trapezeartist

A trials experience day is a great idea to test the water.

I was chatting with someone at the weekend who has an EM. Two criticisms appeared. 1. Lack of a gearbox. Running at "high" speed takes a lot of battery power. He thought a second higher gear for link sections would improve battery life. 2. Lack of torque control. The throttle on a petrol bike controls torque. The "throttle" on an e-bike controls speed. So if you ask for more speed than you currently have (via the twistgrip) the motor will provide full torque in order to get up to that speed. Obviously that's not what may be required of a trials bike.

Interesting. A couple of points spring to mind: 1. Why have a rule controlling engine position (presumably to indirectly control F/R weight distribution) and then allow what looks like a humungous lump of ballast in the spare wheel (pic 3)? 2. Why is there a conventional mid-mounted gearbox (pic 4) if the car has a transaxle?

I think the manual says to leave the throttle closed for starting in all conditions. I found quarter to half throttle was much better.

I had a similar experience on a trial somewhere on the edge of Dartmoor about 1970. The organisers had put down a strip of grit on the ice, but obviously had run out part way down. This was just about on the steepest bit so I did the inevitable and fell off. Couldn't stand up, never mind lift the bike, so had to shuffle self and bike across to the hedge while kneeling/lying in the road.

Very smart. And aluminium mudguards too! My only gripe would be that it looks a little over-polished. And of course to be really authentic there should be some big wrinkles in the rear mudguard just behind the frame loop, but after a few practice days you should be able to add that feature .

Isn't it ironic for a sport that is based on overcoming difficult obstacles and conditions, that as soon as it snows all events are cancelled. (Yes, I do know the reasons why, but I can't help the feeling that it wouldn't have happened in the "good old days" when most of us would have got there somehow, despite the lack of traction control, ABS and hour-by-hour weather forecasts.)

As far as I know, Gaernes are the only boots that claim to be waterproof. Which seems to be a pretty important factor given that we go paddling around in streams. I bought Gaernes as my first pair of trials boots on that basis. I have nothing to compare with, but I'm pretty happy with them, and my toes have stayed dry so far.

Remember that little saying: "If it looks too good to be true, ............"

Blimey! That beats my 47 years between trials.

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.