scorpa3

My 2000 model wasn't very good at all. Perhaps I had a bad one? The frame showed signs of rust around the headstock and foot plate mounting welds when it was less than 1 week old. The footrests themselves rusted from underneath the plating despite being covered in WD40. The rear suspension linkages were bone dry when I took delivery of the bike, the cylinder head o ring failed within three trials and the fan packed in within a few months. I rode the bike in easy trials for a couple of years and it always needed something replacing or repairing. I can only speak as I found, I'm sure many other people have had years of trusty service from their Bultaco/Sherco's.... I didn't, sorry.

I must admit, I bought one of the 2000 model Bultaco Sherco's brand new back in '99 just because I liked the idea of owning a new Bultaco. I was sorry they had to drop the Bultaco name after that. Although I must say I was also sorry the build quality was so bad. The frame went rusty after the very first ride on it.

Evesham's Dean Basford took the premier class victory at Top Farm high on the Cotswold hills on Sunday with a total of 44 marks lost but with a remarkable last lap score of just four. Organised by the Stratford-Upon-Avon Trials club, the event featured steep wooded climbs, turns and soil which turned into gripless powder early on. As many of the 47 rider entry began to suffer with the hot dusty conditions, Basford always looked like a man on a mission. Runner Up Richard Evans was the only other rider to match Basfords four cleans over the tricky ditch crossing at section five but even he lost marks on the vertical rocky climb at section six. Here Basford was a no mood to fail, revving his 300 Gas Gas for all it was worth, showering rocks back down on the waiting riders, he recorded four superb faultless climbs. On the less extreme Clubman route Gavin Moore held his nerve to stay unpenalised, despite a serious wobble over the large log in section two on his last visit. Moore was the only Clubman to record four cleans at section nine where the single line through the trees at the top of the section deteriorated badly. This section was indeed the decider for the class, with runner up Stefan Waters and third placed Pete Barnett both loosing their only marks here. Local man Gavin Enston was best on the Beginners route dropping eight marks to Stourbridge's Dave Taylor's nine. Best Youth was Chris Wickham who rode up a class on his Beta 80 and showed many of adults the way around the steep venue. Results Stratford-Upon-Avon Club Trial. 25th June Top Farm near Broadway. A route: D.Basford (Gas Gas) 44, R.Evans (Gas Gas) 56, L.O'Reilly (Gas Gas) 77 B Route: G.Moore (Gas Gas) 0, Stefan Waters (Gas Gas) 2, Pete Barnett (Scorpa) 3 Youth B: M.Christopher (Gas Gas) 9, J.Quigg (Gas Gas) 17 C Route: G.Enston (Beta) 8, D.Taylor (Montesa) 9, E.Hinckley (Montesa) 11 Trail bike: B.Wilson (Beta Alp) 22 Youth D (Riding C Route): Chris Wickham (Beta) 43 Anyone who would like to practice at Top Farm, it is

Perhaps you have given me the wrong impression but I have to say the original question, although written poorly, did appear to be a genuine one and was certainly clear to understand. I feel that your response was harsh to say the least. If you are so tired of poorly written questions, then why not simply move on rather than feeling the need to insult the writer? You talk about the need to show respect despite being disrespectful yourself, why knock Gas Gas riders in the same paragraph that you talk about respect? Reading this post, I am given the impression that you feel rather self important, I must say you come accross as being arrogant and impatient. I appreciate that you consider yourself to be an 'elder' but this does not excuse rudeness. I dislike the 'text' method of spelling, I see it in my daily work and not just from youngsters. There should be no place for this style of writing on TC however, I also dislike the overuse of smileys which you seem to enjoy using. Are they not used to convey an emotion? An emotion that would take up to much valuable written space and time? The same reason for text abbreviations? Double standards here I think. Why not lead by example and show a litttle patience towards your peers?

Just out of interest, I've been back over our last 18 Stratfrod club trials (yes I know... I need to get a life!) And the average number of riders on each route is: A route 12.3 B route 27.6 C route 15.1 (Our worst entry during this period was 42 and the best was 76) The percentages work out as: 22% of riders entered the A route 50% of riders entered the B route 27% of riders entered the C route (plus a couple of TY80 on the D route which we dropped in 2003 but are trying again this year) I'm not going to work out average scores, but to sumarise. In almost every one of these 18 trials the winner on all three routes lost under 10 marks. Quite often the last placed man on all three routes lost over 100. I wish we could set out just one route to cater for everyone, it would make the course plotters, the secretary, the observer and the riders lives so much easier. But.... would we still get the guys who lost 100 on the C route? Would we still get the Experts who lost 3 or 4 on the A route? We can't afford to loose anyone otherwise the trials become uneconomical to run. I'm sorry to say a minimum of three routes will have to continue, however I am open to any suggestions.

