ChrisCH

I hope you have a nice time. Do bear in mind this is not allowed. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-outbreak-faqs-what-you-can-and-cant-do/coronavirus-outbreak-faqs-what-you-can-and-cant-do Para 1.1 "As with before, you cannot: - gather in a group of more than two (excluding members of your own household), except for a few specific exceptions set out in law (for work, funerals, house moves, supporting the vulnerable, in emergencies and to fulfil legal obligations)" There does seem to be a lot of confusion about the rules but they are pretty clear. IMHO the owner of a practice ground is still required to keep it closed. Lot of traffic on the internet now about all the things we can do, but a lot of people seem to think the "lockdown" is over. It is not. I think most of us (if we are honest) are bending the rules just a tiny bit past what they should be. I'm pretty keen to get back to our local practice area but I would rather wait than have the landowner shut it altogether for fear of being fined. For myself - as in just me personally - I would take the risk, I'm sure it would not be hard to keep apart from other people if there are not too many of us.

I thought that was the whole point of it? ?

It is a growing problem. I think the facebook addicts fail to understand that other people are not as sad as them. Andy's view on it is very interesting. I also don't facebook and never will. Much better class of person on here ?

I think that is fair. However we are not going to get to ride until such time as the government agree to let larger groups of people get together. The current limit is from the same household. The missus and I can go practice together but no one else can join us at the practice venue. At some point there will be a relaxation that larger groups of people can mix and then it is whether or not that number is large enough for a club meeting. I agree that trials is a low risk sport and is ideally suited to participants being 2m apart. I hope very much therefore we get an early opportunity to ride again, before the rugby/soccer and so on start.

I agree. Trials is a participation sport more than anything. Most people have a bike and ride. I don't follow the big competitions very much and so really don't know who is riding in what. The next big competition here (UK) is in Tong and it's too far to go. I don't imagine anyone is much interested in my club or who is "winning" beyond the club members themselves and even then we don't much care as a whole. I like to look at other people's projects - some are good others less so but it is sort of interesting to see what people are doing. I am interested in repairs that affect my bike choices, the Beta clutch fix is a good thread for example. I think the site would be very quiet if it was just about Raga vs Bou and so on.

The real problem is no one knows what is happening. Even if your government is honest ours is not and your neighbour has the loony chap right now that thinks you should inject yourself with bleach or something like that. Today it turns out some chap had it in France in December. Where he caught it from is a mystery. Because so many people have no real symptoms they are spreading it without realising it and have been doing for months. It also seems that it lasts longer than people first thought and can be caught a second time after the much touted "immunity". It's easy enough to imagine a trials meeting where people do not directly touch one another and are very unlikely therefore to spread any infection amongst the group. But as your quote suggests not everyone will play the game. Life is returning to how it was before the days of modern medicine.

I have also read that the current SARS virus can be detected on cardboard after 24 hours. I am not sure if it is still "dangerous" as in it can infect you or if it is just detectable fragments of the RNA. As it is still possible to buy/sell over the internet this is a transmission potential that needs better understanding. We are still shipping product and having deliveries but at about 10% of normal. All our stuff is boxed. I've just ordered a chain and sprockets for the bike as well so more cardboard incoming.... I agree about the vaccine. Don't hold your breath. I think that the real plan - the one they don't tell you - is just for it to spread slow enough that the health industry can keep up. Well, for lots of countries anyway. Certainly the UK. I would have thought club level trials is near the bottom in terms of risky sports and I hope very much that it is soon back on the agenda. You can only clean the bike so often and end up buying sprockets and stuff when you are bored. ?

Yes, similar product here in UK https://www.wynns.eu/product/fuel-stabilizer/ You can also buy longlife fuel for small petrol engines like chainsaws. I have no idea what any of this does to a high performance engine of the type fitted to a trials bike. I wouldn't take the chance myself. My TRS tank comes off very easily and could be drained without any problem. You can run the carb dry just as easily. The Beta tank is integral so not so easy. I remember from my youth that leaving carbs dry they then leak as the gaskets dry out, but no idea if that is still the case. And the OP question about fuel injection - sorry I am clueless on that. I run up our road bikes once a fortnight and now that we cannot use the trials bikes I run them up as well. At least that keeps the bores lubed and the piston rings move about a bit and the water cooling operates so the thermostats and so on all get tested. The only engine I neglect is the lawn mower but I have been known to run that mid-winter as well just to keep it sweet. The exhaust fumes keep the mice out the shed as a bonus ?

https://www.splatshop.co.uk/jitsie-showa-stiffer-shock-spring.html

It's amazing to me that people bitch about the noise of a motorcycle, then get out their petrol lawnmower with a busted exhaust after which they get a leaf blower which they rev up at half second intervals for an hour as they are too lazy and too environmentally destructive to use a rake and a broom. Most people round here use their buzz-buzz-buzz leaf blower to blow the grass cuttings into the road so they blow about into everyone else's garden but the pillock with the leaf blower has a nice tidy garden.

Found an old thread on here and it mentions a Belgian shock. This is still available in "road" (LOL) and competition versions. The cheaper one is not a disaster: https://www.wilbers-shop.de/en/Motorcycle/Beta/Evo-250-2-Takt-T6-wilbers/shock-absorber-type-630-Road.html?year=2014 A service/rebuild is about £130-160 for the OE. Most annoying to have all this spare time and not be able to use it more productively. Huski, I think you are right and if I do the back end the front will annoy me.

