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In my opinion there really isn't much between them at all now. I had a 2002 280 Pro, and apart from the reliability absolutely loved it, but ALL the problems have been ironed out now. I now have a 2004 Sherco 290. I don't think the Gasser has more power at all, and I'm on the heavier side. If you need more power than the standard Sherco 290 can give you, you're either doing something wrong, or you're a top notch rider. I would have no problem in buying a Gasser again, but tough decision between 280 and 300. But....if I were to buy a new bike tomorrow, it would probably be a Sherco 290. Some poxy little reasons, but that's because there is so little between them....If you want new plastics for Gasser its around

Last two years I've been but this year I go forewarned. I was asked on the door last year: Do you have in your bag any......bottles, alcohol, airhorns? She guessed the contents so accurately I thought she had inside information and I stuttered too long to lie This year I'll be stitching them in to my coat , or perhaps a camel pack of cider will see me through.

You're not going to need a speedo too often anyway. If you do need to convert, divide by about 1.6, or even more roughly - knock about a third off, so if you're doing about 60km/h it'll be about 40mph. Speedo's probably aren't that accurate that you'd have to worry anyway. The difference between a flat tyre and a fully inflated tyre would almost make as much difference.

Warranties on trials bikes are worth next to bugger all anyway, although if you did buy a Sherco I know you'll get your value add from Rathmell. Seen it a few times. VAT?? Still payable if local tax paid in the EU country - don't think so, but I would check it out.

Two Yamaha's and a Sherco - doh!

Headstock is a tube. Within that is another tube, with your top and bottom yoke attached to it. The bearings hold the two bits apart. If you drill through the headstock, tap it and put a grease nipple on then fill it up with grease, it's got to go through bearings to get out (if you know what I mean).

Oy Billy two sheds - you're just showing off now

Not sure you're talking about the same levels of clutch creep here. I must admit I was all GasGas before the 2004 Sherco, but mine (a year old now) has no clutch creep whatsoever. I would say you certainly shouldn't have to put the brake on to control it. I would put up with the tickover dropping a little in gear, but anything else must be 'sortable' surely. Does it make any difference at all if you let the clutch bite much further out? I probably tend to have mine biting further out as I have hands like shovels and fingers like sausages.

Bill Pye will probably have what you want: Frankfield Garage, Great Ayton, 01642722378 Probably not on the cheaper side, but all Yorkies are as tight as a gnat's a*** eh?

I doubt it, I reckon Perce enjoys a bit of abuse now and again What d'ya reckon I have to do to get denied an entry?? Just so I can say I tried but didn't get an entry Come on Perce ya fat sod!

Apologies for this useless reply - it's just so I get an email when Perce gets his a*** in gear with the regs Have I just b*ggered up my chances of an entry Perce?

The courses we're talking about here though are not the ones that the standard clubman should be riding. And, although I don't believe that all of the sections should be marked out so that you need a hinge in your bike, I don't think there is anything wrong with at least 2, 3 or 4 sections needing a bit of flicking around. Again - I stress - we're probably talking the top third of the riders here, but it's not difficult at least to learn to flick the back end round a little even if you need a dab to do it. How are our riders supposed to compete at a higher level if the sort of riding they need is only used at that higher level? I don't think giving an advantage to those riders that have a greater control of their machine is necessarily an unfair advantage. I'm a bottom half (or lower) expert rider nearing 40 in the next few years. I can manage the basics of flicks with one wheel on the ground. I've not felt that I've been disadvantaged because I can't do the more serious tricks. I get around it. Keep it out of Novice trials - slowly bring it in as you go up to expert trials. The traditional trials where the mixture of riders is greater (Lomax, Victory etc) don't tend to include too many requirements for tricks so not a problem.

As far as I can see it's not the trick riding that's made the observing impossible, it's the rules which were brought in to combat the trick riding. If it were actually embraced things would be much easier. As I mentioned in another thread discussing Hawkstone, I observed on the Sunday and it was fairly straight forward, mostly because of the FIM rules which allow the bike to go sideways and for the bike to stop. The only improvement I can see is to allow the bikes to go backwards as well, then I'll be happy to observe every time. I've seen a section ridden beautifully but if you were absolutely strict, you'd have to admit that during some of the hopping the bike probably went backwards an inch or two or three. Make the rule - no going backwards (or stopping) with a foot down like it used to be. The no stopping rule hasn't helped cut the time down. If you stop you want to make the most of it. What d'ya reckon?

Does he have to sit down to get on target?

