bikerpet

I don't think you've really seen his coaching if you say he skips a lot of the finer parts. I don't have much experience with face-to-face coaching because there just isn't any available anywhere near me, but comparing to the little I have had and the many hours of online stuff I've looked at he goes into far more detail without adding unnecessary clutter. The idea of "going into a higher gear and attacking hard and true" is absolutely the opposite of what Neil tries to develop. Yes, sometimes you need some speed and power, no question, but it's always better to use the minimum that gets the job done effectively. Why do you say skipping the double blip is bad? A reasonably modern bike can just ride (by driving the back wheel into it, with good technique) over anything you'd use a double blip over, with less complication and probably carrying less speed if you've already learned how to use a few revs and the clutch. Effectively a double blip in the end is just driving the rear wheel into the obstacle, there's no real lift generated. So why add in the first blip? Of course some of this comes back to that old nut, the definition of a double blip - does it use the clutch or not, or doesn't it matter? I seem to recall you saying something along the lines of the double blip being a hold over from the days of twinshocks and with no need on modern bikes? As for learning to hop before learning to turn, Neil certainly shares your view. But I'm still trying to learn to hop, probably to his frustration :-). Not because I think I need it, but purely because it seems a fun thing to be able to do - I ride for fun and get to an occasional event along the way.

Just sharing something that has helped me incredibly much over roughly the past year. I'm just a happy user. Neil Price is an Australian Expert level rider, 18 times West Aust. champion, 2x Aust Champ, has competed in Europe and World rounds and all round nice fella. He has been coaching trials for decades and is a real thinker - always considering the detail that makes things work. A year or so ago Neil started a Facebook online coaching group which proved the concept had wings. Six months ago (+/-) he launched a dedicated online platform - quite similar to most social media platforms - Feed, Chat, Likes, Comments, Notifications, Hashtags etc. but also "groups" & sections for various "libraries" of information. This is a paid subscription service. Within the platform Neil posts all sorts of info - demo videos, monthly challenges, training plans etc. Members can also post video and ask for feedback and pointers, which Neil responds to individually. All in all a pretty good platform. Neil has a somewhat different take on how to build and use techniques than anyone else I've seen online - it's so refreshing! Simple, easy to understand and builds really solid foundations for every type of manoeuvre. Some of the building blocks he uses are: Static balance figure 8's building turning skills, clutch & throttle RSG - this is such a good tool. Rev, Squat, Go. He uses this from very early on to build fundamental throttle, clutch and timing, and builds on it as rider skill increases. It is the basic building block for the next 3. Ride technique - literally riding the back wheel up an obstacle. Doesn't matter if the front wheel hits, touches or clears the obstacle, if the back wheel drives up the face it's "Ride". Punch - pretty much what commonly gets called Zap or Jap Zap Splat - probably needs no explanation here. That's it, simple. Notable is the absence of double blip. For a whole bunch of reasons he just doesn't teach it or talk about it. I can't say enough good things about Neil's coaching! As someone turning 60 this year, and who really only started riding dirt bikes a few years ago (I rode a bit 45 years ago, but then a looong break) I am staggered how far my riding has come in the past year with Neil. Progress that unquestionably would have been impossible without consistent professional coaching. Where I live that just isn't going to happen if it's not online! If you want to see Neil in (coaching) action go to YouTube Trials and Enduro Skills where Neil does a weekly live show. https://www.neilprice.com/signup/xqistX

