feetupsbetter

What the hell are you planning to do where a small dent in a tubular frame member is going to cause failure ? Especially as it was probably designed to be there - there are no other physical stops to restrict turning angle, and if you look, the bottom yoke is machined away on its upper edge to allow a little more turning angle till the top edge of that machined section touches those down tubes. My 05 had those when I bought it at a five years old. Never an issue. They all have them as Suzuki 250 said. Maybe slightly different depths depending on how accurate the frame fabrication is originally, or how hard they’ve been ridden in terms of hard turns to the stop. You’d have to do some serious ramming of the yoke into the frame to cause damage, and those look equal to me. I think you’ve turned down a good ‘un if that was your only gripe, and in current times that price isn’t bad, certainly as a starting point.

Yep them’s um. Ie’ve used them on tarps & groundsheet type material before. I think for nylon webbing it would be good to punch the hole using the punch & die supplied, then just warm it up carefully, with a blow lamp or similar, to seal the fibres round the hole. Same as you would with the cut ends to stop fraying. Don’t think you’ll need to make another after that 😀.

Good luck with it, they we’re my ‘go to’ club trials, only had time for maybe one a month so tried to make as many of theirs as I could. They were a great club, sections to suit everyone, always seemed to have observers, and a great range of venues. Very friendly lot😀 Mention my name & say hello, didn’t get chance to say bye when I was leaving the area. Last trial I rode up there was a centre team trial up near skipton with Phil Dyson as a Falcons team mate. I broke 3 gear levers & had to retire ! Have a good day, look forward to the film.

I’ve watched & I have to agree with all the positive comments above. Nice to see a bit of well filmed ‘ordinary trials’ and great to have it interspersed with a bit of commentary or interview. Makes it more interesting than just a series of riders going through the same section from the same viewpoint. A very good reference for all those newbies that come on the forum asking basic questions about format etc. & demonstrates the friendly & informal way most club trials work. It might actually get a few to go to events when previously they were maybe a bit scared of the unknown. Good work, well done. I was a member at BTC along with Hudds Falcon for about 15 years prior to a move down to Cornwall just before the Covid lockdown. Never rode at Hooton but it looks like it’s developed into a great venue. Nice to see a few recognisable faces still at it, & Richard still out observing. I still have my bike but haven’t got out again yet for various reasons but the urge is still there, (does it ever go away ?), Torridge club isn’t far away so maybe sometime soon. Happy Riding all, & hello to all at BTC & Falcon mcc who I got to know over the years. Cheers Simon Frost

Goes without saying that more cash means better bike as a rule, but you still have to be careful when buying anything secondhand. The rev 3 was a good bike, but the evo was a great improvement. Says a lot that they both had/have long production runs with only minor updates each year, (sometimes not much more than colour scheme😉) Don’t know how long it is since you last rode & what bike you had, but modern bikes (even 15 year old), are amazing and highly likely to be capable of far more than you are as a rider. (No offence, you could be an ex champ 😂) The better the bike the better you’ll be and the easier it is to ride, so if you can stretch to the newer model then do so, even if you have to buy the bike & then do some repairs & replacements. I think Conundrum was the right word you started with. But good luck.

I agree the evo is without doubt the better bike, by design a development of the rev3. BUT , I’d have thought with only £400 difference for a 5 year newer bike of a newer model, then the evo is surely in significantly poorer condition and might cost you another wedge to bring it up to scratch. It’s not an easy decision between the two to be honest if you’re on a tight budget, but I’d try to go evo if you can afford some extra cash for some repairs. Give it a real good check over, bear in mind just a pair of knackered tyres is £200 to replace, once you add in discs/pads, chains/sprockets, linkage bushes etc then there’s a few hundred more, not to mention cosmetic stuff. If you are still stuck at the lower budget then sit tight, older evo’s do come along in decent fettle, for not much more than the really tidy rev3’s that seem to be quite plentiful at the moment.(must have been lots sitting in sheds that have been resurrected during lockdown). Enjoy your return whatever you buy !

Or alternatively Bradford Ignitions down in Cornwall.

Whatever you use for transport it makes sense to leave as much muck as possible at the venue. A quick blast on the cleanest area you can find near the car park area will clear a fair bit off the tyres, then take a spatula/brush or even a stick or your hand, and scrape off the thickest from under mudguards, around exhaust, swingarm etc, & all the nooks & crannies. It saves a lot of crap on your drive when you wash it at home. A bit of time spent getting some kind of tarpaulin or sheet to be a good easy fit into your particular vehicle is time well spent. I used a Renault espace as bike transport for years and got a few old curtains that could be installed in a few minutes to protect the remaining seats, (I just took out the middle one for bike transport use), and a old strip of carpet rolled out on the floor. Never had any mess that didn’t just come out with those protectors ! They just dried in the garage, quick shake, ready for next week.

