sherconoob

a few in our club have started an evil (or is it nefarious?) plot to get all motorbike riders around the world to get into trials. the latest part is a video aimed at riders in their 50s to get into trials instead of (retch) buying a harley or a cruiser. the trials bike bit is the last few minutes. feel free to pass this to any old codgers you are trying to get interested in trials... there is a small language warning though.

hi mags sorry on the late reply, couldn't log in for some reason! hope the gopro software does the trick. i use sony vegas which is more cocomplicated but you can do broadcast quality stuff with it. the basic version is as cheap as $35 on ebay from the US. re: the chest mount, some of us just make them using the base plate the camera was mounted on in the box. if you google around you'll see it works pretty well and only costs a few quid for some straps and buckles.

interesting bike, guys. i finally got a decent ride on one last weekend and was very impressed. it actually got me thinking you could trials ride one of these if you could only afford one bike and had to do your dirt riding and trials on the same bike. the full lock is better than a dirt bike but still falls short of a a trials bike, and it would need to be geared down. at 92kg dry it's lighter than some twin shocks. i'd like to have a go at clubman sections on one! i reckon the four stroke 350 is just too heavy and cumbersome though for trials type riding.

i like messing around with different angles and got the same results mentioned... helmet cam tends to be the smoothest but it flattens everything out. chest cam tends to be show the terrain better but isn't as smooth. a handy angle to throw in occasionally might be the boot cam. the gopro is stuck on to a bit of alloy tubing hammered flat and just slid down into the boot. you can face it backwards or forwards and is pretty good unless the terrain gets very bumpy. when we are doing sections we mix the footage up a bit by getting guys who are taking a break to do some filming by hand. only prob is if you stay on the side setting you need to get pretty close to the bike or it looks far off in the distance. the medium or narrow angle view can work better although the guy filming will need a good steady hand as the image gets shakier.

i know i'm addicted to trials when everywhere i go looks like this...

popped out last weekend to film this event. the vid never seems to really capture how difficult the terrain is, even walking the access tracks was dangerous in parts to get to the sections. it looks like our club will be hosting the world round in australia next year so it will be awesome to see what toni bou and crew will be doing on the rock faces of esk.

thanks for the tip, i've put an annotation in the video. i know my middle-aged knees appreciate the info!

and a bit of pushie trials as a warm up too... it is called pushie trials in the UK?

thanks for the fast reply, ourian. i'll give that a shot and just make sure i don't cut the lanyard connectors for soldering until i know it works then.

i went to install a lanyard kill switch on the 2013 beta 300 four stroke today. i assume it is an open circuit as i popped both the red and black kill switch button connectors off and the bike kept running. - i know most lanyards are for close circuit systems (e.g. replacing the single pushbutton style kill switch) so figure i'll need to ensure i have the right lanyard before cutting wires and being unable to return the one i've got. has anyone hit this issue and got any advice? thanks in advance...

A bit of a trials demo in the home town of our club. Our top two juniors are good mates until they compete against each other! Ruben is the current junior champ in our state but tom is keen to unseat him.

first ride today, so glad i gave up smoking. can definitely feel a bit of extra weight when hopping but the engine is so tractable, quiet and smooth. would have liked to spent my first seven months on one of these babies! the manual doesn't specify intervals for recommended oil changes. i was doing the old sherco 290 every five hours as recommended by guys in the club, do you figure the same for a 4t? on my dirt bikes i usually just replace the oil filter every second oil change, any reason not to do the same with the beta? i know on some bikes the guys put small cuts in the sides of the rear fender it it's definitely going to break when it flips. the beta fender looks as though it would snap so does this sort of mod work? i know it will only be a matter of time with some of the riding i'll be doing. :-(

good info to know, and the oil tip too for good clutch action. i'll make a decision between two 2013 models for sale locally. the valves are a bit out on one as mentioned above but he'll drop the price accordingly. can't wait to give up smoking!

thanks yammafan. we'll keep pumping vids out until we hit the limit of what our junior riders can do. then we might have to hunt around for some a grade or even expert level riders for the advanced stuff.

i puke regularly as i ride with him most weekends. that was his first ride on it in the vid. he bought it and came third in B grade last weekend which had most of the guys on modern bikes puking too. hehe!

yup. just spoke with a beta dealer and he said the factory got the valve settings a bit wrong in the factory on some models and ehe's had a few come in and adjusted under warranty. but reckons it was no biggy and some guys haven't bothered fixing it.

the latest video. taken a while as i've been distracted with the new cross training series.

went for a test ride today, loved it. i'm definitely a four stroke bloke and fell in love with it straight way. one thing though, there seemed to be a lot of tappet noise and the owner said that is typical and he's checked the gaps and everything was fine apparently... it certainly starts easily which suggests it is fine. i tend to believe him but just thought i'd check with those who own one. i know my FE570 had a very noisy top end from new, as do all of them, and learned to just ignore it! it's a 2013 model and he reckons he's only done about 20 rides, and wear of the tires, chain, chain guide, footpegs etc supports that claim.

nice save, arbutus! i figure that was just a random thing and not a known issue, can't track down any other cases of it online. by the sounds of it the bike suddenly just stopped shifting, but no weird noises leading up to that?

??? i do like four strokes which is why i'm looking to buy one. i'd agree with "take what comes with it" but personally i like to know the typical known issues for a model to see if any money is needed to fix it. i know most modern bike have few of these, but a typical example is the corroding case around the water pump on earlier betas. not a deal breaker but good to check before or just after buying when there are no obvious signs it is happening. cheers tom. i figure you'd get nasty sound when it happens, or do they just go ahead and overheat then seize? ivé been googling around and everyone seems to love their evos.

nice use of the tree for balancing!

i'm about 7 months into trials now and had a chance to ride a few four strokes so looking to sell my Sherco 290. there's a tidy looking beta evo 300 in my area, does anyone own one and can suggest things to watch out for with this model? googling around doesn't reveal anything. it seems the clutch was improved on this year model, it starts easily when hot. thanks in advance for any tips...

be interesting if one of the better chinese manufacturers bought the rights to make the TL250 again. it would be fun to have a backup bike if they were only $3000 or so (2000 pounds?).