the addict

Just me and Legend at Stockenchurch tomorrow, but I am trying to get him to come and ride the Top Farm Trial next week as he rode those hills and steps perfect last week. Thanks again Ian, really spurred me onto learn how to make vids like that.

Christ Dan you've had way too much mate, he is the man though, hope that hangover doesnt effect ya riding tomorrow.

Gave the suspension linkages a good clean and grease up tonight, thoughts of Gasser shims/washers and spacers everywhere suddenly came flooding back when I first looked at it. Couldnt be easier though, only 2 captive shims on the whole unit, loads of good grease from stock and the whole job start to finish took 45 minutes including taking the wheel out,greasing and cleaning everything up. Couple of the nuts werent as tight as they could have been so i will keep a good eye on them for the next few weeks. Job was so easy might grease and clean the suspension up every 2 weeks

Mikes on the 4t, now a Caber as of today, Ian had the black helmet on and the GOAT would be the one with the throttle pinned

Top man Ian, great clip that, and loved the backing music and applause at the end that hill is a bloody sight steeper than it looks on the vid though

Try here mate MRS BVM MOTO

The steering caught me out at my first Trial on it, cost a dab tightish turn, body went bike didnt it will only catch me the once now, not noticed it since so must be leaning and using the back. The Beta would turn so much you could almost go backwards on it especially with the locking bolts screwed right in. We looked at the rad drop against an 07 290 and although we didnt get a tape on it,it looks about 40mm or so, gives more room for the filler I expect as that is easy to get off on mine.

Sure will Ian, they are usaully quite easy so the legend might get or near a clean sheet, (no pressure mate) The goat might be going as well so plenty of reving and rev3 over the head moments

Its always great watching Dan riding, I'll be following him around sunday trying to put him off as much as possible but fear I'll be in for a tonking no matter what be a good laugh though, me and Ralph did a stockenchurch trial 3 years ago and really enjoyed it, nearly had to retire through laughing so much...

There is rumour the Legend spent

Thanks for the pic Mark rode for 7 hours today, mainly on loose climbs and cambers to see how dropping the forks back to standard has done. Bike is now turning great and most importantly lifting easily on cambers and not pushing at all I will be doing 1000 lines tonight "I must not p*** about with the geometry of a trials bike again" x 1000 The bike is lifting so well now and gripping I have moved the bars forward to keep myself ontop of it on steep climbs, where you know the beta would spin the Sherco just keeps climbing and its catching me out abit, not as much but now and then. Moving the bars forward has done the trick and from your picture they look about the same, amybe mine a bit further forward. The motor has decided its had enough of this running in thing and has come to life this afternoon,its feels and sounds perfect, so smooothhhhh and gentle low down. Couple of the lads have been so impressed with the Caber they have ordered them and should be here on Friday, the difference between the standard 07 and the Caber is massive I have been told, like two different bikes alltogether and thats come from a very good centre Expert whos had Shercos for quite a while. If you can get a go on one I would before they get snapped up, I cant compare as this is the only Sherco I have ridden. No mud today which was a bit dissapointing for a change, I was hoping to try it out in the **** before the Trial on Sunday, I think its going to be like a tractor on muddy climbs Not really tried the switch, map one is spot on as it is and I havent noticed anything happening differently on map 2 at any time, keep forgetting its there to be honest untill someone says whats map2 like? **** knows!!!!! is the usual answer to their question. I have a feeling it might make a difference on a big snotty climb maybe?????? but the chances of me remembering to push it are even more slimmer than me actually getting to the top so i might just take the thing off. Its also the only bike i have had that i can do full circle sit down wheelies on

Paddys coming back from holiday and gets a taxi back home from Liverpool airport. The taxi driver asks paddy how the holiday went and as it would be a long drive back to his house he would break the journey up by doing some riddles. The taxi driver says to Paddy, right then here

First go in the Mud tomorrow will it grip better than the beta? I have a feeling it will easy will take your advise over the next couple of weeks Mark and ride in 2nd and third to force me into using the clutch and get used to using it as the throttle more. The clutch is so strong on the Sherco it will manage just fine. James came over last night to try out his bike on the Eastend sleeper sections, hes still not getting on with the bike although most of this is because his 06 Caber was so good and bedded in. His hasnt been carburating right since he had it although he did put a 50 pilot straight in as per the 06 and the V Force reeds. Bikes been running abit sick so hes gone back to the 45 which improved it but not as clean as mine yet, now thinking of sticking the standard block on incase the V Force has altered things too much. First 3-4 rides on mine were great, getting on with really well, then i have been struggling a little in getting the front to lift quikly enough on cambers and the wheel pushing. Thought it was the bar positon but after a quick go on James last night all became clear, I had lifted the forks so the tops were level with the yolks as per my Beta with the aim of making the bike lift quicker and easier, it had actually done the reverse somehow? I changed mine back to how it was originally and the problem i have been having vanished . Not quite sure how this works and how such a little adjustment can make so much difference but it did, cant wait to try it on some cambers tomorrow now. All that money developping the bike and i go and mess with the geometry , I will leave the ******* thing alone next time I have a feeling lifting the height on the forks lengthens the wheelbase, dropping it shortens it making the bike easier to lift and react. Something James is abit dissapointed with is the initial power of the bike, its quite lazy to start with, something I was not expecting from a 290 Sherco as well, but will be perfect once i have got used to it more, especially in the slippy stuff. Carby stays amazingly clean compared to the Beta, not much getting through the filter apart from nice clean air, using the much larger twin air filter and it seems to seal better then the stocker.

