toetoe

it is the valve, i'v just checked it, also i had a look at the front and that has a tube, it's got a something that is about the same size as the valve but it is threaded bar with a lock nut to tighten it up to the rim, it is opposite from the valve, i can only guess that it is to hold the tyre to the rim.

thanks, thats what i wanted to know, i will check the valve later although now it will probably be ok and if the tyre stays up for a day or two then i will leave it for now but in a few months i hope to start trials meetings so i will buy a new tyre and rim band, i have seen different methods of trying to seal leaks with different types of things but i think it makes more sense and easier to just renew, i do have a brother who works at the Michelin in stoke so i will ask him first to see what price he can get tyres at.

not really but what happened was, out of curiosity i asked about the tyre tread and then a friend came to my house and asked to look at my bike and the rear tyre was flat, but i have not gone out on it but the one thing i have done is let air out of it to practice balancing, i will check it tomorrow to see if it is the valve or not.

do tubeless tyres need special wheels or can i fit them to any type, i have seen two kinds on youtube, one with a rim tape and another with a inner bladder, i think it was called tu-bliss, is one better than the other, also how can i tell if i have a tubeless tyre already fitted.

you say you was a semi expert rider so do you still change your tyres after every 4 trials meetings.

No licence yet, i have had a letter from the dvla saying that they have sent my doctor a letter and if she says it,s ok for me to drive then they will give me my licence back and with being a cancer patient i see my doctor about every 4 weeks and she is backing me all the way, so it's just a matter of waiting. i thought changing my tyres every 4 weeks was a bit extreme but had an idea he was talking more on the pro side of the sport, my tyres are quite good for now but i will probably change them when i start weekly meetings, i hoping to get one full practice day and one trials meeting in per week and from what i can gather most of it will be on grass, mud kind of ground, to start with at least, thanks everyone for your replies. regards Tony

is their a pre trial check made of your bike before you can enter the trial and if so do they check your tyres and how do i check my own tyre depth.

i had my first trials bike about a month ago and new nothing about how to service it but now with the help from this forum, youtube and trials uk i can now do any maintenance job to keep my bike in good working order, i found this on the net, (yamaha ty manual northover) it's for a ty and not the tya, i don't know what the difference is but it looks very informative, their is trials uk but i think it's more for modern bikes than the classics.

thanks woody, everything i needed to know, at the moment i can't get to meeting but that should change in the next 3-4 weeks, it all sounds just what i was looking for, i think it would be best to do the easy route first to get used to things and slowly progress, is the same farm open for practice through the week or is it just for organised trials?

i used copper slip on the back of the pad, the only thing is i can't give my bike a good try as i'm stuck in the back garden for a few weeks but it does seem to of done the trick, the bike is a 2000 sherco 250.

i can go almost as long as i want with the front wheel turned to the left but not so good with it turned to the right so i'm practicing more with the wheel turned right, the tyres are now about 3psi in the rear and 4 psi in the front, for some strange reason if i put my foot on the back break i can balance much better, i also practice changing gear at the same time as balancing so it breaks the concentration, when i can do over 2 minuets with the wheel turned left and right i put a little bit more air in just the back tyre then do it all again and put a small amount of air in the front, it's all i can do for the moment but i have just had a letter from the dvla saying that they have sent a letter to my doctor and as soon they get a letter back saying i'm fit to drive i can then go to proper practice areas and get involved with a club and trials meetings, very soon i hope.

i have just had a look at whats on in the next week or so and in one of the advertisements it gives you the different routs that will be available on the day and one of them is over whatever, does that mean you can have a go at any of the circuits but the points don't count or is it something different.

