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This is a great video Personally I've identified riders who are slightly better than myself or of a similar skill level and copy what they make look easy and what they train on. If a rider a lot better than you is struggling on something then it might be out of reach, but if they are of similar or slightly higher experience/skill level and make it look like a piece of cake, have a go... or at least try and replicate it on an easier/smaller hazard. Be careful riding with experienced riders as they can egg you onto doing things way too difficult for your current skill set. I've found that resisting peer pressure and your own ego is really important in this sport and just chipping away at it and trying things slightly more difficult than you did last time pays off.

Hey all, On my 2010 EVO I noticed the other day that it looks like the rotor is almost touching/is touching the caliper towards the front end. The disc doesn't seem to be bent at all and I've double checked that everything is bolted on correctly (wheel bearings?!?) My front brake does sometimes feel a little stiff/sudden (on/off feel) and then goes back to being nice and soft but I assumed maybe piston seals or old brake fluid was the problem. Has anyone experienced this before? I think I might need to do more investigation.

I would also assume his suspension is tuned for that style of riding. Most likely a lot more bouncy/hopping for trick riding and big hits so he's getting a lot more rebound than a normal punters bike would get.

Out of curiosity, is this your first trials bike?

What a nice little spot and some great riding.

Just to reiterate what was said above. The recommendation is that you have the minimum amount of slack possible but not so little that when the bikes handlebars are turned at full lock the idle rises.

So if I was going to replace the current M/Cyl is there a better designed one that can be fitted or should I just replace it like for like?

I also find that setting up the GoPro and videoing my riding has helped me understand what my riding looks like off the bike, I can slow down the footage and really break down the mechanics of the technique and where I'm going wrong. This is a great tool that you and your coach can analyse after the fact.

Was wondering if it's possible to replace the 2 piece rear brake M/Cyl on the 2010 Evo to the inbuilt reservoir M/Cyl from the >2015 bikes?

I've been having the same problem with 2010 Beta Evo, I've still yet to fix the issue as I rarely get to ride at the place which causes the issue (very steep grippy sections). I'm still unsure if it's a flooding or a starvation issue so I just recently ordered a PWK28 clear float bowl . Next time I'm riding on the steep stuff I'll first try bringing up the idle and see if that fixes it, I'm worried that the overflow pipe in the float bowl might be fouling the floats. If that fails I'll throw on the new clear float bowl and see if it's a flood/starvation condition and go from there. That or just get a 2016 Evo

Going to have to do some more riding and see how it all feels, thanks for everyone who replied!

This is a little bit of 'a-ha' moments and a few things I've learnt over my first 12 months of riding. 1. Re-watch all of your old training videos multiple times a year, once you get better you can easily relate to techniques which made no sense before 2. Be careful of some of the training DVDs, the techniques are done differently in the real word vs. showing them as an example. Making a technique more understandable with obvious movements can actually make it harder (just keep this in mind when watching examples) 3. A 125cc is plenty of power for a new rider even for a big male rider, you just have to be prepared to give it gas. 4. Tip from a Ryan Young video - If you cannot close your eyes and walk the course mentally while thinking about all obstacles (no matter how small) and how you would ride them (technique/body position on bike) you're not ready to ride it. 5. Pressures pressures pressures! Don't just check them at home, check them before you start riding, after warming up and after the first lap. They will change, especially on a cold morning which turns hot and when going up and down elevations to get to the event. 6. Replace grips often, the second your grips or gloves start to look worn get new ones. The more worn they are the tighter you need to grip and the more tired you get, they are annoying to replace but worth the effort. 7. Hydration - You should not only be drinking during a trial but you should be fully hydrated at least 12-24 hours before the event and maintain good hydration throughout the event. When consuming liquids do it slowly and let your body catch up and tell you it's had enough. If you just gulp down fluids you can start to feel a little bloated/tired/full. 8. Have a warm up regime before a trial, even if it's just riding around doing full lock turns, a few wheelies. Never allow the first time you ride on the day of a trial to be in the sections, in saying that also don't over do it. I spend somewhere between 10-30 minutes riding around but don't warm up on really tiring stuff, save that for the sections. 9. Practice balance any chance you get. On a rainy terrible day you should be riding but if you can't ride get out, get in the garage and do 15-25 min on the bike. When you start your bike always try to balance and start it without footing. When riding around just in general, always try coming to a balancing stop don't make it a habit of when the bike stops you drop a foot 10. Copy/imitate better riders! Their technique, their equipment and their setup (to a point). I'm definitely not saying you need to buy all of Toni Bou's gear and a new Factory Montesa or go out and buy every trick part for your bike but there are little things good riders do that can be used in your own riding or bike setup. Never discount something until you have tried it and know for sure it doesn't work for you. Almost like a child stay open minded to everything you see. I think most riders stop improving when they close their minds and stop wanting to learn or follow current trends. For example, many riders refuse to wear Trials specific Jerseys because they look "too serious" but the benefits and comfort are greatly improved over just wearing a cotton T-shirt, not to mention reducing sun exposure and helping prevent dehydration. All of these little concessions I believe add up and can make riding harder. 11. Watch YouTube videos of riding events, slow down the video and try and understand the techniques. From (11.) you can learn a lot from just imitating another riders technique. 12. Check the scores after each lap and as often as you need, it's always good to know how your performance rates compared to the rest. Sometimes I get down thinking I'm going poorly only to look at the scores to see everyone is on par. It's also good to know how much of a buffer you have on your competitors, Based on what you see in the scores you need to adjust your strategy accordingly 13. The trial is never over until the last card is handed in for your class. If you make a silly mistake early on don't let that affect your performance, keep your mind on the goal and keep monitoring the scores.

