Intotrials

There's no need to have timed sections at a club level. As b40rt says its just a bit of fun for the majority of riders. Getting volunteers to observe is difficult enough without putting them under more undue pressure. At Championship level where the riders are actually professional and are paid to compete then keeping a tight format is a necessity in my opinion. There is generally 2-4 observers per section and the riders have minders, so plenty of support to keep an eye on time. The other thing is, world events should attract bigger crowds, if these crowds start to diminish then there is a problem that needs addressing. If that problem is due to boredom, which in my opinion it seems to be heading that way, then this needs addressing. There's nothing more boring than watching a rider static messing around lining up. The more dynamic a rider is the more exciting it tends to be to watch, so a time limit on a section helps keep things moving. I guess the no stop rule was an attempt to improve this also, shame it fails due to the modern style of riding and current trend of section design.

The "no stop" rule is a farce at world level! If it was strictly adhered to (which all rules should be to keep things consistent and fair) then 100% of the riders would be 5'd on average 90% of the time at current world events. No observer is going to five a rider for a momentary stop, but the length of those moments is getting increasingly longer and often riders also go backwards and still get away with it. Imagine introducing someone new to the sport and trying to explain the rules " oh the riders get 1 mark for footing once, 2 marks for footing twice and 3 marks for footing 3+ but completing the section" simple enough! Then they get 5 marks for failing the section e.g dismounting the bike, stalling, falling off, going backwards, going outside of the marked section... oh and stopping at any point within the section! Imagine their confusion when they witness riders stopping all over the place but being awarded less than a failure! Me personally, I'd be completely bemused and consider the sport stupid.

No need, an experienced section builder / course manager should be able to design each section based on an estimate in line with one time limit set (90 secs) to complete the each section. They won't get it perfect every time, but no matter, its the same for all the riders so they have to adapt! Keep it simple and consistent that way its as fair as it can be for every rider and easier for the observer to judge.

The average rider cannot relate to the skills of a world series rider, especially the likes of the top Spanish. The sport has evolved, the modern style of riding just on the back wheel is far removed from the traditional style of riding. Its very skilful and very trick, the younger riders coming through are imitating this and are mastering the technique, for everyone else its like trying a new sport. Don't get me wrong I'm not apposed to this riding style, I love trying to have a go myself, but the truth is I can and do just watch in awe. These guys attempt stuff that just looks impossible to the average rider and that divide is getting larger. I play golf, I could play any course in the world, not as good as the pro's but I could get round. I can jump on a GP bike and race around Silverstone, no where near as quick as the pro's but I could get round. I've been riding trials for 30+ years, at a high standard in my younger days, I couldn't ride a single section at a world round, I wouldn't have a clue how to attempt them even if I had the courage to do so. This for me is why I feel the sport has evolved into 2 different sports. Trials & X-Trials.

I use stainless bearings and pack with water proof grease this combination seems to work well. Rusty bearings cause a lot of the problem, which can happen if you pressure wash regularly and the bike stands a while also. stainless bearings eliminate this problem but they do wear just the same as mild steel equivalents, so its still important to keep them well lubricated for longevity. One thing I always do is after jet washing my bike I run it round the yard/drive to dry it off before i store it away. Getting rid of the moisture off the bike before you store it really helps. When I was moto x riding we always ran the bikes up and around after a wash, especially the 2 strokes cause they were prone to main bearings & big ends failing if the bike had stood for a while due to moisture causing rust.

I agree, this is because the modern bike allows for a riding style that is can be very elite. In that you can do "acrobatics" more easily on a modern bike, which takes fine tuned skill and lots of courage. The average rider hasn't the skills nor the courage to attempt such feats. But you see the young riders coming through are imitating the new riding style and are learning to be brave at this early age. For them this riding style is the norm. For anybody who comes into the sport from a different discipline such as road race or moto x, then the modern style of trials riding is so far removed from what they deem as "motorcycling" they cannot relate to the top level riders. I mentioned before, the sport of trials has developed into 2 different sports - Acrobatic trials (X-Trial) and Traditional trials

I agree with everything you have said here, I've done some observing myself at worlds rounds, you have to have thick skin. You are right, at most grass roots comps the riders just want a ride out and have fun! The sections can be set at a severity that tests all levels but are not dangerous and achievable without stopping. Personally though "stop" permitted gets my vote with a time limit on the section, it takes the pressure off the observers, makes it less ambiguous and gives the riders a fair chance of getting themselves out of trouble. For the world rounds I'd concentrate on making the sections trickier rather than more dangerous. Putting in 12' steps that are do or die makes no sense, this just plays right into the hands of Bou & co. The world champions should set an example, it should be a mixture of all the terrain and have the variety of sections trials riders face at club level but with a severity that tests the top riders without being dangerous or silly. This is how they used to be 30+ years ago, what went wrong?

