bikespace

Not done this one before. The entry acceptance email mentions leaving a fuel can at a garage a few miles away from the start. Is this the only fuel stop required for the AJ? Is this still required if we have a support vehicle, or is there nowhere for the vans to get near us? Or is it just a question of designated fuel stops because of the environment issues? Cheers.

SatNav co-ordinates for those that know where to stick 'em: 52:41:07N 03:27:47W Multimap link for those that know where to stick that: Powys Trophy - Multimap

******* trials. Hmm..... Not enough letters for observed trials Not enough for motorcycle trials Too many for modern trials Oooooh Matron, just worked it out Edit: Cancel my last - just worked it out - regular trials

Bloody joking Nearly killed myself on a Cub last year. Not an abundance of power, so you need to get a bit of speed up for big hills if you're carrying a bit of beef. Just getting to flat out when it jumped out of gear, and it's almost unimaginable how quickly a bike can slow down, stop, then accelerate to 350mph backwards when it weighs half a ton. I know....the cub's a lightweight, I've ridden B40's, 500 triumphs, big Ariel's but they are all much of a muchness when going backwards at speed

Come on, your teasing us. What does the change involve?

Tried it, tastes like sh*t. Gone back to Red Bull

I do remember getting that rubber free actually - apologies GasGas. You still gave me a year of heartbreak with that 2002 Pro, so I'm sure you can forgive me

If 250 is the optimum size, why's the works bike bigger than optimum size? And if you can specify an optimum size, what's the definition of optimum? The Sherco motor seems to be performing fairly well too, and with carburettor. Is there perhaps a hint of uncharacteristic bias in there HONDArs?

Have GasGas ever had a recall part. The 2002 airbox was totally unfit for purpose in UK. Even dealers recommended replacing it immediately. Recall?

If you look at the 05 bike specs it says 3%. Ah. Fair do's. It's B*****ks then

Someone set me straight here - The spec sheet says Engine Lubrication 2.5% mixture That's 40:1 What's happening there?

I had the 2002 280 pro, and apart from the 2002 problems we've all heard about, I absolutely loved the bike. It really was brilliant to ride. I loaned it to a mate while I was away, and he rode it round the beginner route with his lad - he spent most of the day petrified of it. It could be a bit of a beast if you're not fully in control of it, and had a tendancy to snap yer arms off in those "tired" situations. but as people have said there are ways of taming it a little - head spacer, slow pull throttle etc. I recently rode an 05 300 Gasser in a Novogar round, and first time on it, it was probably my most consistant ride this year - still poor but consistent - smoothness with grunt. Plenty of situations where the smooth power was ideal. A couple of situations where I didn't quite attack something hard enough as it didn't snap immediately, but that was me just not being used to the smoother power. I think you've got to try and get on them both and see what you like.

Yep - that's the one as far as I know. It may be a bit of a ride from the first section to the first group (4 or 5 miles maybe), and the same at the finish, but the route's all got to be decided yet. I would think it will be close to maximum distance (I think the guideline for Novogar is between 18 and 36 miles).

BVM? He's in West Yorkshire!

Just heard - the event will be known as "The Powys Trophy Trial" What I will try to do is create a rider list as and when the entries arrive. I'm not receiving them myself so there may be a little delay, but if we can manage it, that'll make the whole process a little more transparent. I've knocked a few pages together for details/directions etc Click Here and I'll try and keep it as up to date as possible especially nearer the time. P.S. My entry's in not that I'm going to be giving you any problems Wayne

That's probably a subject worth discussion. I saw the suggestion recently somewhere, that a second route should be introduced - Was it JD last week? I've often wondered what a 'clubman' really is these days. I always ride the expert route in any trials, I ride the hard route in the Manx 2 Day (rather than the clubman route), and I've found a few of the Novogar trials pretty challenging. I'm not saying they should be any easier, because when I've been going round for about 100 marks, the likes of Sagar/Thorpe/Crinson have sometimes been just in to double figures But, it does beg the questions, what level does a clubman ride at, and who are our top clubmen? I'm not sure even if people decide a second route is what is required, whether anything can happen quick enough for the AJ, or even for our trial, but it's a good subject for discussion. What do people think?

