mr neutron

There's all kinds of ways, I'd imagine, but that's how I've seen it done/ridden on. The tire I've ridden on used plywood cut about an inch or two bigger in diameter than the inside of the tire. He then just used sheetrock or deck screws to go through the wood, and right into the tire...... You're gonna have fun with that one, Mokwepa!!! How high is it? I'd imagine those are fairly heavy,huh? Jimmie

Good Work, Mokwepa!!! Your postition on the bike looks great; the knees are bent, back straight, weight where it should be & stuff like that..... Have you found any one else you can ride with? Sometimes there's a "competitive" aspect of riding with a buddy that helps each of you to learn & improve. Or maybe you can get lucky, as I have, and found a buddy that rides at a really advanced level, but is great at explaning & showing what he's doing, and how he's doing it. This can really help a lot! Keep it up, Buddy! But I think I have to agree with 0007 on them Yoga Pants! (Actually, I'm jealous. Wish I was skinny enough to rock a pair of those. Right now, it'd be really ugly if I tried to..... I've never been more thankful for the "Baggy Look" style than I could be right now, even if I look like a large tent riding a trials bike..... ) Jimmie

Cool!!! I own one like yours, and really like it a lot!!! I'm not certain that owning a 3 year newer bike would make me a better rider..... Jimmie

Maybe like this??? Jimmie

Hi, Mokwepa!! Riding at what's called the "Novice" (Beginner?) level here, if I've learned anything, it's "Turns, turns, turns!". Practice the turns on hills, going up & downhills, right before a rock/log/obstacle, and immediately following one. They will never give you any room to set up for an obstacle like we do when we're learning how to Zap, Double Blip, Foater Turn, or whatever. You will likely lose most of your points in turns on your first Trial competition..... But remember to have fun, and learn, above all else! Jimmie

PM I'm certain I've read, somewhere, that the adjustment screw on those Sachs rear shocks controls both the compression & rebound, like what Laser said. Scew it in farther, get more compression & rebound damping. Screwing it out should decrease both. That said, and since I couldn't recall where I'd read it, I checked my 2010 owners manual, even though the OP has a 2008 model. Sitll, it was kinda funny what it had to say. Under Rear suspension, page 31, there is a photo with a view from underneath the bike. Shows the lower shock mount, bell crank, links, and the other linkage parts. Has capital letter D" with a line pointing from the letter to the adjustment screw on the shock. Quote "The Hidraulic brake compression can be adjusted by turning the screw (D) located in the lowest area of the shock absorber it should be at the midpoint of his career." Something definitely got lost in the translation, I'd say. But it sounds like that adjustment screw does only control compression???? So the "midpoint of our career" is determined by an adjustment screw? Geez, i was hoping to retire in a couple of years. It'll take me that much time to find the little screw, probably........ Jimmie

Pythagoras would be proud, Mr. Zippy!!! Jimmie

Perhaps he's trying to say his Beta motor isn't running right at idle? Is it possibly doing what we call "four-stroking"? If so, you probably need to adjust your fuel screw and may need to change your pilot jet to a leaner (smaller number) jet. I'm really just guessin' here....... That truly is a tough post to understand..... At any rate, you will likely get more help in the Beta Forum than this one. Jimmie

I guess you should probably shoot your footpegs before every ride, just to show them who the boss is, maybe?? Actually, b40rt does have a good point about pegs bitin' ya; I've got a couple of scars on my shins to prove that.... Yet I still rock the ugly shorts fairly often, and feature even uglier legs. Go figure..... Have you gotten to look at the Ryan Young dvds yet, Mokwepa? If I recall correctly, there is a "lesson" on one of those DVDs, where Ryan rides back & forth over a log that is on a slight hill, and the log is approximately half a meter in dameter. I believe the lesson is on Zaps, but can't recall; need to go watch the dvd again. At any rate, when he goes over that log, the rear wheel pretty much comes up to the top of the log without actually having to climb up. It gets there with help from rebound, and from Ryan's legs. It's almost like his "Bunny Hop" technique. Added in EDIT: The video I have is Ryan Young's "Trials Training Techniques and Cross Training Tools". The part of the video I'm referring to is under "Advanced Techniques", and is called the "Jap Zap". He gets enough lift from his suspension & technique to pretty much either set the wheel on top of the log, or has enough momentum for it to roll smoothly up & over, or clears it completely..... I know that painted drums can be slick, even when it's dry out. The dust on your tires alone can make it really tough to find traction. Here where I live, we get a good bit of rain. This makes our logs & boulders really slick. Those logs are pretty easy to get over with poor technique (I speak from experience here... ) when they are dry. There's not much room for error when they're wet, however. You really need the technique Ryan uses to get over them when they're slick like that, along with the minimum amount of throttle. Finding out what that "minimum amount of throttle" becomes an experience thing, however. Just gotta practice the right technique. Sorry, it's a hard thing to give you a verbal on. Actually seeing it done would help more than my text can.... JImmie Here's a good video where the guy gets some really great lift from his Zap, and has s ome good slow motion & text explaining what's going on as he does it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTSd4MbzoGc&list=FLM7a7xBGdVDokQi9gf_OQfA After looking at what you're wanting to do Mokwepa, I'm not sure if a regular old "Double Blip" is more what's needed, or the Zap. Done correctly, either one can get you the lift you need for your rear wheel to get up on top of the obstacle, and then to roll over smoothly. You don't want the rear wheeel "slamming" the obstacle. you lose forward momentum then..... Hope this helps! Jimmie

