In Europe people use trials bikes on the road (many, maybe even most, have never seen a competition), and they do need this equipment to pass roadworthiness tests. Bikes that don't come with a full road kit are worth a lot less here ... but we don't need to have a speedo, that's a British thing as far as I can tell.
OK. Thanks for the info. I didn't know about the speedo. I know you are in Spain, but I have never heard of people using trials bikes in France (we are in Montpellier). The main "off road" thing seems to be quad bikes. (I hate them). I know you need to take a trials bike on the road in some circumstances and so they are road legal but fitting indicators seems a bit daft to me. French rules require third party insurance but there is no test there (MOT type test) for bikes.
The main PITA is the number plate. The UK spec. is huge and stupid on any off road bike. I have seen quite a few of the small plates in France (I assume they are illegal) on road bikes - not so common here in UK these days. Small ones on mopeds in a lot of countries - can we have them on trials bikes please?
My missus has renewed without any issues. I am not so lucky. I am being asked for a medical (no idea why) and my application still shows as pending. I would have thought it would have made more sense to make the change after all the registrations? Or do other sports have different registration months?
There is no requirement for type approval for competition motorcycles in the EU or in the UK. Any road apparatus is solely the idea of the manufacturer. To be road legal the vehicle requires a speedometer and I did not see one in the OP photo.
For road vehicles the UK has introduced new type approvals from January thus increasing the cost and red tape required to put a vehicle on the road in the UK. This moronic legislation is so stupid there are different requirements for Northern Ireland, so two schemes for one country. The UK is now so insane that if it was a person it would be institutionalised.
Thankfully the type approval schedule for motorcycles is not yet operational, so it is only for cars and vans as of 2024, with trailers the following year. If you are looking to buy a bike trailer they will probably go up in price in 2025 unless we have a new government that scraps this nonsense by then.
I guess I should have added that trials motorcycles are not covered by Type Approval requirements as they are "competition" machines. This is good news for all of us as whatever nonsense the UK eventually decides upon this part of motorcycling is not likley to be affected. Engine emissions are regulated by individual countries' test standards and by competition bodies like the FIM. Hence the introduction of fuel injection on some bikes to meet Euro 4 standards.
In the UK the 'MOT' test covers exhaust gasses but in some countries there are different rules. France for example does not require the routine testing of motorcycles for mechanical defects. (Controle technique).
Cannot be possible to drive off with side stand down.
Virtually all motorcycles are fitted with an electrical switch which prevents the engine running whilst in gear and the sidestand down. The mechanical system of self retraction is not required.
There are a lot of regulations that cover motor vehicles. In Europe where most countries are EU members this regulation is overseen by the EU as it simplifies the export of vehicles across borders. A short while ago the UK left the EU and now is implementing its own type approval system for motor vehicles. This is colloquially known as reinventing the wheel. It also means that motor vehicles and towed equipment will need to meet UK standards (actually it is even more stupid - Northern Ireland is seperate) to be sold in the UK market. This will increase the manufacturer's costs for the UK market and thus the price of motorvehicles, trailers and other towed equipment in the UK.
For cars this starts in 2024. Thus far no date has been set for motorcycles. Cars imported from other countries (e.g Audi from Germany or Ford from Spain) will need to meet UK type approval. As the UK drives on the wrong side of the road it might not be too expensive as UK destined cars already are different to models for continental Europe. Motorcycles, well we must wait and see.
I believe in the USA the different states have different rules? I read about trucks not being able to cross State borders due to the different sizes of spray suppresion (mudflaps)? Is that true or just an urban myth?
You Americans should move to the same model as the EU. It would make things so much better for you.
It seemed to be a feature of some Italian bikes. Ducati had them for a while. Certainly never mandated by anyone as best I know. I have ridden a lot of bikes over the years and only had this on a Ducati. My TRS had the two positions as above and would self fold or not as required.
Shame the article did not highlight motorcycle trials as a superb way to maintain balance and something very very suitable for older people, ladies particularly.
Well it is nearly here and all new with fuel injection. Is it time to look again at this brand? In the UK splatshop are pretty decent on spares as best I can see. What are people's opinions? Is fuel injection such a big deal? The cycle parts are much the same as all the other leading brands so it should ride okay.
