westyfield

quote: "lads in lycra dont have that cache with the casual fan, sure they ride very, very well but for me waxed cotton trumps lycra every time" Not that I follow it these days but It's the same situation in modern motocross.. how often do you see pages and pages of photographs in TMX of just another gaggle of multi-coloured, beak helmeted riders twisted sideways, usually in mid air, absolutely, indistinguishable from one another? OK, one bike may be slightly orange or another tinged with green but again, unidentifiable amongst the hoards.. and if a bike doesn't wear the latest "graffix" its not deemed cool.. what's that all about? Back in the day it seemed most riders could be identified by their own individuality.. take Vic Eastwood with his leg straight out ahead on bends or Wade with his distinctive helmet, Smith, with his neat, almost sitting stance..you could name lots of riders instantly back then and did they ever have to wear multi- coloured lycra to get noticed.. I doubt it!

A little later than usual but as it was not published by TMX at the time I thought I would post the report here after being asked to write up the results by Mike Worthy, CofC for the Midland Classis Derbyshire Trial. Derbyshire Classic Trial Organised Midland Classic Motorcycle Club 15th April 2012 Round Two of the PJ1 Northern British Bike Championship CLUBMAN ROUTE Class 1 Rigid Girder Forks 1st Andy Webbe Rudge 1 2nd I. Barker Norton 9 Class 2 Rigid Teleforks 1st G. Marshall Triumph 8 2nd Graham Howes BSA 9 3rd Chris Bacon BSA 13 Class 4 Vintage Two-Stroke 1st Colin Frey DOT 5 2nd Barrie Rodgers FB 6 3rd N. Anderton James 9 Class 7 Clubman 1st Pete Elvidge Greeves 0 2nd Andrew Cooke DOT 0 3rd Richard Baker James 1 Class 9 Pre-Unit 1st Mark Francis AJS 0 2nd Steve Corden AJS 1 3rd Brent Corden Ariel 2 EXPERT ROUTE Class 3 Pre-Unit Springer 1st Chris Gascoigne Ariel 2 2nd C. Haigh Velocette 6 3rd M. Mison Matchless 12 Class 5 Two-Strokes 1st Mick Ash James 1 2nd Pete Carson Bantam 2 3rd Alan Whitton James 2 Class 6 Unit Construction 1st R. Turner Triumph 7 2nd Dave Thorpe Triumph 8 3rd A. Scott Triumph 11 Two thirds of the 90 strong entry tackled the Clubman route of a twenty mile course around the Derbyshire moorlands West of Chesterfield. A bright chill breeze drying out sections set for an expected wet weekend giving opportunity for low scores. A figure eight lap enabled a mid trial break for refreshment and fuel. Overall winner on the Expert route was Mick Ash, out on his James this time . Mick needed just one steadying dab on the second sub at Fishponds immediately after the refueling break. Chris Gascoigne balanced his big Ariel round for just two marks, in contrast to Pete Carson's two lost marks on his lightweight, rigid Bantam. Also on "two" was engineer Alan Whitton, riding his James and conceding his first dab under the watchful eye his wife observing at the Waterworks group! All the odd dabs came on different sections highlighting a good spread of hills, mud, rocky streams and tight turns and not favoring any particular machine class. The Clubman route was also low scoring with Pete Elvidge edging the win on his Greeves virtue of "oldest bike" over Andrew Cooke's DOT. Both riders staying clean as did Mark Francis in the pre-unit class who steadied his big AJS round without loss. A commendable ride again by Andy Webbe who continues to overcome the disadvantages of his rigid, girder forked Rudge, losing just one mark on the rocky climb exiting the last sub at Roach House. The tricky exposed roots exiting Barlow Lees claimed a dab off Steve Corden relegating his AJS to second in the Pre-units just ahead of the Ariel of brother Brent who needed two dabs to clear the slippery turns at the new group of sections for this year at Thorn Tree Farm. In the Vintage two-stoke class, Colin Frey went clear to the end after an early "five" on the second sub of the day. Colin's ride on the leading link DOT relegated Barrie Rodgers to runner up on six marks lost. Three of Barrie's mark coming at the last sub in Roach House a difficult climb over sandstone workings and a turn up rooted steps. Several class positions were resolved here. Congratulations to all the winners and thanks to all the observers, many of whom moved on to later groups after seeing the entry through the first round of sections. The fair weather was justifiable reward for the work of observers, course plotters and not least, Clerk of the Course, Mike Worthy. The Northern British Bike Championship continues on May 27th with the third of seven rounds in the Derbyshire Peak District's Reliance trial. Check out the Poachers web site for more info on the NBB Championship http://www.poachersp...northern-series

