Jump to content

al_orange

Members
  • Posts

    266
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Everything posted by al_orange
 
 
  1. Oh I don't know... Don't underestimate the competitiveness of a 40 something male.. "You've still got it Bob... You've still got it..."
  2. All very reasonable but I'm very surprised that at least the clerk of the course doesn't have to be first aid trained. If I ran a club, I would ensure that we had first aid cover, and a portable defibrillator, but that's just me.... Because I'm unfit and accident prone.
  3. I agree, this site is quiet but there's loads of useful information on here. There's not a lot to talk about in terms of trials because nothing really changes and there's only so many arguments to be had about no-stop! ??? I've dipped in and out of trials for a few years but it was only this last year that I bought a decent bike and found a proper practice area that brought my riding on pretty quickly. I found going to trials to be frustrating because if you couldn't do a section then you didn't get a chance to figure it out. I learned more in a few weeks of practice than I did in a fair number of trials. Mind you, getting some pointers from a better rider made a load of difference too. Now, I'll enter trials quite regularly for the challenge but I actually prefer going practicing because you get more out of it and actually Improve.
  4. al_orange

    Linkage Play

    I'm not sure that's the case with mine. Presumably if the bolt was so tight that it would eliminate play between the bolt and the spacer, then the rear end would be bound up? I did measure the bolt at the time but it wasn't really any different to the other bolts so the play may just be manufacturing tolerances. Interestingly, when I ordered the spacers, BVM warned me that they would probably not make any difference and that they have brand new bikes that will have a little play in the linkage.
  5. al_orange

    Linkage Play

    I have exactly the same problem. The slop is caused by the difference in tolerances/clearance between the bolt and the top hat spacers. I bought brand new spacers and it made no difference at all. It's annoying. (As an aside, my head stock bearings are going and my rear wheel bearings are shot, so I'm not impressed by the longevity of these parts and will increase the frequency of maintenance and keeping an eye on the rest of the bike in future)
  6. Well you're in a different country with a different set of circumstances but over here, we'd call anyone that said that a selfish ****.
  7. Yes. Almost all suspension (but not all) generally counts the turns/clicks out from all the way in. "In" being CW until it stops, and "out" being CCW. The reason being, you can screw all the way in without issue but in some cases, screwing out until it stops or the adjuster comes out can cause issues/damage.
  8. al_orange

