ChrisCH

Buy a small engined bike to start. See how you get on. Give yourself at least 6-8 months on whatever you buy before you upgrade - if you upgrade. Whatever you buy will be great fun and more than enough to get you started. The key skill is balance (well IMHO it is) and you can learn that on anything. If you still have the balance from your MTB days you should be good enough soon enough. The Beta is popular and will not lose much value if it is over three years old. We have a few 4rt riders in our club and they are good bikes but not trouble free. Don't overlook other brands though - all modern bikes are worth looking at (electric too). You are a bit out in the sticks and might need to travel to find a decent dealer - I found Tom Adamson on a search but their website is utterly crap so can't even see what's in stock. Maybe start with your local club and see if there is anything on offer there and if anyone will let you have a quick lap of the car park? I've always found everyone in the sport to be friendly and helpful.

The 2025 epure race is not much cheaper - a few hundred. From what I have read the gearing is the same as the third gear on the Factor-e. The gearbox therefore allows lower forward speed for the same revs. Whether that is any big advantage is hard to say as it is a new motor and I have not ridden it. The old epure in my view is fine at low revs. I think I also read that the gearbox can be programmed to have different mapping and TKO on/off as default in each gear. Ergo, if you change gear you change the bike and can do that specific to the section or even within a single section. I really don't know. But as I am test riding it this Saturday I soon will know - I hope. I will share my findings with everyone. Sadly whatever the outcome the wife already wants one........

I'm not sure that trials bikes are expensive. Ten thousand UK£ is a lot if you are rubbish like me, but you can still get a secondhand bike for less than a pushbike. Once you have bought the bike they don't cost much to operate. If you are not buying a new bike the depreciation isn't that much either. I have a trials and a trail bike (CRF 250) and I am seriously thinking of selling the trail bike as I can't find anywhere to ride it that interests me. 'Off road' in the UK is becoming very difficult and trials is a cheap and fun way to scratch the itch. For many people I feel you are better off with a mountainbike. (I love my MTB) More places to ride and much less hassle. A good MTB is about the same money as the EM Factor-e. What is happening here and throughout the world is that well off people are getting richer and ordinary people are getting poorer. But that discussion is best left for a more appropriate place than this thread.

Yes, I pretty much agree with all that. I would like one of these bikes but ten grand for what is really a man-toy is a bit more than I am comfortable with. My TRS was five and a half and that was really a bit more than I wanted to pay but the post lockdown trade in prices were too good to miss. There are secondhand EM coming up at 4500 or near that on ebay from time to time. 2021 epure race is about that money. My wife's is a good bike but the TRS is (well in my view) the better one (not by much). Ease of maintenence and no messing about with premix, no carb cleaning, yeah - I'll go electric at the right money. The Factor-e looks the business and I hpe to buy one when there are some secondhand ones about. Hopefully the ex-demo stuff will get sold off at a decent price. Sadly that little "blip" of prices has gone and my '23 TRS is not worth all that much as a trade in. We are at Inch Perfect on the 19th and have booked an extended test ride. I hope we don't like it too much or we will both want one. Now that is expensive... 🙂

Another promo vid from Inch Perfect. OK - it is a marketing and sales thing but nevertheless interesting, if only to see the bike in the hands of someone that can ride (ie not me...)

Looks like a gap in the market. We have the later EM with the small cells and I did some investigation in case, but so far the battery is fine. Have you looked beyond the ebike places at the automotive sector? It might be you get a lucky break rather than the expense and hassle of France. I wish you luck. I found these guys: https://cedarelectric.co.uk/electric-and-hybrid-battery-repairs/ as a start point.

The future - I hope - is lighter and more powerful batteries. Solid state looks as if it is near to a point that it will meet those criteria, just price that remains a problem (well for most of us...) One of the big gripes in the ebike world is the lack of standardisation. Motors vary between bikes and within the same manufacturer. The market needs to shake out and settle on one standard and then produce in volume to get prices down. In a perfect world the battery element of the equation would be just "fuel" and something you can change easily and not at 50% the cost of the complete bike. Quite a few of the people I know that are running or looking at battery cars are leasing as they think the battery technology will change soon. That said the government are keen to do away with the tax relief so I am not sure the volumes are going to be there yet.

