chewy

Interesting ; Modern techniques and development by WTC riders have tended over the years to put more weight on the arms than ever before (believe me I.ve been riding long enough to know)..the problem is remembering!. Fortunatly for me I have the facilities to make such items for myself to try/test; I made a top yoke with front to back adjustment as well as spacer shims for height and found that full fwd. /10mm up with the bars rotated "back" worked for me along with RS footrests. Clearly people don't all come in the same size and adjustability (is that a word?) amkes a big difference...problem for most is risking or justifying the cost to find out. for me c. 950 mm from bar ends to back edge of footrest with bars straight is a starting point.(I'm 5.11" ) but this has to be with bars rotated back thus oblidging me to mount them fwd & up. In short yes it makes a difference but as it's a personalising process it's a bit of trial & error process to find whats best for you. Best testing conditions are to have a mate with same bike as a control or reference ... make your mods /adjustments to yours and try the two back to back on same sections, that way you get to notice the difference as does your mate ...you then end up discussing the merits ets .etc.

does this mean I might find a decapitated horse's head in my bed? It's all on line.. you need to keep an eye on trialclub.com or planet trial or todo trial. Other ones to google are Indre 3 days (coming soon), not sure if Haut Vosges running this year, or indeed Aveyron... Moto club12 and of course ATC St.Christophe for la Creuse (Geuret4 day mid July). As with most things European and particularly French "things" /rules/insurance etc. are all getting more difficult , there is (despite great efforts on behalf of John Collins) no clear cut or simple/inexpensive way to get licence for these international events as it appears the fIM international trials licence is "aimed at WTC level rather than a bunch of pleasure/leisure seekers wanting to try something different.

Several folk have been asking me about the classic trials in France ( classic as in; modern bikes ,multi day single lap/day)..just to say that The 3 days of Ardeche entries opened yesterday and were oversubscribed within 2 hours. entries accepted on first come first served basis so moral of this story is you need to make your mind up and act early to get a ride. I think Janet & I are the only Brits agaian this year but we hope to see plenty of compatriots at Geuret in June.

Wayne I thought you could draw inspiration from Big John (soon to be known as diversified portfolio) Moffat; a more true gentleman you will struggle to find. Lovely bikes but must be really hard to find and get parts for.

Excellent ..I'm hoping & praying that my missus doesn't see this as she has her mind set on getting a TY175 & doing similar refurb....A man has to think of his stomach first!!!!

Its unfortunate that so many new trials bikes have such quality problems (across the whole range of manufacturers) but you guy now know why I have been buying Beta's for several years. Lampkins service is second to none in this country.

You are using a ball ended hex key? Chocolate versions of this tool ar definitly no good.

Once again Dan it's a pleasure to find you have made a thorough, objective and constructive contribution. Wires and I have and never will mix, you have shed a (forgive the pun)little light on a grey area. I was aware of anodising as amethod of insulating ally but never duh put 2 + 2 to make 4. Just for info I am running a new Evo as supplied and waiting for a problem.. there is a young lad locally who's bike is c. 4 weeks older than mine he has had problems twice already.

I repeat if anybody wants to send me some broken bits (first suitable bits recieved I.ll return as a usable piece if it works) I hope to have a fix sorted bracket prototype made but can't bring myself to cut a brand new rear into two over to you guys PM on here or via my website.

beats a sharpened hacksaw blade ...I.m sure we all know that there is a maximum spacing between treard blocks in the rules. What we really need is a putting on tool!

It seems that there are no experts out there on thermoplastics who can definitively tell us why this problem has coame along..it must be a cost saving measure. All I remember is that cheaper plastics (polymers=many chains of molecules.I.m sure we have a Latin expert about) are bulked up with almost literally sawdust to make more volume for little cost and that these precipitate ( just as rain precipitates from the sky) from the chemical bonds within...thus embrittleing the materiel...but that was 30 years or more ago. It seems from all the replies that there is a problem (with which I take issue). It could be better designed but it seems more to do with cheap materials being used. Going right back to my original question it seems the only solution for a concerned individual is to pre emptively resolve the problem with a re design as it seems the manufacturers and supply chain are happy to sell us a tenners worth of stuff for a hundred quid (can't blame them). ....I was/am looking for a simple..inexpensive "fix" that most all of us could do or fit and of course checking to make sure that if I have a go at it that I'm not "re inventing the wheel". Like Ralph says it is going to involve cutting a good muguard into two pieces and then re attaching them back together . I have the re attachment idea sorted ..it's the cutting (in a way so as to add value to the bike rather than turn it into a "shed") thats got me scratching my head...It needs to be a method that all/any of us can do. For the time being I can make my re attachment bracket .then when/if I break one it will stop me worrying about turning the bike into a shed ..it'll just be a repair job.

