ChrisCH

One on ebay if you are content to go second hand.... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254795016554

As we are locked down and cannot ride I thought I would do the chain and sprockets. Looks like the last owner struggled with this - one of the bolts slightly bent. Sadly even with three days of penetrating oil and tiny turns I managed to finish the job off and snapped the bolt. So a twenty minute job has become a day. Swinging arm out to get the broken bolt out and new bolts and copper grease both sides. I guess it is bad workmanship before - the rear sprocket bolts were two different types (cannot surely be normal?) Anyway - worth bumping the thread and remind anyone that is bored sitting at home this is a worthwhile job. So far this is the only bad point I have found on the bike.

78Kg. One here: https://www.powerstartbikes.co.uk/product/tenaci-wong-twc-200-2020/ The new TRS also have electric option but are a lot more money. Nice though. (That's the problem I like them all)

I would love to try one. I am curious about the weight issue though, they are (according to the web page) nearly 50Kg. It really is not that much less than a light ICE bike. If I could pick up one cheap (dream on) I would have on to play with. The main problem seems to be decent tyres and if you put better wheels on to get good tyres you lose the weight advantage such as it is. As above I think I would be looking at the eMotion or similar as a better alternative (although they are "normal" weight). Anyway if you get one please let us all know how you get on. They look like great fun on the Smadge videos.

You are obviously a sensible, nice person. Lots of MX or enduro bikes round here, often illegal or illegal pipes, ridden like loons at high speed past dog walkers and the like. We are lucky to have a few decent green lanes but they are abused (and by the 4x4 noddies as well). I have always taken the view that a nice quiet four stroke ridden sensibly and with a degree of politeness to other people bothers no one. Plenty of dads letting their kids ride over the heath in the New Forest as well. As you say - idiots.

Farley has a cheap Gasser. No idea what they are doing lockdown wise but I am sure they could ship it. http://www.gfmotorcycles.co.uk/used.html 280TXT 2006 £1795 Trouble is you can't go look at anything. Shop has a good rep though, I bought my old Rev3 from them. Slightly overpriced IMHO at the time but handy as I have a customer nearby and can justify taking the van there on work diesel.

Where to ride a pit bike? I think we all know where the 500 quid off roaders get ridden. Trials is very cheap compared to most other things. Two grand is not that much to get started really. Two grand is not much of a push bike to be fair. I would love to see old nails selling for a few hundred and I agree this would make it easier to get into riding trials, but the people selling them presumably are into trials but don't share that view.

The same is happening for push bikes and all other leisure items. A road (motor) bike is worth at least 1500 if it is MOT and roadworthy. OK you cannot ride now but what you can do is fix up. It is better to have an old bike in the shed as something to do than sit though daytime TV. People who are salaried and can keep their job have nothing much to spend it on, no holidays and no commuting costs and so on. Although the unlucky ones are skint quite a lot of people are cash rich, unusually so as they normally spend. The most cost effective way to buy a trials bike seems to me to buy a two-three year old machine. If it is in good order the depreciation on new has taken place but it is still mechanically sound. I have ridden the TRS over a year and all it needed was rear wheel bearings. I have just ordered chain and sprockets to replace during this lockdown (did the missus' Beta last one). I would happily spend time doing other small and easy jobs but nothing needs doing. I would like a "project" but the prices have put me off for over 18 months and presumably will for ever.

Depends who is wearing it..

I also have MX trousers (they were gifted to me so might as well use them). They are fine. If it is warm and dry I just use my work trousers, there are lots of them about in Wickes or Screwfix type places.

Ssssshhhhhhhhhhhhh............. Everyone will want one.

Any sort of leather treatment is best applied from new. Once the leather is dirty the treatment is less effective. (Unless they are factory treated - don't think the trials boots are, some walking boots are) I have Wolfsports and gave them two good applications one when brand new and another a few rides later. Have not bothered since and they are still OK. The critical thing is the boots to be clean if you are putting more wax on. I am lazy - far too lazy to really deeply clean mine and will buy some new boots at some point.

It is and a jolly nice job you have done - very good.?

One of my customers was a keen rider. His wife was in the British ladies team. They called it a day as they could no longer afford the money but mostly the time. The hassle was tearing their relationship apart as well. She is off work at the minute and nipped over to us to pick up some goods for her husband and the bikes are sat in the warehouse. You could see how much she missed riding and was showing my missus static balance and so on. I think the "enjoyment" aspect tends to get overlooked as people become too preoccupied with the competition aspect.

