ChrisCH

I agree 100% with your post. However to the OP I would say you are getting tied up in knots over just a few kilos. A decent modern bike is about 68-70Kg and the Mechatechno is 60Kg and (I think) the lightest option of all. Unless the bike falls on top of you you will not really notice much difference. If you have a bad back it will be technique and skill that will have the biggest effect, not the weight of the bike. Most people, for example, when they first start try to pull up the bars to lift the front wheel and that can stress the back muscles. Once you learn to let the engine and clutch do the work it is no stress at all. Try to get a ride on a good 250 and I think you will be pleasantly surprised. But yes a 125 is a good bike if you can pick up a good one. Much easier to find a 250 that has had an easy life. If you can afford it and buy new the Mechatechno (10 grand) is an amazing thing, my missus has an electric (EM) and they are really, really good. If money were no object that (Mechatecno) would be my choice.

Based on smell rather than an accurate survey I don't know of anyone using castor in anything other than a few old bikes like BSA. Our last trial was 80 riders and not a whiff of castor exhaust fumes. I can't think of any reason to use rubbish old technology other than nostalgia for the distinctive smell.

One of the reasons modern cars are going this way is more computing built into the system. It is not a saving on the cost of physical hardware, but making a system where the mechanic and repair shop have to buy in the software to do the repair. Without the software you cannot "tell" the vehicle it has been repaired so it isn't. This means the vehicle owner must use a repair/service outlet that has the software and you can licence the software only to dealers in your brand of vehicle. BMW are pretty much at that point already. It is very refreshing that in trials both Vertigo and EM offer the engine mapping software to the owner and end user. In the pedal cycle world the lack of compatability between motors/versions and batteries is a real problem forcing 'scrappage' of working machines that cannot be upgraded. It is all driven - as you rightly say - by the profit motive and a total disregard for the environmental cost.

I found it here: https://trialworld.es/asi-es-la-revolucionaria-electric-motion-factor-e-2025/ "este prototipo debutará hoy mismo en competición con Gael Chatagno en el Trial Indoor de Montpellier." There the interview with Colomer (thanks Tr1AL) as well but my Spanish is not good enough to keep up with the speed of the interviewer.

Very short clip of it in action at Montpellier. I am sure the full vidoe will be online in the next few days. (Gael came last....)

I agree, but I would guess that the weight issue has been holding back development. If battery technology moves on and gives us a lighter and more powerful "fuel" then things will really move forward.

I need to polish my web skills the new domain is g2grup. https://g2grup.com/moto-trial?lang=en

There is a report on the new enduro bike in the US but the European website is just pushbikes. The domain (jotagas) is dormant or unused or squatted. I guess they are like a lot of others needing to see a market. Mecatecno look in much the same place with the Dragonfly. Electric pushbikes are the big thing and Gasgas have hit that market with a big range. Ducati are also playing in the e-bike market. The electric pushbike is the thing of the moment the boomer generation must-have toy. Us poor old trials riders just don't buy enough or exist in enough numbers for anyone much to make money out of us.

All my auto renew has worked and I have confirmation that the money has been taken from my account even though they have not got the account details.

I would not know if you dropped it on my foot 😁 The kit site is still live: https://www.eta-motors.com/ By the time you have bought a donor bike and a kit you have spent as much as an EM. We are at the importers (EM) on Thursday for a short training session, I will report back if I get any news (and if I get any tips about vertical lift from a standstill as I know you are interested)

This looks very similar to the German conversion kit that used the old GG bottom end. There is a YT video of Raga on Spain's "quiet day" that looks also very similar. I really like the Mecatecno but they have not really hit the market yet either. Hopefully 2024 will see the start of more interest and activity, the Yam is going to be in the competitions as well.

So very much depends on where you are in the world. Brazil went to E10 in 1977. They have a large number of vehicles that run on 100% Ethanol. Clearly a lot of the problems reported in other countries are exagerated or made up. Brazil is a very interesting case study. The Wiki entry is a bit of a long read, but worth a look for anyone interested in the subject: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol_fuel_in_Brazil One really good thing from this example is that it is possible to run a petrol ICE without the need to extract crude oil. So, when the world finally gets round to banning mineral based petrol we will still have a liquid hydrocarbon to run our old bikes on.