I've got a 2020 EVO 300 with about 200 hours on it, always had an inline fuel filter and air filter cleaned and oiled frequently. Recently I started having an issue with it getting an erratic idle. It seemed like the idle would rise after a long hard climb (say 500m to 1km). It would also rise on long descents. Performance otherwise was just fine, nice crisp response over the whole throttle/rev range. I removed the carb and thoroughly cleaned (including removing the jet tower) and blew out all orifices, checked vents, checked float height and needle sealing. Also checked that fuel is not overflowing when the front is raised (lifted wheel ever higher until it overflowed). Problem remained pretty much the same. Finally I realised that the rise in idle on descent particularly was due to running out of fuel in the tank. I tend to climb ever higher as I ride, then return back down at the end of the ride. Possibly my rides were getting a little longer, and also as my riding improves I'm using more power/revving harder and spending more time with the front in the air. This would somewhat explain the increase in fuel usage, but it doesn't feel like it fully explains it. In the past I've monitored fuel usage over a number of tanks and it averaged a bit over 1.1L per hour. Yesterday I started to monitor current use and it came in around 1.8L/hour. This seems a fairly big jump (60%), but I've no idea if it's in the range that is "normal". Certainly it's getting annoying having to cut my rides short so I can get back home again - yesterday I ran out on main, switched to reserve and headed home - ran out as I pulled into the shed. I was only about 2km or so from home when I went to reserve. Does anyone else have any figures for their EVO 300 fuel consumption?

You probably weighed around 5 times what your bike weighed and the pedal was much closer to the ground than a trials bike foot peg, so there is an immense difference in the magnitude and location of the forces involved. I'd need to weigh around 350kg to get a similar mass relationship to my bike, and drop the foot pegs to within a few inches of the ground to have a similar mechanical relationship. I dare say it might be possible to pick up a trials bike from the ground like that, but I imagine you'd be standing on the spokes or tyre and be heaving both hands on the upper handlebar grip to do it! There's probably a video of someone doing it on YouTube if you looked hard enough!

My 2020 has the brake pivot setup as shown. The lever is right up against the frame. Works fine. My 2017 was the same from memory.

Agree it's most likely HDPE, which can be fairly easily heat welded. A hot air gun is best, but you want a very small jet which most household guns can't provide without overheating. If looks aren't a serious consideration an old soldering iron will do the job (after plastic welding the tip will be nigh on useless for soldering). If you take your time you can usually get a moderately good finish - a little bit of judicious sanding can clean it up further, although it's not going to look "factory". Just gradually work some plastic in from the surrounding area until the hole closes. If you can trim a bit of excess plastic from elsewhere on the box it can be used as a bit of filler. Can help to have something as a backing while welding.

Have you thought about taking up basket weaving? :-)

Here's my 2c worth. As previously mentioned, start with a brick or something for the front edge of the front wheel to nudge onto, or a wall if you're really having trouble - it'll save so much on-off-on-off and you'll progress faster. Put a crate or something next to the bike so you don't have to step down to the ground - you'll not get so worn out doing step training, so can practice longer. As you've picked up, knees out, elbows out, shoulders more or less parallel to the bars. I'd also suggest keep your head up, but some people find it easier looking down, some forward. If you can balance with your head somewhat erect you'll probably find it easier to learn to hop later. Both brakes locked. You can play with brakes off once you've got some decent basic skills. Front wheel not quite to full lock - you want a bit of steering movement. This isn't what most people say, but spend time with it before discounting it. Use small turns of the bars to correct - this is important and often seems to be neglected when people talk about balancing. With front brake locked you can also tilt the bike L & R which will roll the front wheel under the bike, moving the base you are balancing on. Both turning the bars and tipping the bike are ways to move the base - like balancing an umbrella standing on your hand. This is what you really balance with most of the time - as you said, Newton gets a solid say in what happens if you try to move your body one way or other. If your weight is more forward you'll get more response from your corrections, if you are more rear you'll be more stable but harder to correct imbalance. Practice both. Most people spend too much time forward biased. Practice turning from one lock to the other and staying balanced. There's no point standing balanced on full lock if you can't straighten up and make the bike go where you need to go next! The leg-out move is a bit of a mixed bag. It can really help and is definitely useful - especially if you can't afford to turn the bars much (riding along a skinny log perhaps). Waving your leg in the air is moving a whole lot of weight around which is itself going to make balancing harder. For what it's worth, the leg goes out as a counterbalance, to the side you are falling away from, but good luck doing it consciously at first! It'll sneak up on you For those coming from bicycle track stands, the big difference is that you're not going to move a 70kg moto around like your 9kg pushy! On a pushy we often balance with tiny little rolls back and forth. You also only need tiny little movements to move the bike quite a lot. On a moto you need bigger movements to get the bike to move, and you're not going to be rolling it on it's wheels. The bigger movements and slower reactions make it hard to transfer bicycle trackstand to the moto - it's a matter of timing. Once you "get it" then your trackstand skills suddenly start to payoff. Hope that helps in some way.

