trapezeartist

I had the same thing with my Beta. It wasn't out by a lot so I taught myself not to look at it and worry. My assumption was that the wheel had been laced with a bit of an offset. Loosening all the spokes on one side and tightening on the other should have fixed it, but with no experience of wheel-building I could have made it a whole lot worse. So I left it.

You're getting very indignant about this. You're right, any trials rider could wear a MX helmet with face protection if they want. I'm not advocating such a thing being made mandatory. I was just querying why no-one does wear one, why no manufacturer produces such a thing specifically from trials (I've only just learnt about the Arai), and whether anything would change in the light of Gabriele Marcelli's crash. Given that the risks of injury in X-Trial are considerably higher than for us wobblers on the easy route, I think it could be the top riders who might take the lead. BTW, why are you so vigorously opposed?

I've just looked at the Arai Penta Pro. Its an interesting alternative to the MX style helmet I was thinking of, and it would almost certainly provide adequate protection for the low speed impacts that are most likely in trials. Provided it can't shatter and make injuries worse in a heavier impact, I can't see any reason not to. Except fashion and cost.

No, I'm not riding with a full-face helmet at the moment. Although it was something grumbling away at the back of my mind, it only came to the forefront after seeing Marcelli's crash (and hearing the noises he made immediately afterwards!). As there are currently open-face helmets that are supposedly designed specifically for trials, I think maybe it would require a combination of the features that make a "trials helmet" with the face protection of a motocross or enduro helmet. It's interesting though that turbofurball wears an enduro helmet for trials without a problem. The proof of the pudding ....... Getting a face guard caught on a branch? Like you could get the opening of an open-face helmet caught on a branch?

I can partly agree with that point of view, but sometimes people need a nudge. Trials riders didn’t wear a helmet at all until it was legislated. Perhaps the first step would be a top-level rider (Marcella himself maybe) working with a helmet manufacturer to develop something suitable for trials.

Well I can now answer my questions myself. The bearings do seem to be unique to EM. In the end I got them from a local factors which was quick, easy and cheap. I warmed the dog bone with a heat gun ( to about 100 deg I would guess) and the bearings tapped out easily. The new ones went in the same way. I didn't have any luck with removing the rear shock bearing, but while I was working at it and squirting in lots of WD40 the bearing freed up. So I cleared as much of the WD40 as possible with an airline and re-lubed it with chain spray. It now moves easily and smoothly.

Gabriele Marcelli's crash in Toulouse looked horrendous (belly flop from 10-12 feet up onto concrete, if you didn't see it). It was a relief to see him joining the podium, even if he looked very tender and had a big dressing on his face. Is it time to consider helmets wit face protection in trials? I can't really see any downside.

The dog bones are marked EM-L and EM-R so perhaps they are different from Sherco to accommodate the (presumably) larger OD of the needle rollers. Shame they didn’t include seals as well. I’ll talk to Inch Perfect tomorrow. I don’t think electrolysis is an issue because I haven’t seen any aluminium corrosion anywhere.

In a moment of madness I decided to pull apart the rear suspension of my '21 ePure Race. Not surprisingly I found a few seized bearings, namely one of the dog bone ends and the lower end of the rear shock. Poor things, living on a diet of mud and water with the occasional bit of dust thrown in. Two questions really, so hopefully someone can prevent me from making any silly mistakes. I thought the whole rear suspension came from Sherco, but the dog bone bearings I found on the internet are plain teflon bushes and the EM bearings are needle rollers. Are they unique to EM, or am I looking in the wrong place? The dog bone bearings are a seriously tight fit and using a couple of sockets and whacking with a big hammer has not done a thing. Eventually I'll get them out, either by warming the arms or by grinding through the outer race. Then I have to fit the new ones. Will they tap in or do I have to find myself a press? I've never touched a rear shock bearing before and don't really know what is in there. There appear to be a pair of spacers a bit like wheel bearing spacers which have so far resisted my efforts to remove. I haven't tried that hard yet so hopefully I will find a way. Then pretty much the same questions as the dog bones. OK, so that was three questions. Any thoughts on how to go forward or do I just suck it and see? None of the required parts feature on the Inch Perfect online shop so I will probably have to phone them tomorrow, unless I can find Sherco parts somewhere else.