    Electric start

    Depends on the purchaser. For me, no. But if you have a gammy leg (I've heard a number of older riders switch bikes or give up because they can't start some bikes) then it makes sense. If I was in the market for an xtrack, then yes, I'd go for the e-start.
  9. Yep. Righty tightly, lefty loosey. Same with the rebound and compression adjusters.
  10. If you've got some pressure but the pistons just move out and then back and don't easily pop out then it's likely that the grooves for the seals need cleaning. I did mine and even though they looked clean to the eye, the amount of crap I could scrape and wipe out was unbelievable. This can make the seals fit a bit too tightly on the pistons and not let them slide out properly. Unless the dealer/shop was really good, they probably just chucked the new seals and pistons in. A good indicator of this is when you pump then with no cap on the master cylinder and no pads fitted and the pistons move out then on release of the pedal, they immediately go back in to the same spot. It's the friction and the elasticity of the seals that pulls them back. The only other thing is if the hole in the master cylinder piston (or anywhere in the line) is blocked, stopping fluid from being sucked down. But if you can easily back bleed it, that shouldn't be the problem.
  11. Fire and theft only or for 3rd party too? I use MSM for fire and theft. Seem reasonable enough but have never had to claim so don't know what they are really like.
  12. I don't necessarily want gears as such, I'd be more than happy with one gear as it makes life is bit easier! What I wondered is if by having only one gear then does it compromise the bike in typical British conditions?
  13. I've always loved the thought of an electric trials bike but said that I'd wait until it had a proper clutch. Now, with being on lockdown, I've had a little ride in the garden (on my petrol bike) and it's underlined how awesome it would be to have an electric bike. But, I've got a couple of questions/musings that I wonder if people have experience enough to answer: 1. Gears.. they exist for a reason - before the coronavirus hit, I was doing a fair bit of practice in mud. I learned quite quickly how important it is to use the gears to maintain grip. Using 3rd when I might be in 1st in the dry, and using 4th (with clutch) for big climbs for example. Now, with an electric bike with one gear, how do you go faster without increasing the torque/power relatively? In general, how do they ride in the slippery clay/mud we have in the south? Having a bike that has max torque all the way through the revs makes it sound like hard work. Gears effectively change the relationship between the torque the engine is producing and what is delivered to the rear wheel. 2. Static/slow speed balance - I'm sure expert riders wouldn't notice a difference but I've been doing engine off balancing for a while and have just started doing engine off hops (mostly because I don't want to annoy the neighbours). Now we know how much easier it is to balance with the engine running, but I didn't realise how much easier front end hops are with the engine on (even without using the clutch at all). With the e-pure, presumably, you don't get any increase in static stability at all? In fact, what is the gyroscopic force of the engine like?
  14. I agree that they should have taken stronger action sooner but you are absolutely wrong if you think there is any other option than a complete lock down. You need to Google "flattening the curve". Or maybe just watch the news. It's interesting that some people still don't understand/accept that this is a real and dangerous situation and for once (in this generation), we as humans are not in control. It's barely a mild inconvenience to not go riding for a bit but some people are acting like it's the actions of a totalitarian government.
  15. What part of "do not leave the house unless absolutely necessary" do people find hard to understand? Case in point here. Trials is mega safe, until you injure yourself.
  16. That's a tricky one because although it's probably very low risk of injury or contamination, it is directly contrary to the instructions we've been given. I'm tempted to take my bike to an area by my house but I think will restrict to balance/hopping practice in the garden. You could argue that it could be daily exercise but the instruction is to stay at home unless absolutely necessary or to get some daily exercise... which I'm pretty sure is limited to walking, running & cycling..
  17. I use army goretex boot liners (for enduro mainly) and have ones that come up to my knee. They are very waterproof and I don't think I've ever had wet feet, apart from maybe a bit of damp from sweat. Also, I always wear bridgedale trekker socks and they keep your feet perfectly warm even when soaked through. They are very comfy and just keep your feet comfortable whether it's hot or cold. I call them "my magic socks" and I've got about 10 pairs now.
  18. Agreed. In the scheme of things, how important is a bloody motorcycle competition compared to trying to slow the spread of a potentially deadly virus. The problem with the UK is that life is soooo comfortable and safe over here that people find it very hard to accept that bad things actually do happen. I feel really bad for the over 70s as it sounds like their fate is in our hands and some of us don't seem to give a toss.
  19. I watched a lot of the older videos on stop allowed and they were just "hop, hop, hop, wide open and dump clutch".. so I was concerned it would be like that but that course looked really well set out, albeit with some pretty intimidating sections. I'll reserve comment on no-stop at the southern experts as I don't want to spark another conversation about it! But this national round looked like a success. Real shame about the serious injury though.
  20. Really good video of it here. I'm still not convinced about stop allowed but this looks like a very exciting trial to watch. https://youtu.be/97zSrcMc0sg
  21. I've got the Apico wireless one which has both hour meter and tacho. However, the tacho looks to be very inaccurate so I've ignored that bit. I bought the wireless one as I wanted to mount it in the airbox but it needs to be mounted on the frame really, to pick up the vibrations. I would recommend getting the wired one now. I think the tacho is more accurate and the reading is more reliable. But I'm happy with mine for maintenance tracking purposes.
  22. Wow! I guess the kamikaze spirit is still strong within the Japanese!! If that's what stop allowed sections are like then I can't believe people lament those days!
  23. So yeah... It didn't make any difference at all. Ah well. At least I'm now used to servicing the linkage, have replaced the two knackered o-rings and have some spare spacers to hand. To their credit, BVM said it might be a waste of money as they would expect some play even on a new bike (as mentioned above).
  24. Have received the new spacers and o-rings. One of the old spacers is slightly bigger than the others (only by 0.05mm). Will fit it all and see if it makes any difference. Interestingly, both the original o-rings were cut and damaged. The new ones looks good but were £4.20 each!
  25. That's exactly what dielectric grease is for. I think I'll be checking mine connections and greasing them soon.
 
×
  • Create New...