It is generally agreed that oxidisation is a minimum of a three to six month process. Ethanol free petrol has a storage life of perhaps a year. If you intend to leave any engine for any length of time it is a good idea to drain off the fuel. My old VFR gelled up many years ago (long before ethanol) when I left it standing for about 10 months. This is why youcan buy Aspen fuel for hand tools with seasonal use at most garden/timber outlets. It is a very good idea to run any engine at least once a month. I run both the road bikes every 3-4 weeks enough to get the engine hot and the thermostats open. I have understood the need to do this for at least the last 40 years. Modern petrol - with or without ethanol - seems to last a shorter period of time than when I first bought a motorbike.

There are clearly lots of different forumulations so it is hard to pick on one part of petrol. My understanding of ethanol is that it absorbs water so the octane rating decreases as the engine will not burn the water. In the UK the 97 and 99 octane fuels are E5. Virtually all two stroke bikes need at least 98 so they are on E5. My road bikes run on E10 and sit in winter and are zero problem at all. My lawn mower sits in a damp shed all winter and is faultless and will start first or second pull in spring (it has E5 in it as that is in t he can I use for the trials bike). I think a lot of the (ethanol) problem exists only on the internet and very little in real life.

Where are you based? The E10 motorcycle lists I can find suggest the WR is OK. I suspect that there is another component in the mix. The oil industry is not exactly honest. https://speedo-angels.com/e10-motorcycle-compatibility/ Yamaha All Yamaha models from Model Year 1990 are compatible with E10.

I wonder if the broader composition of petrol has changed in the US in recent years? It is easy to just look at the ethanol, but rather unscientific. Ethanol absorbs water and that can be an issue but a lot of the other problems don't ring true. My petrol lawnmower starts first or second attempt in spring with the same fuel it has had in all winter. It is in a shed that is damp and I don't really look after it much. Petrol will form a gel after a while, I had a VFR that needed the carbs stripped, but that was pre ethanol and it had been stood a long time. The volatile parts evaporate. Aspen is designed to stand for a long time and is ethanol free and sold for the small engine market - mowers and the like. It is hard to get the high octane rated Aspen if you wanted to run a trials bike on it though. (My mower gets the bike petrol - Shell V Power)

I have been assured by a professional mechanic that his customer's Rover P3 has had "lots of problems" (non specific) and had to change all sorts of things (non specific) as a result of the E10. I didn't know they had plastic tanks in the 1940s but hey - I'm more of a bike man than a car man.

My mate's Fantic is OK but we did a (nice) section with a stream crossing. His brakes got soaked and were u/s from that point on. He packed up and missed the rest of trial. I think these old bikes are great fun and have a charm, but having paid to ride a trial and got out of bed early on a Sunday and braved the rain and traffic I want to ride not watch other people. I had an XL250 back in the day and its drum brakes were OK in the dry but you needed to be a bit careful in the wet. The drum went oval as well so they used to snatch. Nearly took me off one time. The bike got stolen so that was the end of that, but if I had kept it I probably would have upgraded to a disc front on a 21" rim to get a better choice of tyres. Norwich Union gave me 500 quid - it would be worth five grand now. Humph. I hate bike thieves.

Friend has a Fantic 200 and the brakes are poor. This seems to me to be the big problem with old twinshocks. Power delivery and all that stuff is what it is but having wooden brakes is just too much for me, I wouldn't bother with an old bike as a serious ride (maybe 2nd bike for the odd day, just for fun if you can afford the indulgence). If you want to improve and end up riding well I would stick to a modern bike.

I can't see the fleet of old Honda Cubs retiring. At 100mpg they are not much of an issue in terms of CO2. Besides they last for ever.