Maria followed by Gemma or maybe both at the same time

Spud, want to save yourself 9 minutes 55 seconds mate? .... .... .... Turn the boot the other way around so the air box end is now the carb end, take the reed block spacer out forever (gives slightly sharper pickup on low revs) and it slides in, in about 5 seconds, no tools needed

Maybe we should be hitting back abit/playing them at their own game, if as Ishy says hiking/walking etc is counted as recreation like bikes applying the 14/28 day rule to them might make them think. This seems to be getting alot worse this year, loads of places closing down all over the country, if were not carefull or try to get something done quickly we might find events like the SSDT,Reeth,Scott etc might turn into 4 laps of 10. No easy answers, but before we know it there may be next to nowhere to practice or hold an event.

Have a quick look to make sure the damping rod has not come undone? mine was'nt attached from new at all and would top out alot even on easy stuff and made a knocking noise, made for some interesting rides up steps as well for the first two weeks

Had the bike 10 days now and I love it, been struggling a little to make the change over as its so different to the Beta, but its great fun learning how to ride it. My main problem has been getting the front to carry on cambers/hills as the motor wont lift the front as quick as the Beta on very lows revs, as a result I have been riding to quickly to keep the revs up and the front is washing out loads. This bike needs and loves the clutch and plenty of it, something the Beta didnt at low revs, use the clutch as the throttle as it should be and problem is solved, well with abit of practice that is. The Beta would pull from zero revs on nearly any hill and virtually never stall even without the clutch, the Sherco wont do the same but that may be simply down to the higher gearing. I have gone one tooth more on the rear which i think is perfect now but still way quicker than my Rev3 gears, I dont want to alter the Shercos gearing any more as the first three are really spot on for anything, i will just have to learn how to use the clutch as the throttle more. A few guys have had a go on the bike now and they all love it, the biggest fans are the Sherco guys who cant beleive how smooth and forgiving the motor is low down and clean pick up, almost like the plodding 320/370 Gassers. Get near the main jet though it will rip your arms off and it grips like nothing else ive ridden so far. This is the only Sherco I have ever ridden so I cant compare it to any others but all have said it is a big difference to what has been so far. I had a feeling the bike would be an animal, but its far from it, its very easy to ride flowing about in sections but will show its dark side very quickly if needed. The bike is incredibly easy to work on as well and well made, all the bolts line up and are good quality and good sizes (no tiny round off things) One of concerns after years of Gassers was it would be a bit of a pain getting to everything easily but theres loads of room everywhere and maintenance is simple to do. The Keihin is a simple carb to work on, bit like the Mikuni without the p iss and the float chamber removal is easy after a couple of goes. I have sealed the top of the subframe to the air box with black silicone which stops any water flowing over the top of the air box into the filter (thanks James for that one) and sealed the rubber strip between the airbox and silencer so nothing will get past there. The silicone sticks to the sub frame like glue but doesnt stick to the air box, so removing the airbox is fine for cleaning, looks quite neat as well. Got a couple of breather pipes for the carb to stop any fuel going on top of the crank case and thats about it. Stuck an inline filter in for good measure and a few lever adjusters (red) and my old raptors fit straight on the Sherco so saved 100 quid there. Had about 2 hours on the bike this evening on the sleepers using the clutch as the throttle and it felt much easier to ride like that, will try the cambers and climbs later in the week and see if the front end moves faster.

Loones!!!!!

Have you checked the water lately and pump? is the fan cutting in when it should or intermitant or not much at all.

Nice one Ian wheels his bike out once every 6 months, hoofs the broom over it and fills it with petrol out the lawn mower and tonks us all every time god help us if he ever gets a new one. Next time I will get him to do some of his hopping back down a big hill feet up and sideways hops show, got to be seen to be beleived I think young Barry saw him doing it at the dishes

If the rims go pink Mark, I am sure we can do a deal for your black ones the Renthal red rear sprockets go pink after a while so hope the same doesnt go for the Sherco rims as Ralph and the lads will have a field day I have got the bars in the right position at last although they are well forward, bike kept wanting to lift on any sort of climb especially grunting out from nothing feels very comfortable now. I am going back to the standard spring rate as tightening it up a couple of turns has made in to stiff, maybe the bike was set too hard to start with from the factory. It also grips like hell on any climb and is catching me out alittle, you think its going to spin so allow for it but it still drives up, better that way than the other and I should soon get used to it.

Cracking day today not as many up there as i thought there might of been but good to see some new faces and the regulars out that way. Ian stuck it out all day and enjoyed himself no end (Likes his Gasser Spud), me Ian the Legend and Mike left at about 6.45 and had some great sections going in the afternoon. Dan was well on form again and wearing the retro look clothing as usual think Ian got abit of video of him on a nasty step. Ralph had a bad start, got a puncture whilst loading his bike this morning so had to sort it out before he came, then locked his keys in the van abit later Big thanks to Pete for the day out there and stumping up for the teas and cakes at lunch

Blow them on dry using an air line, they dont move at all then, wire them on if your not convinced, leave about a 10mm length on the end and push it into the grip with a screwdriver,