I'd suggest looking at some of the MTB vests. I've been using a Troy Lee Designs 7850HW short sleeve protector for several years. It's light, flexible, covers the shoulders and not too warm being designed for people who pedal at least some of the time. The 7855 has long sleeve protection if you want. They aren't the cheapest bit of foam you'll find, but they do seem to work well. I've had numerous "offs" that would have resulted in significant pain and bruising without this and got away pretty much unscathed. I've also had a couple of falls onto objects that have managed to get between the pads and hurt, but it's all a compromise. I've also been using Dainese MTB knee pads for years - they stay put, give good protection and have lasted pretty well. I'll probably replace the elastic and the behind-the-knee mesh soon, but the pads themselves are going strong.

It would be interesting to know how much difference your fins make. Most thermal conductivity stuff I've read makes a pretty big deal about getting really good contact between the surfaces - clean metal to metal, dead flat surfaces, conductive pastes where there is any chance of air gaps .... Obviously something has to do more than nothing but I'm not sure those fins would achieve a great deal. Do you have any before and after figures for the sort of temps you get? I'm not sure that the e-clutch will make any difference to the throttle lag on your MTB. It's just a second throttle, nothing more or less. The only difference is that the main throttle is 'normally open' while the "clutch" is 'normally closed'. Unless the lag is your ability to twist the throttle fast enough, which I very much doubt, then it's inherent in the controller. You could put an instantaneous switch as the throttle and it would make no difference to the delay. If you are trying to achieve a power chop rather than a power hit, maybe it might work. Or you might be able to hook onto the brake cutoff signal wire if it has one? Or some people have resorted to just chopping the main power with a contactor, although some controllers might not like that much. That is very likely exactly why Oset has gone with a brushed motor - they can get instant response without spending a lot of money on a fast brushless controller. If you want instant response on your MTB you probably need to get a new controller. If you haven't seen it, https://endless-sphere.com/ is well worth spending some time on (you might need a lot of time, there is so much info in there).

I use a Troy Lee Designs MTB padded vest for that same reason. I like that it gives all around protection, not just back. My rib bruises have been on the front/side rather than back. It also covers the shoulders so I hope it gives a bit of protection against shoulder and clavicle injuries. It's very light, and ventilated so not too hot. It seems from this thread that there isn't any particularly common specific injury, which is probably encouraging.

I just had a quick look at the Oset wiring diagram (if in doubt read the b****y instructions). There is a temp sensor in the motor that feeds back to the controller, which in turn shuts down the output if the motor gets hot. So there's little risk that the motor is getting damaged in any significant way. There is also an Oset Technical Bulletin which says the sensor has had some failures on some 2017 bikes, is not needed and can be safely disconnected. I leave it to you to find, read and decide if you want to act on it. I don't know that I'd consider a bit of extra brush wear "much more" damage. Brushes wear - faster if they are are worked harder. Brushes are also cheap and usually pretty straightforward to replace. Not such a big deal I'd have thought. I don't know how often Oset owners have to replace brushes? Also it may not be the motor that is overheating, it could be the controller. In which case there is probably little if any damage occurring anywhere. If it's the controller then presumably it's a self-protection function kicking in. Just an annoyance. Try adding some cooling to the controller (more/better heatsinking or a small fan perhaps?). My understanding is that the main issue with excessive heat in any motor is The winding insulation breaks down Magnets can be demagnetised by excess heat, particularly when combined with high currents. Solder joints can melt Brushless motors also have electronic components within the casing (hall effect sensors), these can be damaged by excessive heat. So bottom line is that too much heat is bad for any motor, I'm not sure it makes a great deal of difference if it's brushed or brushless in the real world.

