02-apr

Because these pages must be read by those opposed to our sport I will not identify this area by name but suffice to say it is not too far from Edinburgh and I think those of us who can take preventive action will know where I mean. As far as I know trials riders have co-existed with the strollers, dog walkers and horse riders that also use this location for at least half a century with no real complaints, if any. The nature of the venue is such that, unless anyone is right there next to the bikes, they probably don't know they are there. The development of a nearby attraction for Sunday drivers has multiplied enormously the numbers of the general public that come close to the place and indeed walk in the woods. Remember it seems to have been the Sunday driver mentality that cost use of Addingham Moorside. I happened to be passing today and thought I would pop in to see if I knew any of the riders there, the parked vans being the giveaway to the knowledgeable, but I didn't recognise anyone though they "used to ride trials" apparently. No problem there but they seemed to have brought their motocrosser riding pals along. I may be wrong and the attendance was just coincidence. The principle is the same however, I've never seen motocrossers there before and the noise carried quite a distance, advertising the presence. I'm not averse to motocrossers and know the problems of finding places to ride them - I did a few seasons of enduros in the dim and distant past and never found anywhere I was prepared to inflict practising upon, and certainly not this place. This week's local paper carried the story of the latest police weapon to "tackle the scourge of illegal off road motorcyclists" so it's a high profile issue in the locale with no discrimination made between sensible trials practice and a bunch of youths thrashing a stolen machine before torching it, or anything in between. The point of this, which some will no doubt see as merely a rant, is: let's screw the nut and try to keep the noisy bikes away, especially if practising is the only form of trials riding you do as we can't afford to lose this area. It won't be a case of a piece of waste land lost but a good venue which many will regard as part of the heritage of trials in the east of Scotland. The real pity is that there really is no point in using a motocrosser there, due to the flat as a pancake nature of the ground outwith the sections it must be about as much fun as having a hurl up the M8 on one.

Registering the bike; As far as I can make out it is clearly a trials bike and thus its exempt from the ECWTA and SVA so I can register it with DVLA as exempt. Road Tax I will have to tax it as a motorcycle - no exemption. Not just sure what ECWTA and SVA stand for but I can't see that it will be exempt from anything much on the basis of being a trials bike as there is only one class, that being "bicycle" which does not differentiate on the basis of intended use?

Chances are you will need to adjust the pilot screw also to get the mixture right. I don't know what type of carb you have so can't say which way to turn it - most enrich by turning in but Dellorto go the other way from memory. If you Google carb adjustment you will find how to get the balance between the mixture and throttle stop screws but tune from rich to weak. Amal used to do a good leaflet on this - I wonder if anyone has scanned it?

Atmosphere in the "Paddock"? I am not sure if I am in favour of a move or not but would say this, no doubt with violins in the background in the opinion of some. In the Gorgie days the Sunday was an absolute highlight and we would spend all day soaking up the atmosphere and go home for tea only reluctantly. You could see all the stars of the day, the Works specials, Trade personalities, fancy mods and buy the bits that the local shops did not stock (not to mention Rab with the bike in a dozen bits as a feature). This continued for many years at the West End but in recent times my personal perspective is that atmosphere has diminished to near zero. Everything seems to be behind canvas so there are few personalities to engage with and bikes are hidden, the day of the Works special seems to be gone (which is nothing to do with location admittedly) and the fancy mods, by the nature of the excellent state of standard modern bikes, are limited to bling rather than function which does nothing for me, the items on sale are fewer than before (warning to competitors: don't break your front master cylinder for you won't find a replacement on the stalls if my shopping efforts this year are any guide). Of course teenage enthusiasm has waned over forty years but it can't all be me, the atmosphere has definitely diminished. I had a quick birl round on my fruitless shopping trip then went for a ride at Nevis Range on the mountain bike - much more enjoyable, and at one time I could not have imagined myself saying that. I suppose atmosphere can be a personal thing but more space might allow more to happen. Would a move to the cattle mart take money from the Fort? The transport of competitors is not an insoluble problem and we would all be staying in the same places we always have for there's no accommodation at the suggested location. I've said this before but you can now go out of an evening in the Fort and barely know that the trial is in town from the attendance at the various catering establishments and watering holes. It's not even necessary to book for the Indian restaurant now. Presumably young locals have some interest in seeing the mountain bike events and manage to get themselves there for that so would do so for the trial, after all what else is there for them to do in Fort William that they can't do any other weekend of the year? It's not so very far away, one can even push an out of petrol SV 650 practically all the way, but don't ask me to repeat the feat! There's no easy answer and the absolute priority has to be the survival of the event, most preferably in the format we know and love.