I guess you have to suck up the return costs in that case. How far away was the dealer ? Could you take it yourself & incorporate viewing some other bikes at the same dealer or elsewhere en route? Otherwise it’s £100 / £150 I imagine to chalk down to experience. I just hope it hasn’t put you off the sport !

I remember you did question why sherco’s were cheaper ! Seriously though, I’d be mighty hacked off in your situation although as you say I doubt whether you’ve knowingly been sold a pup. Most dealers seem to be pretty decent, it’s a small community this trials scene so they’d soon get a bad name ( assuming they’re a known trials specialist dealer). I think I’d speak to them and ask for assistance to sort it, in terms of advice and maybe some low cost parts if required, but then follow that up in writing stating that you’re not happy and will be returning it if their suggestions don’t result in a quick resolution. I don’t know much about those rear tank shercos, apart from a few moans unfortunately about fuelling, ( it was a bit radical like the ossa of that time ), but I hope you get sorted quickly so you can become a happy trialler. Don’t be too down hearted, it’s only maybe a week or two till you can get out properly & reliably. Good luck!

Well I wish you all the best. You sound pretty level headed and you’ve got yourself the upgrade you wanted. To be honest, a lot of what’s said about this bike & that, is a load of tosh from people who think they know, but actually aren’t necessarily talented or knowledgeable in terms of the technical side of things. They just repeat what others say. I’m just a plodder, i do what to me seems like good maintenance and preparation, and if I see results where me & my old evo have beaten some poser with all the new gear on a new bike then it makes me smile 😁. It was the same years ago when I had a 200 mont & the mono yams came out. The joy was in the ‘trial’ - can I beat the guy on clearly better machinery. It’s always been part of the joy of this sport, me against the rest, no ‘team mates’ to blame, just me, my bike, my prep, my performance. And always good banter between the rest of the entry. Those (posers ?) who think they can buy the latest equipment and be instantly successful soon get fed up & go onto some other sport. Good luck and above all enjoy this wonderful friendly sport. There’s not many sports where beginners can mix with the experts and even sometimes the almost ‘celebrity’ participants for a great day out. It’s a joy to be part of it.

If you can, get along to your practice venue & try to blag a ride on a few different bikes, or maybe a dealer that has test area (some do !) so you can get a feel for each one that’s available. Try to bear in mind they’ll al be ‘set up’ differently with regard to position of handlebars & levers etc so might not feel right for you as is, but you get the idea. If you’re moving ‘up’ from the txt edition you’ll notice immediately that newer bikes are lighter ( possibly more ‘frail’ too ) across the board. I had the older jtx, which was similar to txt edition, then went to the early ‘txt pro’ which was noticeably more nimble. Then a later pro with better bigger forks which were a big improvement (post 2005). I tried a mates beta evo, but it steered so tight that at full lock it was going straight on pushing the front sideways ! Anyway a few years on I fancied a change, went evo & soon got used to it, just more weight over the front. Bike choice must be one of the most talked about things on here. It’s all subjective, pages & pages if you look, but if a particular model is cheaper there’s a reason, even if it’s just a trend that people don’t like the look or whatever. It might suit you fine, plenty were sold, but if it’s cheap to buy now it’s also cheaper when you want to sell ! I liked Gasgas but would be a bit wary of an older one now from spares point of view (taken over by Ktm), but beta spares seem plentiful, and also sherco via splatshop. Either way, stick with 250 max., plenty of power for 99% of riders. Good luck with your search

I had an older ‘05 gas gas pro and that ‘old’ disc guard looks the same as mine was, albeit black where mine was silver. The ‘new’ one just looks completely wrong, more like the chain/sprocket guard for the other side of the swing arm, but clearly wrong hand for that. Could the photo have been mirrored somehow and some other confusion with part numbers and or photos ? All seems very strange.

Oh yes, as rotors7 says, make sure they’re a good fit if it’s muddy. Sock feet & trials footrests aren’t a good combo.

Builders site wellies are fine to start with. Those with steel toe caps and the fine ribs along the top of the foot and up the front. They give decent protection for if you bash your shins ( footrests bloody hurt !) and also if you end up with your foot/leg trapped under or next to the bike which can be quite a regular thing, particularly as a beginner. They’re not the best thing for ‘feel’, particularly on the brake pedal, but do the job. In years gone by those wellies were sold in bike shops as ‘Dunlop trials wellies’. Oh how times change. Have fun.

Seem to remember when I rang bradfords they gave me advice on what to check to confirm the stator was dead. Just a quick check with a multimeter confirmed in my case, but it was similar to yours, just a sudden total failure. Betas do seem prone to this fault and I was assured that rewound would be better than the original item.

