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As a kid I always used to grip with the legs, my Fantic side panels used to wear out in no time, and I automatically rode like that when I came back, but it seems it's not really done these days. My best riding seems to be done fairly bow legged with the knees taking up all the bumps, so the body stays where it is and the bike bobs about under you. Maybe need to use your legs a bit more to take the pressure off the arms, but yep, arm pump is a problem for most of us. Loads of time on the bike and loads of liquids to stop the cramp is about all you can do I think. I always have at least one finger covering the levers. Maybe look at the lever position. I notice a lot of youngsters seem to have them higher than us oldies, but see what's comfortable.

And Sagar going Husaberg maybe, which is I believe KTM's development arm?

Brought up in Teeside, yep I'll be ready To be honest though I reckon the dog will hear his flip flops coming down the drive

**** yeah, just noticed I forgot to put the all important smilies in there And tell Julie, not this Saturday, I've got to be up early on Sunday, but ......

If you're gay these days what's your wife doing on Saturday night Atom? Is "Thou shalt not covert a gay man's ex wife" in there or not, I can't remember. Where's all this religion cropping up from recently - is there a one man revival on the way?

Didn't I hear somewhere recently that he could have ridden his last Scott Trial? I've got it in my head somewhere that he's going full tilt Enduro next year, but might be wrong?

Could you pray for a new Sherco for me please. I'm atheist so only interested in material things

The trouble is Faith is the only argument against logic or probability. Where does the phrase Blind Faith come from? Is it apt? I have to admit there's no argument against someone with faith, because no matter how compelling the argument, nor how unlikely their theory, faith is the answer to everything and it can't be argued against. Faith - I'm going to believe it because I want to and nobody is going to make me believe anything else. It's a wonderful tool of the church, and I believe one of the most dangerous things in the world. P.S. Brian - I'm a long term convert after being brainwashed as a kid, and love the religious banter, so don't take this as an attack. I'm still in the minority I know (of those that admit it) :-) P.P.S. But hopefully we'll evolve away from religion while there's still something left of the world

These programs where medium's contact the dead always amuse me. You never tend to hear anything that the poor family didn't already know. I'm not saying these mediums are fakes. What I am saying is consider these two possibilities: 1. The medium is speaking to the dead person, who is now either cremated and in a pot, or buried 6 foot under in a cemetery miles away. 2. The medium is picking up on electrical energy from the family member who is stood right next to him. The brain is full of electrical pulses. There is almost nothing electrical or electronic which doesn't have some kind of emissions. We don't understand it yet, but you've got to look at the likelihood of each of these. One of them is a one in a billion chance at best. The other is a fair possibility.

That's great Ham2 - LOL I just read that out in the office. Brilliant!

Really hard to say though - In some areas, you might only cover 5 or 6 miles in every trial, but have the nuts screwed off it every weekend for 2 years (100 trials x 6 miles still below your 800). I wouldn't base it too much on mileage, it's what the bike feels, looks and sounds like, and whether you can find out how much TLC it's had over the years. As it's a Scorpa it could have been pulling a plough for 2 years P.S. I really am joking, I don't get on with Scorpa's too well, but i know a lot of people do, so ignore my constant ribbing

I think I hear what you're saying you dirty dirty man. Good effort, but you ain't going to heaven brotha!

Steady on teach I think you'll find that measuring the oil using a babies bottle and using a filling station pump to measure the fuel it's exactaboutly 2% If you use 1.96% you leave too much in the bottle and if you rinse it out with fuel from the can, you always spill some, equating to 1.984% If you're worried about 2ml difference in 5litres of fuel, you're not drinking enough the night before. Now what IS gonna make the bike run real rough, is when you look up at the black nozzle you've just pumped the diesel in with

Well the odds are in my favour, so without a guiding light, I'm sticking to my life of crime and uncontrolled sin And if I'm wrong and he can't forgive me for the few things I've done, there'll be plenty of Catholic priests left outside the gate to chat over my mistake with hey

I dunno Ewan and Charlie have a lot to answer for. Who'd have thought Knighter would be guided by them two muppets eh

Evolution? Is that still a theory? Surely not? Are we just trying to be nice to the religious chaps? Keepin' 'em happy? Is the bible a theory? And, no I don't believe in ghosts, or angels, or decent Scorpas. Oh God, it's religion again, never ends well eh

I would say it's going to be a bit coked up at 50:1, although I don't expect any harm from it. I know the old folks say a bit too much oil will keep it sweet, play it safe, but extra oil can also make it run hotter. The average around here seems to be about 80:1 fully synthetic. Not sure what you mean about the tank bolt, so I'll ignore that bit Can't remember what the trick was with the Gasser airbox, but I'm thinking it was to position the carb in the airbox before you try to fit the carb back on to the inlet rubber - i.e. do the airbox side first. Worth a try. I normally get away with a hand fisted wiggle your problem comes if you get it wrong one week and it learns a new bent up shape I did it for the first time ever a couple of weeks ago. Hairdryer then to get it back to original shape. I just know that someone's going to ask why I've got a hairdryer I borrowed it.