It sounds like you & I should be two of the smartest riders around, huh Mokwepa? At least we learn what not to do, I guess...... For getting more lift, it's pretty much a function of rebound after compression of the suspension (both ends), and spring from the legs. You can influence how much compression (and then rebound) of the suspension you get by your wheel placement on the obstacle. Too high of the front wheel on the obstacle, and the tire either skips over it, or doesn't make enough suspension squish to do much for you, as far as "lift" is concerned. Just don't do like I occasionally do. Sometimes I'll accidentally pull the clutch in when I want to do the first blip/lift the front wheel, or I'll simply have my timing WAAAAAY off, and wont get any front wheel lift. The bike then runs into the log, and I get "Yard Darted" over the bike and log. A good reason to keep speeds down while learning, i say.... For getting the timing down, it really helped me to break down each aspect of a double blip or zap, and go through the technique very slowly. Focus on obstacles about the size of your front wheel or smaller, and just practice them slowly. You'll find that you don't need a lot of speed at all to accomplish this, also. I probably should've been going a bit slower in my video I linked to..... Hope this helps! Jimmie

Here's a link to that other video I mentioned. A guy who posts mostly on www.thumpertalk.com with the username of "2PLY" made this video. It helped me a lot, and I kinda like his choice of music in the thing.... If you go to the hosting site ( www.vimeo.com ) & type in "double blip", a search will bring this video up, and more trials "How-To" vids he has done. Just about all of his vids have been really helpful to me. The Ryan Youg vids will help you out too, mokwepa! Hope this helps! Jimmie

Of course!!! (wink wink, hee hee....) Here's a video of mine I made when I was learning to do this. I want to stress that it is NOT "textbook technique", but it got the job done back then. I could only do this about once in about every 14 attempts in the beginning. I'm not sure that I've gotten much better since..... Again, I'll try to post the "Good How-To Vid" later...... Wink Wink again.... Jimmie Added in EDIT: If you look quickly, you can see the forks & shock compress at the same time. Probably not as much as they should, & I don't seem to ever put enough knee/leg into it as I should. But the basic gist of it is "sorta" there..... In an ideal world, I guess the rear wheel would've hopped up higher onto the log.......

I do believe you're on your way to getting this down, Mokwepa!!! Good Job! Yeah, if the front wheel is placed correctly, in conjunction with all the other "factors" involved, you will compress both the forks & the rear shock when you bring the front wheel into the obstacle. And from what I can see, it really doesn't hurt if you drop the front wheel down onto the obstacle a bit as you roll forward; just so you get that compression that you need for this technique. At most trial events, you have a very limited amount of room to work in, and I guess the majority of the time you'll have to bring the front wheel up & into the obstacle as you're rolling forward.. Whatever. You need that loading of the fork & shock to help bring the front end up to: 1) allow the skid plate to clear, and 2) to help "spring" (along with your legs here....) the rear wheel up & onto the obstacle. There are some really good videos from a log crossing thread at Thumpertalk, in the Observed Trials forum. And there are some really good videos a vimeo.com from a member named "2PLY" about this subject. One of them has some really good slow motion & explanations of getting over a decent sized log. I'll try to link you to them later, after I'm home & at my home computer (at work now....) Jimmie