I did not know they all have to be changed. You can certainly get them: https://ebikebatteries.co.uk/product-category/li-on-lifepo4-cells/li-nmc-pouch-cells/ So much to learn about new technologies after a lifetime of petrol engines.

Depending where you are there are other options to sending the battery pack to the manufacturers. There are here (UK) places that will rebuild battery packs for ebikes and would, I imagine, therefore be able to rebuild an EM pack. If there is a duff cell it could be replaced by that type of service centre. Worth having a search around for places that advertise repairs to ebike batteries.

Re-winding is a common thing. Not sure about the magnet part. Worth a try perhaps to these guys? http://www.westcountrywindings.co.uk/applications.php

Looks like another electric in the line up. https://global.honda/en/newsroom/news/2024/2240913eng.html?from=motorcycle

I had a 280RR ('17) and now have a 250RR ('23). Both are not too much if you are used to powerful motorcycles. The 280 was overkill but all I could find for sale at the time. The 250 is very nice and I am really enjoying it. The big difference is the 250 is much easier to kick over and uses about half as much fuel as the 280. I have very very average skills and am still working on hopping. The bike has a nice light front and wheelies easily. There are a couple of One R riders in our club and they are all better than me. If I were starting over I think I would look at a 125 as bike 1 to be honest. We bought a Beta (shared me and the missus) The Beta is much less agressive and she used it for about 3 years before going to an EM. (I bought the 280 as she hogged the shared bike) None of the different bikes will improve your skills. However, to be honest I have found that changing bikes can help as it makes you think a bit more. Well that's my excuse for always looking at new bikes anyway 😀

I think Pierer are in bother with their push bike division - some big names have hit the skids in that market. Gasgas has a range of e-bikes something all the M/C brands seem to be keen on; Yamaha, Ducati and now Triumph with the Trekker. These must be loss making? Gasgas have been doing well in Moto 2 and I think they are pulling that team? I hope they don't pull the electric trials bike.

If you can pick up a decent TRS locally at a good price it is a sensible choice all round. I have a '23 250RR and it is a very nice machine and far, far more capable than I will ever be. The Tech forks are good and hop easily if the rider is up to it. Mine doesn't stall or have any vice that I am aware of. In terms of hopping about the secret is balance. If you cannot static balance you will not hop. For a short time there is a free (wheelie) course online worth a quick look at https://www.trialsprogression.com/ I find the guy very easy to understand and he breaks down the skills which makes it easier. For me the issue is you need to spend a long time between stages by which time the free offer will be over. I bought a Honda CRF 250L in Feb this year and have been trying to master wheelies on that. It is much heavier than a trials bike and also has a lowering kit on it (the missus likes that..) We did a training day with an enduro club recently and they suggested front brake to compress the forks prior to lifting the front. I have found this to be a worthwhile thing to learn (its in the free course too). The Honda is helping me with trials and the trials helps with the Honda. So please don't get too hung up on choice of bike. You can learn/practice static balance on a push bike.

Any bike will do. The rider is what makes the difference. Modern suspension is more than good enough and often the same make over different brands of bike. To improve technical skills all that is needed is to spend many hours practice. There are some good YouTube tutorials around to help, but in the end it comes down to putting the time in.

EM have signed Jeroni Fajardo. A little more info on the bike and the new model without the gearbox but new motor and battery.

Win for Haga in trial2 https://www.visordown.com/news/racing/general/gasgas-sondre-haga-make-motorcycle-history-trialgp

Thanks guys. I think I will change the bearings, they are very cheap (60042RS) and it is a task inside my limited abilities. Another one on the 'round to it' list.