Excellent information and very interesting. Well done.

I've done the "Beta Clutch Mod" twice, and both times the improvement was very small. I also shimmed the second one. If the drag is only stopping engaging neutral and you can hold the bike when the clutch is pulled in, you'll have to learn to live with it (not difficult). Watch out for cold stick on initial start-up, but that should free off once the clutch has been slipped for a few times.

I had a 250 with the GB spec flywheel weight. I always fancied trying the bike with it removed but figured that Lampkins knew better than me, so if they think it's a good idea, it's a good idea. My only gripe was the horribly clunky up changes. As I closed the throttle between gears, the bike would slow down faster than the engine so it would never synchronise. It helped to always change gear (up) on a downslope and preferably a hard surface.

Not this part of the world! I've never come across such a thing, though I think I saw YouTube video of a gate trial once. I'd fancy having a go one time, though I don't think I'd want to do it often.

I thought it was a brilliant bit of lateral thinking, but once the 4-stroke-only idea was dropped it became superfluous.

Agreed, but I've never understood why. It's quite hard when loading up. I've tried pulling in the clutch and it doesn't seem to get any better, so the drag seems to be in the "gearbox".

I don't think so. His business is Ka Uila Motors, but I think you would find him most easily on https://www.facebook.com/groups/684403832119578.

With pukka aluminium mudguards too. Complete with authentic wrinkles behind the rear frame loop!

Take off the guard and clean it properly. You'll feel so much better, especially because you will have cleaned off so much more crud that you didn't know was there. And if the guard comes off with a ping and won't go back, it needs adjusting to fit. Once you've done it you'll have the satisfaction of knowing that everything is right again. The curve in the guard tends to get flattened out due to hitting things. My first attempt at reshaping was done by interposing the guard between a trolley jack and the bottom of my car, using blocks of wood to apply the load in the right place. Failure: I just jacked up the car. This might work if you have a heavy van, or better still a lorry, and a big enough jack. Not many of us are blessed with a hydraulic press in our workshop so my solution was to find someone who would let me use theirs. Then it was trial and error: bend it a little, offer it up to the bike, repeat until the screws slip in easily.

Your first post exactly matches my situation. Hard tyres on concrete (mine's even worse: laminate) and a dead engine are all making it more difficult and when you start you want to make it easy. I still can't do it with any consistency in the garage but I find I'm just about OK out in the real world. I try to make sure that every time I stop the bike, I hold balance for a bit before getting off.

Definitely not too late! I was 65 when I started and now I'm ....ahem, older. I started on a modern, switched to a twin shock and then went back to modern. I bought the twin shock because I was doing trials mostly run by classic clubs. Then I realised that there was not much point in making life more difficult for myself and to ride twin shock (or pre-65) you need to have an enthusiasm for that type bike. I didn't have that passion.

You're definitely not alone! I did get another email from the ACU (Sport 80) saying I had nothing more to do, so as far as I know I am now a fully-fledged ACU-licenced trials rider. Woo-hoo!

The map indicator light has stopped working on my '21 ePure Race. It became erratic a little while ago but then recovered. Now it's completely dead. I've cleaned the connector contacts and smeared with dielectric grease, but no joy. Has anyone else had the problem? How did you fix it?

Most people praise the traction of the EMS, me included. The only issue I have is that it can spin up sharply if I get it hung up on a slippery root or something. In that situation I think the issue is that the wheel can easily spin up to 40mph whereas a petrol bike in first or second gear wouldn't go above 10mph. That leaves a lot of momentum to be disposed of before the tyre can grip again. I think a speed limiter on green map would be a big help.

I put one on mine when I had the 4T a few years ago. Definitely an improvement (for me).

I think I may have finally sorted it. My problem was the lack of ability to renew a club membership and therefore nothing else worked. Finally I found a club where I could join and pay online (through the ACU) so I did that. Then I managed to renew my licence, or at least they took money off me. I'm still showing as "Lapsed" but hopefully it will solve itself in a day or two. What a shambles!