Change the gearbox oil for Putoline Nano Trans and this will help. My wife's Beta this oil has been enough to solve the problem without the mechanical modifications. The Beta 125 is a great bike for the lads and I am sure they will do fine once they get a bit more familiar with it. Ride it a bit yourself before that twinshock - you are opening a can of worms there 😁
Yes, the 280 got traded in. The secondhand prices are so good now I hardly lost anything on it after nearly 3 years and got the 2022 at a grand off new price (it looks hardly ridden). I had wanted the 250 from the get go but couldn't find one at the time. The 250 is a bit less of a handful and easier to start, but the main thing I notice is it uses a lot less fuel.
The Beta 200 is a good bike I am sure - a guy in the club has the factory one and rides much much better than I can and he is the wrong side of 70.
A lot of people told me the 280 was not suitable for a new rider. Slow throttles and flywheel weights and all that stuff were suggested. Like you I found the extra power to be a nice thing - you can climb so much easier at a lower throttle opening. I tackle most everything in first gear. We did a day at Inch Perfect and the instructor suggested second - third even for a long climb. I tried it in first and did it easily. The 280 had all the power you could need. But I thought I would try to see what the difference was so did it in second. To be fair it was a bit easier but not much difference as far as I could see. So try again in third. Now this is the first time I had ridden anything other than the flat between sections in third gear. Near the top of the hill I gave it a bit more gas as I felt the bike sort of struggling a bit. Huge mistake. The front end went up, I paniced and shut off the gas hit the front on the ground with the front brake on and went head over a***. The bike landed on top of me and the header pipe burnt my arm. I flicked the bike off me with my legs and it rolled down the slope and turned the back mudguard inside out. Third gear my ear. I did the rest of the day in familiar first gear.
My riding has improved going down to the 250. It still is powerful (it is the RR) and I still like that ability. I still have the fast throttle and have ridden a couple of friends' bikes with slow ones and don't really like them (throttles - not my friends or their bikes) Has it improved enough to justify the extra three grand? Probably not. No, actually. Definately not.
If you can get a good deal and fancy the gasser then why not? You need to ride anything for a fair while before you can really say if you like it or not. Two laps of a dealer's car park is not enough.
I have a TRS, my wife a Beta. The suspension between the two is quite different. I agree with @gasgasman280 the brakes and suspension are very different. I have fitted braktec front m/c to the Beta and a Galfer disc. It is now as good as the TRS. I find the Beta rear shock to be much less "smooth" than my Reiger. The Beta is a good motor and not by any means a bad bike but I do like the TRS more (this is my second TRS). In fairness the wife's bike is old ('14) and so seen a bit more wear and tear.
One of the guys in my club has a wonky right knee and likes the left hand kickstart of the Beta. He is a bit of a bike tart and changes bikes often. His new Beta has CSP everything, Tech forks and Ohlins rear shock. It is nice. I have only ridden it a few minutes but is is easily as good as the TRS (well - to me - I am no Bou) in every respect.
The missus would like an EM and so we plan to get a test ride on one at some point. In the meantime I have put off my plan which was to fit an Ohlins rear shock to the old Beta.
The Gas Gas as best I understand it is similar to the TRS - Raga went from Gas Gas after all. A mate has a new gasser and rides it very well and loves it. It has the Tech/Reiger set up.
Getting the bike set up to suit the rider is important as well, but I think the better suspension is a factor. (FWIW I find the Beta easier to balance)
I look at ebay quite a bit and yesterday (Friday) there were a huge number of new bikes listed. I think the current problems with the economy have put people off buying for the time being. In the summer anything nice went in a week. The dealer I bought from could have sold my bike four or five times over and had dissapointed quite a few buyers by the time I picked it up on the Saturday (it listed on Tuesday). However my trade in is still there. Something has changed in the market for sure. I have missed by a day or two several nice bikes in the last two years (still keeping an eye out for the wife's new bike)
I bought a Rev 3 as my bike #1 and they are OK. Some of the bits are obselete and can be a problem - rear shock for example. The back wheel also rubs the exhaust and wears out the ali casing. This one is an odd capacity as well.
At that age and budget there will be more difference between individual bikes than brands. Sadly the lockdown saw secondhand prices shoot up and now 1500 quid is a old banger. Lots of people will have view on brands and models but you will be lucky to find anything half decent in your price range.
I am miserly and tight fisted and really wanted to stick to a couple of grand as a maximum but once you get hooked it sort of runs away with you. (I have a 2022 TRS now....)
.... Kill switch didn’t want to stop it (maybe I didn’t keep it pressed long enough but it seemed to me, in that moment of panic, that it had no effect). I pulled the spark plug lead off. That obviously worked (after a nice few jolting shocks rattled my arm).
