mr neutron

Just don't confuse your atf with your ketchup, Craig...... How did you get the "strike through" in your text above here??? Jimmie

In case it might help the original poster, or someone else, The video needed for help installing the kickstarter & spring is the one called "Engine Repair Part Three, GASGAS "Pro" (Trials)". It's primarily an assembly video, with the first two mostly dealing with disassembly. The part relevant to the kickstarter asssembly is at the 2:00 minute point. I'll try to leave a link below here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A80n7zq80n8 Hope this helps! Jimmie

I had my own k/s spring looking "ugly", kinda like the one in the picture. They can be bent back into shape, so it's not totally necessary to buy a new one. But having them in as near "stock" shape as you can get them definitely makes them easier to install. Nearly impossible when they're bent outta shape like that one is, and mine was. Jimmie

I believe I may have seen some of his (David Attenborough's) work awhile back. Was that you doing the voice? Jimmie

Now THAT had my son & I both laughing our open-faced helmet asses off!!!! That was truly funny, Sherconoob! Jimmie

Paul Arnoux, and Dadof2, Thank You for posting those links! I hope many people will sit down and do some reading of those, particularly the Dellorto manuals Arnoux linked to above. I've got them bookmarked, and as soon as our ink supply gets better for our printer, will likely make myself paper copies. I've been riding, racing, and wrenching since 1970, and consider myself to have had a fairly good grasp of how motorcycle carburetors work. Have always had good luck jetting my own Mikunis & Keihins for my 2 & 4 stroke dirt bikes. But I still believe in having as much info as I can get on a subject, especially if/when a problem develops. These links should help a lot of people, myself included. Thank You guys! Jimmie

Good Work, Ben! I enjoyed watching that (and happen to share a like for the same music you used!)! To me, it's really cool to see how people in other areas of the world do their events. It's also cool that you guys have Observers at the sections. A lot of ours don't have Observers; the riders do a "Group Check" deal where we observe/score each other. Sometimes we have a tough time getting enough people out for the Observing jobs, as well as more riders...... It looked like a fun ride, and in a really neat area. Glad to hear you got some cleans! That's always a huge confidence builder, and confirms that "Hey! I must be doing something right!" Keep up the good work, Sir! Jimmie

Yes!!!! The Trials Face!!!! I think a documentary is needed to fill that particular void! Jimmie

You got me laughing on that one, Ben..... I watch the videos from Sherconoob, Trials Training Center, my DVDs at home, and then go out in the yard & still manage to screw it all up! Forget to slip the clutch, lean, turn hips, throw arm positions totally out the window, or whatever...... Yet I still have fun riding...... To me, your technique looks pretty good, Ben. And I think the type of practice you're doing is really some of the best a person just learning this game can do. Tight turns & balance are pretty much the foundation for everything else needed in this sport..... Jimmie

Ben, Just go out with only the goals of having fun, and learning. You'll accomplish more with those things in mind than anything else. I think you'll do well. As for spare parts, I personally seem to have gone through shift levers more than anything else. I think I personally am keeping the aftermarket shift lever manufacturers in business. Clutch & front brake levers would be next. Look at the sizes of the fasteners required to swap these parts, and bring the necessary tools. Chain oil is something good to have along also. Listen to the advice above, & you'll be doin' more of these events in the future. Jimmie

Actually, that was very true, for me and many other riders I knew and/or rode with, around 30+ years ago. One, maybe two beers would relax you and let you ride a little more "loose". It never seemed to impair us at all. Gosh, we rode so much. and so often back then, that small amount of alcohol hardly affected us. (added in EDIT: we also drank quite a bit back then as well...... ) But nowadays, the general uninformed public believes you're committing a horrific crime to ride with one beer in your system...... Whatever..... It's a moot point for myself, personally now. I have recently been diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis, and the medication I take isn't supposed to be used with alcohol. At least until my blood tests say that maybe a small amount of beer or wine might be alright....... Jimmie

I find that I tend to get more confident the more I drink beer. I try to make use of this confidence in a chair, rather than on my bike, nowadays..... Jimmie