I've fancied having a go for ages. Only ever seen two outfits round here. I've been looking for rules. Do you have to have one fixed rider, one passenger, or can you swap over? What about age groups? My lad's too young at the moment but I reckon it could be good fun in a couple of years. Part of the reason I was asking whether you could swap is the weight difference. He's about a third my weight, so not too good on a camber with the bike underneath But if I find someone around my weight we'll need to run it on nitrus to get anywhere Looking through the gallery Cubby pointed us to there's a photo with both of them stood in the sidecar. Is that OK, or is he just messing about? I think my old man used to bolt a chair on to a B40 or summat. Presumably with the frames being a bit less agricultural the only way is to weld these days? Seems to me our easier routes could easily be tuned for sidecars if there was enough interest. I reckon 3 or 4 chairs would get enough competition to start a bit of interest, but I suppose it's a bit of an outlay if there's only a few trials a year locally.

Well I'm old school (well I'm getting old anyway), but I have to admit, I think that if trials is to progress, the "trick" techniques have to come in. It's 20 years since we started doing the bunny hop and flicking the back end around etc etc and at some point it has to become recognised as mainstream trials, especially in the Youth and anything above novice trials. If this excluded riders with lesser bikes I'd probably be more against it, but flick turns are possible on almost any bike (probably only excluding pre-65 (and not all of them)), so I can't see the problem. We run a youth beginner class, so no one is left unable to ride any route at all. The youth beginner is no nonsense to help new riders come along. There is a league of people who believe that trials should be for a nice gentle ride out on a Sunday afternoon, and that's fine as long as it doesn't get in the way of the people who believe you should 'Be as good as you possibly can'. If people want a nice gentle ride out they can ride whatever course they want and ride out of class. I will, and have done for things such as running in a bike, nursing a niggling injury. Just my two penneth anyway

Are the regs out for the Scott yet?

Probably up for discussion. I run fully synthetic from new - at 50:1, one year on no rattles, and it's probably one of the harder worked bikes, not because of the terrain, but because of the load My idea of running in is 3-4 hours really soft riding round, then at least one novice level trial conscious of not reving too much.

You seemed to be fairly happy with option 2 so I left you to it

Option 2 for the splatter: Approach the obstacle with intrepidation, but blind misplaced confidence, because you just saw the last bloke do it perfectly. At the first sign of a bobble in the ground start the wheelie, there may not be another chance, the next bit happens so fast. Start compressing the rear suspension - don't position yourself too far forward or this will also apply weight to the front and bring the front wheel down towards the aforementioned obstacle - Doh too late - sh*t. Apply maximum revs to attempt to avert the imminent meeting of ridiculous force and immovable object. At this late point all of the force will be horizontal and none vertical and the front wheel should hit the obstacle roughly half way up, and at about twice the required speed. The look on the face at this point should be one of absolute terror. This warns the crowd to move back. The audible warning is optional, however expletives should be avoided if possible, although they do add comedy value when people describe the scene later in the pub. At this point there are two options: 1. Brace the whole body for impact and try to get your tongue between your teeth to stop them grinding. Hope for the best. If you really failed to get any compression at the rear, your face may not hit the obstacle at all. 2. Make a jump for it, and start running in the air. You may clear the obstacle altogether! If the ends flags are close enough your bike may make it through as well and leave the observer with an awkward decision. I find in such cases that crying often sways the observers thought process in your favour. Of course you may not find these methods in any trials manual. I can only put this down to the fact that it's so hard to document something that happens so fast.....but if like me you can manage to remain unteachable, untalented, yet eternally hopeful, no matter how many times you try it, the above sequence becomes almost second nature. Good Luck.

Just found this site. Seems reasonable. Punch technique

How much does electricity weigh then? Seems a strange thing to say, or am I missing summat?

I'll have a go at splatter - Ride towards an obstacle and a reasonable distance from it lift the front wheel (wheelie). Compress the rear suspension and as the suspension rises apply even more revs and pull back, the rear wheel leaves the ground and the bike approaches vertical (front wheel in the air). The rear wheel (now off the ground) makes contact with the obstacle as the bike is vertical or even past vertical. Usually easier with some sort of kicker. Rock or other object to help the wheel leave the ground. Well it's a start hopefully - feel free to pick at it. If it's wrong that's probably why I'm not too bloody good at them. I've absolutely no idea what the punch technique is.

Yep - Our local has knocked the 04 Sherco down to

Looks like her - and about the right angle.......just need to superimpose a slow moving slightly miserable looking bloke just underneath the front wheel. And you may as well shove a teddy in the corner - it appeared there shortly afterwards Fair play though he was only miserable for a couple of minutes. During 99% of the time when he didn't have a Gasser on top of him he was happy as Larry