Michael R

Thanks Reggie.

Listen to the engine sound...except for huge splatters...hardly any engine revs...even on these extreme obstacles...

I am much older...you're right!! Just a further point for beginners, and again I'm happy to be shot down if people disagree!! I am old after all !! Something I see a lot when I watch beginners is they immediately try (and are encouraged to try) full sections, which can lead to a loss of confidence...instead I think they should practice over and over on individual obstacles...a section has many different ones. So get a small rock and practice and practice going over it, putting your front tyre on it, putting your back tyre on it etc...get a steep bank and go up and down it under control, over and over...a slippy log...using the throttle, clutch and brake on the flat, yes on the flat, etc etc...then when you have those small obstacles down pat THEN put them together in a section. The second thing I see is people approach obstacles way too fast and then, especially if its an obstacle that is larger than normal for that person, give it loads of throttle, which they think they need to clear it...this can result in all sorts of problems...bouncing off at an unexpected angle, the bike getting away from them etc...can again be painful and result in a loss of confidence. If you watch the real pros riding (unless they are doing huge splatters...which I'm assuming beginners shouldn't be trying!!), they approach obstacles very slowly and very calmly. If you 'listen' to the videos you watch of these pros, you will hear, most of the time, how little throttle they use to clear what, for a beginner, are quite large obstacles. Watch Ryan Young's early videos demonstrating the jap zap, roll up etc. This is where they (the pros) are very good at using the power (torque) of a bike at low revs. My point is a beginner will be better off practicing different techniques on single objects, slowly and under control...which will also give them confidence. Practicing little techniques over and over...like small wheelie, clutch, brake etc will be much more beneficial than going straight into a section that may need two or more different techniques and not succeeding...and damaging their confidence. Just my thoughts...but beginners should not only watch the pros, but listen to their engine sound, they clear large objects with very little throttle...only trying to help.

No I haven't...I take it from that its probably not stocked in normal dirt bike stores...I'll call Beta supplier then, thanks.

Hi does anyone know where to buy a Grimeca clutch lever pivot nut & bolt on Beta Evo 2009...cant seem to find the right one anywhere...Thanks.

Totally fair point.

I'm new to this forum (so immediately apologise, although I've been following it for along time) and I've come back to trials after a twenty five year absence. I have a Beta Evo 290 2010 (a dream compared with the bikes I used to ride up to my twenties, TY80, TY175, TY250), my wife has a Beta Rev 3 125 2007, and its true that I can use her bike just as easily as mine for most things. These bikes are a world away from what I used to ride. Now, many people would say, why use a 290...its far too much power for you and pros can do anything you can do with much less...and you (I) certainly don't need that power, and they may be right. I grew up on Addingham Moorside, Yorkshire next door to the Lampkins and when I was 8 yrs old I had a TY80 and I spent some time with John Lampkin, who at the time was 15 or 16yrs old and had a 250. He demonstrated to me a few sections on his bike and as a little 8yr old, said thats all very well but my 80cc bike can't do that...at which point he got on my 80cc (child's bike) and completed everything he had just done on his 250!! We're not all Lampkins of course and I just wanted to say that firstly, we don't all fit children's bikes, and although I can do most things on my wife's 125, at 6'3 and 15 stones, I actually find my 290 really easy to ride and I get away with larger obstacles, using much less power and feel much more in control...my point is to those who say, unless you're Dougie Lampkin, you shouldn't use more than a 200, I don't think that's true. Sometimes the ability to climb a hill or clear an obstacle with a lot less throttle can be more reassuring to riders than having to use max the throttle...no doubt I'll get battered for my comments and being new to the forum I'll accept all criticism...These bikes have changed and I was much more terrified by my old bikes than the new ones.