02-apr

We didn't have this benefit years ago when I rode; miss a section and you were out. Nor could you ask for a five, I seem to recall you had to get through both the start and ends cards even if you came out of the section in between. I can see some logic in the "new" rule, and the organisers have absolutely no way of knowing who "Joe Bloggs" is in trials terms when he enters but it must really rankle with those who did not get an entry to see, as witnessed yet again this year, riders touring round the Highlands with no apparent intention of riding the sections.

New Berlingo is longer than the old one and it was just possible to get two in the old one with a bulkhead but was much easier in the car version, which also had no extra speed restrictions (I think the van may be limited to 50?).

If you want "special" and clever ideas ahead of their time then Walter Luft's Puch would take some beating, closely followed by his KTM.

Things ain't half complex nowadays. I remember someone once asked Mick Wilkinson how much oil he put in the forks of his works Ossa. "About half an inch from the top of a Duraglit tin" was the sage reply.

I've got the SM unit on a 175 and it's much wider than the frame hence catches on the breeks in an annoying way.

And shortly you won't have to do it every year.

Aye, no need to worry yourself about publicity for the event - the light is never hidden beneath a bushel.

If you want to be really sure, next time you have the rear unit off, put the rear wheel spindle, swing arm pivot and rear sprocket centre in a line. This is where the chain is at its tightest and should just be comfortably tensioned. Looking along the sprockets by eye is good enough on a trials bike but if you really are fussy for alignment you need a straight edge along the wheels. I could never find a good straight edge that did not weigh a lot and thus difficult to handle, to check the road bike, until I read Kevin Cameron's "Sportbike Performance Handbook" (off-putting title but a very interesting read) which came up with the obvious answer - fluorescent tubes. Of course, given the qualitty of manufacture, having the wheels correctly aligned does not guarantee the sprockets being correctly aligned as this also requires the motor to be correctly set in the frame so a compromise is sometimes needed.

Apart from the words "no stop" there's not much being said here that was not being said when I started forty years ago - particularly the reference to organisers trying to kill riders. La plus ca change...............

Far cheaper to just, once you have the 2ft bar in use, get someone to tap the puller with a hammer - this should release the taper.

I would qualify Benwall's advice by saying that you should adjust the snail cams so that the sprockets are in line - this should be the same as having the graduations equal but seldom is due to production tolerances and, shall we say, wear and tear.

The sport does need riders and definitely does not need people "just playing around in the hills and valleys". We've enough problems.

Good idea - twinshock MX seems to be booming.

Or go for the ideal compromise - a 200. The Beta 200 seems to me to be effectively an easy to ride 250 (having owned one for six years) but still has a lighter, but not too light, flywheel to give that more manouverable feeling.

I wasn't there this year but last year, on the "hard" sections, I witnessed several riders who found themselves still in the early part of a section when their minder alerted them to the need to get the finger out or suffer a time penalty. They seemed to have no bother cleaning the rest of the section at a fair old clip, much faster than one would ride a no-stop section normally, so perhaps there is room for CoC experience to adjust severity as the season goes on.

I can't help feeling it must be more complex than that. Surely you need to know what the flashing lights represent - what is being read? There must be a chip to allow the diagnostic to perform?

The Bulto must be the easiest of all to rebuild. There's only one shim in the gearbox if I recall. Somewhere I have a 2 part Sammy Miller stripdown guide from the Motor Cycle but I'm sure there'll be a guide somewhere on the net. Just make a square cradle of 3 x 3 and let the mnotor sit in it to stop it rolling about. I use the one I made up for changing tyres.

They get mangled in a bit of wind.

Surely the essence of trials riding is still that you DO NOT have a spare bike? Or is that another *******isation of the indoor rules?

Tight seals? Try another pair. Chrome too thick? Difficult.

Nearly forty years ago I arranged that a scout troop local to our big trial would observe in exchange for a motorcycle filmshow at their clubrooms. We even had a training day beforehand. Now, all our club trials are observe yourself in small groups. Fine, it's a day out on the bike, but anyone who thinks the results are anywhere near what they would be with competent observers is kidding themselves. I'm not bothered as I'm too old to worry about results - I won't say there's cheating going on but benefit of the doubt is given where there's no doubt, cards gradually get further apart, there's no consistency with 20 entrants meaning 20 interpretations of the rules. One guy even ran back in to a section to remove the rock his wheel had moved before it could inconvenience following riders!

Not alloy and probably not easy to get but I saw a TY last year with a Fantic tank on it.

"They all do that Sir".

I was last at the MGP the year before last and was amazed to find, on my return, that MCN had not one word about the event, no results, nothing. That can't be helping, regardless of what one thinks of MCN and its journalism that makes the Sun look like a newspaper.

It was Davy Dryden that built it so you'll maybe get a chance to ask him at the British round or Pre '65 as he's usually there with Mel Hume. His daughter rode the bike as well but it didn't lead to a long trials career.