ChrisCH

That would be one fast charger!

We don't appear to disagree very much. In fact you have repeated a lot of my post. Renewables must take over from fossil at some point either because we (humans) want them to or because fossil fuel runs out. Take your pick which but the point will come sooner or later. The sooner it is the better from every point of view other than that of the fossil fuel companies. You're right about the methane and it will possibly cause a runaway effect. If so what power my trials bike will not matter. I still fancy an E bike but I hope I made clear it has nothing to do with climate change.

Nice try. Wrong. And you missed "all" from the first sentence. I don't think it is possible to remove all the CO2. The CO2 that triggers breathing is made in the body - so you are wrong about that as well. (PS Plants create CO2 just like we do so they will not die) Fail.

There is so much rubbish circulating about electric vehicles it is perhaps worth looking at the subject a little. Firstly they are not green and they are not beneficial to the cause of CO2 reduction in any measure. The big push for EV comes from the need to reduce NOx and other air pollutants in cities. Diesel produces particulates (soot) and the older and dirtier diesels are the main issue, newer vehicles have DFP which can nearly eliminate PM problems. Illegal removal of filters is another problem that should be easy to stop but has had little action thus far. For bikes and scooters the EV can be a good improvement as the motor requires little if any maintenance and is more reliable that most small petrol engines. Trials bikes are an insignificant part of any consideration as they are not out there in any volume and generally use very little fuel. Small motorcycles for commuting are "green" as they reduce congestion and are a very efficient way to move a human cargo. I would imagine a lot of commuters would love an electric bike rather than a small petrol bike as it requires much less servicing and is much better suited to the stop-start pattern of city commuting. Electric sports bikes have similar benefits and most sport bike riders tend to ride a low overall distance per year. A big tourer with hard luggage is probably still best suited to an ICE for the same reasons many car owners prefer ICE - long runs. Personally I like the idea of the electric trials bike (the ones with a clutch anyway). No issues with dirty fuel, air filters or carburettors. Power and performance are unaffected by the angle of the vehicle. Much less routine maintenance as well. It's just the price that puts me off buying one. When they are in the second-hand market I will be looking for one. No more smelly petrol cans in the van and no more mixing two stroke. All good stuff in my opinion. The global fight against fossil CO2 is critically important and we must do what we can to reduce CO2 to zero and possibly even begin to artificially remove CO2 if we want to survive as a species. Buying an EV isn't really moving in that direction and the mandating of EV seems to me to be a pointless step. Biofuels are very low carbon and work with current ICE technology. The "installed base" of ICE is huge and scrapping it for EV is not practical. If developed countries ban ICE the old vehicles will end up in less developed countries and carry on spewing out CO2 until they wear out. The planet is not concerned whether the CO2 comes from the US or the Central African Republic, it all has the same effect. It's also important to remember that a lot of the world's electricity is still generated with fossil fuels. An EV just moves where the pollution occurs. The CO2 from a coal fired power station warms up the planet just like the CO2 from my TRS. I do like the smell of two stroke though - if I am honest. I'd still like the electric trials bike if I could afford it. Then drive to the trial in my diesel van ?

Rabie is bang on the money. It is noseweight and you need a tow bar rated high enough to carry the weight and the car also needs to support that much weight. Sadly there is no website I have found yet that gives all this data. Dave Cooper bike racks are pretty much the industry standard and are very good. http://www.davecooper.co.uk/bike-racks The rack itself is strong enough but the car and tow bar are the limiting factors. The tow bar manufacturer will have a rating for their bar and if you exceed that you could be in bother insurance wise. Also most insurance companies now consider fitting a tow bar to be a modification so don't forget to tell them you have done so. Some cars cannot tow (e.g. Smart Car) but you can still fit a bar for a (push) bike rack. Some of the new hybrids cannot take a bar at all. It is all rather confusing unfortunately.

Must be a cheap car. A new bike is 6-8k and a new car is 20+ I would rather have a Gas Gas than a Dacia Sandero.

Wow! That's a long ride I am impressed. Thinking of taking the Suzuki myself as it looks like sunshine all the way.

Anyone going this weekend? I am still trying to make my mind up. It's a bit under three hours from Calais. Weather looks cracking and Belgian beer there too! Missus is hobbling about after stacking the Beta on Sunday so looking for something less energetic - could be ideal.

The Lite is only £6400. I would want the clutch model but I don't have the cash sitting around just at the minute. Very good idea though - no motor to maintain. I would love one.

What difference does Europe make? Honda is a global brand and well respected as a bike manufacturer. Montesa is a bit like Ossa - a name from the past.

