ruffrider

I'd strip the calliper down and check that the pots move freely.

Hi Trial_Master, I'm about to start same job on my lads 125 (jusy wrestling with rear brake issues). I found your story really useful Hope you don't mind me asking, where did you get the parts from and how much for each item? (and I normally put PJ1 Ultra Light in) Oh, and we ride at Bumpy Have you joined the club to join in the trials competitions (next one is 30th May)

Welcome Ian As well as a bike you'll need a legal place to ride. The only place in the area I'm aware of is here ...... www.bumpy.org.uk There's a good mix of land to ride on, from woodland to streams, rocks and log.

Admiration Luke. There's not many 16 years olds would take a job like that on. You'll have something to be proud of, for sure.

Welcome Mark. And good luck with the trawling, there's loads to get thro and it usually arrives faster than you can read it. I struggle to keep up.

Welcome Mark. Have a look at www.Bumpy.org.uk It's about 5 mins along M62 from A1. Has a good mixture of land to ride on and caters for all levels, from 6 year olds learning to ride a little auto 50, to 16 year old stars (that make me green) to 60 years olds just out for an enjoyable ride.

Hi Guys, Well, I stripped the rear brake system all right down. The master cylinder appeared to be working just fine with good solid pressure so I left it alone. The calliper wasn't quite so good so I fitted a new kit. Brake seems to work better but only about 80% of the stopping force I expected. My 97 Techno needs about half an inch of movement on the brake pedal to lock up the back wheel. Watching closely, the pads extend when the pedal is pressed right down but retract when it's released. There is definitely no air in the system. So, I'm thinking, and please tell me if I'm wrong, that the rear line needs priming. I think if I attach a tube and 'header' tank to the calliper bleed valve, press the pedal so the pads extend, open valve and release the pedal. Fluid should be drawn in rather than pads retracting. Does this make sence and sound like a workable solution. As I said before I'm in new territory here so any guidance you can offer would be hugely appreciated.

Thanks again guys, I appreciate your help. I'm in new territory here and learning. No idea where all the fluid went, unless it slowly seeped out over the winter (but from where!!!??). Would have expected to see fresh leakage when I topped it up. With what I've learnt so far I have to suspect MC is just not building up enough pressure. I'll be stripping it all down and building it up on bench ... should be interesting .. and make it easier to ensure ALL air it out ... before testing again. Then, I'll fit an MC kit and probably calliper kit too. Any tips on fitting these kits before I start (probably next weekend)?

Neo/Copemech, Thanks for the replies. I stripped the thing right down today (bit sad I had to remove swing arm to get master cylinder off). There doesn't appear to be any leaks anywhere (nothing to speak of anyway). The calliper pistons were tight and moving too free so I worked on them a tad. Given I could move them by hand I think they were then free enough. Rebuilt but the're still not enough 'power' to brake the rear wheel properly, no matter how hard I pump the pedal. It's fully bled but I can press the pedal right to the limit and there's only mild resistance to stop the rear wheel, again with no evidence of leaking. So it does appear the master cylinder is unhealthy, so I guess I'm in the market for a new one. Thanks again for your guidance :-)

Hi, Just pulled my lads '04 125 out of winter mothballs, ready for some summer riding Found that the rear brake wasn't working and reservoir empty. So we added fuid to reservoir and bled it, many times to ensure no air, using syringe on rear calliper. There's no leaks that we can see and we've run quite a bit of fluid up the system to clear out any air Now the rear brake sort of work, but has a lot of travel on the lever and doesn't give such a strong braking effect There's a small amound of visible movement on the pads, as you'd expect, although they don't appear to move for the first 50% of pedal movement. Any suggestions what we do next to get the full braking effect? Not sure if the symptoms point to bleeding or adjustment ? Not sure what else we can do to bleed the system. Not sure how we take some the the free movement out of the lever. We'd be grateful of any suggestions.

Try www.bumpy.org about 30 miles from York, a few mins from M62 J27

Hi, I was a tad worried to receive an empty email at 5:45pm today from what appeared to be "AUTOMATED_EMAIL_DO_NOT_REPLY@trialscentral.com" Did anyone else get one? Any ideas what caused it? My worry is that someone's trying to spoof TC or have impregnated Andy's defences and got in (which I strongly suspect is not the case!!!) Anyway, just thought I'd ask/flag it up.

You've clearly not seen me ride You'll get a chance at the next Bumpy absolute beginners trial on 2nd Aug. I'm really looking forward to it - but a bit sad cos I was looking forward to observing again.

I was walking along a river bank the other day. Saw a nice looking blond lady on the other side. I called to her, "Hi, can you tell me how to get to the other side" to which she replied, "You're already on the other side" I have to say, the colour of her hair was a totally irrelevant detail which I maybe ought not to have included in the tale

You're just worried you might miss out on your chance for fame

Hi Perce, I bought the wife a Tomtom 720T for XMas I've used it much more than she has The Sat Nav features seem fine ... just need to be careful when it takes you down a narrow country lane. Seems good to pick up and get you back on track when you deviate off the route. Traffic option doesn't appear too fantastic (as with most I understand). Needs it's supplied aerial plugged in to work. I've not experienced it diverting me due to traffic problems. The Bluetooth seems good. It seems it only supports really basic stuff on most phones, but I've used it quite bit and it seems to pair okay, answer and make calls just fine. Also, it can store music. Tune the car stereo into the right frequency and you can get it's music and traffic directions through the car stereo. Another feature I particularly liked about this model is that it speaks road names which is much better than simply "turn left" Hope this helps.

.. and I was observing ... so pleased that most of the rain held off. It's the first time I've observed and really enjoyed it, especially when 2 of the riders went out of their way to thank me. I think it was more rewarding seeing the young riders have really good shot at the sections. The younger they are the more fearless they are!!! I really couldn't fault the day and I didn't hear a single word of complaint or criticism. Well done Caroline and Julian I'm really looking forward to the next one. Might even have a ride myself

Welcome Brents, You'll probably find lots of similar posts on here about 'which bike should I buy'. People always get the basically the same reponse ... it's really personal preference. There's a hair's whisker between the bikes in performance/reliability/running costs etc. So, it's just down to the bike you prefer. At 11 stone I'd say you could get away with a 125 but a 200 would be better. As for availability and resale value I'd probably go for a 250. At entry level I believe bigger than 250 would be a handful and not allow you to enjoy the riding. Best bet it to blag a ride on a selection of bikes and see which you prefer. Hope this helps.

And for a little mild amusement, have a look at the ads for some of his recent sales. The stance used for the "Yamaha 1 piece suit" is so fetching and the facial expression on the "TT Leathers" is crying out for a caption.

Have to agree with Dan. The fact that it turns one way but not the other suggests there's something mechanical floating around. You first noticed the problems as a gear shift problem so that gotta be the best start point. Yeah, you could try taking the clutch pack out, you might strike lucky but it does sound like it will be a little more involved than that. Sorry.

Me - Wife -

Hi Again Russell, How's the entry list going?

Hi Russell, I guess that's a difficult call for you (and your Dad?) to make. Easy enough to attract riders, spectacular enough to attract and interest an audience. Good Luck, hope it comes off.

Hi Russell, We won't be riding but we're gonna try and get there to watch. Should be really good. We went to something similar that BDMC ran a year or 2 back. Hope it all goes okay for you.

It's a bit away from Doncaster (maybe an hour) but you could look at BUMPY near Morley, just a few minutes drive from M62 j27. They've done quite a bit of work to the park over the winter so there's more than ever for a wide spread of abilities http://www.bumpy.org.uk