Jimmie

Really good advice & help, Htrdoug! Thank you, many times over. I appreciate that! It's funny..... When I was being "recorded", I thought I had the the bike leaned over really far. As I watched that last turning video, I noticed the bike is actually pretty straight/vertical. I keep forgetting Ryan Young's "balance" example he gives in his video, about "if 100 pounds of bike are leaning one way, then you need 100 pounds of your weight counter-balancing it."....... And yeah, my arms are way outta position from where they should be. That's probably one of the (many) things that made me dab on my last little circle while turning left? One other thing here that has always kinda puzzled me.... The rider's inside leg when turning.... I have a video called "Trials Training With the Champs", with Tommi Avahla & Mark Manniko. In that vid, when teaching the art of turning, Tommi A. pretty much has no pressure at all on the inside peg. I think Mark Manniko even mentioned that all the pressure was on the outside peg, and the inside leg was "simply along for the ride"..... He mentions having the outside foot out far enough for the end of the peg to kinda "poke" into the bottom of the boot as the bike rolls over. I'm sorry, but that feels really weird to me..... I have to have the pressure on the inside peg to initiate the turn, and pretty much hold it there throughout the turn. Is this wrong??? Jimmie

Hmmmmm. Now, that's a thinker....... Wonder which one would do better at, say, the Scottish? Or even a local club trial? Jimmie

I love that, Sherconoob! To that end, I've always admired this guy here: He doesn't seem to concerned about what shape he's in (basically, "round" is his shape, much like myself), and looks like he could survive most anything short of an atomic blast..... Jimmie

Okay, here's some more ammo for public humiliation. We did this drill at a school our club had last year. I found the tight circle they had there a challenge on the flat, smooth lawn we did it on there, and my lumpy, bumpy, slightly bigger (actually 12 feet in diameter) is still hard for a squid like myself. But that's the whole point; it shows me where I need to spend my practice time...... It can be done in a really limited area. It can be made harder by tightening up the circle, adding junk in it that the wheels have to track over, stopping & balancing, done on a hill, or all of that, I suppose. I guess my deal here is to show folks "what NOT to do in these vids, hee hee. Hopefully, other folks will be able to use this concept at their own practice areas...... Jimmie

I'm betting some of the exercises are the same ones I did when I had my knee replaced, Mags. The whole point of the physical therapy is to build up the supporting/surrounding muscles as you described, as well as gain some flexibility. I hope they can do you some good, Mags. And do remember that this is gonna mean work for you to do, in order to accomplish a stronger knee. It'll be worth it to keep riding..... Jimmie

Yeah, Sherconoob, the replies here have been nothing but Great! I began riding enduros & mx in 1970 or '71. I've been riding Trials for about 2.5 years or so. I basically got into it due to a friend. He seemed to be having a ton of fun when he rode, and he rode a lot more often than I can/could on a big bike. It appeared that he was taking less of a beating than I was on my mx bike, as well. I liked the challenge of it, so I sold my '06 YZ450 in 2011, & bought my Gas Gas. I now get to ride a lot more than I did when I rode mx & off road/enduro, so I'd think that I'd be a bit better rider than I am. I'm a slow learner, I suppose. I get these "Pearls of Wisdom" (Good Advice) from friends at trials events sometimes, and maybe they'll help you, or others. Once when I was practicing doing a floater into a log, then going over the log, a friend told me to " pick a spot" on that log to hit with the front wheel. And not a vague, general area-type of spot, but a patch of that log about 1 inch square. Aim for a very precise location on that log. Now, this is probably something a lot of folks here already know, or have already figured out. But for whatever reason, i hadn't learned this. I'm happy just to even hit the damn log most of the time, let alone any one exact spot. When I can remember this, and then actually do it, it seems to help a lot. Getting the mind, body, & throttle in sync is harder on some days than it is others, hee hee.... Anyway, with all this, I've kinda learned not to worry about results at the events anymore. You throw out some ribbons & maybe an observer, have me attempt to ride it, & I fall to crap. I regularly get my butt kicked by everyone so often, I never even notice it. I don't particularly want to beat anyone, except for myself. Just seeing some improvement is all I'd like to see. So thanks to all that have responded with help & encouragement. You folks absolutely Rock, & I hope you find many rocks to ride over! Thanks, Jimmie

