turbofurball

I agree with you there, maintenance of older modern-style bikes is a PITA, they need a lot of love. Similarly, maintenance of classic bikes can be disheartening as unless you've completely restored one there's often issues lurking (like main bearings in a seemingly really nice Cota 349 - gah!) If only someone with the necessary resources could build something like the cheap and easily available pit bikes, only for trials - you can run those on a shoestring despite the lack of quality, and they're super basic to maintain.

Well, if you were getting Rock Shocks you'd want 55lb springs, compression shim 1, rebound shim 3, medium washer, 10w oil, and a length of about 360mm ... because that's what I have, lol All I did was tell them the length I wanted, my bike model, and my weight ... I don't understand any of this, but they work sooo well!

It was a play on words. Because you grate cheese. Not my finest work, but there it is on the internet to be enjoyed by future generations ...

There's a trial on at Birdlip Quarry this Sunday, just down the road from you - I'll be there, and the Zona 1 peeps are very friendly and welcoming. You could come along and have a look, see what others are riding (be sure to wrap up well though!) Birdlip is their practice space, with a full membership you can ride there any time as long as you're not alone - it's a fab space

You should take up competitive cheese rolling, it's a grate workout

Well, it's either that or roller derby - be reasonable!

I started with the kill switch, because I only put it on a couple of weeks ago, and moved it when putting on a new clutch lever ... but it's working normally. With the black lead off the coil it reads as grounded for a full rotation, but I could be missing something or not reading it right. I'll be pulling the flywheel later and having a nose around, I only need it to run for one day then the engines coming out for new mains!

I'll check on that, though the points have been on there for a good while I guess it might have broken up or something weird like that

I'm experiencing an issue, and just need a sanity check - should the wire that runs to the live side of the coil read as shorted to earth at any point? I've got no spark, and as a quick check of my recent kill switch wiring I found this to be the case ... is it a short, or something to do with how the Motoplat system works?

All of the above, plus make sure you're not locking your elbows straight, even when just pootling about. Handlebar position has a huge effect though, I could hardly ride my TY with the bars in their stock position!

Like any group of random people, not everyone on this forum behaves the same. Why not import a used but not very old bike from another country? Cheaper than new, more choice (unless you have 100% import taxes, like Iran) For what it's worth, if you have interesting places to ride a trials bike can be good fun, even if you're the only one doing it

It's not too hard if it was sold new in the UK, you need NOVA clearance for tax purposes and then to apply for a new reg - I got help with the paperwork for a fee which was well worth it! Note that not many TY125s were sold new in the UK though, so you'll want to get the frame and engine numbers and look them up before going further - it may get tricky if it's been converted from a 175, especially if the frame and engine don't match.

I've not seen any barriers to people riding old machines, there's lots of people entering events on modern style bikes over 10 years old; at the sportsman level I don't think any working machine stops people from doing well

Ah right, I get you I'll order some appropriate solder now then!

Wow, looking at that I'm glad I've got the earlier hub

So, is it ok to use normal lead-free electrical solder, or do I need something else? Well, being one of the girls I can safely state I've never said that about anything that wasn't engineering related

Fantastic, thank you!

Thank you Fiona, thats really helpful (I'm slowly trying to learn Spanish, so this will help on two fronts!)

Both the TY and Cota throttle cables are a little shorter than optimal (ie. route them tidily and you get some revs at right lock - is there anywhere I can shop for cables by length? Or am I stuck using a universal cable kit? IIRC the TY250 throttle cable is longer than the 175, but I don't know be how much - it only needs one more inch

That looks a little bit more modified than my end game, but it's very cool to see just how far the envelope can be pushed!

You can put them up without putting nails in them, as someone said above you can add a duct tape tab top & bottom and staple through that, OR cut a notch out of the card before laminating, and that gives you somewhere to pierce it without letting water in. Laser printed will be far more fade resistant than inkjet.

Are you making your own? I'd suggest easy to spot coloured card (eg. fluro yellow) with large easy-to-read letters on - keeping it simple nb. for people with dyslexia a sans-serif font is usually easier to read, Arial Heavy is a good choice for this sort of thing.

I got my TY175, now dubbed "Pinkie Pie", back in February but it took until last Friday 'till I got it back into one piece ... and even then only because I was entered into the Downland trial today! I didn't manage to finish* but did have a lot of fun, and I love this bike So, phase 1 has been Majesty-ised frame, lengthenned swing arm, steeper yokes, fatbar handlebars, Rock Shocks (very plush!), SM and Wes exhaust (very loud!), and lots of little fixed bits from where the previous owner didn't use any grease on anything. This has taken it from an unrideable turkey (zero back suspension action) to really pleasant to ride - once I got to grips with it it doesn't feel a million miles from my old TXTPro at my level of riding. Next up? A kickstand that's the right length is top of the list, but there's loads still to sort! * 33 stages over 30 miles off road was too much, I've only been doing light practice recently and didn't realise how rusty I've got ... lesson learned

Message sent

I'll have a dig about and send you a message Edit: Apparently you can't receive messages (the board didn't give a reason, but maybe your inbox is full), I'll not post an email address up publicly so maybe try sending me a message first?