Bradford ignitions did a rewind on my beta evo stator, very reasonable price & quick turnaround. They’re down in Cornwall but do postal service.

I’d pretty much agree with all of the above. 250 is definitely big enough, don’t be tempted to go bigger. I’d have thought for 2 grand you should get a decent bike more like 2008 onwards. If you go beta you might find an evo (2stroke or four stroke), if you go gas gas look for post 2005 as they had an update that year with better forks. Look for a clean well serviced bike rather than one with fresh sticker kit, so check usual bearings chain & sprockets etc. Look out for odd bolts & rounded heads etc that give you a clue it’s been worked on by a less than competent person. Good luck & enjoy, it’s a completely different game from enduro and more skilful than you might imagine! Practice practice practice ! You’ll find a great bunch of people whatever bike you get and wherever you ride.

Could also try Bradford ignitions at Hayle in Cornwall, uk. Did a great job on my evo stator at a very reasonable price.

Yep I’d agree with previous answers. Points forwards but can’t remember whether it cranks out or in to line up with the chain tube mountings. Should be obvious when you have it in place. Still can’t decide whether they were any use or not those chain tubes. Seemed great when I had a mont 200c, saved all the mud being carried towards the drive sprocket, but still needed to clean the chain just like modern bikes with nothing similar. Maybe just been persuaded over the years that (relatively) open chain is ok.

The heat would really need to applied to the flywheel to expand it away from the shaft. Heating the shaft may have some effect as it’s expansion, although restricted by the flywheel, may just dislodge the corrosion enough for it to lose its grip on the flywheel. If the engines out of the bike why not put the whole thing in the fridge or freezer for a while to really cool it down then take it out & re apply very localised heat around the hub of the flywheel, preferably with a modellers type fine blowtorch. Might just work. I always put wheel bearings in the freezer for a few minutes before fitting, it just takes out the interference and saves a bit of metal to metal contact. Once back to normal temperatures where both bearing & hub are equal, then all is well. Good luck.

Ok guys here’s my two penneth, and I may be unpopular here. I’m just an average plodder,( higher end of easy course) been playing at it on & off for more years than I care to remember, and to be honest haven’t ridden for about 2 years now mainly due to house move across the country & then Covid. I have an 09 evo 250 sitting in the garage which I’ve had for about 5 years and really rode in anger for 3 years, and I really have no complaints about build quality, brakes or plastics. I’d say it’s better made than the gassers I had previously (last was an 05) so we’re talking older stuff here but who at grass roots level is so picky? I’ve never in the last 15 years of riding bust a mudguard, what the hell are you all doing ? I get that occasionally the bike might fall or crash awkwardly and that these things can happen, and I do think the price of parts is pretty huge. But, surely part of learning to ride trials is learning to fall off ‘safely’ as well ? I bought some secondhand plastics for the gassers but they ended going with the bike when I sold it. As for gearboxes & brakes, don’t they all occasionally jump out of gear ? Don’t you see a difference between each time you bleed the brakes, sometimes more successful than others ? Again part of learning is double checking when you select a gear to enter a section that you rock it and make sure it’s properly ‘in’, and also that you should be able to perform basic maintenance. (After all, trials was invented partly as a reliability event). Come on guys, stop blaming the bikes and being so picky, get real and see that they’re all pretty similar or they wouldn’t sell. God I wish I had funds to change the bike cos it jumped out of gear ! If you want a blue one buy it. If you prefer red buy that. But get back to the basics of enjoying the personal challenge that is the wonder of this sport. Sorry that this turned from a penneth to a quids worth ?.

Photos would help too, many old bikes have had mods & changes over the years so if you’re looking at originality lots of people will be able to say ‘that’s not right’ or ‘that’s the wrong colour’ etc.

Oh, one other point, I’ve never done it but I understand rim tapes are notoriously difficult to fit ! I hope you get it into a rideable state and get hooked on this great sport, assuming we will be able to get out & ride again sometime !

I ride on a budget by the sound of it similar to yourself. All my modern bikes since taking up the sport again (3 gassers and a evo), have come to me with tubes fitted in a tubeless tyre, and I’ve never had any problems with that set up. They all had rim tapes fitted although I assumed they leaked, but they help protect the tube from damage on the spoke nipples, and also act as grip to stop the tube spinning. Once the tyre is seated properly on the rim with the tube at high pressure, they can be run/ridden down to 3.5psi quite readily, without rim locks. Looking at your rim I might be tempted to apply something like a lacquer or maybe waxoyl to stop it corroding further, as once you ride it in water the area between the tube & rim stays wet forever. So I’d go with an option 3, tubeless tyre with tube, rim tape but no silicone (no risk of silicone corrosion). Good luck.