jon v8

You do realise its compulsory to drink at least a bottle of red or 5 pints of scrumpy the night before a ride on a rigid... And listen to a couple of RL Burnside CD's too. I'm on me second bottle already,wine cos I couldn't find enough cider in the cupboard.

Its the only reason we let him do it Ben - that and it makes sure he's not causing trouble elsewhere... Looking forward to it,going to dust the bike off this afternoon and top it up with fuel. #toppreparation

You may be able to make a replica yourself,have a look here; https://sugru.com/about

Sorry for what Spud ? If there are riders going around on clean then the organisers need to look at the riders and bikes they are attracting - and TALK to them... Unless you have absolutely useless land experienced course setters can mark out sections with multiple routes to suit ALL abilities and bikes.Sorting out the quite frankly bloody stupid Miller rules would help too. It can be done,recently Somerton Classic MCC ran their annual 2 day British trial, and very successfully catered for bikes from a 1929 rigid girder Ariel right up to the 2015 James type machine. Everyone had a great time and nobody on the A route finished the weekend clean,yet all the well respected riders were there. So it can happen, Golden Valley Classic run their Gerry Holdstock trophy/Eurocup trial this weekend - you can be sure of a similar situation there. What you need is experienced people running the club who cater properly for their members. Other factors are also at play,older riders are giving up,younger riders have family commitments etc and cant always ride/help. There are simply loads of leisure activities clawing at peoples spare time now, making it even more important to get the sections right,keep them fresh,not always using the same old routes etc. Even giving venues a rest for a while if you are lucky enough to have plenty of choice,which again brings me back to loss of land due to Defra - say it once again,"It is the real issue."

Spud - sorry to say but you are the one who has it wrong. I spent the last 5 years running Bath Classic, promising to do all I could to promote the use of older rigid and pre unit bikes.Listening to the owners of these bikes and almost begging riders at other events to come along and join us. What I promised was sections that would not frighten the riders or wreck their bikes. It worked,we got good,repeat entries.There were no awards,just a fun day out where people could turn up and enjoy themselves. Even though I am no longer organising trials,( For now ) I still ask riders where they are from and what events they ride. The vast majority of them just want a day out where they and their bikes can get around without hospital visits. Most are over 50 - or retired and have a finite amount to spend on trials,( Mainly the cost of getting there) so will pick and choose events. make it too hard and they just don't come back. Sensible sections, well promoted and the riders will come back, talk of making them offer their bikes for sale if they do well and they will stay away - it really is that simple. The real debate is the loss of land because of Defra stewardship, I've mentioned it before and nobody listens, offers ideas or says anything much really.

Its even worse if you look at building an Ariel or AJS etc, its even more costly. There is no way I would sell my AJS - even for £10,000,which it clearly isn't worth - because of all the time and effort it takes to get a bike to run like it. You can sell time - but you cant buy it.... It all comes back to sensible sections to suit the bikes and riders.

This has not gone well... The motor is now completely stripped after replacing a bent shift shaft,and return spring post.I also got rid of a horrible bodge where one of the pins was welded into the end of the selector drum. On reassembly it refused to select anything but neutral and first gear. The selector drum refused to rotate clockwise to select second or any higher gears.So it came apart tonight, with me expecting to find bent selectors or a damaged drum. Nothing, its all in very good shape.Selectors are straight,no wear in the drum grooves,no collapsed bearings or chipped teeth. Nothing... Going to replace the drum with an undamaged one and build the box back together without the crank, see if I can encourage it to work. I couldn't see any option but to split it,with the selector arm right off the box and the detent plunger out, I couldn't rotate the drum clockwise beyond neutral. Good thing is that the motor is in fairly good shape,just worn rings.

I was happy to pay £25 for the road trial that was cancelled,but looking around the trial yesterday there is no way I would have been happy to have paid the same for 3 laps of 10. The B route looked OK, but the A route in places was just stupid,seeing very skilled,well known and respected riders having 5 after 5 did not make for good viewing. Sadly not in the same league as the last Bonanza road trial I did 2 years ago - that really was an excellent day out. I did catch up with a couple of riders who I didn't recognise on very nice rigids, who happily told me they only ride there and the Talmag. There are others who probably only ride the Arbuthnot or the Talmag etc,one ride a year. Its those riders who we need to entice out,by personal invitation I think, to ride other events with suitable sections, not aimed at the recent Cubs / James etc - which are often better than an original 70/80's twinshock from Spain or Japan.

Thank you both for the suggestions, my son tore it apart this morning while I was busy fixing my minders Range Rover... (The detent plunger was clean, unworn and free to move) He found that the crankcase has been welded in the usual place around where the pivot pin for the gearshift centring spring sits.(But the pivot was loose) And also the end of the shift drum has suffered a botched repair to a broken pin. Luckily my spare motors have enough bits to get it all back together without having to wait for stuff to arrive - or spend money ! There is a lot of gunge hanging around in the bottom of the gearbox, which I will flush out, its clearly chased a lot of dairy cows into the parlour from the fields.(And been spannered by the farmer that rode it) The motor does have a very healthy Yam rattle, but has plenty of go, so I don't really want to have to split the cases and do a full rebuild. I'll post a photo up of the mess when I get back to it over the weekend.

