negative influence on prospective purchasers of new Ossas and the consequences that follow from that?

Most of what you post as constraints ARE PERMITTED under no stop:- Hop front wheel sideways PERMITTED Hop rear wheel sideways PERMITTED Hop whole bike sideways PERMITTED Hop the bike on the back wheel PERMITTED Catch balance at top of large rock PERMITTED Restart bike in section PERMITTED Why do you have to stop to shift gears - you don't do that in your car Spin the back wheel to get the mud out PERMITTED All you have to do is to have the skill and judgement to maintain a hint of forwards motion at the same time Of course really skilled riders on well maintained bikes don't stall in section and have the ability to ride over little rocks. Cheers

I had a number of Sherpas (near identical engine to alpina) 250 and 350 from 1975 to 1980. I used to use SAE 90 or 75-90 gear oil in the gearbox and 10w-30 universal tractor oil in the clutch. Never had any problems apart from occasional clutch slippage on start up in very cold weather. Cheers

Unfortunately your translation into English does not result in an understandable description of the problems Cheers

63 ml to 5l is 80:1 I thought the handbook said 75:1 on fully synthetic (from memory of a friends bike) I note some manufacturers of oil are now stating that even their fully synthetic oil should be used at between 2 and 4 %, ie between 50:1 and 25:1 Cheers

Zippy - my post was not intended as a wind up. What does surprise me is the number of Americans who seem to be stirred up bearing in mind that their highly popular NASCAR is very highly regulated. Even F1 the pinnacle of motorsport technology is highly regulated, standard tyres, standard ECU, No ABS, No active suspension etc, etc. As the FIM letter in funtrials boycott WTC post points out trials bike production has fallen 75 %. To let the sport continue on its present path is probably unsustainable. Following some of the comments I now have the amusing vision of some riders being fixated with that horrible retro cable thingy attached to their twistgrip !!! I did not mention banning rear suspension linkages or adjustable damping on forks but both could be looked at. I think some have jumped to the wrong conclusions when ready my post, I do not want to turn the sport back. Look at the problems many riders have with their bikes and ask would it not be better if these problems were engineered out or be much cheaper to fix. I don't believe any of the suggestions I made would detract from the sport. Perhaps someone opposed to my suggestion could explain how they would have a negative effect on 99% of trials riders. I know of rider after rider cheesed off with mechanical problems ranging from difficult to diagnose ignition failure, to brakes that won't stay bled, expensive mudguards expensive brake rotors, etc etc. Is their really any advantage in having a titanium exhaust? I did not say ban alloy as on poster seems to think. I said ban magnesium (which is expensive and difficult to repair when compared to readily weldable grades of aluminium) Like Shyted, I think £5000 is just too much to throw at rocks. Someone pointed out xispa. No manufacturer can move alone on this, people will usually buy what they perceive to be the most competitive bike. It has to be by regulation by the sports governing body. Cheers