The clutch transfers power from the engine to the gearbox. The point of bite is where friction is adequate to transfer that power. if you rev the engine at or near that point you change the dynamics of the clutch and the friction. So - if I understood your post correctly - the increased power, the "blip", moves the bike forward even though you have not fully disengaged the clutch? This is because the additional power creates more friction and the engine power is transferred to the gearbox. My riding skills are not good enough but I understand this is the basis of the manoeuvre called the splat? You add power while slipping the clutch before a final "dump" of the remaining power. I think that's how it works anyway. The clutch is a major part of trials riding and coordinating it with the throttle allows you to do stuff that is not otherwise possible. I've ridden road bikes for years and trail bikes for years but this stuff is like learning to ride all over again. Honestly I don't understand why so many people recommend modifying a bike to overcome lack of control skills. Surely that just makes a person skilled at riding a modified bike? Maybe I'm wrong but that's how I see it at this point in time. So I fall off a bit and make a fool of myself now and then but hey so what - nothing new for me

I think this is what a trials bike is supposed to do? The missus has taken over my old Rev 3 and so I bought a TRS. The first time i tried a wheelie I went over the back. That's why they have a lanyard kill switch. It has taken me a couple of months to learn to control the thing but dropping the clutch will lift the front wheel with virtually no throttle at all. A double blip will launch you skywards and it is essential to shut the throttle down as soon as the rear tyre has done it's job, or better still pull the clutch in. It takes a while to get used to it but you are on a machine designed to jump up a two meter vertical obstacle. I am sure I will never do that but the bike can. people keep saying to me about all the modifications that remove the power like low compression heads but honestly if you don't want the performance why buy the bike? There are plenty of 125cc machines around.

A guy in our club had the 250 One. I rather liked it and thought I would get one but they seem to sell about 3 minutes after they come on the market. I needed a bike as the missus now hogs the Beta all the time. The 280 doesn't sell so well and I bought one simply because it was available (the dealer had three in stock). Several people have subsequently said to me the 280 is "better" than the 250 and smoother. I have no idea if this is true, however I can say as a very new rider that the 280 is OK and I am now getting reasonable with it. It has the fast throttle and is the RR with the Keihin carb but the diaphragm clutch is nice and you can lift the front wheel so easily that no fork compression is required. The power makes it easy to climb without the need to have a big handful of throttle and slip the clutch. It has taken me several weeks of practice just to get the hang of the bike and it is still a bit intimidating but I shall not be changing the spec to make up for my lack of skill, just practising more to bring my skill more to where the bike is. The man who had the 250 had a 300 previously and sold it as he found it too much. He has gone Beta now and loves it (250 factory)

Boof.

Looks like the old style wheel with a bearing built in. You might struggle a bit with that. If it is the 25mm you can get them but not sure about the old 1" ones. Looks a nice job though,

Fair enough - you can be 99% certain that the GVW is 200Kg. Can you lift the trailer? So you know roughly what it weighs and as trapezartist says it is unlikely anyone will ever both you. Not 100% kosher but near enough unless something is very wrong. If the lights work and the ratchet straps or fixings are good the police will be happy. (Ratchet straps need a CE mark) Hopefully DVSA have better things to do.

All trailers need their gross and unladen weight clearly shown on the plate. Older trailers do not need a VIN number nor are they subject to type approval. The gross weight is the maximum the suspension units or axle is capable of carrying (e.g. 400Kg) and the unladen is the weight of the trailer (e.g. 123Kg) the maximum load is the difference (in this example 277Kg). Lights can be integral or a removable lighting board. The vehicle must show reflective red triangles to the rear. If the vehicle lights are clearly visible you can get away without lighting but it is a grey area. Tyres need to be roadworthy in accordance with normal tyre law. You can get the trailer weighed at a weighbridge and the suspension might have a rating on it if you are lucky. You could - if you have that data - make a plate. It should really have the date of "manufacture" but if you don't know it cannot. If it is in good order like yours the chances of getting stopped are slim and the chances of the police knowing anything at all about trailer law is slim. The DVSA (formerly VOSA) are the people to watch. If you tow for hire or reward they have jurisdiction. A commercial vehicle - van or 4X4 - towing is something they like to stop. If the total permissible weight is over 3500Kg (i.e. a 3.5 tonne van and a bike trailer) the vehicle should have a tachograph. There are "grey" areas but they tend not to see the grey just their own point of view Hire and reward can be construed as towing a competition vehicle for which a prize could be awarded. (I kid you not).

The reseller sites are very good and offer a variety of options. We use parcel2go from time to time and find the price is the same as our regular contract couriers in the UK and cheaper for EU mainland. You will need to package the wheels up first so you have weights and dimensions to put into the website.