...
Worth fitting a lanyard. You have broken the circuit then for sure and are free to investigate other stuff. (Handy if you fall off as much as I do as well). My old TRS had a sticking cable once but the cable was frayed. I also once had a (road) Aprillia that ran on after the kill switch was in "off" and then caught fire. Italian bikes.....
To be fair there is not much promotion of the sport in general, men's or women's. I don't know why there are so many more people willing to go and watch top level trials on mainland Europe than there are here. I went to Rennes to watch the X Trial and there were lots of youngsters there and the local club was actively looking to get people involved. It was a great night out and very entertaining whether you ride or not.
In respect of male/female there is a women's X Trial (the final was in Barcelona) but they do not have the same level of breathtaking obstacles, so I guess it is not as popular from a spectator point of view.
utting on "have a go" events specifically for women might help, ...
Yes, I can see the appeal of that. It needs the ACU to get behind it so clubs can promote a "have a go" event which includes a one day ACU licence. Any contributors have a friend in the ACU?
... Yes, trials is very welcoming and friendly, however it doesn't appeal to a large cross section of women in the same way as trail riding or road riding can.
How do we change that? Trials is all about balance and skill and should be something women enjoy in the same way they enjoy ballet or gymnastics. Clubs like the one I belong to are not very competitive nor very "masculine" places, everyone has a good laugh and everyone is very OK with female riders. A friend has a GG300 and he is a very good rider but does not like the organised nature of competitions so he only rides the practice grounds. His GF is very competent for a person with one years' riding. She would (IMHO) benefit a great deal meeting and riding with others and other women in particular.
Is it the mud, the UK weather or just a lack of knowledge that the sport exists and how easy it is to get into it, or how cheap it is compared to other activities? Or (more likely I think) that women are a little "shy" (for want of a better word) to turn up on their own at a trial and have a go? All the females in our club are "male accompanied".
As we are all "new" men we do not count women as any different to men. ☺️
There are a few females in our club including the missus. One of the better riders injured her knee and has more or less packed up the last couple of years - a real shame as she was good. Some very good female riders generally in the surrounding clubs as well. I think the problem is that as the teenagers and 20 somethings get a bit older then other things start to get in the way. Mostly it is dad or boyfriend that gets them started and that can wear off too.
Trials is a great sport and no reason at all that women cannot enjoy it and be good at it. More the merrier IMHO.
If I still had mine I think I would look at whether you can find a set of decent forks and a disc brake set up that would fit. The problem with that is the bike is then not "original" and they appear to be worth a small fortune. Certainly enough that you could sell one and buy a CFR with the money. Shame. I really liked mine and have great memories of it.
Search for CST - I think they are the only ones available. My XL250 was stolen and I still miss it but the tyre size was a mistake by Honda. There are some other wheels that can be fitted I think, but I need to find the thief first 🙂
Are you sure it wasn’t simply because the fuel was fresh/better quality? Any engine will feel more crisp and responsive when you put fresh cold petrol in after it has been using stuff that’s even a fortnight old.
Definate - it was the same 4T from the old mix. Quite wiling to accept it was just me or something else. Just wondered if anyone else had aver experienced anything similar. I will log it up to the X Files. 🙂
I am in same situ - missus has IRL passport as her dad was Irish. You, like me, will be in the slow queue and need to apply for a long stay visa if you want to do more than 90 days. The visa is Schengen and the French system is online if you need it.
Move to Ireland and stay three years and you can have an Irish passport. I am looking at this option.
What I cannot find out is if we need to road register the bikes to take them to Ireland. There doesn't seem to be much trials there - what there is is in the north so still in the UK (for the time being). Nephew is in Cork but not a trials person. Ha - youth hey - what do they know?
road legal junk on new 300 txt racing
in Gas Gas
Posted
OK. Thanks for the info. I didn't know about the speedo. I know you are in Spain, but I have never heard of people using trials bikes in France (we are in Montpellier). The main "off road" thing seems to be quad bikes. (I hate them). I know you need to take a trials bike on the road in some circumstances and so they are road legal but fitting indicators seems a bit daft to me. French rules require third party insurance but there is no test there (MOT type test) for bikes.
The main PITA is the number plate. The UK spec. is huge and stupid on any off road bike. I have seen quite a few of the small plates in France (I assume they are illegal) on road bikes - not so common here in UK these days. Small ones on mopeds in a lot of countries - can we have them on trials bikes please?