ChrisCH

Yup. There is a big lot of BS around electric as an automotive fuel right now. But you are correct that there are other alternatives to fossil hydrocarbons. For trials bikes I think the issue is neither here nor there - we really do not use enough fuel to have any influence one way or another. E85 is a step in the right direction but (as best I understand it) that requires fuel injection? The Vertigo is - I think - the only non carburated bike at present? Light cars will go electric - the trend is very strong and the air pollution in cities makes it inevitable. Maybe not 100% of all cars but for city use it is going that way for sure. I would buy an electric van if they were not so expensive. For my usage it would be better than the current diesel. I need a van big enough for two trials bikes and they are big money. My wife likes the electric bike very much - the new Factor-e is really really good. Again a bit too expensive right now to buy, but the running costs will be lower with no engine to service. I cannot fault the bike - maybe a few kilos too heavy if you are really trying hard to find fault with it. Road motorcycles is a hard one. The little bikes for ride to work are OK in electric but bigger stuff doesn't cut it. Without the car market going over to synthetic (non fossil) fuel its hard to see where the market for that fuel will come from, so hard to see the economic case for manufacturing it. Assuming humans survive long enough there will come a point where you cannot buy petrol at a service station and it will only be in a (small) can for vintage stuff. I think my TRS will be worn out by then 😁

Back on topic - the question for the US trials market is whether the new Pres will push up the cost of trials bikes to replace other taxes and if so, whether Vertigo is seen as "Chinese" and as such gets the biggest hit in the trade war he is planning? https://edition.cnn.com/2024/10/26/politics/trump-income-taxes-tariffs/index.html Most trials bikes are european in origin and might not get hit too hard. Whack job Reagan put a 45% tariff on Japanese bikes as Japan was the boogeyman back then. Bad news for Volvo cars too?

Americans are tired of their children. 😁

We don't have the required engineers anymore 😁

Which ones have you ridden? I found the old EM to be not so good as my TRS, but the new one is on a par or better. It takes a fair while to get used to as they are different for sure. Yes too expensive - hopefully the Chinese will bring the price down though.

Hydrogen will never ever be a fuel for small (less than 40t) vehicles. There are many technological reasons why. It has a role for large vehicles although the German experiment with trains (to which it is suited) saw a return to diesel/electric fairly soon (not sure totally why - see https://hydrogen-central.com/why-germany-first-hydrogen-train-is-partially-switching-back-to-diesel/) Hydrogen was (and still is) a massive lie by the oil & gas companies to pretend they are going green but still burning fossil hydrocarbon. There already is a perfectly good gas if you need it - LPG. Electric is most certainly the future for the light car market. China is the main manufacturing centre for electric cars and electric is 50% of their current domestic sales. China also is the main place of manufacture of PV panels and has a massive growing solar sector. Their government is committed to solar and is moving fast in that direction. China has terrible air pollution and little oil so needs to import oil or domestically produce cheap as chips electric from the sun. There is only one outcome of those variables. This is why the idiot Trump wants to tariff Chinese EV by 100%. The yanks are scared of China overtaking them as world no 1 economy. China will overtake USA soon, probably while the orange idiot is in power. Whatever. We are not bothered by such stuff as we like motorcycles, not cars (or trains). For trials bikes electric is a good fuel. Better in my opinion than liquid hydrocarbon for the majority of riders. For road bikes liquid hyrocarbon is a better choice. Road bike EV are thus far not much cop - too short a range and a bit heavy and clunky. Hard to see how current battery technology works for road going motorbikes. That might change, but for now I am keeping my Suzuki thank you. Road bikes are going Chinese. CF Moto is the brand of the minute (and doing well in the GP). The price advantage is considerable and the build quality good. We are at the turning point. Same place we were with the Japanese bikes in the 80s. However trials is not big in China. All I am aware of is the Tenaci Wong and it is going nowhere much. This industry news could be (I said "could") a shift. It would be great if China started to figure in trials a bit more and such an expansion would be good for the sport IMHO. So, to recap. The future is Chinese (CF Moto?). The future is electric (EM/Yamaha, Gasgas, Honda, OSET, Snow Leopard?)

The future is Chinese. The future is electric.

You might be able to get the bike tested and approved for UK road use. You will need to take it to a test station for type approval rather than an MOT test. https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-approval/motorcycle-single-vehicle-approval

If it has lights etc then really it is a "road" bike (like a CRF300L Honda for example) or it was in China. It will need to meet UK emissions levels (Euro 5) and relevent laws, also the lights will need to be UK specification. An enduro bike might be road legal if it meets those requirements, but the chances are the Chinese bike does not. The manufacturer will only fit lights etc to meet UK laws. Competition bikes (trials) generally do not have road lighting, but are still required to meet the new Euro 5 emissions standards. If the bike is sold as "off road" - like a pit bike - then it is for off road use only and they do not need to provide any documentation as you can use it off road on private land where it does not need to comply with any road laws. It sounds like that is what the ebay seller is telling you. If it is new you don't need an MOT for three years.

