turbofurball

What size are they? Any peculiarities to them?

The springs were the same length as standard, but offered a lot more resistance to getting the end caps on, so I guess the originals were just completely toast. I'm not planning on changing it now, as it's lovely!

Yeah, my TY doesn't feel springy, just plush ... maybe if I went to thinner oil (on 10w at the mo) or added more preload I'd see more bouncy-ness for wheelies ... it suits me like it is though The Rock Shocks are very nice, I only went for them as I wanted to be able to rebuild them and maybe change their length in the future (I went for 370mm, which is a bit taller than most people like on TYs)

Well, if it'll help you out I can come and take it off your hands ... I wouldn't even ask for money, 'cause I'm nice like that Seriously though, you can't be far off at this point!

My Gasgas TXTPro started first kick and was very easy, once I got the carb cleaned. My TY is also very low stress on my right knee (which is bad from an operation) and very low down, which also helps. The Cota is the hardest bike I've ever had to kick start, and I can only manage it standing next to the bike and using my left leg!

Sorry, I meant calves (also, not a he)

Three weeks ago, while practicing on my newly minted TY, I managed to bottom out the forks. My first thought was that I've been eating too many mince pies, but then I figured it's time to sort the front end so off to the Majesty website I went ... One week later I tackled the same spot (moderate downhill with a 18" drop, then more downhill), and the difference is night and day! It felt like I was being gently lowered down the drop by little cherubs. Now, this was during a trial, and over all the bike felt far more ballanced with the Rock Shocks on the back and it did have a big positive effect on my confidence. Less stodgy, but harder to wheelie for some reason. I love the way the TY handles now, which is a relief since when I first got it I thought I might have made a terrible mistake. Turns out, it just needed money spent in the right places

Forma Boulders have a hard sole which is good. Mine haven't worn well, but I've patched them so will get me money's worth. They're not a supportive shape, but you can get insoles with arch support which might see you right (look on the famous auction website for Orthotic Insoles), come high up on your thighs, and are pretty hard - a big plus if you fall off as much as I do

Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed watching the two episodes and it very much looks like an extended version of what I'm like on a road trial But yeah, it's not made for trials fans. Also, yes, Ross gets mad respect just for entering and walking the walk!

Yes, it is. See: Top Gear/The Grand Tour - the last time it was about reviewing and reporting on cars was about 20 years ago, and it has a huge viewership. I'd love to see the same quality of coverage, but showing more of the event - it would help me with managing road trials (planning, pace, how to approach a single lap, etc), and also just be generally interesting ... but then I'm an enthusiast about the topic at hand. For Joe Bloggs sitting in front of the telly, they don't care that much, they want to be entertained, and seeing the human interactions is what's entertaining to most people.

Yes, but they aren't being competitive, for normal clubmen just finishing is the challenge, so in the results it's national level IMO Anyway, this is going off the topic at hand ...

So, Dougie isn't at the top level of national competition skill-wise?

I use synthetic at 50:1 in both the TY and Cota, on the recommendation of people far more experienced than me. Works fine, neither bike smokes a lot.

Oh my, you're so right! I should drop everything I'm doing, because unless it's a grueling multi-day endurance test at the top national level it's completely pointless - what I thought I was really enjoying is actually boring, thank you for enlightening me! Either that or I'm not a *real* trials rider, because I took up the hobby and am learning it. Real trials riders are born into it, all others are inferior and shouldn't have access to any events. And they certainly shouldn't try to encourage others to try the thing they love doing. (some of the above might possibly be sarcasm)

Given that even ones from India cost £300, your only option is to scour ebay and ask around for a used one (I'd love to be corrected on this, though, lol)

The clutch oil filler is right above the clutch itself, but I'll have a bash once the right amounts of fluids are back in it, maybe there's a way

Urf. Would be nice if there was a dipstick or sight window ... or even if the gearbox drain plug exited on the bottom ...

Is there any trick to checking the oil levels? Or do you just have to drain them out and refill on a regular basis?

I forgot to update this - having pulled the flywheel, I found a little sliver of wire floating around ... no idea where it came from, as all the stator wires are nice and tidy, and nothings been catching. I cleaned everything I could find and put it all back, and it worked just fine for my other half to do a trial on Sunday - the engine is now out. @riffraffretro - sorry to hear that, maybe it's time to start spending money, though

@jimmyl you might be interested to learn that competition difficulty is something that other sports struggle with - apparently in kayak racing (ie. not white water, just distance) there's an issue where despite having national difficulty levels set by the governing body, people travelling from the north to the south find they get entered at far too high a level ... this is down to the level of local competition getting skewed over time, and I guess as with trials low-level entrants don't tend to travel very far to take part.

Hopefully the Downland trial will be on next year, this year it had a 32 mile lap (mostly off road) with 33 stages - fantastic fun, but also guelling!

It really is, me and my other half had a blast there - you should have said hello!

Well, yesterday I rode a trial with a fantastic range of difficulties - I enjoyed myself, managed to complete all of the Sportsman laps (though two sections were solid 5s for me, being juuust a bit beyond my abilities without being dangerous). Kids on electric bikes managed to do most of it, people on pre-65s managed it ... but there were a couple of sections that were properly challenging to the expert level riders, too.

Syringe, and I found an extra pair of hands is the easy way to do it - make sure nobodies looking down at the resevoir without eye protection though, as you can get a surprising brake fluid jet wash going on by accident!

Well, can't speak for the brakes, but certainly my clutch and ergos are fine thanks to throwing the right parts at it ... in fact, I'm getting to the point where it's not very far from the TXTPro for my level of riding, lol As to the subject at hand, perhaps instead of trying to define a slippery fish there could be a standardised set of handicaps, so you can enter on anything but the more fancy features your ride has the less likely you are to win? So, say, unit construction engine adds 5 points, disk brakes another 5, etc, so that people not being competitive can ride an aircooled monoshock with disks, and super hardcore types can ride an old Ariel 500 and really fight for their position?