Thanks Andy - You've bollocked me before - I learnt my lesson One more thing - I've not been asked to shove this bit on here yet, but I'm sure it will crop up soon. If anybody would like to observe a section on the day I'm sure Graham Evans would be glad to hear from you - He's on 01686 625010 (Option1) or graham@davidjonesnewtown.co.uk

The Mid Wales Centre will be running an extra round of the 2005 Novogar Championships on 25th September 2005. As the ACU stated on their website, they have been looking for extra rounds to replace cancelled events, and the Mid Wales Centre have confirmed that they are available to organise on this date. The Mid Wales Centre Secretary asked me to post the Regs and Entry Form here on TrialsCentral. This is a joint effort within the centre, not associated with any one club, so things are looking pleasantly healthy on the manpower front. Original News Article Here Maps, Rider Lists, Results Etc will be posted in due course on: Llanfyllin website www.trialspace.co.uk and Breidden Hills website www.breiddenhillsmcc.org/ and of course here on Trialscentral Novogar_Entry.pdf

And if you sprinkle some water in the float bowl, you can make a Gasser sound just like a Beta OK OK Just jokin' I really thought long and hard about getting a Beta at my last bike change. Really struggled to decide. One thing that turned me off a bit at the time was the number of Beta's that seemed to have trouble "clearing out" before a big hill. Is this a common carburation thing, or is it just that Beta riders are used to having to do less maintenance, so half of them have got mud in their float bowls from the past 6 months? That's said partly in jest, but wondering how much truth there may be in it? Do the latest Beta's rev out cleaner? Or was that never a problem, maybe it was just the odd few bikes I looked at at the time? As an aside, the only other negative point at the time was the Beta seemed harder on the arms than the Sherco/Gasser. Not so much a problem maybe for decent fit riders, but a worry for us lardies

Sorry Dixie - didn't realise it was you. It didn't look as though it was a TC regular I absolutely agree - and I think most rational people would agree that the 4rT as it stands will turn out to be an ideal clubman bike. People won't have to take out the baffles and turn them in to a noise pollution problem. I reckon it could turn out to be a similar situation to GasGas - with the TXT edition being the ideal bike for a clubman whereas the people who need (or at least think they need (for the purists)) more go for the Pro. What do you reckon? A 4rT-plus in a year to 18 months, or just continue development of the existing 4rT.

I wasn't sure if one of the recent classified adds was a wind up at first, but I don't think it is. Someone selling a Sherco 4T - Reason - Too powerful for aging rider. May accept part ex with 4rT Ouch!

I think the "Big bloke" thing may have a bearing on it definitely. Before I was a "Big Fat Bloke", I was always a "Big Bloke". Even if you seem to be in proportion, you just never fall like a small bloke. Things happen faster and bigger. A scrum half will roll over cool as a cucumber and be back on his feet in the blink of an eye. The second row goes down like a sack of sh*t with limbs flailing. You don't seem to see many basketball players fall gracefully no matter how fit they are. Who knows, maybe a combination of things....but lets agree not to go with the age argument, or it puts some of us with one foot in the grave

My GasGas had the same problem. I know some people are playing devils advocate because of the way the original post was written, but it is heart wrenching sometimes when you sit and watch a trial for some daft reason, so here's my sympathetic reply . A couple of GasGas gear lever's I've seen even when new, didn't have much gap to be taken up, so even when fully tightened didn't have a real good grip of the shaft. This as well as the fact that the metal is very soft and the thread fairly loose can help losing the bugger. You daren't really go tight enough sometimes on the standard thread. I stripped mine straight away. When I bought my new one, I widened the gap, and tapped out the thread with a slightly larger one. From memory I think when I replaced the bolt I used a normal bolt head as well as it could be difficult to get to the hex key if you haven't got ball ended hex keys to hand. If the new one's dodgy, get it filed out, tapped out, and get some loctite on it. P.S. I was scared of snapping the bugger when opening it wide enough to get a file in. Got impatient with the wet and dry, so widened it as much as I dare, then "carefully" slipped a grinder in between. Yeah I know, but it's only a bodge job if it doesn't work

It could be that he's more likely to hang on until the last minute before bailing? Maybe others play safer when it's all looking a bit grim. Dunno. There's been a fair few other smash ups to be fair though.

The audience is listening neonsurge. And yes you are