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Well I’ve just read about Gustav Franke and his impressive efforts riding a Zundapp Trials bike. I knew that they entered Enduros but had not considered Trials, even though most of the events were in my youth when I was totally Trials and Scrambling mad. All things considered this may have been a subject that’s already been covered on this website so directions please. I have seen and read the discussion about a Zundapp Trials bike being on eBay and noted some of the comments, does anyone know if these works bikes still live on? Looking on Google doesn’t give much more than I have read in a recent publication. To me Gustav appears to have been an excellent rider often beating Miller and Smith on many occasions and riding the SSDT with a broken foot....three open fractured metatasles. Any information please.

Well it certainly looks a bit of a beast, but in the right way. Trouble is there were so many small manufacturers using leading link forks, such as Greeves, Cotton, Dot, Butler, DKW and BMW all had their variation on this design and it’s stull going in some parts of the bike world, sidecar proponents to. There are many more such as Wasp who used a similar type, there are engineering firms that make forks but at this point I direct you to the web and search out their details, there’s plenty to go at. As it’s the 1964 era that you show the forks may well be Greeves before they went to exposed cartridge forks. You already appear to have a handle on this so good luck with your quest. Think that might be an REH front hub, additionally I think that the clutch hub and it’s circlip were a weak link in this engine, there’s a modification but again research it on the web. I would be very interested to hear more about this bike, updates please?

That’s the Beeb for you, he always speaks like it’s going to be his last words...shame that it isn’t!

Recently announced on air, Radio 2’s Chris Evans is to leave the BBC’s morning radio show. I for one am absolutely amazed he’s been allowed to stay so long! Yes he has made lots of money for good causes, but then with a reasonable sized audience pretty much any presenter could arrange similar fund raising events. When he first started on R2 I thought he was doing a reasonable job, but as time moves on he seemed to me to rapidly degenerate into a DJ who persistently talks over the music, interrupts quests when they are speaking and does the same to his colleagues on air. He now reminds me of the know it all DJ in the Robin Williams film ‘Good morning Vietnam’ dont know the actors name with his little squeaky voice, squeaking child hooter horn and dire attempts at joke telling, but he reminds me of a certain Radio 2 DJ. I hated travelling in my partners car as she insisted on listening to R2 and especially Mr Evans! Even the soundtrack played in the background when he talked was more interesting to me. Decent tracks ruined by his talking during the start and then misguidedly trying to sing along with some tracks. Now my partner agrees with me and doesn’t bother to listen to his show, preferring Simon Mayo a consummate professional. It is only when Sarah Cox who is very good and entertaining with her shows or when standing in for absent Chris that the Breakfast Show is worth listening to. Suggested replacements are at the moment Zoe Ball who is very entertaining and either Sarah or Zoe would make immediate improvements to the now very stale CE Breakfast Show, their voices do not grate unlike Mr Evans droning on and on. He is good at interviewing children and waits for their answers, unlike when he interviews adults. So then he has his kids performing on his show...wonder if they get loads of pocket money, where’s the safe-guarding then BBC? There’s loads of other radio shows to listen to if your own music collection needs a rest, a lot of them a site better than R2. Chris Evans should have seen the light when he failed miserably at presenting Top Gear, he was not only very poor at this task but he was a total fashion disaster too! What were the producers thinking of. Mat LeBlanc was the obvious first choice, but there must have been hundreds of people men and women more suited to that role, just as there will be for the replacement at the Breakfast Show.

If you haven’t already done so, have a look at Brittania Motorcycles where you find and see a very knowledgable person carrying out modifications and alterations to frame, engine and everything else virtually. But again I must say that your bike looks the real business?

Varlo, sorry for not checking, just saw TY 250C under your avatar and went for that.

You can check by comparing against the parts list at TY Parts. Just done that, have a look to make sure your fork internals are in correct order.

It’s enough to give you Vertigo!

