steve

The marks on your hub are not where I meant to punch. Punch here -

By the way, where abouts are you in the country?

Ok, I know you did say no bodges but dependidng on how much free play there is you have a couple of options. First the bodge - If the bearing is a loose push fit but doesn't have any free play use a centre punch and 'dot punch' the hole at equal spacing all the way round. This will raise lots of tiny bumps which will grip the bearing, also use plenty of Locktite Second suggestion - If you can't bore out to fit a larger bearing how about bushing to fit a smaller one?

That's five disciplines, or is there a clue there as to one of the competitors?

Don't tell Jordan Szokes that He's a Canadian Superbike roadracing champion and a top contended in the Canadian trials events (Expert), when he can attend. I think you'd be surprised at most Pro motorcycle racers. In my experience most of those guys can ride nearly anything with wheels. Now, not at a Pro level mind, but certainly much better than most of us. But which did he ride first? It's my guess he started in Trials before going road racing and still likes to keep his hand in. Riding Trials gives you a feel for a bike like no other sport and that can easily be translated into other sports. I remeber my first go on a motorcross bike, within a few laps I was already quicker than most of the guys on the track, and I am one of the slower trials riders across the moors! Look at how well Trials riders adapt to Enduro - Paul Edmonson, Juan Knight, Stefan Merriman, John Shirt, Wayne Braybrook to name just a few.

Ok so the bike is still in 100 pieces and no sign of any spares yet but I have downloaded the regs and will send them off shortly. Problem is what route / class do I ride? Stuart, how hard will the 'hard' route be ? Will it be possible with a twinshock? Does an expert get downgraded to inter or novice after a period of time ? Nigel, are you riding, if so what class/route?

So you guys have trouble eh, what if you had to bleed hundreds of bikes? Well this is the sort of thing they used at the Scorpa factory (see photo) Where possible the systems were built and bled off the bike first, there was a rack with the master cylinders clipped at the top and hose and slave cylinders dangled below, that way gravity lends a hand I suppose! This one can be bought from - http://www.machinemart.co.uk/product.asp?p...47&r=2056&g=107

Or perhaps he just enjoys riding sensible sections. I am sure that with his commitments with Doug he doesn't get much time to practice, and where would it leave Doug if he got himself injured before a World round?

That's a good site, I needed a babelfish translation but found some good info about the 330 on there. Thanks Gaff. As the search isn't going too well for an airbox I have started to make one out of alloy. Problem is I have never done anything like this before. Here is what I have so far, when it's finished a friend will weld it up for me. What do you think?

If the inlet has been shortened then it's very likely Mick Andrews has already tinkered with it. After the inlet mod the front of the airbox has to sit under the frame tubes, Is this the case with yours ? I used to spend a lot of time with Mick and got the impression that you can easily go too far with the TY and spoil the very things that made them so easy to ride. For the 270 they use a piston from a Yam 250 enduro bike, think it's the IT250 ? Get a nice 'tight' rebore and run it in carefully. I once spent several hours at Mick's riding the bike on the pilot jet for about 10 mins- letting it cool 10 mins etc... felt ok to me but Mick reckoned it was a little on the tight side. It finally started to loosen up a little towards the end of the day and turned out to be the best motor I ever had in a Yam. One other thing. The old Yam never like fully synthetic oil. You could wear a barrel out in no time on fully synthetic. Mick did explain why once, but I can't remember!

I had work done by both, I had a 250 which Mick 'breathed on' A couple of mates had Mick Andrews 270's. A couple of years later I wanted my new bike doing but Mick couldn't do it for me so I went to Birkett. I had a 270 and full porting job. I have to say I was rather disappointed with the Birkett job, the porting was really rough, big gouges out of the ports like it had been done with a chisell!! Performance wise I prefered the Mick Andrews one aswell. Don't get me wrong it was a big improvment on standard but not as good. The MA bike seemed to respond quicker on the throttle. This was 1992 however and I may have had a bad un.

Yeah, I reckon Doug will be ok as long as it rains every round!

Is the Gas for compression damping or rebound damping? I have a pair of shocks and the rebound is very slow, will letting a little gas out speed them up at all? I guess damping settings are a personal thing and I always like a fairly lively back end (ooh er!), but then that seems to be more in line with modern riding styles.

Thanks Stu - Nice to know the bike is sought after. Spencey - I have a copy of the original parts manual that the previous owner bought from Sandifords, I believe they sell them for a reasonable

I sold this one last year on Ebay. It was a total wreck and still fetched about

No didn't melt at all, but then the o'rings inside are rubber and they don't melt do they? I suppose it depends on the leak as to how effictive it will be, I only put mine on because I had run out of silicon, but it worked well and didn't look out of place so I left it.

Well guys I am seriously tempted to ride, problem is I haven't riden a Trial in 6 years. Oh and I don't have a bike to ride yet!

The Titanium colour is standard, the front pipe was replace as the old one was damaged in a crash. The black bit is a piece of front innertube stretched over the joint, it was a temporary bodge as the join between the middlebox was leaking slightly and the kickstart was touching the exhaust. In fact it worked so well I left it on! Not sure of the price of the Carbon-fibre middle box cover but you should buy one as that area does let your bike down a bit.

Beta boy, You seem to have a bit of a conflict of interests going on with the stickers. Bel ray or Motul Oil? Champion or NGK plug? Dunlop sticker, Mitchelin Tyres! Sorry, just teasing. Some people like stickers, some don't. I don't mind them in moderation. Bike looks nice and tidy, I'm supprised you haven't welded reinforcing on the footpeg brackets though. Here's a piccie of my 96 that I sold this year

what about nylon or steel banding like they use in builders merchants etc.. That's what they use at the indoor Trials.

How did it go then?

Thanks Charlie, looks like the search will be going 'international' !! Why remove an airbox in the first place? I bet it's sat gathering dust in somebodys shed and they are totally unaware of it's worth!

Gaff, did you get my email? If not then drop me a line on stephen.bird1@ntlworld.com Thanks.

Hi, It's a shame that your day's Sport was spoiled by what is probably a mis-understanding. If it really bothers you, and it sounds like it does I suggest that you write a polite letter to the club explaining the situatuation. Tell them what happened and perhaps point to the relevent section of the rule book. Please try to understand that these people are volunteers who give their time free so that you can enjoy a days riding. They did what they thought to be right at the time. Please try to be tactfull if you do decide to write. Steve.

Thanks for the positive comment on the engine. I have studied the airbox on ebay long and hard. It is definatley different, I think the 330 should have a plastic one and it is more triangular shaped. Jef Bungay confirmed my fears that they are like rockinghorse s**t So I may buy the one on ebay, Old Trials Fanatic is right, I can modify it to fit and it's better than nothing at all.