sherpatensing

OTF, I use Pursang springs (from Dave Renham, not anyone else you know ) in my 199B and the forks behave very well. However, I am 15 stone. Many years ago, I used to preload my Bultaco fork springs with a valve spring from a British Leyland 'A' series engine!

The late Beamish Suzukis never had tensioners from new. My 1980 RL325 rides fine without one.

I moved out the table and chairs and now my dining room contains my restored Sherpa 159, restored Sherpa 199B and an original unrestored Moto Guzzi LeMans Mk1. They do make an appearance in the summer.

I have an old magazine (early 1981) with a test of the Italjet 350T with Nigel Birkett riding. Also another mag with an Italjet 100T test

Don't know who you mean OTF

I think the M80 should run a 52 tooth rear sprocket but with the smaller pitch chain. I have an original 52 tooth sprocket (small pitch) and a 43 tooth for a 520 chain and these are virtually the same diameter. I would suggest a 43 tooth/520 would be about the same gearing as the original 52. However, will this be to your liking? Dave Renham can supply any size 520 sprocket to fit the M80 hub.

OTF, Try commercial vehicle chassis paint. It is available from car paint suppliers and the last I heard, it was about

Hello Nadine, Welcome to Trials Central I see you are from Huddersfield. I did my teacher training at Huddersfield Poly about 20 years ago at the Holly Bank Campus. I think its been knocked down now and house built there. Good luck with the motorised trials Sherpatensing

Hello Pipster, You're at the right place here on this excellent site. Hurry up and get that Twinshock sorted out. Sherpatensing.

Rockhopper, From a financial point of view, I suppose we are mad. They all cost a fortune to restore but only a few command big re-sale prices. But we don't do it for the money do we? For me, the sight of a well restored trials bike, whether it be an old Brit, Spanish twinshock or any other nationality come to that, is something I could look at for hours. I have a small collection of bikes I have restored, but the problem is whether I dare use them for fear of damaging them. Not a bad problem really. Sherpatensing.

OTF, Thanks for your comments, you can never get enough info, I'll take them on board. You last sentence could have been written by me (and many other people I know). I'm not a fan of SM products either. Sherpatensing.

Big John, Good idea of yours. I found some old rear units with knackered damping and extended them by welding on a second bush eye. This gave me a 14.5 unit. With the bike upright and unladen, it not only looks much better but has just under 12 inches of ground clearance. The steering seems OK with just a little bit of front wheel push near full lock. The pictures of the Otter B40 in the SM catalogue look like mine does with the short rear units ie low at the back. In this set up, it is grounding at any opportunity. Surely Sammy cannot be wrong.......... Sherpatensing

Thanks Big John, So you reckon a pair of 14.75 inch units (or as near as possible) will be OK? Sherpatensing.

I have acquired an Otter (Faber) framed B40 with Betor rear units. They measure up at 13.4 inches between bush centres. The bike seems low at the back and could do with more ground clearance. I disconnected the rear units and jacked the bike up under the bash plate and it looks better with about 14.75 inches between the bush mounts, giving about 12.5 inches of ground clearance. Any suggestions please? Sherpatensing.

OTF, One possibility is to have the wheel rebuilt using a Talon hub. I don't know if they are still available though. I had a TY Mono a few years ago with a Talon rear hub and although not original, it didn't look unusual. Just a thought, perhaps Talon might stock original type spokes? They make hubs for the supermoto lads.

DabDab, If you can fix it for me to come and live in Oz, I'll bring my 340 and help swell the numbers !!

OTF, Why not use the 340 and climb up the result sheet......you left yourself wide open for that one!! Joking apart, I'm sure they all have their strengths and weaknesses, and as you say, it's personal preference for whatever reasons. For me, all twinshocks are interesting probably due to me first riding/competing on them some 30 years ago. Sherpatensing

OTF, If you are finding your 340 a little uncompetitive, perhaps I should buy it off you !! I would happily add another to the collection. Sherpatensing

Old Trials Fanatic, you say ''If you are not so bothered about being competitive......'' then suggest using a Bultaco. They must rank as one of the most competitive twinshocks. I have a 199B (340 6 speed) which I can beat many monoshocks with. I also have a 199A and a 159 and they all ride superbly. They are all restored to standard original condition and are not tricked up at all. In your ''most competitive'' category you list a Beamish Suzuki 325. I have one of these as well, also in non tricked standard condition and compared to a Bultaco, it feels much heavier, footrests too high, engine more lethargic and spares are more difficult to obtain. Have a look at the trials results from the twinshock era and that will indicate which bikes are competitive. Sherpatensing

Sutty, If it's a Sachs engined one I would be very interested. It might even be my old one as they were fairly rare even when new. Sherpatensing

Mac, If you decide to complete the restoration, may I recommend A M Philpot Ltd of Luton for re-chroming of forks. They did a great job on my 340 Sherpa forks. The price will include collection and return postage so you don't need to mess about posting them etc. their contact is 01582 571234 and a website www.pittedforks.co.uk

Hi Steve, Have a look in the 'Bike Specific Forums' under 'Yamaha' and there are similar questions to yours with answers. Sherpatensing

Welcome Loydee...the Dalesman sounds an interesting project. Is it complete?

Beta Techno clutch drag/sticking has been the subject of previous topics. Click on 'Riders Helping Riders, and go down to 'Beta Clutch Drag'. New friction plates cured mine....nothing else did.

Beta, Were they road registered? If not, when you reported the theft to the Police, did they create a 'Police Record' for the bikes on the Police National Computer (PNC). This can be done for non road registered vehicles such as trials and MX bikes. You need to provide details such as make, model, frame and engine numbers, colour etc. If the police then find the bike(s) they can identify them. They could turn up in the hands of some toe rag riding around or when the police serve a warrant to search properties.