Just a thought.... Back in about 2007 I bought a TY250 twinshock as a non runner / spares bike. It has sat at the back of the pile of bikes since then totally untouched, a couple of weeks ago I spent a day digging it out and making it into a trial ready ratty hack... I rode the first Golden Valley evening trial on it and it went well.This afternoon I took it up in the woods for a play practice with a mate and had trouble shifting down through the gears - from any gear shifting to a lower one.I got around it by lifting the lever slightly before pushing down.Feels like a weak detent spring or similar to me,it doesn't jump out of any gears once selected. I'm using Land Rover MTF94 oil in the box,which I used without problems in one of my other TY250's for the last 9 years, and the clutch is in good shape, freeing cleanly and taking up drive very smoothly. I've never had a TY250 clutch/gearbox problem before so have no previous memories of them,just a reliable / abusable bike...

Ahh, a fantastic day out amongst like minded riders on proper bikes - I only hope I can be there to ride it. And get the same result as last year.

I use the grooved Bantam / Cub shoes from Mick Ash,(RIgid Ajay,Rickman hubs) they will also go in my Ariel,(Alan Whittton hubs) when it goes together. On my last Ariel it had a Leader front hub and I got Villiers services to reline them.They were good even when wet,only gave up when they,(And me) nearly drowned at the Talmag in 2014....

No need to swop bikes Ken,as suggested just use them in the twinshock class. Then compare your results to everyone else on that route. I dont think big bikes are dead, alot of the problem is in the organisation. I hate to sound as though I'm moaning as we are all volunteers... BUT, the Miller series is a a mess, class 2 especially - there is no incentive AT ALL to ride a pre unit bike when you are lumped into the same class as Cubs/James etc.( Which are often lighter and more competitive than an early twinshock - Bult /Mont etc) As a result of this many trials are now marked out to suit the trick lightweights, tight turns etc. I've just read the regs for the now cancelled Bonanza trial,all on its side,only to find NO mention of a road trial, £25 for 30 sections aint cheap. The events page on Rickman Motorcycles website shows a poster for last year,so effectively its a dead website. Riders have become used to up to date info on club sites - and quickly reply on it. I'm told its not that hard to sort out - cant be really,I often used to update the Bath Classic website the night before a trial or even early on the morning of the trial. Sort the classes out and get it up on the web with fresh, accurate info and the big bikes will come back. When I go back to running trials my bias will be strongly towards rigid and pre unit bikes,I have nothing against twinshocks etc,(I even rode a trial on one last week) but I strongly believe that Classic trials should accommodate older less able bikes - and their riders. Sorry to dribble on,stop now...

Just had a call from my main carer, Breffitt tells me they have pulled the plug because of the entry list totalling 19. This is a great shame, who knows what went wrong ? Mossy's road based trials are amongst the best day out you can have on a trials bike. Not really interested in the closed one around Sallywood farm. In the past there have been plenty of entries,these events need support whilst it is still possible to run them...

Any news Ken ? Please tell me there are 80 entries - all rigids and Pre units....

Good luck Ken, I bought some forks for my C15 this week and yokes will be on order next week... Looking forward to riding with rear suspension for a change ! Bonanza trial will be on the rigid tho.

I know of a proper TY125 for sale if you are interested - send me a PM.

Both are good options, but it would have to be the Yam - twinshock or mono if you want an easy to live with bike that you can abuse, but fix when and if you do manage to break it... I rode a trial last night on a ty250 twinshock that I bought as a scrapper about 7 years ago on Ebay.(Didn't want to get my AJS dirty) A day spent tinkering on Tuesday and a 1/2 decent s/h rear tyre and I've ended up with a useful spare bike. Total outlay £220... But they don't come up that cheap any more. They are good bikes, even bog stock as this old banger is, its still very capable and easy to ride.

Quite simple really, I would like to thank the Somerton Classic team, the landowner, all the observers and riders for a great weekend up on the Mendips. A weekend of riding alongside other like minded riders on proper trials bikes, with sections to suit all abilities of riders and bikes - it can be done ! And all the proceeds of the trial go to charity, CLIC Sargent. How better to spend a sunny weekend ?

My minder is supposed to be sorting an entry for me Ken, looking forward to it - Mossy's road trials are always a good ride round.

I don't mind making parts fit properly - been doing it for over 40 years... What I do object to is parts made out of poor quality materials,not so much bike stuff,but in recent years a lot of stuff I've bought for E Type Jags and early land Rovers is absolute sh-te. Especially ignition components,breaker points,condensors and rotors etc. Building up a bike from bits is always going to be a challenge, I love studying the bikes, the obvious massive amounts of skill and time that have gone into lots of the bikes I see at trials - esp when the builder is a good rider too.

I like the way that Pre71 is considered Pre Historic !

Serve you right for going over to the stinkwheel darkside. Should have left them for the GPO to scrap !

Maybe when the ACU sort out class 2 of the Miller series,(Why they couldn't do it this year,and why it was ever made like it I don't understand...) more proper bikes will take part. I wont be there,getting over manful and having overseas visitations are my excuses for not boosting numbers in the rigid class.

Yes,please don't try contacting Alan Whitton - at least until he has finished making my parts !