5 seconds is a momentarily stop, a well defined one! which was my point. I chose this value as it is easier to manage than 2 seconds but short enough to keep things generally moving. I don't claim it is a solution, just a compromise which might be an option. If you are going to allow stopping but are concerned about riders taking an age to complete a section then you need to implement some sort of time limit for a stop, to keep things consistent. Maybe a time limit for the section as done so in the indoor is the best option?? No stop is definitely nonsensical at this level and maybe national level and above. Show me an observer who is willing to strictly follow the "no stop" rule to the letter in a major event and i'll show you a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. If you are going to allow stop with no restriction the riders will just spend ages lining up and messing around wasting time and making it very boring to watch. The riders will bend and exploit the rules as much as they can, why not if it gives them an edge? Honestly, I don't see a total win win solution, the modern style of bikes and riding are just not suited to strictly no stop. For example, I can flip turn my bike in such away that both wheels are not turning at all yet the bike is slightly moving forward but it looks like i'm stationary & vise versa. What would the observer award me? I suspect I'd get a mix of decisions which I would have to accept. The top guys can do this type of trick riding far better than I could ever dream of doing, some of which strictly could be deemed a stop, but they manoeuvre the bike in such a way that it looks like its not stopped & vise versa. And again when faced with a huge step they often pre-load the bikes' suspension with a very slight pause before exploding into the step, or they sump out on the step pause very quickly as they heave the bike over. Who is going to 5 them for this pause?

Personally after watching the latest couple of rounds I don't see how they can observe world rounds as true "no stop" trials. In fact I don't see how you can run most modern trials strictly no stop unless you set "traditional sections" such as long straight, wide turn routes where keeping both wheels on the ground and turning is the advantage. The world round sections are predominantly still tight turns up big steps, with the odd bank side to climb! No observer is going to 5 a rider for a momentarily stop on such severe sections, especially the likes of Bou & co. From what I have seen the riders know this and as usual exploit the fact! As bad as the observation on the particular section in question on this thread was, I saw plenty of riders get away with what should have clearly been 5's. Bou brought the modern style of riding to the world and now all the kids are copying it. They will also copy their hero's antics and expect not to be 5'ved for a quick stop in a no stop section. And to be fair would you have the heart to 5 someone for a split second pause after they had a great ride through a tough section? I just don't see the point of running no stop, its difficult to observe and remain consistent. If no stop rules are to be used then the sections should reflect this and be achievable without any split second pause/stop similar to those in the 6 day or other similar national events. But, lets face it modern bikes are essentially designed to be trick ridden and the majority of riders enjoy doing or attempting a bit themselves all of us enjoy a good mixture of terrain and types of sections. This includes sections which require the trick riding, at least to some degree, so making all trials no stop limits the types of sections and limits the full potential of the machines. I personally would allow momentarily stop with no reversing, the stop being only a few seconds maybe 3 - 5 seconds where the observer can comfortably count before denouncing a 5. At the world rounds each observer could be given a counter with alarms, they press the button once the rider stops then an alert sounds after a preset time which indicates a fail, unless the observer presses once the rider sets off again within the preset time. It could even have a count down alert so everyone can hear, including the rider so there is no discrepancy.This system would not be 100% and sure would have its problems but at least there would be some consistency and less easy for riders to exploit and more encouraging for the lesser rider who wants a fair attempt!

I bought one from Gas Gas Uk (John Shirt) Wednesday, but they had limited stock.

Not seen the full entry list, but I'd assume the obvious trio would be (bike reliability permitting) Lampkin, Dabil & Price, at least this is where my money would be. It would be nice to see a few surprise runners though and I know there are quite a few more that are in with a shout and will give this trio a run for their money.

Have you tried the screwing the spindle in to just the threaded fork leg on its own? Sounds to me like the threads are damaged or as pindie suggests deformed due to being knocked. If this is the case then it will need tapping out using a tap and die set or in the past I've used a high tensile bolt with the same pitch thread that I've ground a taper on the end (start of the thread) and slowly persuaded it through with plenty of oil!

I agree, the thing is does the extra bling really make that much difference to the performance in a way that the average rider is going to notice? probably not... But, trials is my hobby and if i can afford it I would always go for the top model, why not? I scrimp and save else where in my life so I can have the luxury of swapping my trials bike every year or so. Even though trials is probably one of the cheapest motor sports you can do, this year I struggled a bit financially so had to stick to the racing model. My mate has had the gp model I have ridden and compared the two bikes, nothing noticeably different in their performances. Given the option, sure I would have the gp, just because it's the top model, if money is an issue (which it was this year) then the racing is a great bike and more than good enough.

