bikespace

It may well be a matter of finance. Nobody in the Sagar family is made of money and it seems that no matter what Tom does the sponsorship remains half hearted (from an outsiders point of view - I don't want JL to think this is in any way the Sagar's view). If I were Tom, I'd probably be concentrating more on the enduro (much as I hate to say it), where at least some people seem to show some interest in sponsorship (already). Everyone knows Tom's good, he could be world class, but he's having to pay through the nose to do it. Portugal's a bugger to get to with a bike and would no doubt take up a fair bit of the annual budget. I don't really know what other riders get, but I reckon Tom could perform on any bike - surely he's worth a bit of investment from someone. Any views?

I had a couple of water pumps disintegrate on me. Would be worth whipping the clutch casing off I think. Just on the off chance - it turned out that all of my problems were down to the fan spinning at half speed allowing the bike to overheat and it seemed that the water pump was the weakest link. You can buy a kit to rebuild the water pump or get a new pump. Difference in price is not great enough to go for the kit if I remember correctly. The fan gradually got worse until I noticed it. If it ever comes to replacing the fan don't buy a 2002 one. The 2003 fit perfectly and are a more sealed unit. Not sure about the 2004 but the 2003 was fine anyway. Could be any number of other things probably, but worth a look.

Anyone tried fitting a boost bottle, or am I barking up the wrong tree?

Going to try and make it up there for a couple of days if possible, but not sure yet whether we'll manage it yet. Can you send the beers down just in case, I'll mail you my address

Yep - happy with that for a fat lad Bit gutted I fived section 27 somehow. Thought I'd cleaned it. Could you drop me an email with the results so I can shove them on our web site as well Bill please. Cheers, Gaz

You may well be able to get hold of 'em first Bill. You probably know more of them up there than I do. Tried getting hold of them today, but Graham Hurst's away for the rest of the week (probably recovering ) so I'm struggling.

It's not too good looking is it! I've seen other seat conversions which didn't work either. Neater than the Montesa one though:

On a slightly different subject but related and not worth starting a new topic for - I had my Sherco overheat today during the Lomax, partly through carrying my Lardy bulk, but also through the amount of cr@p in the radiator cover. I took the top screw out of the cover to clean it out and didn't bother putting it back in. I think I'll leave it like that. It's fastened tightly enough at the bottom not to have to worry about it and it makes it ten times easier to clear out. Did the rest of the trial with no probs once I could just flick the mud out evry now and then.

If there's a lot of 'em about you're going to hear them slagged off from time to time. Certainly unfair to label them the "worst bike". I had an 02 Gasser which gave me a fair bit of trouble, but I know plenty of others who've had very little problems with them. I'm on Sherco at the moment, but even after 18 months of my 02 Gasser I would have no hesitation in buying a Gasser again. Other people seemed to think it was more of a dog than I did. I cannot imagine a better bike to ride, and my 280 certainly had more power than my current Sherco 290 - maybe seems that way because it can be quite vicious power - the Sherco just pulls and pulls. The 300 though, is much smoother than the 280 was. And....There's a lot of 'em about because they are a damned good bike. Anyone who is really honest cannot dispute that. P.S. Gasserboy - You better cut and paste this for posterity

For anybody with a similar problem to the original post - Noisy backbox, for your info.... the silencer was burnt out as advised by MRS and it was an immediate fix. Silencer went from sounding like a Micron to sounding like new.

Saving myself for the Lomax I was so crap at the Victory I've decided one trial a weekend is enough. I've only just stopped aching so I can only imagine what it would do to someone of your age. I'm going to buy myself a twinshock soon so I can blame it on the bike, then if things get really bad ........ a Scorpa. Ouch you bitch

What's a "master link", mentioned in Graham Jarvis's kit list. Is this a chain split link? Just wondering.

Attached..... I had a mare. Got to get entered a wee bit earlier next year Victory_Trial_04.pdf

Results for the Welsh Trophy Trial are now in the Results - Other clubs section of www.trialspace.co.uk. Attached to this post also if all goes well. Cheers, Gaz Welsh_Trophy_Trial_Results_2004.pdf

Can't get hold of 'em yet. I'll try and get them early in the week. Sometimes there's just a problem with a lack of technology I wasn't there (saving myself for the Victory) so couldn't sort it out. Good job I didn't, was running out of energy today carrying my bike round by the last group of sections. Good trial though.