For sure a lot of old classics (cars or bikes) are "worth more" in original condition. There is a sizable market for better classics though and some pretty expensive cars (and expensive conversions) These guys do a lot and have an interesting YouTube channel https://www.electricclassiccars.co.uk/past-projects We have a few old timers at the club, BSA and so on and I agree the engine is part of the ride. That said if a twinshock floats your boat and you want electric as the fuel there isn't anything stopping you. Price is the issue for me too. I love the idea of an electric twinshock but the donor bike is two grand plus and the kit is the same sort of money. Five grand buys a EM with all the modern kit, Tech forks and braktec brakes make it a formidable machine. Not sure I want to ride too much with drum brakes. EM are a small French outfit and probably not in a position to access much finance. One of the disadvantages of being an early mover. We bought ours at a good price as it had a bit of cosmetic damage. Friend wanted the old Beta and was willing to pay the correct price as well so that helped. 10 grand for the Dragonfly is too much for me, plus there is another development cycle to go through for that model I think?

If you look round there are conversion kits and DIY electric components for older bikes. I don't know if the one for Gasgas would fit older bikes but worth a look. https://www.eta-motors.com/englisch/txt4822/ Such a conversion makes a lot of sense as engine components might be hard to come by and alternative cycle parts easier to find. The only issue I can see is if you ride in a competition they will not know which category to put you in. There is a very big industry putting electric motors into classic cars and making a vehicle that is useful for day to day driving. Mega bucks though. For road vehicles the batteries are not quite there yet unless you can afford a Tesla, but for trials the capacity is more than enough. The missus' EM has impressed me and Konrad's website is fantastic as a resource for owners. You do need to adapt your riding style and get used to the machine which takes a while and is probably why the electric bikes are being made to be so much like an ICE. The EM gets a lot of interest when we ride at the club events and at the practice ground. I honestly think people will move over to EV if the cost is right. At least 4-5 people at our club would do so if they could find a reasonable priced bike. This might be worth a look. https://www.miromax.lt/en/m-6/c-26/c-50-electric_motorcycle_conversion_kits/product-276-e-motorcycle_conversion_kit_20hp_10-13kw

How high are you trying to lift? I agree this is the worst part of the bike's ability and I can see it being a problem for really good riders. If you compress the forks it tackles up to half a metre without any issue. The factory riders do much bigger stuff than this. The TRS gives front wheel lift with a tiny bit of clutch and the EM does not, but my old Rev3 needed fork compression. Just that the TRS is a whole lot easier and I have become lazy. There is a good long term review of the EM on IRC Tire USA Moto on YouTube. (He is using it indoors like me). Some guidance on vertical lift on that - he is about 3,000 times better rider than me to be fair. (ref BZV-UnGhyhE if you want to watch it)

Electric is perfect for trials bikes. Nothing to do with any ideas of pollution or climate change - if you care about that then give up motorsports/cars/bikes altogether. My TRS barely uses a litre per trial so the "fuel" is neither here nor there in terms of CO2 or NOx. The benefit is not having to go to the petrol station with a little can, then mix up some 2T then have to replace the spark plug, clean the carb, decoke/repack the exhaust, change the coolant and repair all the moving parts as they wear out. Just charge it up and go. If you are right about the planet then the batteries will outlast our species.

As it is raining and cold I am riding the wife's EM in the warehouse (not catch me going out in this). It is brilliant for me to practice my nose wheelies on and I have even got the hang of low speed turns now (front brake is the secret). I am happy with my 250RR TRS for sure but if the battery bikes' can get down to the right price I think they will become the biggest seller by a long way. The advantages of battery are bigger than the advantages of the petrol engine. But - for sure - we are not there yet. The new EM is ten grand versus 7 for a new TRS. The EM is not quite "sorted" (maybe newer ones are better? Our is '21) for me the CoG is (slightly) too far forward. (Battery weight). At the weekend we met some folks at the practice ground with a couple of young kids. The girl was a good rider and could be very good if she keeps at it (let's hope so), Her first bike was a little Mecatecno kids electric. There is another family that ride there and their kids have the more common Oset. All the kids like the wife's EM and by the time they are grown up will be competent with a battery bike. For us oldies the switch (sorry) is harder as you have got used to a petrol engine and the technique{s} that goes with it. I don't think it is the petrol users' market as such but the cost and choice that is the brake on battery bikes right now. The Dragonfly could be a game changer. But not for me at ten grand - bit too much for my budget. I will have one when the secondhand ones get down to 5-6 grand. IMHO battery will be at least half the bikes competing in 10 years time. (I am hanging on to my petrol road bike though)