Hi Stuart - thanks so much for your information posted on this subject. You are much more helpful than the ACU.
I have just checked my status now you reminded me. I am current as a member and my club membership is current and my status is trials. However my licence is still "pending". I have no idea in all honsesty whether I can ride or not.
Our club meet was on 2/1/23 and a lot of people also were not sure if they were OK or not. My missus also shows "pending" on the licence section but has a wrist injury so is less stressed about it. Our next meet (charity event) is in Feb so I really need to get sorted by then. The email back from ACU confirmed no medical needed and to "ignore" it. It is hard to ignore the "pending" (certainly more than once....)
Mine is still showing as "pending" despite two contacts to support. I am beginning to think I should delete the pending and start over. The missus is also "pending" and her team affiliation ran out. Our club sec submitted a big list of questions. I can only imagine the ACU must now be flooded with questions and complaints and have little time to sort out individual queries.
Once you have sorted your Club membership (affiliation), you can move on to your licence.
It appears you can renew your licence in one of two ways:
Via the Member Details tab - (click Actions, three dots, edit)
Via the ACU Competitor Licences tab.
This is where I think there is a glitch in the system. If you go via option 2 above, it looks as if you have renewed your licence (i.e. the Exp Date changes to 2023), but your ACU Membership remains at Exp Date 2022. You may find you're not charged the £20 here and think you have got a free licence!
I have at last got my head round this. The "membership details" in my mind are address and so on. My address has not changed so I never looked at this bit. My wife renewed her licence in membership details. I tried to renew the licence in the "licence" section. (It is a licence, not a membership).
It appears to me that you can only renew in the membership section. Then go through to the rest for club affiliation etc.
This really is a bad and ill thought out system that is different enough from the old one that it tricks you. I am sure that was not the intent but it is nevertheless the outcome. My ride is booked for the 2nd so will have another play to make sure all is OK on the 1st. I have at least now managed to pay.....
You need to master the static balance to be any good. More than a few days, more than a few weeks. There are masses of youtube videos to show technique. But while all of that is great and helpful in the end if you cannot balance you will put a foot down. Balance skills don't last forever and you need to practice balance all the time or lose it. My friend was in the British Ladies team but struggles with balance now after a couple of years off.
I keep my bike at work and try to do a few minutes when it is quiet. But motivation is the hardest thing to keep up. I have grown lazy after getting the basics.
When the novelty wears off you will soon see if you are going to ride trials or not.
Thanks Woody - you sir, are a total star. The first page can be skipped but that is not obvious. I'm sorry to say this is not very well written software.
I have just looked again at the site and my pending status. The medical is not a questionaire - it asks for a doctor's certificate but the downloadable cert says only if you are over 70. I also need an eyesight test for my road racing even though I am only trials registered.
The club affiliation is for "teams" and there is only on option in the drop down box. It is road racing.
The thing does not seem to me to work very well, indeed it doesn't really "work". Although I have booked in on our next club trial the events thing is not very good because the title of the event is too short. It said "club trial" and the location gave it away, but it would be so much better if the club was in the title.
I tried to renew first and am "pending". The missus (at the same address) renewed without any issue at all. We are both booked on the club trial on 2.1.23 even though I am pending. The system has not taken any money off me for licence or club dues but took 20 quid for the trial.
Thanks Woody - that is very interesting. I scrapped Stripe for a work website as they were really difficult about verification of personal details for the "money laundering" that seems to be a US obsession. Had similar issues with PayPal to be fair. I am sure that big companies do not have to submit the CEO's passport details to get an account.
I have just had another go at login. For some reason whilst my approval is "pending" I have just entered our club trial for 2/1/23. So they have entered me for a trial next year but not taken off any moeny for my registraion or club fees. Ho hum. At least I am going to get a ride in the new year.
Have you asked the dealer why they included this junk (I agree it is junk)? It is impossible to find it anywhere on the Gas-Gas website or on their YouTube channel or anywhere else I have looked (I am very bored at work today). I think it must be some sort of optional extra. Indicators are particularly stupid. If you look at the latest parts catalogue for any other make you cannot buy the indicators as they do not exist. Photos of the new bikes awaiting shipping all show the same standard setup with a little LED light front and back. Beta offer an optional electric horn (I bought one to get the MOT) but it is not standard.
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As for the EU, I work in safety testing and all these "stupid" regulations *over all* save people's lives. Complaining about spending a few minutes taking some bits off seems a little trivial by comparison.
A lot of people still want to lie that it is the problem when it is not. The scapegoat utility of it was lost when we left, but old habits die hard. Like all big institutions it makes mistakes and gets things wrong, but logic will tell you that this is a Gas-Gas thing and since no other make comes with it, so nothing to do with any regulatory authority whatsoever.
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 😁
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Hi Stuart - thanks so much for your information posted on this subject. You are much more helpful than the ACU.
I have just checked my status now you reminded me. I am current as a member and my club membership is current and my status is trials. However my licence is still "pending". I have no idea in all honsesty whether I can ride or not.
Our club meet was on 2/1/23 and a lot of people also were not sure if they were OK or not. My missus also shows "pending" on the licence section but has a wrist injury so is less stressed about it. Our next meet (charity event) is in Feb so I really need to get sorted by then. The email back from ACU confirmed no medical needed and to "ignore" it. It is hard to ignore the "pending" (certainly more than once....)