Really GREAT Advice, Y'all!!! Thank You All So Much!!! I do have another area I ride at, with a bigger log, and not much more. I need to attack that with my brush cutter/string trimmer & my chainsaw. Amazing how quickly these areas get overgrown..... But that area has the Dreaded Ribbons! I will sometimes have ribbons & flags in the area in the video, but they got removed a day or two before so I could mow the grass.... This other practice area I have has what Dennis Sweeten called "The Circle Drill" ribboned off. I learned this practice drill at his school that our club had at his place. It's just a letter "C" shaped ribbon laid out to be around 10 or 11 feet (3.5 or 4 meters?) in diameter. You enter into the ribbon, and try to do 3 complete circles inside the ribbon w/o dabbing. Do this in both directions. You can tighten up the ribbon, or make it larger to suit skill level. A helpful hint is to enter as wide as possible when you ride in. I have it laid out in an area that isn't smooth, and I've thrown some stuff in there to make the front & rear wheels not track smoothly, if you can understand what I'm trying to convey here. It's a challenge for me when done on smooth ground, and I seldom clean it in both directions here. Having a tough time figuring out when I need to use momentum to get me over these little obstacles, and when to "finesse it over"...... Hopefully some experience will help in this department. I'll try to make a vid of this exercise some day..... Baldilocks, thank you for pointing out the bit about the log needing to be higher. Things like this truly help me (and hopefully, others as well) a lot, and I appreciate that. I appreciate all who've posted their input & help here. Thank You! And Glenn, I get what you mean about the "No Fear" deal, along with trying to reach retirement age without being in a wheel chair, hee hee. I've always felt that age shouldn't be a limitation on what you do. It has, however, made me re-evaluate what I do, and more specifically, at what level it's done at. It's probably better to ride at any level than to NOT ride, huh? This "age" thing is kinda confusing. It's the first time I've ever gotten old, so I'm relatively new at it. It's not going to how I'd planned at all, hee hee....... Jimmie

Mags, Lineaway, & Glenn (Axulsuv), Thank you for your responses; They're VERY Much appreciated! Mags, that corner/balance drill you described sounds like a really good one. I'm planning on incorporating that into my practice sessions. Last trial I competed in, I got my butt kicked pretty good by corners and obstacles, but mostly the turns. At my level, balance & turning are probably what I should spend about 90% of my practice time on anyway...... Lineaway, thank you, & very much, for keeping a perspective on riding. I've re-thought stuff after reading your post, and decided that at 58 yrs. old, it's probably okay to suck, as long as I have fun. Shoot, for me (or anybody else, for that matter) to be riding at all is a blessing. I need to really keep that in mind. Thank you, Sir! Glenn, thank you very much for reminding me of some stuff I should already know from other sports I've done over the years. Keeping the mind calm, riding relaxed, & breathing have always been central to doing well in most anything. It's excellent advice, & I feel like a Goober for not remembering that. Question: To you guys that have been doing this for, say, more than 5 years, do you ever just practice the basics sorta stuff? Or do you mostly just ride a little of everything when you practice? Thanks again, Jimmie

Realy Cool Video!!! It breaks down a lot of techniques, at a speed a Trials Goober like myself can see (but not do.....). And I know this will seem weird, but did anyone else notice the guy in the blue t-shirt kinda doing a pole dance with a tree at the 2:45 point in the vid???? Jimmie

Hey, All!!! Decided I'd have my daughter video one of my little practice sections at my home. After watching it, I'm kind of ashamed of how poorly I ride. If you folks see something that you can point out to help a Novice/Intermediate level rider to improve, please send the help in a post. I caught my front wheel essentially just "skimming" right over some of the contact points on the log (i.e., didn't hit the front wheel where I wanted to....). I also seem pretty stiff, and don't seem to bend my knees enough. And I haven't a clue how to fix these problems..... I really want to improve my level of riding. I want to get the fundamentals down well first, and figure other things will come with time. It's really frustrating, Some days. I feel like, at 58 yrs. of age, if I don't learn this stuff soon, I may not EVER learn it. Other days, I don't really care, and am just grateful to even get to ride...... Thanks, Jimmie

While we're sorta on the subject of "looking ahead" as we ride: Is this pretty much applicable to trying to ride the length of a log? Jimmie

You've made some really Fantastic vids here, Sherconoob! The advice to "Be Looking Ahead; Not At Your Front Tire" at the 2:55 point in the latest Creek Bed video is absolutely Spot On. The last trial I rode had a lot of creek beds to ride, and I got bit, numerous times, by not heeding that advice. Sigh..... Some of us learn a little slower than the rest, I guess...... Thanks again for all your work on this entire series. It's very much appreciated, and they help a lot! Jimmie