You have a very thin profile. Surely you mean that you would appreciate answers from anyone, rather than your stated ‘would appreciate anyone’ how are you going to do that? If you are genuine then I hope you get enough information for your project, talk to your teacher about correct English, may be both will learn something! The title is incorrect, subject matter should be first and then the areas of question, ie Trials Motorcycles their durability and safety. Your questions are not phrased correctly and some are negative, speak with teacher. However in the interests of helping with data collecting, I will answer your five questions. How often do I damage my bike? I try not to as repairs can be unpredictable and usually involve time and money. The type of trial and other factors such as weather and condition of the trials area, or practice ground will have an effect upon damage. An example could be a sideways drop onto rocks, protruding tree stump or worse a drop from a ledge. Repairs might be a new tank, handlebars and a few levers, ripped saddle, bent wheels, bent or dented frame, broken mudguards, exhaust crushed, holed engine cases. How easy are these repairs to fix ....or more correctly....How easy is it to get the damage repaired? Well if the Trials Motorcycle suffered the above listed damage I may well think about competing in another sport or giving up due to the prohibitive costs. After careful assessment (see the pun) of myself and the machine I would draw up a list of parts needed and shop around to see if the parts are available. Then I would need to decide about who will carry out the repairs, I might need to enlist specialists for the repairs beyond my skills. Do I ever hurt myself when riding a Trials bike? Well I try not to hurt myself when riding any motorcycle, I don’t hit myself in the face as this tends to upset my balance and it would look very strange to other road users! Twisting my wrist with my other hand whilst riding....anything also tends to be very dangerous! I do hurt myself if my foot slips off the kickstart, this is not intentional and you may find that this will create a spike in your data as many people could give a similar example. Another example would be where I have to dismantle part of the bike and a spanner could slip and the potential for damaged fingers. What if anything ( this is very negative..but full marks for comma placement) do you think could be done to improve the riders safety? This question poses more issues for other sports where a rider could be considered to be in danger such as horse riders, they sit much higher up than a rider on a Trials motorcycle and only wear a little safety hat. If a Trials motorcycle rider takes a tumble it could hurt but then again it depends how they fall and what they fall on. As I am sure that you are aware a MotoGP rider would look ridiculous riding a Trials motorcycle in their protective leathers with back and chest protectors and full face helmet. Motorcycle Enduro riders wear as much protective equipment, but it is less obvious and a lot of Trials riders do wear similar safety equipment but as the speeds are so much slower it comes down to a personal choice as to what each individual wears for the type of trial entered, or practice ground chosen. Now take a look at the stunt/ bicycle rider who wears virtually nothing but a tee-shirt, baggy trousers ( good title for a song there) and trainer shoes but regularly falls off and more often than not ends up soaking in surgical spirit or in A &E. I think Trials motorcycle riders are already very well catered for in the safety department! Trials bikes have many safety features, do you think they go far enough to protect the rider? The direct answer to this question is no Trials bikes (see last previous answer)have no safety features at all, some don’t even have any brakes. These aren’t even legal to use on the road or footpath. But Trials motorcycles do have some safety features that are equivalent to any road going Motorcycle. All have front and rear brakes, an engine de-activation system that might be an ignition kill switch, engine decompressor valve or both systems employed. Many have lights fitted for road use between trial sections when the weather is poor, some are road legal but do not have lights but do have an audible warning device and these equate to safety features. In the case of the latter, when the weather is inclement it is safer to not operate a daytime use only vehicle on the public roads, this is another safety requirement as opposed to feature. Do these safety features on Trials motorcycles go far enough to protect the rider? Go far enough? Are they developed enough would be a clearer question. They match the current regime of devices deemed sufficient to be related to safety. A kill switch stops the engine which is useful if the rider is underneath his or her machine, allowing the rider or a third party to operate the device and prevent potential injury from rotating components such as the rear wheel and chain drive. The decompressor has the same effect but may take a few seconds to stop the engine. Other than that it really is the responsibility of the rider to take steps to look after their safety. An example could be where the rider makes the decision to enter a section and attempt to complete it or decide to miss that section as being too difficult for them. The top riders competing in today’s events are fit athletes who employ minders to literally help break the riders fall if they get a section wrong. In club trials there are spectators and officials or observers that will offer help when a rider has problems. So Trials motorcycle riding is a relatively safe sport involving slow speeds and careful planning, unlike most other forms of sport that involve speed. There are more people hurt crossing the road than in most forms of organised motorsport! I think safety has kept up with motorsport and all its derivatives and currently is at its best. Now before you print this lot off and re-edit it to submit as your work like so many students before, consider that it’s taken me an hour of my time that I won’t get back. If you are an insurance clerk carrying out your bosses instructions then ok, but if you are a serious student I hope that you can use some of this input to good use. Pity I can’t add you to the list of students that I have helped to get into Uni.??

Decompressor....or pull HT lead cap off ....prepare for take off!!!

Could be that you just need to refresh the oil, make sure it has the correct type too! Clutches will produce noise especially if the engine idle speed is too slow, causes the clutch to shake and rattle. Worn plates, that is the tags on the plates will invariably create noise and could affect operation. This could also be the gearbox rattling again if the idle is too slow.

I’d be inclined to just sit back and reappraise the situation. As you say you are tall and weigh a bit. Maybe look out for other bikes a bit further afield, see what else would be better suited to you and of course prices. Money differences should not be your buying criteria, you’ll rue the day you buy a wrong bike. Try a few if you can a 270 or 300 may be your style, or possibly a good 250. As you haven’t confirmed the guy selling the 200 will accept $1200 so it’s not $600 cheaper it’s only $400. The fact that the 200 is in very good condition doesn’t necessarily mean it’s been well looked after it could mean it’s not been used much. As you say that you have ridden plenty of other bikes but never a trails bike then you also need to check you are in the right sport as it’s TRIALS bikes you are talking about, totally different to trails bikes. You may even consider a four stroke if your funds run to it. Find someone that’s ridden Trials and ask their opinion, ask a few people and get more infornpmation so you end up with the right machine.?