Hi OTF, Slightly off topic but in the last few local Peak/Midland Classic trials I have entered it has not been the section severity, the venue or the class of bike that has prompted me to move on and give the next event a miss but the unmanned sections. I know that the lack of observers at classic trials is a perennial problem but one which is essential to the enjoyment of riding. This is one reason why I often take up the task when not riding. I suspect it is not so severe at modern trials where the younger riders have their parents willing to help out. Both Peak and Midland Classic have chosen to run their trials in two parts with everyone doing half the sections, taking a break, moving the observers around and then doing the other half. To me this is not enjoyable. It prevents a rider getting in to a rhythm, lots of queuing and short laps. Derby Pathfinders will not even start their trials before all sections are manned and will keep the entire entry sat quietly in the assembly area until friends/parents/girlfriend are pressurized/embarrassed/threatened(lol) to take up the task.. No one knows the answer to encourage observing but maybe there is another alternative? One suggestion is that riders mark for a while, hand over the board and move on. This seems to work well but could be abused. Another is to set riders off in groups and let them be responsible for each other. Though in short closed circuit trials this could get confusing with riders out of sequence. Maybe there are more suggestions out there..

..Thanks for the response and particularly to "Trialrider" re the TES head.. which it is. Another friend who has seen this thread sent me the following message.. "Any 2sT head which doesnt have a proper squish band and a central plug, should have the plug located to the rear. Reason for this is that its not desirable to instigate combustion in an area of the cylinder which, during normal running, will include a greater proportion of combustion end gases, than the rear of the cylinder which is further away from the exhaust port" Conflicting info but I can confirm that the engine does feel to run smoother with the off-set to the front so maybe that is the answer with the Greeves barrel..

One of my Greeves trials alloy barrels has a head with the combustion chamber offset and with the spark plug in the centre of the off-set. Can anyone tell me which way to position the head? Spark plug off-set to the fore or towards the back? My good friend tells me it should be forward but my engine builder, of cosiderable experience, built it up and marked it to be at the back..I assume it will have been designed with the flow of the transfer ports and exhaust port in mind and it seems to run smoother with it at the front! So is that the answer?

COOKES WOOD, YOULGREAVE, Derbyshire, Saturday 16th July 2011 Club Championship Round 5 A break in the showers gave 40 riders a challenging ride over the slippery Derbyshire limestone at Cooke's Wood near Youlgreave on Saturday. As the trial progressed reports came in that The Clubman route was proving more difficult than usual for The Dales Club with several riders retiring as the adverse cambers and steep hills proved a step too far. With the Clubman winner eventually losing just 7 marks it goes to show what a diverse range of standards and machines we cater forin the Dales Club. The Expert route had a good spread of marks throughout although fatigue was to take its toll as an extra 5th lap was added to the course of eight lengthy sections. Overall winners, Pete Carson on his rigid Bantam and Mark Hallows on his Majesty, conquered the Expert course for a loss of just two marks each, both dabbing in identical locations on the first lap of section two. Known as "Pipeline", this long twisting climb over loose outcrop, where the Clubmen took a direct route to the top, also saw Bob Sherras stumble on the final lap, losing two of his total five on his way to third overall and second to Mark in the Expert Twinshock class. Derek Carson and Brian Dale continued their duel for Pre-65 2-Stroke honors with Derek coming out on top by virtue of completely cleaning sections 6 and 7 to Brian's total of twelve here. Derek had reverted to his trusty James but continued to grumble about not adapting well to it after several months campaigning a lightweight Bantam. Also on the Expert route,the Pre-Units brought about a tie between the big Trifield of Mick Atmore and the BSA of Geoff Gadsby. Both riders lost Twenty marks with Geoff taking the win by the furthest clean rule. Paul Bestwick, having moved up a class this year to the 50/50 route, took the Twinshock win on his Ossa from Peter Kearsly. Peter losing half his score on section 5, an awkward step behind a tree and with an adverse cambered exit. Colin Frey coaxed his leading link Dot around for a creditable 44, again having a crack at the 50/50 route, but struggled to negotiate the tight turns of section 1, losing nearly a quarter of his marks here. Pete Kirkman had a creditable ride to lose only half the marks of brother Mick to win the Clubman Unit-Con class on just 7. Cliff Richards (Ossa Gripper) loss of 19 on the tricky climb of section 6, relegated him to second behind Clubman Twinshock winner, Carl Baker (Bultaco). Overall, a challenging but successful trial, if a little hard for the inexperienced Clubmen. Normal service will be resumed at the Clubs "weekend" event on August 20/21st at Carson's Farm. The Saturday trial will be a friendly, easy course, open to all comers, classic and modern, and is being run by the Club and friends of Ged Speed who sadly passed away last year. All proceeds will be donated to The Chesterfield Ashgate Hospice and to the RSPCA. The Sunday trial will be round six of the Club Championship on basically the same course with stiffened sections. Please view full details, results, news and photo's on the club web site: http://dalesclassic.wordpress.com/