I reckon all the above comments transit are letting you know that it is regarding organising trials an equal opportunities setup....when you get started the first thing you should be doing is thinking about insuring yourself and your landowners.let us know how it goes.

Regards your last line/question....you will have paid for the priviledge of (mebolongi tribe) advertising somebody els's product. Some are breathable waterproof etc..you pays yer money and takes yer choice

Tell my missus ..she broke one

Delighted to be back on a Beta, worried about rear mudguard breakages , have 2 friends who quote easy to break and expensive to fix as sole reason for not buying Beta. Read and heard all about 2011 rear mudguards being (shall we say different quality) and am looking at the way the whole thing fits the bike (2012 EVO)...bear in mind my missus has one too so it would be quite possible for us to break 2 in the same day. Apart from the unneccesary cost of replacement it is the sort of thing than can spoil a holiday or a good weekend so I am now scratching my head for a way to make it a part which can snap off and be fixed back on(preferably in the field), for those of you who suggest cable ties or plastic bolts it seems to me that the mudguard can't flex a) because of its sectional profile , because of the (neccessary) clip/overlap to prevent crap going straight into the airbox..its this clipover part that prevents the whole thing moving in the event of a rear ender /type getoff, c)I suppose because the plastic is the cheapest available. With limited resources (like most of us) the only thing I can think of is to find a 2 pack polymer and mould a piece to replace or fit over the clip/overlap part with a ledge to fix the snap off tail of the mufguard. This would of course involve cutting existing mudguard into 2 pieces (imagine the cut line where the clipover part runs into the actual mudguard ..underside) and using this third piece to rejoin them.. A lot of work /commitment not least hacking a brand new mudguard into 2 pieces. Questions are ; Has anybody broken a 2012 rear mudguard yet? If so can I have the broken bits to play with? Has anybody found a simple solution? (other than breakstem bolts or cable ties which don't really adress the problem) (I'm too old to talk about issues) As in many areas of trials it seems to be more interesting commercially to sell lots of expensive mudguards rather than make a better desighn or a fix /kit.

I have measured with a custom made jig every footrest on the market and mine are the most rearset available however yes you do need to radius the heel of most any footrest to get it into a std. (have to say) pretty crappy $RT bracket. I used to make hangers with a rearset and there must be somebody out there with them try munch M sport maybe via facebook.

I.ve never been a top rider but I have always lived in Bristol ans had a 250 around that time..I modded the exaust big time and that all I remember I liked the bike generally Steve Saunders rode one I.m sure

Not a betting man but Casey Stoner would get my wager.....still anything can happen in racing it wouldn't be exiting otherwise (pS I've defected from Sherco camp after a very frustrating year) all best mate..pps Iv'e finally started to get my head around DVD making and got our Corsica trials holiday done with hindsight ther's lots of things I could have filmed different ....if you want a copy pm me with details.

I wondered why my contract fell through!

Used to call them gaiter or gaitors ,have seen on Fbay...black would be good for me ..keep us posted on progress

Could be ignition timing ,carburation..re rubber flap either swing arm shrunk or chain different tension or thats why the original was worn out.

Generous to a fault with your presents Cope..!!! I.m sure youre generosity will be well appreciated by John.

I sometimes think wellies (firemans) are better than trials boots..but then after trying everything over a long time I just buy cheapest I can as they all leak/ break straps/ soles come unstuck. Its my general experience that price has nothing to do with cost/quality, it seems to be more related to what is current or a la mode..

The "tricky" bit on most modern trials bikes is to get the swing arm spindle out without having the bike fall apart... I made for Beta rev a bush/guide which pushes out the spindle & replaces it on one side then continue pushing spindle through the hole in your bush until it clears the engine. Take your time getting it apart and this will repay you when putting it back together...good luck...bart