I don't believe there's any significant difference between the two motor types when comparing apples to apples. Motor heat is simply the result of the amount of current you stuff through the copper windings less the the heat shed through the motor body. There would be a very slight contribution via the friction and arcing of the brushes, but I don't think it would be significant. So overheating is basically a result of a (possibly deliberate) mismatch between the power output of the controller and the ability of the motor to shed that heat. Oset probably decided that it was a better trade-off to use a lighter, cheaper, smaller motor and drive it hard, given the target is trials where the duty cycle is typically very low so the motor has time to shed the heat from the short bursts of full power. Your MTB motor/controller was probably designed with a far higher duty cycle in mind, the motor just isn't driven as hard so it can shed the heat adequately. Throw a controller on it that can push more current and it'll overheat just as quick. I'd be interested to hear how the e-clutch works out on the Oset. My expectation is that it will be fairly underwhelming. It won't change the peak torque at the back wheel one iota, only very slightly speed up how quickly it builds - assuming the controller can ramp up as fast as the lever can move. It will give a nice cutout against whiskey throttle and possibly the alternative throttle control via the clutch finger could be more controllable in some situations. The e-clutch is really only a "finger throttle", it's not at all the same as a "real" clutch. On most controllers it's relatively easy to hook up a "reverse throttle" in series with the normal one, which is all the e-clutch is. FYI my dob e-trials bike doesn't overheat pretty much whatever I do to it and it's a brushless motor too. It certainly gets too hot to touch if I work it hard up a long steep hill but it's never missed a beat.

No worries. It gets quicker and easier. I find it's getting the long bolt through the bones and linkage that's the trickiest. But with a systematic approach it becomes quick and easy.

Without some degree of programmability in the controller I think you'll struggle to get the feel you need. There are cheap brushed controllers with basic programming for max power, acceleration and throttle start/end points. They work just fine although you need a USB to serial dongle and windows PC to adjust settings. Yes, it's a small but sightly annoying feature. On the plus side it does offer a little rollback resistance when you lose it on a hill :-) A clutch is almost pointless without some significant flywheel mass. With a lightweight brushless rotor the motor simply stalls instantly if you don't have enough power on, and with too much the bike either spins or takes off. It's flywheel inertia that makes a clutch work, one without the other is at best pointless and at worst a nightmare. Hence EM having adjustable flywheels on e-pure bikes with clutches.

I think changing the carby to a bigger one will make a substantial difference to the low speed response - there is so little air flowing through at low revs already, and a bigger carby will slow the flow even more and become harder to get the low speed mixture and response right. I think you're on the right path now - change as little as possible on the bike to get it to be barely acceptable on your commutes, then just ride it. You used to be able to buy (or make) two speed rear sprockets - a normal smaller sprocket and a "ring" which slipped over that and located with a few bolts in the tooth gaps. You cable tied (or wired) the ring to the spokes when on the road, then when you went off-road you added a few links to the chain, slipped the ring over the main sprocket and away you went in "low range".

As far as I'm aware it doesn't make any difference. I tend to swap the directions each time I grease them on the theory it will spread the wear more evenly. I also try to mark the loaded direction (rotation) when I dismantle and put them back rotated from that for the same reason. Probably totally over the top, but I can, so I do. I only do the main pivots every second dismantle of the linkages as they seem to stay better lubed and cleaner (and are more of a pain to do anyway). If you had to undo the engine mounts to re-assemble the main pivot (pretty normal in my experience) then be careful of that lower rear mount bolt - it's dear as poison (titanium they claim) and I've had one snap when undoing it, let alone tightening it. I've had a squeak develop in the suspension a couple of times which is actually that bolt coming slightly loose and the frame moving relative to the engine when the suspension is loaded, took me ages to figure it out the first time!

Exactly my thought too!