Since we are back to posting links... https://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/media/how-to-convince-yourself-social-media-is-more-trustworthy-than-real-news-20201203203145

Could be good for the viewing figures?

The lithium battery technology is very different to lead acid. A lead acid battery has all sorts of bad habits and needs care and attention that they tend not to get in light automotive use. A good lead acid battery charger has the facilities to do something called conditioning which the experts tell me my battery needs. Generally the charge is varied during the process as best I understand it. This certainly is the case with our fork lift. Lithium batteries are just replenished. Trickle charging is so the battery doesn't get hot and bend the (lead) plates. Motorbike batteries are much smaller than car batteries and so require a more gentle charge, hence trickle chargers for bikes. I can only guess that the bike's charging circuit is OK with lithium (unless it was the OE). They do seem to be "the thing" for bikes in the last few years. Very sensible for a dirt bike where it might spend the odd minute upside down or on it's side, a bit overkill for a road bike.

Here you go - So for the UK we need B&Q.

All true. The big difference between us and the broader bike scene is that trials bike buyers are buying to ride in the sport. If Suzuki (for example) are the winning bike in the GP it might well see a lot of road riders buying a new gixer as opposed to a Kawasaki. Even if the Repsol was the super-duper go-to machine it is not the one most of us are going to buy as we are not super-duper go-to riders. Just read the number of times a Beta 200 is recommended by other posters as an "ideal" bike. One sponsorship item we are overlooking though is the obstacles on X Trial. They all seem to have some sponsorship logos on them. Maybe that is what we need to do? Find a sponsor for the obstacles? Is there a big cash rich company out there?

I would think that is the case. Out the loop for a week. Factory sponsorship is designed to promote a brand and encourage people to buy that particular bike/brand. If Bou rode the six day and won it everyone would say it was him not the Montesa so hardly a good investment. More likely that the importers would stump up a few quid to see a top name or two.

He had a school session booked with John Lee earlier this year that got cancelled due to the rescheduling of competition events due to Covid. I had booked up with it and both the missus and me were going. £100 a head IIRC. The wife was looking forward to meeting Adam but not entirely about his teaching ability.... I don't claim to know what sort of payment these guys get for X Trial and the like. Pat Smage did a couple in France and they are on YouTube. He slept in the van (provided by the factory) so I doubt there was a big budget for him. The GoPro footage from his helmet over the obstacles was interesting. Not for the faint hearted.

No accounting for taste I suppose. I used to go to the Le Mans 24 in my youth but the bikes go round and round and round and round. I drank a lot of beer. Never seen the point in track racing personally. My trials bike is at work (in the dry) and a huge number of people that visit us make comment about it (and my wife's Ducati, ignoring my Suzuki). I think people that like motorcycles probably would like X Trial. My nephew and his mates were keen to go to the trial at Anglesey but it was cancelled. He has graduated now and the other lads gone their separate ways. One of his mates is a keen push biker and he was looking forward to seeing the trial. The virus has changed everything now of course so I doubt we will see anything this side of the channel very soon. Shame.

Nearly all UK pumps have the ethanol content displayed on them now. Super is generally E5 the same as normal. I run the TRS on Shell V Power as it seems to run better, it has E5 on the pump. As I already have this fuel in a can I also run my plastic tanked lawn mower on it as well. It stands over the winter in a garden shed and starts first pull in the spring with no additives (Or maintenance). The "swelling tank" thing from what I have read is the water in the ethanol that makes the tank swell. So if the bike is stored in a damp place that might be a factor. If you read enough internet sites and forums you will eventually read someone telling you on pain of death they have experienced the diametric opposite of another poster with equal sincerity in their posts. The truth may well be out there but you will not find it easily. If you read up about fuel then you will understand that ethanol alters the octane rating so removing it is possible but will result in a different petrol that might not be high enough in octane for the bike. (Although you will find people that argue this is also not true of course) I have pretty much given up bothering, a lot of the people complaining online are actually fruit loops. I fail to believe that any manufacturer can produce a bike in 2020 that will not work properly with petrol from Sainsburys. If the wife's Ducati blows up when E10 comes in I will let you all know.

Its the old ones that have problems as far as I know. Lot of internet traffic about Ducati but the wife's Monster (2012) is fine on E5.

The lack of X Trial in the UK is odd. Why does it have a big fan base in the rest of Europe and not here? Is it a lack of venues or costs? I think most people would get bored watching me make a knob of myself but X Trial is designed to be proper entertainment.