Very hard to find ethanol free here in the UK. I don't know anyone that bothers. I try to find the lowest ethanol fuel I can on the last ride in autumn for my wife's road bike (Ducati Monster) as it sits in the tank for the winter and I have read stuff about it affecting the plastics. My Suzuki has a steel tank and runs regular unleaded. Both bike run regular unleaded when in use. I doubt the accuracy of the ethanol information on UK forums so whether I am getting what I think is questionable (it is not labelled here) My TRS likes Shell V Power which is a 99 octane fuel. It has "up to" 5% ethanol according to the manufacturer's website. I mix 80:1 (Putoline TT Pro) and use it for both the TRS and the Beta. The TRS is better on that fuel but the Beta doesn't really run any different to 97 super unleaded. The Beta pinks on regular (95) unleaded. (I made that mistake when I first bought it). In France the ethanol content is displayed on the pump. So you can buy E5 or E10. Nearly all outlets are E5. I haven't taken the bikes for a while so I am in my diesel car when there, but hopefully we will go to Belgium to watch the trials this year. The Suzuki will be happy on whatever goes in it! I think the whole ethanol thing is overstated to be honest. The early issues with plastics appear to have been sorted. Nearly all bike tanks are plastic and all the manufacturers know that Europe is moving to E10. My lawnmower has the cheapest, most rubbish, plastic tank imaginable (and runs on 99 octane as that is what I have in the can for the bikes).

The xhg summer rides are not very competitive and the beginer's bit is OK. We have a ride on Wednesday evening. http://www.xhgtiger.org.uk/

I run Nano Trans in the Rev 3 with the same results. Hard to credit an oil with so much effect but after half a dozen changes it is a different bike. The cold stick "breaks" after a gentle push in 3rd. A couple of clutch actions remove the last of the stick and the bike rides perfectly. I had intended to do the "fix" but I will not bother now. Bleeding the clutch also made a big difference. I read about the oil on here and have not used any other oil so nothing to compare with other than how the bike arrived with whatever it had in it and whatever it had run before. The cold stick was very bad when I first got the bike and I thought there was a fault with it, so I looked on the Internet and found this forum (thank you everyone for your contributions to this topic).

Thanks I will have another look at it. I put a couple of extra nuts into the mounting point so it has taken it out about 10mm. The silencer doesn't fit very well and this allows it to rotate and the bottom of the oval is still a bit too close to the tyre. I cannot see any additional mounts at the front of the silencer - I assumed it should locate properly but there is nothing for it to butt up to. The missus is at the small obstacle stage and all is fine, but it will give a problem as the rear suspension gets compressed further and harder going forward. I have just been too lazy to give it my full attention if I am honest. I enjoy riding not repairing. Bank hols this weekend so might get a bit more time off and something to do other than be stuck in the traffic

OK. Thanks I will try the SKF items. If your experience has been a similar life span then I can hope the forks are still OK. I will change the bike when I can find a nice Evo as replacement but they don't hang around long enough even to go look at them. I don't want to sell it with a defect and if I can't find what I want we will hang on to it for a while (the Missus loves it). They are nice bikes just that annoying silencer rubbing on the tyre.

There were professionally replaced new seals and new oil. I am lucky that I have a mechanic in walking distance of where I work (and store the bike). The bike will go back to him but I wondered if this was a common thing? Seals are a rare item on road bikes and I am new to trials so want to know if it was a more common thing. I think the rebuild and TiN coating service is a decent price, new forks are nearly 8 hundred and that is way way too much for an old bike like this. Plus that would mean new yokes as the new size is 39mm, so about a grand all up.

My old Rev has the Paioli 38mm forks, now defunct. When we bought the bike the fork seals had "just been replaced" (presumably by the previous owner). After a couple of months or so there was a new leak (R/H). I got a local mechanic to fit new seals as it was cheaper (£45) than going back to the dealer - he reported the fork brace was loose. I therefore assumed the previous owner had been ham fisted. After what is now 6-7 months we have another leak. I cannot see any damage or marks on the stanchions and the forks function OK it is just a bit wet. (L/H only) The black coating is uniform and not showing obvious wear. I assume that the forks will gradually bend and deform over the years? Is this frequency uncommon (bike is '05)? There doesn't feel to be any play in the bushing and the forks are nice to ride, don't sag or anything. The oil was changed and there is no other reason to think anything is wrong. I just wondered if other people find they are also putting seals in more than once a year? I can see a rebuild and re-coating (Titanium Nitride) service for £350 and that is tempting. Very bling gold too. If the coating adds a few microns that should help seal and compensate for 15 years wear. Anyway thought I would canvas a few opinions before spending. Thanks for any feedback.