Missus' 2021 epure race. I fitted a new chain and set it up like every other bike I have ever done - one finger gap between the spring adjuster and the swinging arm. Now it has a squeak - like a dry brake squeak which seems to come from the output sprocket at the motor end. We have both ridden it for a while but it is still there. Brake is fine and has not been touched, not had the back wheel out. No play in wheel bearings or gearbox output shaft as far as I can detect. I have backed the tension off a bit and the noise has gone. Squeak was in time with wheel rotations so it is somewhere or somehow related to that. My guess is a wheel bearing, but there is no play at all, sound seems to come front of chain (but I know sounds like to play tricks on you). Any one have a thought? I will change the wheel bearings as my next move but grateful for any input.

I put this in Beta as it mostly covers that brand but some feedback on other brands included. Its YT but audio only. Really interesting point about the 250cc standard versus factory models. Well worth 20 minutes of your day to listen to. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ3Cq76bWzA Interview with Ray Peters - Beta Team Manager and Trials Coach (USA)

On my MTB wheel building course we were taught to lube the thread to assemble the wheel. The explanation was that a dry thread might require different force between individual spokes to achieve the same tightness. I have no idea if that is correct or sensible - just what the person taught me. The tutor was a professional wheel builder and had worked for some of the top teams. Thinking about the issue raised by this topic it occurs to me that trials (and other spoked MC) wheels generally do not need any attention. Neither do modern machine-built MTB wheels. When I started mountain biking it was common for a shop that built a wheel to tell you to bring it back in a couple of weeks to readjust. (My course tutor said this is because the idiot that built it had not got it right at the first attempt). The wheel I built never needed adjusting and the hub broke eventually. You do not see adverts for hand-built wheels any more. I think the hypothesis that the manual has the wrong torque settings might be a good one.

Looks like the new motor/battery on the other bikes is the plan. The latest offering here on the MY2025 epure race looks like the same motor but no gears. Oddly this bike is not on the manufacturer's website. https://inchperfecttrials.co.uk/products/2025-em-epure-race-2-5kwh

Dherby are a big trials shop (https://www.dherbeymoto.com/marchand/magasin.php) with lots of bikes and kit. We used to own a place in Montpellier and broke the journey down by an overnight in Grenoble when we could just to go buy something we didn't really need. Grenoble is lovely (if a bit busy) and the drive through the mountains west to Montpellier was also very nice (big nut orchards there too). We sold up recently in Montpellier as the Taxe Fonc and Hab got to nearly two grand and it was just too much, especially as we had not been able to get back during the lockdown. I'm looking Normandy area now as there is (cheaper) land there. Never been to Matchams though I drive past it often. Our trials club do a once a year event at Rogershill near Dorchester. We are based in Horton. Thanks for the feedback on the importing. I will have to work out the cost/benefit but I think the missus will require the Ducati to follow her at any cost. From what I have read you need insurance to ride in trials competitions and so the bike has to have a Carte Gris. We might bring the Electric Motion as a toy for our own land but it would be nice to ride it at the local club. (ACL Breal are near-ish to our target area)

Thanks for that. We plan to set out a trials practice area if we can buy something with a bit of land. I have read on other forums there is a lot of hassle bringing a bike in. The problem seems to be you need a Controle Technique but as bikes are exempt no one can test a bike. I think they are talking about introducing the CT for motorbikes so maybe ironically it will make it easier. Otherwise we will sell the bikes here and buy again when we get there. Neither of our trials bikes are registered so no Carte Gris either. The missus will shoot people if she can't import her Ducati. Have you been to Dherby? Worth a visit if you are that way. I wish we had a big shop like that in the south of England.

Salut. Welcome to the forum. We looked at Moto88 a year or so back but it is closed in the winter (we were visiting at xmas). I don't know much about the Sherco - if you want quiet get an Electric Motion. Dherby have a few in stock but they are not cheap. I hope to retire to France next year if Mme Le Pen lets me in.