i wondered why their was like a clear coat flaking off on the rear mudguard, i could always sand the mudguard down first and put a clear coat on after i have put the stickers on, the only problem with home made stickers is they are a little bit thicker than the original ones but i don't think many people would notice it, the bike isn't in a bad state and i would be foolish to spend loads of money on something that i will be changing in about 6 months time but little jobs that i can do myself seem worth it,

i have made quite a lot of stickers/decals for other people, doing different kinds of projects, so when i priced a set up for my bike i couldn't believe the price and it doesn't even look like a full set, the problem i have got is getting photos of a 1999 bultaco sherco 250 as it looked when it left the factory, i have got most of them still on my own bike like the tank, rear mudguard and side frame but i can't find any photos of the front mudguard and on some photos i have seen a sticker on the side of the engine (bultaco thumb) but i don't know if that was one that someone had stuck on themselves or it came with the bike, so any photos of the bikes stickers would be a great help. regards Tony

i had a look on ebay, to get a rough idea how much i should be paying for a second hand bike but watch for the bikes that are for sale from dealers/bike shops, they do seem to sell the best bikes but they are about £400-£500 more than the private sales, but it does give you an idea what people are paying, part x is always an option.

with a practice route, do you just turn up on the day, pay the fee and do it or do you have to arrange it first with the club, it sounds like good fun to me and with having very little practice myself, it seems like a good way of easing in to trials.

i noticed that if i concentrate on something, i'm fine but as soon as i move my head i lose my balance, so thats something i can improve on, i take it that when they say 4 and 7 for tyre pressure it is 4 in the rear and 7 in the front, my front at the moment is around 5 so i can increase the psi slowly as i progress, i have also got a concrete block in the garden, so i thought of riding over it but stoping with the rear tyre on the block to change things up a little, i will just have to be patient while i'm waiting to get transport, thanks for the help everyone.

i have done about six hours, i will have transport shortly after xmas, i hope but until then all i can do is use a small garden at the front of my flat and about a 15 foot piece of land that is along the side of my flat so i am restricted to what i can do, i would go on a trial tomorrow if i could get there, just for fun and their isn't really anyone to take me, without it costing me a fortune this is why i am practicing the things i can do until i have transport.

i have been doing about half an hour a day, just on my balance but with the engine off, my progress was really slow, i could manage about 5 seconds at the very best until i read through some of the posts and over night i can now do over one minuet, i couldn't believe how much easier it is bye letting air out of my tyres and standing in the correct way, tomorrow i am going to start learning to balance after coming to a stand still with the engine running, is their any other tips that you could share with me, that could make it easier or is it just the same as doing it without the engine running and plenty of practice.

good idea, to do the other one at the same time, chances are they are the same age and the other one will start to fail and it's all good experience for me, thanks for the replies. regards Tony

I noticed that there was exhaust fumes coming from Where the middle silencer joins to the exhaust pipe so I have had a look at the spare part manual and there is an O-ring, will a new O-ring do the job or is there something else I will need to do, it is only a small amount and seems to be when I first kick the bike up, with the choke on and once the bike is warm, it disappears. Regards Tony

the best advice i was given was to buy a second hand bike, because if you don't take to it you don't lose much, if any money on a second hand bike up against a new one, also the modern trials bikes are very powerful so don't be tempted to go to big, i had a 250 and it's perfect for me.

like yourself, i will come into a fair bit of money and also i have not been able to work because of ill health so i decided to get back into trials mainly because i used to love doing it but also as a fitness regime, i decided to get a second hand machine just to see if it was still for me and to see if i still enjoyed it, i ended up with a 250 sherco 1999, on my first ride i was totally shocked with how much power the bike had got, i thought i would start off with a 250 and then when i buy something newer i would move up to at least a 300, well that as all changed and now i will stick to a 250, the modern trials bikes realy are very powerful, so i wouldn't let your wait put you off trying the 200-250 range.

great help thanks, i thought at first, how daft having it their but i suppose with trials bikes you have cram things in where ever they will fit even if it isn't practical. i have got plenty of the 60ml syringes and some tubing that will fit on the end so i could use one of them, thanks for the help, i think that is the last thing i need to know on the service side of things. regards Tony

i have had the petrol tank off, thinking i could get to the radiator filler cap but no chance, i can see the cap but it is under the frame and if i could get my fingers in i don't think i could poor water into it, i need to check it to see if their is antifreeze in it and check the level. regards Tony