lopez

There are thousands of sports that can be enjoyed as a pastime or recreational hobby though Does trials being a sport preclude it from being enjoyed as a hobby in a non competitive environment? I don't think it does.....

Looks like it's made from girders!

I think he means the coil windings on the stator - if you had six coils on a trials bike you'd have you hang them off the handlebars or something!

Flipping heck what an ugly looking bike! Amazing what a colour and sticker change can "achieve"

I would be ecstatic if I cleaned even a single section on my first trial. To be honest I would just want to finish and not destroy the bike, that will do me fine. Fatigue will probably be my main enemy. I'm reasonably strong but I'm not that fit, and I reckon after a few sections I would be feeling it, especially if I drop the bike a few times. I'd certainly have no expectations around how many marks I would drop, I have no baseline to compare to!

Single almost 40 newcomer here Bike cost - not a huge issue. £1500 buys you a nice Rev 3 or (just about) an older Evo Trailer/transport cost - Annoying but not crazy. I got a towbar for £60 and a rack for £40 Running costs - not a huge issue, a few quid in petrol, bearings etc etc Entry fees - Again not really very much. The cost of a trial entry is about the same as an average pub meal, pretty good I think Bikes - I think the modern bikes look sexy but the marketing sucks. Actually talking of marketing.... The whole sport is badly marketed and has a huge "lack of publicity" issue. When do you see trials on the sports roundup? How prominent are the videos on YouTube unless you specifically look for them? When I bought my bike and talked about it with friends and colleagues literally not one person had heard of, or seen, a trials bike. I mean I'm talking a zero percent hit rate out of something like 200 people from all walks of life. By contrast, everyone's heard of motocross, everyone has heard of car racing, rallying, blah blah blah. For me personally, I find some section marking utterly bewildering. Expert, clubman, intermediate, novice, 50/50, some of this, some of that, some of the other. Never mind being able to traverse a section, I need to find my way around it first! And to find my way around it, I could do with knowing where I'm going.... standing in a gravel quarry or whatever surrounded by 100 people who all look like they have been doing it forever...few signposts, limited instructions, inflexible joining ability, online access and promotion like something out of the dark ages.... I'm rambling here I know, but basically the sport, whilst friendly and welcoming is just not geared up to attract new people. If you want people to do stuff it needs to be ridiculously easy in this day and age, or they just won't bother, unless they have a dad/uncle/brother or whatever who's in the know. Someone mentioned pre registering by cheque for example, I haven't had a cheque book for 15 years! I want to pay contactless, I want to pay online, I want to do it via Paypal, I want an app Please don't take this post as a whine, it's not - it's just trying to point out how out of touch with the modern world Trials seems to be from my outsider's perspective.

I managed to get lucky and picked up a used Witter flange towbar for my Skoda for £60. Generally flange towbars are more expensive than swan neck ones.

Interesting thanks! It doesn't look deliberate, hence me wondering!

I felt like a right lemon at the time!

Correct, first time I had the front wheel off I forgot to replace the disc guard and one of the caliper bolts protrudes too far if you do that and hits the disc/wheel assembly.

I try pretty much everything in 1st first, then I have a crack at it in 2nd - my experience is the same as jonnyc21, there are times where 2nd is smoother even though it "feels" like it should be something done in 1st. Then I try things in 3rd which results in more stalling and/or falling off.

Aren't trials bikes (predominantly) already built in the EU to EU regs anyway? I was at a dealership on Friday and they were stripping all the Euro4 gubbins (electrics, exhaust) off a new 2017 Evo....

http://www.estc.co.uk/aboutus.aspx 2001 Rev 3 looks like this:

This is what happens if a nice little stainless steel nut somehow finds it's way into your Beta Rev engine 01 - I'm guessing that massive "ventilation hole" is not supposed to be in my crankcase? 02 - Dead rings and debris 03 - RIP piston 04 - RIP barrel, or might I get away with that? Can't feel any actual scoring other than that damage to the port. FFS!

Sounds like a 2001. Email the frame number to Beta UK and ask them the age & cc and they'll get back to you. 1. What tyre pressures should I be running, and what sort of tyres should I be looking at putting on it. (The ones on it are very perished so will want replacing at some point) I put Michelin X11 tyres on mine, they're great 2. How much 2 stroke oil per litre of petrol etc. I use about 85ml per 6l of petrol 3. What gear box oil / how often should I change it. 4. Is there a way to find out exactly what age / bike I have ? I have the frame number etc. 5. Where can I buy a large box of talent. As for talent, have you joined ESTC and come down for a practice? Probably see you about if so....