Hey, Mokwepa!!! Mokwepa, try to heed these guys' advice about "riding loose", and keeping your knees bent slightly more than they are in the photo. Keeping my legs too straight./knees not bent is a problem I continually fight myself. It makes a huge difference in your riding....... Sometimes, on obstacles like you have in the picture, if I have enough room, I approach them with my knees flexed pretty good. I'll pick the front end up several feet before I get to the obstacle, and drop it downwards on the upper 1/3 or 3/4 (You pick your own fraction!) of the obstacle. As the front end rebounds from this, blip the throttle a small bit, and jump up as hard as you can; you have to put some effort into it. The unloading of the rear suspension as you blip your throttle/straighten your knees/jump up will usually pick the back end up high enough to help roll over the obstacle. Timing is pretty much everything in this "Zap" type of obstacle clearing, but even old Dorks like myself can manage to learn this. Sometimes...... Zippy, I try not to think when I ride, or most any other time in life, hee hee. It's worked for 57 years..... Jimmie

You;'ll need to carry a calculator & a tape measure when you ride now, Zippy....... Personally, I prefer the Texas Instruments Scientific series with the trig functions..... Jimmie

I've wondered if the move to Non-Stop wasn't simply a "Somebody do something, even if it's wrong!" type of deal by the FIM when it came out. Hard to see how it helps the sport. Most of us that like the sport of Trials (and have the time, money, & etc.....) will attend the WTC events, & still ride our local events regardless of the rules, won't we??? Jimmie

Hey, Zippy!!! Out of curiosity, where did your stem break at? Somewhere near the lower bearing? Jimmie

I almost posted this earlier, and thought "Naw, It wouldn't be that....."..... My bike had a rattle that would increase in frequency as the revs would go up, and I was certain it was piston slap. Seemed hard to accept though, since the bike was only 2+ yrs. old at the time. In the process of checking stuff out, I discovered the bolt was loose that holds the fuel tank on, and that was my "Death Rattle" I was hearing. I love it when merely tightening a bolt fixes a problem I'd thought was going to be much more complicate & expensive to fix. Be nice if something like that was the source of your noise, Blacky66. Jimmie

Hey, All!! I either got very "Brave" or (more likely) stupid today. Decided the log I have for practicing jumping over would also serve well to hop up on, and ride along the length of it.... Here's my first somewhat successful attempt, and one screwup. Now, almost all of the "Failed" attempts weren't filmed. i couldn't get my wife to run the camera until I'd already given it several tries. Most of those efforts were unsuccessful, with a few that "sorta worked". but she did get one short clip of one of my mishaps....... And btw, my bike is still in the "unwashed condition" it got left in after the trial event I rode this past Saturday...... Jimmie

If he's still not happy wiht the noise level after this, try hanging one of those on each of his ears........ Jimmie

The very first bike I ever bought (paid for with money from throwing a newspaper route in 1969) had a kill switch exactly as you described. It was used in hillclimb competitions by the previous owner. Most folks agreed that when the rider & bike became separated, it was handy if the motor was at least not running...... Jimmie Added in EDIT: Sideup, are you gonna ride the Trial next weekend at Goldendale? I'm gonna try to do a Saturday ride there....

Congrats on the trial yesterday, Andrew! I got through my first trial since last November yesterday also. Had a HORRIBLE, mistake-riddled first loop, then settled down to my "average" amount of mistakes for the last two loops. I kinda stunk the place up with a last place finish in the Novice class...... As far as my riding goes, things can only "Get Better", hee hee. The bike did good, and probably like yours, will need some serious time with soap, water, and a scrub brush...... Did I see ShyTed's bike all dirty a page or two back in this thread???? Jimmie

Lineaway, why would you consider it a terrible first bike? Not trying to be argumentive; just curious.... I'm likin' the heck outta that exact bike. It's my first trials bike, and I ride at the (lower) Novice level. I don't feel it's too much much bike, too quick, or anything else like that....I put the S3 Low Compression head insert in the thing to make it easier for my knee when starting the bike. Also have a flywheel weight, and really like that deal as well. The flywheel weight was meant to be a slight aid in starting, as much as what aI figured would be an aid for someone at my skill level. The only really negative items I can think of on the bike are the starting gears; I've had some trouble with those. But that was MY FAULT when I tried to start it while it was stuck on a stump, not really the bikes fault. And my compression adjuster broke really easily. I guess I'd say certain parts of the bike are way more "fragile" than I think they should be, but it's all in an effort to reduce weight. There's a trade off there...... Jimmie

Here's a video that's a few years old; forgive me if it's been shown before...... This young man seems to have mad balance & hopping skills. I'll never have this much ability, but it is nice to dream. How's he do dis???????? Hours & hours of practice, or is he just blessed with a ton of ability?? Jimmie

Cost shouldn't be an issue... No-Stop will help sales, and make it more affordable for everyone.... But really, I could see Gas Gas selling everyone of these (and hope that they do...). They're nice bikes, I'm bettin'.... Jimmie