Drain clutch case. Remove case. Confirm all teeth present on kickstart mechanism.You may find that there are some teeth missing. Make sure the stop that is shown in the photo arrowed is in the correct position. As you are in Sheffield, not too far away from me, if you want I’ll weld that bit in place for you foc. The kickstart shaft scrol gear male and the gear scrol may be worn and this allows the slip that you feel you have, take apart to inspect.

First off it’s an XT TRAIL bike, unless you have a special. Ignition is by CDI. You may well have compression but have you had the bike running before? You have fuel getting to the carb....you say you have blown out the carb and fitted another, or do you mean you took it off and then refitted it? To confirm compression, it won’t take much to blow tissue out, put your thumb over the plug hole and when kicking the engine over you should feel pressure that lifts your thumb up pretty sharpish. If the inlet valve is not working then that could be why the engine won’t start and hence dry plug. If you try another plug it must be the same length thread not necessarily the same grade but if the engine starts you must use the correct grade plug or you will create more problems. Stale fuel will prevent combustion taking place or if you could get the engine runni;g on stale fuel power will be very much down. It doesn’t take modern fuel long to deteriorate into a useless stale liquid....would you believe that in this modern day world of supposed technological superiority!!! The XT has a kill switch just ensure it’s in the run position, this is probably the case as the ignition gives a spark. That spark will have to be a strong spark to be able to initiate combustion in the high pressure atmosphere in the combustion chamber. Weak spark will not be able to cause combustion and that points to the CDI being at fault. This is unlikely but needs to be accounted for and that is the cam timing may have slipped, but this usually causes bent valves and noise. Hope you can sort it, there’s quite a bit of helpful info on the net and this website, an hour spent researching could help you diagnose the issue more effectively. Good luck?

Any or most trials bike will produce noise from the chain when it’s being pushed manually. Just make sure the tensioner isn’t bent, the hard rubber block should be in line with the chain. The chain should be on top of the block and the tensioner spring lifts the chain up. The block if worn can be obtained from one of the many parts suppliers on line or if you are handy you can make one to the same dimensions as the one installed already. The noise from the chain may also be because it is passing across the top of the swing arm and may mean the chain might need adjusting.

Listing ended

So what else have you got ‘laying about’ in your garage? Shame you are so far away, postage to uk would be a bit high me thinks.

Agree having looked again at photo, my mistake. Sent photos of original levers on my TY E.?

That’s the modification game, but hey, if they work for you then excellent. Revisiting your photo of the brake lever here are a few shots of my 250E. The gear-lever is original but I like mine high so it’s me selecting gears and not rocks and stumps. Stainless strap is to keep tootsies out of chain.

Blimey, a lot of people would say you are lucky to own a B40. The cylinder barrel could be resleeved back to standard and a piston with rings obtained from TJ Wassell ltd in Lincoln (web site but they only supply trade so you will need to locate a dealer) or other specialists. What’s bad with the head? The price of these bikes is quite high if they achieve thier market prices, either way you have a bike that deserves to be ridden and enjoyed. ?Here are a few contacts for you to consider, but I have to say if you should be lucky enough to find a good head and barrel you will be paying ?for it. These contacts should be able to give some costs that you can compare with s/h stuff. If it were me in your position, the bike would be in the process of returning it to its former original spec or sorted into a good trials iron, you have a win win situation....enjoy, you may even double or treble your investment. Care to swap for a sorted Bultaco?? l seem to remember that if you intend to lift the cylinder head and barrel with the engine still in the frame there may be some interface with the frame top tube... depending upon what frame mods have been carried out already, if any. You may have to release one or two studs to enable the head to be wriggled out, or it could be that the barrel can’t be removed without a stud or studs being removed at the same time, sorry I can’t be more precise. Yes I can, you need to remove the outer edge of the top rear fin...about 2-3mm not a lot but it gives you the extra wriggle room to get the barrel off. Westwood Cylinder Liners 01905 796414 www.westwoodcylinderliners.co.uk T&L Engineering 01234 352428 www.tandlengineering.co.uk SEAGER Engineering 01473 232908 www.seager-engineering.com Fekked will also supply most of your needs.

Looks like a little reshaping to that rear brake pedal will see it providing plenty of useful action. It’s like nearly all TY levers when the bike gets dropped the levers get tweaked in more and more....tweak it back out and all should be well. Those pedal mods look as though they have been welded onto the standard Yamaha pegs, they are dwarfing the brake lever!

What ever frame it is the bike looks brilliant.

A massive air leak will kill the engines performance. An air leak after the carb will weaken the mixture so much that you will find the engine produces little to no power. Tape up the split to prove the point but dont rely on the tape as a cure.

Starting to look more skinny than a pedal MTB especially one of those things with big tyres on.

Yes you certainly had your money’s worth out of the clutch?