paul w

does anyone know if these are available? and where from?........ or.........how do you fasten you number plates on for a road trial ? regards Paul

i can beat that, but not on camera unfortunatley. as a 17 year old apprentice, i was sent to the chip shop to fetch the friday lunch time usual (fish and chips 11 times and seven pots of peas) . now, this chippy was very close to a local secondary school, and upon leaving the chippy with all the said food in a canvas rucksack (remember them?) i spotted some sixth form girls . so i though "i know a wheelie will impress" . so i went up the road a hundred yards and turned round, i the popped the xl185 onto the back wheel, into second, clicked third, snuck forth, one blip too many. those girls laughed and laughed , i got slapped when i got back to work, as fish and chips does not take kindley to being slid up the road at 35mph. the bike was ok, i took skin off my knees and ar*e. i suppose what i learnt from all this was 'cover the back brake' .

i wish that i had seen that last week. i must have dislodged my clip and the rear brake rod fell out. i discovered this at the bottom of a very slippy bank when i parked my bike in the shrubbery ! much to the amusement of the on-looking que waiting for the section.

andy, dont bottle your feelings up, you'll make yourself ill...............say what you mean.

i bought an yamaha rd250lc as a none runner, quite some years ago. The bloke i bought it from and taken it apart to 'de-coke' and it now wouldnt run on the left cylinder. lots of spark, fuel all ok but wouldnt run. i stripped it down and re-built , still no joy. i started to strip down again and as i removed the exhaust a peice of very oilly newspaper, the size of a golf ball dropped out of the barrel end of the pipe. when the previous owner had stripped the cylinders he had placed screwed up paper in the exhaust port, and on re-build forgotton to remove it, as soon as it fired up it wedged itself in the far end of the pipe and wouldnt let gas out ! i bolted the pipe back on and it ran great. sold it for a decent profit as well ! ( i do hope he does'nt read this, i told him it cost a fortune to repair !)

i think that unless your riding in a championship, you select trials or practice on the venue or the type of event. This can be seen in results, some weeks one club will have over 100 entrys at a trial , the next week the same club will have 50 entrys or so, different venue, different sections. thats how our small group choose.

the funniest bit is the 'butlers' comment !

trust me a 300 enduro is a competely different animal to a 300 trials bike, been there made that mistake. its like compairing your gasgas 300 against a 250 rm/kx the power delivery is that different. keep looking for a scorpa or even a beta 200/250. i did the same as your thinking , get a trials bike to improve the enduro results, trouble was i liked it so much i packed in the enduros!

if it really is mint, and your buying from a dealership, i would think

i might be wrong, but i thought that these inserts were called a 'rivnuts' and they are fitted like a pop rivet. i might have to go and remove mine to check ! http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Tucker-POP-Rivet-Nut...emZ190229578247 that sort of thing.

7psi front 4psi rear, as a starting point.

if you need to do a 180 in a section, your facing the wrong way.

any motor factor that supplies paint shops will be able to supply sikaflex or an "own brand" make. mind you i wouldnt stick my rip tape down with it. take the tyre off clean thoroughly and replace with a new tape and a valve, shouldnt leak than.

isnt that a bit heavy for a trials bike?

please could someone paste a link to a supplier i can get "dog turds" from. i really do want the puncture repair ones, but any comedy replies will be well received. cheers paul

is meaured on the base plate ? i.e. 5mm rotation measured at the outer edge. did you need to alter the pilot jet because of the ignition change, or was this an extra measure? thanks for the reply

can anyone offer any practical advice on how to "smooth out" the power delivery on an 03 290. i have tried a 3 tooth bigger rear sprocket and a slow throttle, but its still a bit flighty. this is a request for a mate of mine who cant stop launching the thing. selling is not an option. (my suggestion!) any advice that has been tried and has worked will be gladly recieved. thanks paul

when you say "knocking" do you mean a mechanical knock or a ping type sound as in pre-ignition? if the latter try a de-coke of the piston crown and the head, if the noise persists try checking the float level, then one size bigger on the pilot jet (you will need to re-set the air screw when the bike is hot). i know from experience that these can be a pain to set up on the carb. good luck, hope this helps. paul.

try this link to the ACU clubs page, http://www.acu.org.uk/directory/centre.aspx?id=20 i am from a little furter north so am unable to help with legal practice venues. The Horsforth club have use of a wood for club members, see their site. regards paul

cheapskate i am, went to TK MAX today, regatta jacket in red and grey (beta colours) windproof , waterproof and breathable, nice and thin with zippable vents and a couple of decent "hidden" pockets. almost the same as a trials "branded" jacket, all for

a clutch holding tool will be needed to hold the basket if you dont have an airgun, your local yam dealer should have one that you could borrow for a large deposit ! p.s. how did he break the shaft? its not bent as well is it?

dont be afraid to ask anything, someone will answer, or point you in the right direction. go to an event and chat to anyone, trials riders tend to be a very sociable bunch.

try all the bikes you can. do not rule out a 200 cc bike as too much power is a bad thing. trust me i came back to trials a few years ago from a KTM300 ont a 270 beta, big mistake, sold it six months later for a 200 , my riding improved overnight.

i agree that there is no room in our sport for cheats , at whatever level, however i must point out the nature of another sustance, namley HOBNOBS. these seemingly small items can be habit forming and are, in my opinion far worse than a pie , or any sort of savory bakery produce. whereas a pie is usually consumed one at a time with a reasonable time frame inbetween, the HOBNOB can be systematically eaten one after another, packet after packet. the effects are as follows: the inability to walk sections of more than 15 degrees in gradiant, if at all. unable to buckle boots up, not because of leg swelling but the inabillity to bend. addicts are oftern heard to say "these trousers/top have shrunk in the wash" (they havent at all !) riding rock steps become a thing of the past, you would need a NASA rocket to get that bulk up five feet. the addicts can be spotted in an early stage by the following observation. in between laps, when passing the van, instead of stopping for a drink of water they can been seen to be having "a nice cup of tea" usually in a large mug. (better for dunking) all these observations are born from bitter experience, i too was swayed by the oatie sweetness of the worlds most adictive biscuits , i was one step away from adding a chocolate topping the proceedings when i called a halt. "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!" i cried, then i had "just one more" you have been warned.

try these people, a riding friend of mine has one of the double bike trailers, the quality looks. if you have the space it is always better to get a larger wheel width trailer as i have seen one of the narrow ones tip over on a roundabout. http://autowbars.co.uk/biketrailers.htm