Ok, that's done. At this weekends Stratford Club trial at Top Farm, there will be a 'ride which route you like class' which for this event is called SPORTSMAN. Sportsman (or Sportsladies) will have an S on their front number and will be allowed to choose any of the four routes in each section at each visit. The results will list the scores but without a total (as this will be irrelevant). An S class rider could ride say 2 sections on the White route, 2 on the Yelow route, 5 on the Blue route and 1 on the Red route, then swap around the next lap. Simply walk the section, decide and tell the observer which colour markers you are going to follow.The emphasis will be to have a good day out riding. If anyone wishes to ride in the S class, just let the secretary know when you sign on then tell me at the end if you think it's been a good idea. If it works ok, then we will make it a regular feature of our club trials.

I might come to your trial this weekend - I like the idea of being able to try a different route if you want to section on section. I might have a go at it Anyone is welcome to come and ride on this basis, just tell the secretary when you sign on. If it works ok, we'll introduce it as a regular feature at our club trials.

Another option I was considering, was to allow a 'any route goes' class on a no award basis. This could be called the sportsman class. Riders would be allowed to choose any route they wished, even change lap on lap, with the results being a record of the marks lost with no total at the end. The only rule would be that they told the Observer before attempting the section which route they were going to try. The results of the sportsman class would be meaningless to everyone apart from the rider themselves, but this would allow competitors to have a go at the harder sections after a lap or two, or maybe try them on the first lap and decide to ride the easier sections after that. Basically this would give riders five choices. A,B,C,D or S. I appreciate that this is yet another complication, but I am just trying to provide a service and good value for money at our club trials, thus appealing to the maximum number of people. I welcome any thoughts on this idea. I could introduce it at this weekends Stratford Club trial at Top Farm if anyone would like to give it a go?

My first ever trial was en Evesham one, I lost 112 on the easy route. The following week I rode with the Stourbridge club and only lost 27. Since then the Evesham club have introduced a third C route which is very popular. I have set out trials more recently with three routes for the Stratford Club. Even then I have had people say the C route is too easy but the B route is too hard, we could do with something in between! Abilities in trials really do vary so much, it is impossible to give every rider exactly the right severity. I am Clerk of the Course for the Stratford Club trial at Top Farm near Broadway this Sunday, we will have FOUR routes at this one. The trouble with multi route trials is the confusion with the markers. So with this in mind we have decided to use coloured arrows for each route (instead of blue left, red right etc) which will be marked from the start of the section right to the end. ie: The Experts just ride between the red arrows and ignore any other colour. The Clubmen the blue arrows etc. I will be very interested to hear from the riders after the trial to guage how this works.

The Stratford Club are holding a club trial at Top Farm near Broadway in Sunday 25th June. There will be four routes set out to cater for Experts right down to TY80's including a sidecar class. After requests to simplify the marking system, each route will be marked out from the Begins right to the end, with Experts following red arrows, Clubmen following blue arrows, Novices following yellow arrows and TY80's white arrows. Top Farm offers an interesting and new range of sections with steep wooded banks and climbs together with a purpose built arena style group of obstacles. Refreshments are also available for those wishing to stay on after the event and make use of the facilities. The venue will be signposted from Snowshill village near Broadway, for more information contact the Secretary of the meeting Mick Metcalfe on 01295 711054 Top Farm Map

Def Steve

I picked up an old bottle jack from a car boot sale for

I had a 2002 and now have a 2005 SY and the brakes on both have always been spot on. The only niggle I have is how quickly the small rear pads wear out. My lads Beta suddenly lost it's efficiency over night. Explained when he told me he had sprayed WD40 all over the bike to stop it going rusty... including the brake discs. I cleaned the disc with brake de-greaser from Halfords and fitted new pads. Problem cured.

I feel sure that Dougie will win more rounds, but I personally doubt that he will ever be world champ again riding the Mont. Unless WTC goes fully 4t that is! I wonder if (and that's IF) he had been offered the same deal and gone over to Gas Gas, what would have happened then? Is it too late in his career to swap, even if he wanted to?

No... change it to- "anyone got a spare stator?"

In case you haven't spotted the thread, there are some pictures of Top Farm near Broadway posted here- http://www.trialscentral.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=8936 I hope this helps.

This shot was taken after one of Steve's trials schools at Top Farm practice area near Broadway recently. What do you think he was thinking? Marks out of 10 for the funniest reply.

It is of course Repsol oils importer Steve Saunders.

If it is the stator, it might be worth asking Lampkins if they can change it for free as this is a very common fault with Rev3's. I was lucky, my bike was just out of warranty but Lampkins sent my dealer a new one for free. This subsequently lasted only four trials and also failed, which of course they replaced for free a second time. By then I had decided to give up on Beta electrics and bought a Scorpa.

Here's another one taken in the Top Farm practice area on Saturday. This was also the first clean of the higher of the two railway sleeper steps.

Baggy shirt. Here's another shot.

Here's another clue.

I wanted to take some pictures of a rider cleaning the big logs found in the practice area at Top Farm near Broadway.I just couldn't find anyone who could do it for the camera. Today, I actually found a rider who could do it, here's the evidence. Anyone spot who it is?

Check the rear spokes too. They do tend to break, but it is an easy job to replace the odd one, just don't leave it too long as the others will start to go.