I would: strip the airbox off wash, dry and oil the filter clean the airbox strip the carb and blow out all the jets strip off the fuel inlet filter inside the banjo connector and clean that drain the tank for good measure if it's been sat for 18 months shove a new plug in just for good measure too Once you've got that done, then get it back together and set the mixture screw. I do it by sound of the bike, but no doubt someone will give you an idea how many turns out it should be roughly. If you've still got problems you may need to make sure nobody has messed about and changed jets at some point, and my eternal nightmare - float levels - go ask someone else for that - I'm hopeless

I know that on the Sherco if you get the large snail cams, you never need a half link, because you can cut out a full link when the adjustment is down to zero, and it'll take it back to the point where you have all your adjustment left. Not sure if that's true of the Beta? I would imagine that Beta put the half link in because they know a full link chain doesn't fit well with their standard sprocket sizes and geometry of the bike. I don't know a way of taking out the half link without adding another split link, but maybe there is one?

Yep, you can buy a kit, then need to make sure your clutch is within spec. I did it once, bit of a faff around, but I'm no mechanic. They do deteriorate gradually and need this job done. Definitely no reason why your clutch shouldn't be just as light. From memory the kit was about 30 or 40 quid, but not sure.

Google shows up very little for a TXXI Gasser, although this link suggests the TXXI is a pro model. 2002 TXT280 PRO TXXI The worrying thing is the one mentioned here is a 2002 model Pro. Be very careful if it ends up being a 2002 model Pro. This was my best and worst bike ever. Best, because when it was running right, there was nothing like the power of the 280, especially the 2002 model. Worst because in my view, the 2002 pro was not fit for purpose. First of the TXT's, they had less gearbox oil than the others, and I couldn't manage to keep my oil inside mine. Every couple of months it would blow up for one reason or another. The airboxes were rubbish when new - I bought the bike brand new then had to pay 100 quid for a new airbox which kept at least a little water out. The 2003 model was a fair bit better, and I reckon by 2004 they'd sorted it. You should be able to get a 2004 model for around the money your paying I would think...maybe I'm not totally convinced though that a Pro is the right older bike to have? Sherco 2004 was very good, so was the Beta. I still have my 2004 Sherco now and it's still fit, although slightly "weathered"

A marathon a year? Pah! I do that! Oh hang on a minute, you mean in one go, I was adding all the little bits up, like when I trip up, or it rains on the way to the pub...all in one go is much more impressive Welcome back chap....it's a weird sport, it's always in the system, I had 16 years off, but always planned coming back at some point.

Can't stand Prescott, but I reckon I would have punched that bloke for lobbing the egg, and I've not seen Prescott's secretary, but I reckon....... It is unbelievable though how much time and effort has gone in to this little prank. If it was some innocent girl I could understand, but an upstanding member of 'satanic sluts' (not joking), well I reckon shagging Russell Brand may be one of her better achievements. British press, and some of the British public. I heard last night on the news that the number of complaints is still rising LOL I reckon some slow feckers have only just realised what's happened and have asked a responsible adult to dial the number for them. What kind of moron does it take to complain at this point? They're out there driving cars round our streets - be careful out there people!

On the odd occasion I've stepped slightly over the line for a bit of a laugh. I think this one is over the line, and I think a bit desparate, going for the shock factor, but should they lose their jobs for it. No skin off Brand's nose - it's his production company - he'll just sell his shows to someone else. I see no point in sacking them. Fine them for charity. Thing that pi55es me off, is if the press thought it was such a big thing, how come they've played it over and over. Surely that made it ten times worse. As far as I see it, Brand didn't do that much wrong, I think he may have got away with his bit. Ross went over the top. I see the granddaughter has sold her story to the paper's today. She's made her bed, used it thoroughly, now she can lie in it. If they'd done anything wrong legally, the gold digger would have had them in court by now. 2 complaints after the show was it? Then the press get hold of it and every bugger gets on their high horse - get over it, it's not news, they were paid by the Conservative party to create a smoke screen