I hope you've taken notice of what Totty79 said. By the time you've geared it up that much it might also be very "interesting" for riding trials, especially with badly worn tyres from the road riding. Even mores so if you swap to a 30mm carby! It sounds as if you're almost trying to reinvent a light enduro bike to me. Go for it if that's what you want to do, it could make the perfect bike for you. Just be well aware that every step away from it's standard form is probably going to make it less fun for trials.

300A is at or close to the point the fuse blows. I doubt the controller would be setup to be pulling close to the ragged edge of the fuse, so I'd think closer to 12kW would be more realistic.

I come from a skiing background where ACL injuries have been common. Years ago there was research done into the specific mechanisms that caused the injuries and out of that some falling techniques to reduce the risk. Similarly snowboarding has a high incidence of wrist fractures and shoulder dislocations, and people are taught (or should be) specific falling techniques to minimise the risk. What are the common trials injuries, and are there techniques or practices that can reduce the chance of injuring yourself? I'm guessing ankle injuries are probably fairly common? Are ACL injuries common? Shoulders? Clavicle? Shoulder AC joints? Facial injuries?

Just a follow up. I got in some Forma soles and had my Sidi's resoled by a highly reputable cobbler (previous resole was falling off so not using that cobbler again). Excellent result. Only 30 hours or so currently but they are working well and showing no sign of wear from the pegs. I'd say this is a good way to go when your Sidi soles wear out. The Forma soles feel like a harder rubber but have a more aggressive tread, so grip is probably better in some conditions, worse in others. The red patch for the peg feels harder again but absolutely no issues with peg grip.

I've got a couple of hundred hours on my trials bikes (sherco & beta) with my Fox mtb pants and no burns - maybe lucky but they have stood up better than my actual moto pants which have several melt marks. Almost no-one wears any upper body protection where I am - plenty of people in short sleeves or T-shirts (against the rules but no-one seems to care). I'm usually the odd one out wearing a vest of any sort. I'm sure the time will come when protection is required.

MTB/BMX trousers are an excellent option - not skin tight lycra and designed for knee pads underneath. Also usually have some ventilation and often handy zip pockets too. They tend to be a bit pricey for what you get, but on sale they can be had for a decent price. I like the Fox stretch version, they are fairly expensive (unless you find a really good sale) but last extremely well I've found. Fly Racing make some that I know others have found good. I use MTB knee pads and also an MTB (Troy Lee Designs) padded vest. I've only ever had minor injuries, but nearly all have involved bruised and painful ribs which I got thoroughly sick of, the vest seems to have solved that.

Brushed motor controllers are inexpensive and one of the key features is that the throttle response from even the most basic brushed controller/motor combo is virtually instant, even from stalled. The same cannot be said for a lot of brushless controllers, many of them are perfectly fine for 99% of uses, but the tiny bit of lag, particularly as they first spin the motor or from very low RPM, can be a problem in trials. I'm guessing, but I'd also expect that as most brushed controllers are fundamentally analog rather than digital, then it was far easier to find a controller that could use easy to understand twist knobs to adjust settings. Digital brushless controllers have to read the rotor position from sensors, then calculate & send the appropriate AC power to the correct motor windings, that happens fast, but depending on the software and hardware there can be delays. An analog brushed controller just ramps up the voltage and the motor spins. My guess is that Oset found that for the money there wasn't much out there that had the same response & control inputs in brushless designs. Brushed motors are slightly less efficient, but really in trials is it going to be even measurable or significant? Brushes are going to last nigh on forever in trials use and are cheap and simple to replace anyway (I don't know the detail of Oset motors, this is a generalisation). Yes, a good brushless setup will be a bit more efficient, probably lighter and maybe more tuneable, but you'll likely be paying a pretty decent premium to get one that actually rides as well as a sorted brushed setup. I've got an analog brushed controller here that costs around US$15 and works really nicely for trials. I've also got a $500 brushless controller that does pretty much the same job. I've certainly heard of people spending well over $100 on a controller and getting something that is perfect for golf carts, scooters etc but is almost useless for trials because of the throttle lag. No question a quality brushless setup is the gold standard, but in the real commercial world there's a lot to be said for the older tech.