Good to hear you are coming back Torquil, is it really that long ago?

Somebody was bound to copy the very sensible Greeves idea on air filter position I suppose - just the job if there's ever any rain again at the Scottish.

I wouldn't worry about the spring. I took two out of mine to lighten the action and there was no problem with slippage but it is a 200.

The Fantic has just about the best filter setup on any trials bike and nobody will know more about them than Bill Pye but I would never run a dry filter for the reasons given above. I now use the proper stuff but in my Fantic dafs just used WD 40 or the like, redone every event.

Pleased to hear it.

A five on a comparatively difficult section at the Ben can happen to any ace as "one of those things". I was at Mamore earlier in the week when Martin fived a tricky, round a tree then across a slab, but, by top level standards, easier, section through appearing to use a gear higher than everyone else and the speed was just too great for the grip available at the angle of attack. As luck would have it I didn't get the photo. As a young fan I was aghast and the memory has accordingly stayed all these years. One of those occasions where even the best of riders just misjudges things when under pressure I suppose. I remain of the opinion that that is where the trial was really lost.

I've seen inside it too and, worse, he's got a picture of young men in there - I know, I was one of them.

Did anyone else notice that, though entered, Vojta Klecka did not apparently ride this year and were they as sad as I to see this. He must have been doing the event as for as long as NIgel Birkett. A pity if the credit crunch has ended a marvellous run.

Will see you at Gala, Ross and, despite what you saw and what the Press hyped up at the time, I can tell you how Martin did not lose the trial at Ben Nevis but at Mamore.

That wasn't motocross style - if you ever had the privilege of seeing Martin ride you would know it was merely "Lampkin style".

Strange - as far as I know there is only one relevant taxation class for registration and that is "bicycle" which covers Lead Wing to Monkey Bike and anything in between.

I did all of these but ended up buying a guard that fits over the inside of the silencer from Trickbits - problem solved for about three years now.

It certainly looks like a clutch pushrod but that would be about 4mm thick?

It certainly has the visual cues from the RTX 125 but I don't remember this model.

I'm not sufficiently technical to offer advice beyond saying it hikes the price range and reduces the choice but I recommend going for one with a viewfinder.

I once had the privilege of riding a 500 housed in a Crusader frame at the Scarborough two day and it seemed OK to me in terms of both grip and power. The same machine, in the same state of tune, had been ridden, with knobblies and proper bars, successfully in Pre '65 scrambles too.

Back in the day I cut a flap in the back of both the main and tail silencer, took out the old fibreglass packing and replaced it with new before welding back up. It certainly made the bike a lot smoother and allowed better tight turns - remember nobody used the clutch in those days.

Silver hammer finish I recall as original on the 6 speeder my brother had. After the Puch hub they used three different front hubs (presumably what they could get hold of) one of which was REH. However here's something more interesting - if I remember correctly Dalesman were the first to have a disc brake on the front of a trials bike. I remember seeing a picture in one of the weeklies and the bike was ridden by Mick Wilkinson. I think pad life was a problem and possibly the rocks too as it was a big disc by modern standards. By the way the exhaust looks original to me.

Only one taker - correct - at first I thought it was Jim Cunningham (who few would know) but then realised it is John Hemingway so most could potentially recognise him. I'm sure that's the year he rode the full 350 ex Martin Lampkin Bultaco which was, I'm sure, known as the Jumbo long before SWM appropriated the name. It definitely had a nickname but I'd like to have my memory refreshed if it was not Jumbo.

I suppose this is what we over here see as a stereotypical American thing. Just how many children (or adults for that matter) have eaten their ATV's and been poisoned as a result? Alas the mentality is growing over here too.