It is not the import tax that is important - it is whether the bike is road legal or not. If it does not have UK type approval then it might not be suitable for road use. Competition bikes (trials) are exempt from type approval so it is not a black and white issue. If it off ebay and the seller says it is not road legal it probably isn't so DVLA will not register it.

Yeah - the chain line was the source of the noise. I bought a new chain (very cheap on ebay) and the noise increased - my bad. Its great now and the bike is 100% Inch perfect have a nice factor-e with a grand off so I have given in to the OH pressure.... We are there 27th to pick up and have a ride. Really hope your lad enjoys it - what a great xmas pressie (cheaper than the wife's 😁) I am sure you will both be OK with the epure - they take a little while to get used to but are a really good ride.

I am sure you are a better mechanic than me but one thing to look at with these bikes is chain/transmission noise from rear wheel allignment. I fitted a new chain as the transmission was noisy and the thing got worse. It turns out the snail cams are not the same either side and I had not set the back wheel up properly. Took me quite a while to figure it out but once sorted it was great. Enjoy the bikes, we really enjoy ours but the missus is giving me ear ache for a factor-e so might have to relent as it is xmas...

That's interesting. We need more people to go watch the top end stuff.

Yes, my bad spelling. I had the F4 back in the day and it was too fast - had to sell it before I lost my licence. Missus still hasn't forgiven me. I seem to be buying slower and slower bikes as I get older... (or is that wiser?)

KTM are now in self administration in Europe, they hope to get new funding and the news suggests all will be revealed by end Feb. https://newatlas.com/motorcycles/ktm-enters-restructuring/ I wonder if the other brands are in bother? They have a joint venture with CF Moto as well. My local Triumph dealers have just taken over the next door unit and are selling Pierer from these premises. (https://www.destinationmotorcycles.co.uk/) I have been drooling over the Augusta for some time and bought some Gasgas merchandise - its a nice outlet and the new bikes look really nice as well. Shame to see it all go bang.

The problem for OSSA or any other company in the same situation is whether or not they have the machine tools available to make the vehicle. An up to date OSSA with new improved parts is attractive but the investment needed just to make an engine is significant. If you made one it wouldn't sell much outside of the few enthusiasts that are willing to pay more than a modern bike just for nostalgia. Is the brand name worth anything? Hard to say. SAIC bought MG cars (and LDV vans) - possibly to make the "Chinese" element less obvious. The vans have dropped the LDV and are now branded SAIC. On the bike front Chinese brands are now becoming desirable and CF Moto are doing really well in the GP - no cheap rubbish jokes anymore, much as Japanese bikes are respected now but were "cheap junk" in the 1970s. Maybe Tenaci Wong will buy the OSSA brand name? Could work for them. In my view there is room for another electric bike at the correct price. They already have a good frame and cycle parts. China is the go-to place for electric vehicle technology. Sadly about to be hit by some big tarifs as the European and US car giants throw a temper tantrum.

I would imagine the brand name is still for sale. The two guys who set this company up might enter the electric market but it would be odd to try to bring another ICE bike into the market right now. Sadly these small companies like OSSA cannot really survive in the modern world and pretty much all end up as a part of some large group. I would think Gasgas (who are part of PIERER Mobility AG and have KTM and Husky and other brands) probably has the intellectual property of the old OSSA engines.

BOSI do a front mudguard replacement with a brace. We had one for a year or so and it was an improvement on the OE. I think other mudguards will also fit the brace if you need to replace again. Worth a look. https://www.johnleemotorcycles.co.uk/product/bosi-front-fender-kit/

Yes, trapezartist is on the money. A Beta 250 in standard format is hard to beat as a default position. Does everything well enough and is reliable and resellable. It is a safe option for anyone pretty much. Anything post 2014 is good to ride and the earlier ones really are not all that much different. The old Rev3 is harder for parts now and IMHO the Evo is better (had both). The front brake is the weak point in my experience, but a new disc and better pads can cure it. Older bikes are a lottery - it might be a bargain and well cared for or it can be a shed. Newer large cc bikes will have been ridden hard and can be a lottery as well. I would suggest there is more difference between bikes of the same brand than there is difference between brands if you are looking at secondhand stuff. When you are sitting in a ditch full of icy water with the bike on top of you they are all about 70Kg 😁

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.

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.

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