I think this is a really good point. There is a tendency to upgrade shocks that is unusual in every other world apart from motorbikes. I ride the wife's Beta some times and the suspension seems very crappy to me compared to the TRS. (RR model - Reiger shock). She is OK with it. Neither of us are much good and not at the "hop" stage. One possibility is the unit is just worn out (I can bottom it out). Trials bikes if ridden well have a hard life. I have been reading this thread with interest to see if buying a new shock is sensible, they are very expensive and a significant investment on an old bike (Beta is '14) The Reiger is over a grand and so you have to consider the current trade in value plus a grand and what you could buy with that. I am going to guess and say any decent after market shock is going to be better than an old shock that has some level of wear. I wonder what the cost benefit is over having the stock unit properly serviced and set up?

You could but it would cost more. Equally you could buy after market parts that were not the Beta choices (Ohlins shock for example). Also you can buy the factory decals so it would look the same irrespective of the parts fitted. My wife's 2014 model (standard) would definitely benefit from some improved suspension. Everyone's Beta would probably benefit from some better brakes. You would have to be a better rider than me or her to really need the engine improvements (to be fair most people are better than either of us). I would very much like to try a factory model out to see whether it makes sense to buy a completely new bike or just upgrade the suspension and brakes. My TRS suspension and brakes are noticeably better but it is a newer (17) bike to be fair. I can see both Reiger and Ohlins back shocks for the Beta but the cost is nearly the same as upgrading the bike to a two-three year old factory model. The wife is happy with her bike at present so I think it is just a case of looking to buy a newer bike in due course. If we are locked down much longer there are going to be some bargains about IMHO. Those people that change their bike to get the "new" model each year might not bother this year. Plus unsold new stock sitting about right now that no one is going to buy if you cannot use it.

Both mine and the missus' road bikes need MOT in March and so they got tested and a short run and new petrol "ready". Of course what I was getting ready for has not happened... I'm back to winter mode and run them for a few minutes every so often and charge the battery from time to time. At least with a trials bike it is easy to take the tank off and they still have a petrol tap that lets you empty the carb if you need to. I had a VFR750 that the petrol turned to gel in after nearly two years, but that is the only time I've had a need to do anything other than top up with fresh petrol. The lawnmower overwinters and still starts first pull.

Store it in you front room and practice static balancing. By the end of this no one will have an excuse for not being Bou level balance. ?

Beta have a dealer network and importers in Romania. That might be a good brand to look at. You would probably be able to get spare parts and service items easily. The Beta Evo 250 2T is a good bike to start on and popular here in England. If you can find a local secondhand bike at the right price then I guess that will make the decision for you. 250cc is more than enough to start with and probably all anyone will ever need until you get to a very high level.

What are you trying to say? We are all sad old men on here? ?

The manuals are here: https://www.beta-uk.com/index.php/downloads

https://betausa.com/trials-hisotry/

On old tractors there was a built in hours meter, rather like the mileometer on cars. It worked by being turned by the cable on the rev counter, (tractors don't have speedometer) I don't know if this crosses over to small two stroke petrol engines but it is pertinent. The "hours" is dependent on the revs rather than the actual physical time the motor is running. Tractor service intervals are therefore dependent upon the number of revolutions the engine has made rather than chronological time. If you apply the same to a trials bike the need to service it is dependent on whether it is running at quarter throttle round sections or revving it's nuts off jumping up a huge obstacle. My gut feeling therefore is that the service schedule of any trials (or other competition bike for that matter) bike is really guesswork. A factory team with a big budget and a pro mechanic or two might well service the bike far more than it really needs, but at least it keeps the bike competitive. Me, I am rubbish and usually come last so being "competitive" isn't really an issue to be honest. Another benefit of being rubbish is never revving the bike up either. I don't think I've ever opened the throttle past half way. So really the need to service and to replace items like pistons is really dependent on the individual use. Well IMHO anyway.

I wonder if the business rates relief will apply? Are trials bikes "leisure"? That would sure help a lot of people.

There is a playlist. Looks as if they have added English subtitles to them https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_EU7WNasz1i6KYKr7KyURh9GNLb_aa4a

I like this chap, but as this is an English language site have not shared with everyone my "find". However this has English subtitles and I found it very informative with the slo' mo' and breaking up into sections. It's better to watch without the subtitles as they obscure some of the vid. so you can re-run bits without the subtitles switched on as an option. Or brush up your French ?

I always wondered why Honda fitted brakes that had a bit of front and back for this reason. Also if you want to brake hard in the snow I would be very very wary of any front brake without the back wheel already locked up. I put off buying a VFR800 for that reason until they (Honda) gave up on the idea in 2014. (Still have not got the VFR as spending too much on trials bikes). As I understood it at the time the thinking was the "born again biker" mob who instinctively use the foot pedal as they are really car drivers not motorcyclists. As someone that had a bike before I could spell 'automobile' this is not really something that affects me. I find it difficult to modulate the rear brake with trials boots and the bike at an angle that I am not accustomed to as a long time road rider. I tend to over brake and lose the wheelie. On my mountain bike I for some weird reason tend to forget the brake lever completely and fall off the back. (No fun at all). The TRS has a superb brake but the wife's Beta has a poor rear brake by comparison and it is actually a bit easier as it doesn't work so well and needs more pressure and does not brake as hard. I am sure that better balance makes it less critical. So just another two million hours practice....

Well I've found a picture on the advert from SW trials. No idea.