This may only be of interest if you've got Windows XP, but hey ho. If you right click on your file and select 'send to mail recipient', XP will ask you if you want to make the photo's smaller for sending. You don't have to actually send the e-mail - you can just cut and paste the newly sized photos from the mail message. I've no doubt that if this functionality is there that there is some other way of getting to it but not seen it on me travels. Obviously for multiple photo's you can select all the files at the same time and do the same thing. Something like Adobe photoshop will allow you to control much more precisely what size and format you want the finished article to be though.

So do Footman James, Doh!!!!! John you're a star. Wait and see what they come back with now. Thanks

Response from Footman James after a week: Dear Mr Hinton Unfortunately, we are unable to provide you with a quotation, this is due to, we can not rate for your bike. Thank you Looks like you're OK with a Scorpa, no Sherco, not sure what else they recognise

Probably depends on a few things: What towbar you have. Whether you want it to be totally legal What bike you're carrying I've fitted my rack to a VW Polo estate which sounds small but is surprisingly firm at the rear end. I reckoned as I could put my 18 stone on the back and it didn't affect things too much, it would be OK. Official weight limit for most small cars is 50kg as StuartC pointed out, so officially I'm around 25Kg over with a Sherco and weight of rack etc. Mines a Witter tow bar (fairly hefty) - and the VW fitting is straight through the chassis (not bolted underneath) so I'm in no doubt about the tow bar. I'm not sure what the official line is on strapping the bike on - It does flex a bit without a strap from the bike to the car, but I've got roof bars so its no problem strapping it to that. Without bars you'll probably need to feed a strap through the top of the hatchback/boot.

Not sure I agree entirely, but as it's been edited to "buggers" I'm more inclined to concede than I would have been . Fine line between a bit of banter and what you're describing I suppose - I'll never be too upset by people having a pop at Sherco though. As a GasGas and a Sherco owner, over the past couple of years, I've had my problems with water - probably as much as anyone with expensive repair bills on the Gasser. One of my main reasons for buying Sherco was the apparent inability to keep water out of the Gasser, although the Sherco suffers from it on a lesser scale. The fact that airboxes have got worse over the years is probably a side effect of most of the development being carried out in warmer climates at the same time as trying to reduce bulk/weight (inc lowered seats). Doesn't seem inconceivable that if the factory really were that bothered about the situation, they couldn't provide some sort of an air intake which is a little more concealed. A teat in the bottom of the airbox seems like a bit of an afterthought. Mind you - with the Sherco I've had the airbox off a few times 'before' power washing the bike and never seen anything in at all at that point. The power washing is the bit that floods it, which as far as I'm concerned isn't a problem, it just doesn't get started before its stripped down. Probably find that most problems with water and muck in the airbox/carb are caused by not stripping it between rides. I've done it before when I've been working away all week, but not any more - lesson learnt - takes about 20 minutes from start to finish so its not worth the risk. Chill People

Indoor!!!!! Even a Gasser could survive the waterfall. Can't believe Martin put it in as the last section. If it had been section 1 Raga might not have made it to the end. If they had an open air arena trial, spot of rain, and Raga's mechanics would be sweating eh? They should make the Gasser airbox clear. At least it would be some use then - Goldfish.

Yep - good idea, I've been pasting kitchen sealant down the side, but as I use the zip tie method to save my mudguard (and regularly make use of it), it's not been going so well. I'll have to give the draught excluder a try.

Not sure that you'd be covered in between groups as you are still taking part in an event at the time? Someone recently suggested hanging Tesco's bags off the bars just so you can go with the "Just out shopping" story Bit awkward on the steeper sections but handy for carrying your lunch with you.

As far as I know there's not a standard insurance policy in the UK which will cover you to ride in a competition. People may think they're covered and have that warm feeling, but they're no better off than someone without insurance. Most road trials should (not sure if they actually have to) offer day insurance at about

Thanks John, I'll get my dad to give him a ring - he's back in a week or so.