In my opinion, no, the racing is more than good enough for the vast majority of riders. But if money was no object, then I would always go for the most blinged up bike available (who wouldn't). Though I do prefer the s3 hard rock foot rests, which I bought for around £70 then just swap them over to my new bike each time.

I find the four stroke's in general heavier. I owned a 300 gas gas and a 4rt and depending on my mood would ride which ever I fancied that day. I ended up selling the 4rt. Don't get me wrong it was a lovely machine, well built extremely reliable and very smooth. But in competition especially when I got tired I found it more of an hand full compared to the gasser. I also was more confident firing up a big step on the 2 stroke compared to the 4 stroke. When things were going wrong I found the 4 stroke to be a bit more of a maul. This is just my personal experience, obviously the 4rt's are awesome machines in the right hands (Bou, Fuji...). I think it just comes down to personal preference. But I have seen many riders go back to a 2 stroke after riding a 4 stroke for many years. As far a advantages and disadvantages I can't really see much in it. Trials bikes these days are pretty much as good as each other (especially for the average rider) I would say the only slight advantage a 4 stroke has over the 2 stroke is that they tend to be better on the road & no need to pre mix the fuel, oh and the 4rt is a very well built machine. The 2 stroke advantages are, the engines are less complicated (less moving parts), they feel lighter and in my experience they are easier to recover if you lose grip. The 4rt would grip really well until it lost grip then it (for me at least) was difficult to recover.

Yes, I agree and its typical that as soon as Bou had that unfortunate accident people began to write him off immediately!

Right, yes thanks for the correction, John was a Yamaha dealer. I remember Mitsui

@ Growzer, Nice bit of kit, my only concern would be when the bike is all muddied up I wouldn't fancy messing around feeding it under the front mud guard, especially if its cold and wet also. But then I am a bit of a wuss

I don't understand what you are getting at???? The context I was talking about was career ending injury . Breaking your back or any bone is a serious injury, but he was not permanently injured or debilitated. I broke my back in a very similar way to Bou, in fact probably a little worse because I was paralyzed for a short period, but made a full recovery within 6 months. Like heffergm mentions, Bou is back on his bike and performing almost back to full potential. Clearly the back injury was not as serious as it could have been.

I believe trials riding is the best introduction to off road motorcycle riding you can do. Established trials riders can go on to be master all forms of off roading, the likes of former British champion Graham Jarvis as a prime example. Trials riding refines your motorbiking skills, such as balance, throttle control, clutch and brake control learning to feel the bike and reacting to it.... In fact many if not most of the top riders in disciplines like moto x and enduro all train on a trials bike as part of their training routines. Also the beauty of trials is - its relatively safe (low speed) and also one of the cheapest forms of motor sport you can do. My only advice to you would be that a 290cc trials bike can be a handful, especially for a beginner (I'm not trying to put you off) it can just be a bit scary at first (though the 2008 model will be a lot softer than a more modern version). I would probably have recommended you try out something like a 125 - 200 to start with they can be a lot of fun and won't pull your arms off. Good luck & I hope you have lots of fun riding!!

A mate of mine is big into his fitness & bodybuilding. He concocted an "energy" drink for me to use when I ride, one which he uses to train with. He eventually persuaded me to give it a go at my next practice session. All I can say is my god! Half an hour after drinking half of it I was buzzing! I suddenly became all excited on the bike and was riding with a lot of vigor to say the least! Though I was also doing a lot of crashing as a consequence, needless to say I didn't finish the drink and have not had it since. I can see why athletes would be tempted to take enhancement drugs, but I would not condone it.

Yes but I meant it as a career ending injury. Obviously breaking your back is very serious, as I well know.

He certainly seems like the person to take Bou's crown. I watched a video of him in practice and he is definitely as good as Bou ability wise, at least from that footage I watched. I think once he manages to put his practice ability into competitions with the same confidence and extra experience he will, as Bou begins to fade, take over. Will we see signs of that this year, yeah for sure, but will it be enough to take the crown?

I never said it wasn't? Though it has obviously affected his riding it wasn't debilitating enough to end his career this time. I broke my back in a car accident when I was just 17, I was left paralysed for just short of 6 months. Luckily I made a full recovery and (touch wood) it has had no lasting debilitating effects. Maybe when I'm older (from what the doctor told me) I may suffer with problems around where the break happened. Bou has recovered and yes it will affect his confidence and probably made him realize that he is not invincible.

I agree with all your points and think your opinions are valid. Bou, like Doug used to, excel when the trials are tougher, they tend to step up a gear, which is what goes towards what makes them great champions. I think inevitably Busto will succeed Bou, or at least its shaping up that way. But I don't think Bou is done just yet, failing a serious injury I think he will continue to fight for and win championships for the next couple of years yet.