trapezeartist

Ouch! That's one sad motorbike. I'm glad you rescued her, but I think I would have left it to the scrappy.

It's not just the distance from fulcrum to pulling point that influences the "lightening". It's the ratio of fulcrum-to-in-cable to fulcrum-to-out-cable. And moving the fulcrum to the right in the photo will make that ratio larger.

He says he has the fulcrum pin in the "easiest" setting, but actually that's the "hardest".

On the website it says "This website will be updated on a regular basis". Presumably "regular" means once per decade.

Looking good, Andy. Well done.

Which is why I'm not going to connect the door handle to the mains.

Your keyword was "safely". However you secure your bike (frenchy3's description sounds pretty good to me) you must have some redundancy in the system.If one strap (any strap) fails, the bike must not fall off the trailer. This is something that's not necessary with a van, as the worst-case scenario is the bike falls over inside the van.

Don't tell me: Your wife's just left you and you have no idea why!

I've just looked at the BT on a supplier website. It doesn't specifically say the remote operates by radio. It does claim it has a 50m range, but through a metal door? It's a shame I can't find one with the receiver for the remote separate from the main unit, so it could be mounted in a discrete position outside. I know how annoying false alarms on burglar alarms are. That's why I'm looking for something that I can be sure I won't set off accidentally myself but will be quick-acting in response to a thief. Then I'll tell the neighbours I have the alarm and they will know that if it goes off it's a genuine break-in.

Any recommendations for a garage alarm? I've been looking at various ones; they're not expensive but I have an issue with the delay time before they go off. Some have 15 seconds, which seems enough to allow the scrote to smash to siren before it goes off. Others only have 4 seconds, which with my sticky up-and-over door may not give me quite long enough to cancel it before I get hit by the noise. I would have thought somewhere halfway between would be ideal.

I think I may have got that wrong. I bought mine in Homebase and I thought I remembered them about that price, but I've just looked and they're £14 now. https://www.homebase.co.uk/mechanix-utility-large_p395818

It doesn't need cutting: it was fine until I bent it (which I confirmed at the trial today). So straightening is the name of the game, and while I'm at it I may weld on a little plate at the foot to reduce the tendency to sink into soft ground.

I think it's going to depend a lot on both the bike and the trailer ie where you can put the straps. If you are only using straps, you need straps to be pulling both forwards and backwards, and left and right. So you'll need four. If you have a big wheel stop on the trailer you might reduce the rearward pull. Remember also that you need redundancy in the system: be sure that if one strap breaks, the others will be enough to stop the bike falling in the road.

Yes indeed, and the bikes are leaning more than mine does. Tomorrow will be the definitive answer when I look at other bikes. Heat and a bloody great vice should do it. I couldn't move it cold. Trouble is, I then have the rub it all back to bare metal and repaint it. But, such is life.

I tried "adjusting" it this evening. It didn't want to know! I gave up because I thought any more force and I would damage something. I'll have a look at someone elses at the trial this weekend.

I don't think so, greychapel. There's no evidence of any distortion around the bracket, but then there's no evidence on the stand itself either. That's my predicament, Maybe I just need to refit it all and get a big bit of scaffold pipe on it. if it bent at the weakest point, perhaps I can bend it back at the weakest point.

Part way through the trial on Saturday I noticed that my Fantic 200 was sitting more upright on the prop stand and I had to be much more selective about choosing the right place to park up. I think this coincided with the bike falling over because the prop stand sunk into the ground. My first thought was that the prop stand had bent as it has always looked pretty flimsy. On removing it though, the weight indicates that it's more sturdy than I thought and there is no sign of kinking or damage to the paint. The attached image shows it with the pivot axis horizontal. If it has bent, the bend just below the rubber buffer looks like the culprit, though it does also make it tuck in nicely against the swinging arm when folded up. Is it bent? Any thoughts, anyone?

I'm still feeling my way too, so I can identify with these things. If in doubt about the correct route, ask the observer. Sometimes he'll have a more liberal interpretation than you expected, and sometimes a more demanding one, but that's the one you're going to be marked on. I really find that practising doesn't do much for me. No matter how much I know I should be trying certain difficult things, I end up taking the easy way out. There's no substitute for the real thing.

Well I finally got out to the garage tonight. I drained the fork oil and replaced it with 200ml of 5W in each leg. It now feels a lot softer and bouncier though the front is still stiffer than the back when pushing down on the seat. I don't know if there are any spacers under the springs as I didn't remove the fork tubes from the bike. I did take the opportunity to measure the springs. Free length = 508mm 57 active coils (surprised me a bit) Mean diameter = 23.5mm Wire diameter = 3.75mm The springs protrude 30mm out of the top of the legs. Does that mean I have a spacer down at the bottom? Does anyone know if that is the standard spring?

I don't think anodising would need a keyed surface as there is no extra material being applied (like plating or paint). It's just a chemical conversion of the surface material.

bvm-moto.co.uk

+3 for Mechanix, though I don't have experience of anything else. But at about £5 a pair, what's not to like? Those other gloves look like gardening gloves. I used them when crewing on fast skiff dinghies. I think I was paying €1 per pair and they were far better than the £25 sailing gloves. Brilliant grip when hauling on a skinny bit of spinnaker sheet. I considered them for trialling but thought the grip may be too good. What if I want to slide my hand on the twistgrip?

Thanks Motopelli. It's about 40 years since I last did that sort of calculation so a reminder was most definitely needed. Most large springs I have known in the past (ie suspension springs) have either been stamped with the rate or colour-coded (in which case you need to find out the code). It's the 4th power of wire diameter that makes the measuring process rather finicky.

New springs may well be on the cards. First I need to establish that there is no other reason for the forks feeling too stiff (air spring effect, too heavy fork oil, etc) and then I will need to know what the rate of the existing springs is. I'm hoping they may be marked in some way. I've heard good things about Magicals.