Sachs engine parts and even complete engines come up on ebay now and then but you will find the gear selector forks are either worn, broken or simply missing! I sent to the USA for bits from here.. http://www.pentonpartsusa.com/4A%20Sachs%20engine.htm for my Sprite and Saracens as the engines were also used in early KTM's and the American Pentons. The guy at Penton Parts is knowledgeable and willing to email and discuss details. Andy

DALES CLASSICS TRIALS CLUB Sacheveril Farm, near Elton, Derbyshire 13th March 2011 Club Championship Round 1 The improving weather drew 58 riders to this increasingly popular Derbyshire Dales venue. A course of ten tricky but cleanable sections incorporated a 50/50 option for the first time and the observers were also rewarded with Sainsbury and Boots vouchers for enduring the chill wind. Trophies for the 2010 Championship were awarded at the nearby Miners Standard following the trial where an excellent buffet encouraged a healthy compliment of riders and observers to congratulate the presentation of trophies sponsored by local and associated business. A slide show of each winner competing during the year accompanied presentations which included the Alan Whitton Engineering Leading Link Trophy to Colin Frey (DOT) by Alan's good friend, bike builder and fellow competitor Chris Abbott. The days trial produced several clean scores on sections that improved and bedded down in the drying wind and sunshine. Notable rides came from Werner Eckel who forsook his diminutive 200 Montesa to draw gasps and entertain onlookers and battled through the Experts Route on his rigid, girder forked, Jap engined Velo. Several newcomers also entered, including Tony Frey on his TY250, competing on the Clubman route in only his second trial. The usual entry of experienced riders enjoyed the eased expert course but had to hold their nerve over the 5th and final lap to ensure a podium position. With several riders all going clean, the finishing order was decided on machine age. Bob Sherras' 1970 Bulto Twinshock got the nod from Andy Weston ('74 Yam) and Colin Pickering ('76 Montesa). The Two-Strokes were also decided on machine age with Derek Carson edging the win on his 1964 Bantam from Brian Dale, ('65 Bantam) and Andrew Cooke, ('67Cheetah). Paul Beswick moved up to the 50/50 Route this year and continued his winning ways, losing just 2 marks, from young Chas Walker on 12 in the Twin-Shocks while Dad, Darren lost his fight with a dicky clutch on the BSA and took on an observers role after just half a lap. (Did you pick up your Boots voucher Darren?) On the Clubman Course, Cliff Richards made sparks fly to win the Twin-Shocks on his Ossa, three marks ahead of A.Kearsey's SWM on 4 while in the Two-Stroke class, Dave McGregor kept his Greeves clean and upright, just one mark ahead of Jon Tye on his bespoke "springer" Bantam. An over 60's Trophy is being run throughout the 2011 Championship which continues at Stathams Farm, Matlock on April the 10th. Full results, photo's, 2010 Championship winners and much more on the Club web site. Just Google Dales Classic Trials Club RESULTS EXPERTS Pre Unit Mike Attmore, Trifield 0 Rigid Pete Carson Bantam 0 Werner Eckel Japette 14 T/S Bob Sherras Bultaco 0 Andy Weston Yamaha 0 Colin Pickering Montesa 0 Two-Stroke Derek Carson Bantam 0 Brian Dale Bantam 0 Andrew Cooke Cheetah 0 Unit Con Dave Pattison Cub 0 Dave Glover Cub 1 P. Baddeley BSA 1 50/50 Route Leading Link Colin Frey DOT 5 Pre Unit M. Newman Triumph 5 T/S Paul Beswick Ossa 2 Chas walker Majesty 12 P. Austin Bultaco 17 Two-Stroke Vicky Glover Bantam 8 CLUBMAN Route Leading Link P. Guslov Greeves 10 Pre Unit Pete Kirkman RE 4 T/S Cliff Richard Ossa 1 A. Kearsey SWM 4 Chris Milton Bultaco 9 Two-Stroke Dave McGregor Greeves 0 Jon Tye Bantam 1 Dave Pickering FB 2 Unit Con P. Green BSA 2 M. Green Triumph 11 Barry Yeomans Triumph 12 Youth Mono H. Lyons Beta 13

....I've given up trying to sort this chinese puzzle in the past and just unbolted and removed the cylinder head..