First or second picture? I think the first picture doesn't really give a good sense of how far forward I had them. I'm not sure why I put them that far forward. I swear last time I was adjusting them I tried to cut the center of the hand grip with the fork stanchion but somehow I've end up putting them a bit too far forward. Now when I get onto the bike I get a really nice neutral feeling which I guess is from putting most of weight on my legs (which are strong) and not on the palm of my hands.

I do notice sometimes that my wrists are like this when I wake, but I've always wondered if this is a cause or effect of wrist pain? If you're overusing the muscles in your forearm and not stretching could this be results in wrist curling at night? Or is wrist curling at night causing muscle strain and pain during the day? I've started to stretch a lot more during the day (not before riding) but after it and this has helped with wrist curling at night.

Okay it might not look like much but I just moved the bars back and I don't know if it's anecdotal but the weight on my left hand reduced by a lot! It just feels like I'm using my legs much more to support my weight. The bars were rolled back by a few mm in the camps maybe 3-5mm but this translates to a massive movement in the bar ends. I'll ride with this for a while and see how it feels! My alignment goal is to keep the inner circular part of the grip in line with the fork legs. Thanks all for the input.

Hey Dan, I've got the normal bars which came on the 2010 Beta, I run the hand grips in line with the front forks (I'm about 5"10') so that the fork tube runs directly down the center of the grip. Could this be a little too far forward? Just be careful with this picture as there is a little bit of a parallax error with how I line them up by eye. Edit: Now that I think about it, I did move them forward about 3 months ago which could coincide with the pain and they do look a little too far forward!

Partially because I'm curious, I might try and get myself a longer test ride next time. I also wouldn't mind upgrading to something with a little bit better suspension.

Hey all, Been thinking about making the switch from a 2010 Beta 125 to around something of similar age in the 125 TXT family. I've ridden a 125 gasser for about 5 minutes but didn't get a really good chance to ride for an extended period of time. Has anyone ridden both and can point out the difference especially in the bottom end? I've been told a lot that the Beta 125 is much stronger down low (torquey) compared to the gasser. Regards,

Not sure if it's the video but I can hear the sound of air leaking. Like a psssssssssss sound.

http://www.betausa.com/node/751 They had a bit of a stage of wild colors there, this is a cool page.

Hey Glowa, Damn that really sucks, mine isn't that bad I just get a slight nagging pain in my palm with my hand in certain positions of flexion generally I have no pain while riding. When you're riding are you doing a lot of drop offs and jumping over stuff? Have you tried to just ride around on the flat to determine if it's a problem with your standing posture or if it's caused by the large stuff (drop offs, logs etc)? Are you a heavy/light rider? I'm currently overweight which I don't believe is helping.

Thanks for the replies! I definitely think it has something to do with excessive pressure on the palm of my left hand. I've adjusted the bars, dropped the levers down a bit more to straighten my wrists out and have been focusing on trying to keep all of my weight on my legs and not my wrists. It's possible that when my legs/core muscles are tired my wrists/hands/palms are taking the brunt. I've also bought a new set of grips and gloves as after a year of riding mine have had it and are worn out and really thin. I've also been focusing on losing a bit of weight and getting my core muscles stronger in order to improve my riding form. I've been to a GP and Physio and both believe it's not CTS but will do the related electronic testing if it persists for >1 month from the current day. I'm going to give all that a try and then report back a little later on how it's going. I also do a lot of writing and working on my laptop so it's possible it's a problem from another source and riding the bike is just exacerbating the issue. So I'm going to do a whole bunch of changes and just hope something works Thanks again.

I think that style is fairly standard for patent applications. This is the Kawaski Supercharger drawings for the current H2 bike

Thanks for the reply Dan, I'll be visiting my GP for a follow up. I've been to the physio twice already and I feel I'm only poorer for the experience. Just as a follow up I've also noticed a tingling in the only callus on my hand which lines along the same path as the pain down at my wrist.

Hey guys, Just wondering if anyone else has had a similar issue. I think a sprain a few weeks back (landed heavily on the bars) may have caused a twinge in my wrist. I have no pain while riding, I generally feel the pain more when I'm off the bike and I flex my wrist but the pain is isolated only to the area marked in red. If I flex my wrist into extension (like in the second picture) I get this fizzel/twinge in that spot or when I'm opening a door. Is this tendinitis? My Doctor instantly without even looking at my hand said Carpal Tunnel I've had the pain for about 5 weeks now. I've made some adjustments to the bike to hopefully improvement the ergonomics to put my wrists in a better position to prevent sprain in the future.