trapezeartist

Welcome!

I now have a fan heater in the garage so I tried laying the boots on their side so the hot air blew into them. In 2 hours my slightly wet boots were acceptably dry. Another hour should make them perfect. Almost certainly as good as pukka boot dryers, and withe advantage of heating the garage too.

There are two nipple positions on the quadrant on the carb. I had to change to the “other” when I fitted an Amal slow throttle.

I finally got out on a trial this weekend. I had spent a lot of time fine-adjusting the clutch actuation. The best I could manage had just a hint of drag when the lever was pulled in to a finger thickness from the grip but it seemed a long way out before it would bite as I tried to slip the clutch. Not ideal but better than before.

The search function on this and many other forums is rubbish (they all use the same software). You’ll get better results by going to Google and adding ”trials central” to your search term.

Each to their own, but I couldn’t disagree more. I really struggle to find the motivation to go and practice on my own, but I love it when someone has precisely set out my next challenge. I may be still in the cricket-score class but competitive trials (in the loosest possible sense of the term) is still the mutts nuts for me.

Hola! Bienvenidos.

Taking the wheels off for transport is not a practical option. I think you have 3 choices: Put a towbar are on your car and get a Dave Cooper bike rack to carry the bike slung across the rear. Personally I think there are issues with this, but a number of people do it. Put a towbar on your car and get a trailer. You can find new or secondhand, tatty or s****y, very easily depending on your budget. There are versions which quickly dismantle if you are tight for storage space at home. Beg, borrow or buy a van. If you have a need of a second vehicle in your family, I think this is the best solution (I have a Citroen Berlingo with the back seats removed.)

Where did you get the short levers? I’ve looked on all the usual e-shops but couldn’t find any.

I’ll raise you: 47 years (and didn’t throw my leg over a bike for 45 of them!). Wastegate, you’ll soon find that competing (I use the word very loosely in my own case) is much more fun than pottering around on a practice day. And you’ll learn much more too.

I think so, but due to other activities getting in the way I won’t be out on the bike until next weekend. It certainly feels much better when I try it in the garage. If it Is cured, it’s down to adjustment at the lever/master cylinder. I found I was able to let the lever out much further than expected so there is now more travel before I trap my othe fingers against the handlebar grip. It should be enough although it’s now a bit of a stretch for my fingers. I still can’t help feeling that a short clutch lever would be a great help. Something like the two-finger levers they put on mountain bikes. Then the unused fingers would be beyond the end of the lever and not getting in the way.

Welcome. Great username! And yes, I know Binegar pretty well.

I don’t carry any spares or tools. Reasons? Failures are very rare, and most things that could happen will take too long to fix anyway. IF it happens, I’ll retire from this trial and look forward to the next. The only work I have ever done mid-trial has been very minor adjustments, when I stopped off at my car for the tools. Falling off is bad enough without the risk of getting a tyre lever between the ribs. These comments don’t apply if you are doing the Scott or the SSDT of course.

That’s a bit interesting, Dan. Both the rubber gaiters were split so I got replacements. The kit included the outer pushrod (that word again!) and the spring. I didn’t have springs and didn’t know I was supposed to! It was easy enough to work out where they went, so now I have them fitted.

Terminology! I meant the pushrod in the master cylinder. Not the pushrod from slave cylinder to clutch. Un fortunately I won’t be testing the result in action tomorrow; crocked my back!?

There was absolutely no air in the top of the system so I checked the bleed nipple on the slave cylinder too. None there either. I found I could adjust the return stop out a little bit to move the lever away from the grip. After re-adjusting the pushrod to suit I gained a little bit of extra travel and that’s just enough for the clutch to clear properly. I could do with a bigger left hand now though. I realised while poking about that the 3mm of easy motion in the master cylinder is the movement before the piston covers the drilling’s from the reservoir. I’ve pushed the adjustment to the absolute limit to get the maximum piston movement. It seems OK in the garage but the final proof will be in the trial on Sunday.

How long between washing and “no spark”. My 4T would never start immediately after washing, presumably due to water on the electrics. I would just spray everything (except the brakes!) with WD40 and put the bike away. By the time I wanted to start it again a few days later, it would. In the normal position the fuel solenoid only passes fuel when the engine is running. That’s why it has the second position, to fill the carb with a dead engine.

I had wondered about air in the system, though the transition from the 3mm of almost free movement to proper actuation is quite abrupt. Not like compressing air. What is the best procedure for bleeding the clutch?

Having ironed out all the other problems on my new-to-me 2014 Evo 250, my one remaining issue is clutch drag. I dropped the oil level to the bottom of the window and did the “Beta clutch fix”. No change. On closer inspection of the master cyl and lever, I realised that the clutch frees off if pulled in hard against the grip, but under normal riding my middle finger is trapped under the ball-end and stops the lever travelling that far. The lever is adjusted to have less than 1mm free play at the pushrod. However the rod inside the master cylinder moves about 3mm before the load becomes significant, presumably because it has to move that far before it starts pushing against the clutch springs. Is all this normal? At the moment the lever is Apico, but it looks about the same shape as standard. Is there a lever available that curls forward far enough to leave room for my middle finger? Or should the clutch fully disengage with less lever movement?

No. Just so I can dry them in the garage and not have to stink out the utility room.

You must have an even worse sense of smell than I do. Unfortunately SWMBO’s olfactory faculties are pretty sharp.

Sorry for the slightly tangential thought. We all know Americans call petrol “gas”, but what do they call gas? ?

Actually I don’t think the sport does enough to attract youngsters. Of course there will be a massive dropout rate and problems with cost and parental commitment, but every kid bouncing around on a scooter, skateboard or bmx is a potential trials rider. Somehow the sport needs to be put in front of them, to try to draw more in. Nor do we do enough to attract new adult riders. Most people don’t even know trials exist.Unfortunately it demands more of the hard-pressed club committee members.

Does anyone here use a boot dryer? Which type is recommended? My research has found 2 basic types, with many variations: Heated inserts. Something like this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Dual-Core-Shoe-Boot-Dryer-Electric-Warmer-Heater-Disinfectant-Dryer-Black-Yellow/123470431372?hash=item1cbf69448c:m:m9LtIC_3vRWyqVThh9RMuDg. This is the cheaper and lower power consumption solution (about 20w) but works at a higher temperature. These are generally shown with trainers in the photos. The wire sticking out the back of the heel may be more difficult down in the depths of trials boots. Blown air, like this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Portable-Folding-Timing-Electric-Shoe-Boot-Dryer-Heater-Warmer-Home-UK/202510022400?hash=item2f2689b700:g:4KgAAOSwq2xb9TY5. More expensive and uses a lot more power (about 200w) but the air is only about 40deg. These too are usually demonstrated with shoes so the air outlet goes right to the toe. On trials boots I think it would only reach to the heel.

Why don’t I? Because I didn’t know such a thing existed. I’ll look it up.