It's difficult because you seem to get variances even year to year. I've got a Beta Rev 250 that's very snappy and "aggressive" - I tried a friend's one out and it felt lifeless and lethergic by comparison, even with the same throttle tube. I tried an Evo 250 and that felt snappier but not as snappy as my Rev, and a Montesa 4T which felt (to me) cumbersome but grunty and powerful. Try out as much as you can. Literally have a go on everything. Some bikes won't suit you from a feel perspective - the TRS feels just weird to me to ride for example, though I'm sure if it was all I knew I'd be fine with it. Don't like the feel of Shercos or GasGas either, so the engine doesn't come into it at that point. Throttle is analogue though, not a switch - so if you have good control, power shouldn't be an issue. Easier said than done when you are learning I admit.

Hi all Relatively new rider, currently have an unreliable old Rev 3 which I enjoy riding but is in need of a full strip down and rebuild (engine & suspension) I bought it to see if the sport was for me, and it is so I would like to get myself something a bit more modern. I'll rebuild the Rev 3 regardless but want to do it as a winter project, at the moment I'm trying to get as many bike hours as possible. I have around £3000 to spend, and I want to get the most "future proof" bike I can for my money as I would be intending to keep it for a while. I am keen to stick with a Beta so have been considering where best to put my money Looking at current prices, I could get an older (2013) Evo Factory, or I could get a newer (probably just stretch to a 2015 model) standard Evo Which way do people think I should go? Better spec but older bike, or newer bike with less spec? I guess a lot of it comes down to condition more than anything, but I'm talking in general Cheers

Hi Julian, they look really good. Can he do fluorescent type colours? Like the reds and blue on the modern Betas, the orange/red on the newer GasGas models etc? Seems to be an issue for a lot of places.

Mains on my Rev 3 are in an awful state, it sounds like a stone crusher. What's the job like to do? I've never rebuilt a 2 stroke engine. I have a flywheel puller but not a crank case splitter - essential or just desirable?

Looks great! I painted my tatty old Beta Rev up and by the second ride all the lacquer had flaked, some of the decals were peeling, bits of the paint had chipped and the forks looked like they'd been found in a scrapyard. Still worth the satisfaction of doing it though!

Rock crusher is not a bad comparison actually. I reckon it's the mains. Bleurgh, hadn't planned on tearing it apart but hey ho.

No, that was my hope but clutch/no clutch/neutral/in gear makes no difference. Neither does increased revs seem to make much difference - it's just always there, which makes me think mains, which is a bit annoying but not the end of the world I suppose.

I have a worn out 2003 250cc Beta Rev. When I got the bike, the engine itself was pretty loud - a mixture of a constant loud drone mixed with the occasional loud scraping noise. Imagine the sound of scraping leftovers off a textured ceramic plate with a knife and fork and you will know exactly what I mean! I dropped the gear oil, which was in awful condition and almost empty, and replaced with 550ml of MT75 gear oil. This oil has been in for a few hours and has remained red so the old oil must have been that - just old, rather than any sign of leaking coolant into it. The oil change immediately silenced the intermittent scraping noise, but the motor itself is still very noisy - the noisiest Beta engine I've heard. It's not a knock, it's not a rattle, it's not a tap, it's not even quite a rumble, it's just loud and constant drone like you'd expect from a cement mixer or something. I've tried stethoscoping the engine to track the noise, and it doesn't appear to be top end, it sounds more like it's coming from the clutch/gearbox. It doesn't appear to be affecting performance in any way - the bike accelerates snappily, changes gear as well as I'd expect a 13 year old Beta to change gear, doesn't overheat etc etc. It just sounds a bit embarrassing! Any ideas? If not I may just do another oil change and then just keep running it until something else happens... will try to get a video but I'm away at the moment and the microphone may not pick up the noise properly anyway.

I took it for it's first proper test ride since I've had it today. Once it was nicely warm it's fine, doesn't grab at all, so I think I can live with it for now.

Recently picked up a Rev 3, clutch master was leaking so rebuilt that and reverse bled with a syringe. Clutch does stick a bit when cold, rocking it back and forth frees it off. If I start the bike in first with the clutch in, it starts fine and I can then ride away normally If I start the bike in neutral and then put it into first, it stalls before I've had a chance to release the clutch - as if I haven't actually got the clutch pulled in at all. Riding normally I can change gear fine, and if I pull the clutch in and leave the bike in gear it doesn't stall when I come to a stop. Any ideas?