DALES CLASSIC TRIALS CLUB Burycliffe trial, Tuesaday, 28th Dec 2010 "CANCELLED" Sorry folks but due to the recent adverse weather conditions the access to Burycliffe quarry is unsafe and the ground not suitable to hold our trial. Keep an eye on our web-site for further information.. http://dalesclassic.wordpress.com/

Have a look in on The Dales Classic Trials Club web site.. here's the link.. http://dalesclassic.wordpress.com/photos/sacheveral-farm-december/ Geoff Kidd is the man who takes the pictures and keeps the web site up to date If Carlsberg did classic bike club trials photographs..

PLEASE NOTE Next weekends club championship trial is on SATURDAY 13th November at SMERRILL GRANGE FARM, Middleton by Youlgreave, DE45 1LQ starting at 2pm. NB: NOT at Cooke's Wood on Sunday 14th as previously advertised in TMX. Please inform any fellow competitors you know without internet access. Check out updated news, results and photographs at http://dalesclassic.wordpress.com/

Dales Classic Trial... 25/9/2010 Sacheveral Farm, Elton, Derbyshire Prior to The Clubs Championship round 7, riders gathered on a bright and chill, yet poignant Saturday afternoon for two minutes silence to remember fellow competitor, Ged Speed, a true enthusiast and staunch club supporter. Ged passed away recently following a short illness at the age of 69. A collection was later made and donations forwarded to Chesterfield's Ashgate Hospice and to the RSPCA. Ged's funeral took place near his home in Hasland early last week and was well attended not only with family and friends but also many of Ged's motorcycle pals. This new trials venue, set in a disused lead mining and limestone quarry not far from Carsons Farm produced both rocky and grassy sections in abundance with great scope for future events. The day attracted 58 riders to tackle the nine sections over five laps. Overall winners, Mick Ash, James; and Simon Critchley, Yamaha; went clean followed by a trio on four marks lost. Mike Ransom, Francis Barnett; Pete Carson, Bantam; and Paul Cook, Montesa. A notable ride on his big Matchless was put in by Michael Mison losing just five marks to head the Pre-Unit class. Dave Pattison struggled to tame the exit of "the bomb hole", section two, leaving him on eight marks lost but heading the Unit-Con class. The Clubman Route took a mark each off local brothers, Pete and Michael Kirkman riding their Enfield and C15 bikes respectively while Barrie Rodgers guided the ex works Enfield round for just two dabs. Paul Beswick had a clean ride, well ahead of the twin-shock field on his Ossa. Did I overhear that Paul is to try his hand on the expert route next season? The Pre-65 Two-Stroke class brought a tie for first place between regular club stalwarts, the two Dave's, Pickering and McGregor, both on six marks lost. Dave Pickering edged the result on his 1954 Francis Barnett ahead of Dave McGregors younger 1965 Greeves. Round 8 is on Sunday November 14th at Youlgreave. Full results, news and photographs at http://dalesclassic.wordpress.com/ If you would like a copy of the video of this trial, drop me a line. I can't guarantee I picked everyone up but you are welcome to see. The next Club event is our Trials Demostration at the Stafford Classic Bike Show in a couple of weeks. The usual suspects will be in attendance on the indoor club stand as well as riding the outside sections a couple of times each day.

Have to agree with Totalshell, Chris at Classictrial can tell you all you need to know, as can Bill Pye at http://www.nickandkaren.co.uk/frankfieldfantic.co.uk/ With the standard 200 the most worth while mod must be repositioning the pegs lower and further back. A well tuned OE carb or a new flat side OKO from Classictrial will never cause you a problem and together with a decent pair of dampers you will have one of the best twin-shocks available...imo!

..and I believe that result for Steve Ransom makes him the East Midlands Centre, Air-Cooled Mono, Champion... Well done Steve