jon v8

My apologies - I didnt mean to appear rude it was just a tongue in cheek comment.The term classic I think can be applied to anything that you feel it should.Good luck with finding one,they appear to be the next "hot" thing in trials.

Are they / were they a classic ?

No,the year... I think I'm a victim of being born too late,apart from the internet and modern medicine there is little I like about the 21st century.

I know Ken,trouble is I'm stuck in 1950... I WILL make it work.

My holy grail...

Interesting... I tried that on my Ariel,there was so much play in the mains that rotor chewed up the stator ! Do you have any photo's of how you mounted it etc ?

Sounds very nice,mine runs an Alfin barrel too. What do you use for sparks ?

Obviously its harder on a bike with rear suspension as everything moves.But the chainguard on my AJS is the most effective on any bike I've ever had,unless there is really deep,sloppy mud I often don't need to even clean or lube the chain for 2 or 3 trials.

I use the earlier type 350 motor in my rigid Ajay,still at 350cc with the long rod.I cant comment on the shorter stroke motors,I can only say I'm very happy with the characteristics of mine.But one thing I have found that I was told years ago by the late John Scott, is that its best to use the roadster narrow flywheels rather than the original wide comp ones.His rigid had an old iron motor which he was a great favourite of his. Steve Allen's Matchy which is still very original,(Gerry Holdstock's bike) is flat and very unwilling to rev out like mine will,I think because of its wide comp flywheels.But both bikes will find grip amazingly well, even with a less than new tyre with 8-10psi in it. Brilliant engines to use,very satisfying to creep up muddy banks were often more modern bikes struggle...

Ok,a bit of advice,the shock mounts on the swinging arm are fairly easy.The upper mounts on the frame are a bit harder,when I move them on Majesty conversions I use a little drill guide to help out when trying to drill a fairly large hole in a not much bigger tube.Its just a length of flat steel with a length of tube welded to it in line,at the right height to make the drill stay central when drilling into the frame tube.You can scribe a line down the length of the flat to help line up with the opposite side.If you look at these photos; https://plus.google.com/photos/109171438807732712015/albums/5694268572989036097?banner=pwa About 50 pics down you will see what I mean. Pay plenty of attention to bracing as already said,the subframe simply wasn't built to take these kind of loads.

You think they are crabby.....I wouldn't give shed space to any of them.(The bikes that is) Pogo sticks leave me cold,if you were talking about a nice AMC springer,Bartram Ariel or even perhaps a Wasp framed C15 - then I would enjoy thinking about the choices and form some kind of unbiased opinion.

Well flog it and buy a proper twinshock,there are plenty around and your TYR will easily find a good home.

Not politics,but common sense really.A TYR is going to be a top weapon in the air cooled mono class which time rolling on will dictate as being the next big thing in "Classic trials". Proper Pre65 bikes are in serious decline,(However much I'd like it not to be...) the lightweight Bantams,Cubs and James etc are still going strong - but everything is about twinshocks.Air cooled monos are next,and the TYR was probably the best overall of the lot of them.(Certainly as a clubmans bike) So keep it as a mono and enjoy the A/C mono class on it.

Pasty stop... I'd forgotten that - think I'll have to join the springer clan and ride around with the factory team ! OTF, I only use genuine KLG plugs in my AJS.(Better than the Wico Pacy stuff)

Centre electrode looks fine,thats where you thrashed it back to the car park in the rain.Fouling around the threaded bit is where you left it idling outside the café.... Cant believe you lot,esp after breakfast in your garage.

Don't bother painting it Ken,I'll have to raise me bid to £35 if you do that... Looking forward to the Guy Fawkes too,I might even wash the Ajay and stick some more fuel in it. Your Matchy is really looking the part,is there a class win in the viewfinder ?

My first trial was in 1985,all I can remember about it was I rode an RL250 Beamish Suzuki and it was the Bath Peace trial.In a wood and fields about 300yds from where I'm sitting now. I've had a couple of breaks from competing,but now I think I ride better than ever before,(Others may think differently...)mainly a confidence thing.Cant see myself giving up unless I have too.

I have just received my regs for the Talmag,interesting that they require an AMCA day liecence - why ? No other AMCA trials I have ever ridden or organised have needed one... The answer to getting old pre unit bikes back out is in the sections - nothing more nothing less.You can fiddle around all you like with classes and rules.The truth is that the,(Ageing) bulk of owners of these bikes are now scared off by trials that would intimidate them.Young people just don't seem to be interested in either fixing up or riding old bangers.Banning electronic ignition frankly is helping nobody. While I was running Bath Classic trials I welcomed ANYONE who came along with a British bike,no matter how original or trick it was.(If I had my way their entry would have been free.)Put in sensible sections and spread the word around - people will come and ride them.

Just a thought... A couple of years ago Mick Andrews warned us at one of his trials schools about the sand cast flywheel covers that were sold for TY250/320 Yamaha's. He told us that they were so strong that they would break the crankcase in the event of a good clout,rather than crack or break itself. it may be worth making the cover a bit thinner than you otherwise would to save valuable crankcases.

My TY250 didn't like ATF in the gearbox,now I'm using MTF94 which is a Land Rover manual transmission fluid,works very well.(Guess what I do for a living....)

Good to see you out on a decent bike yesterday Ken,give yer 30 quid for it when you get fed up with it ! My advice is to take the barrel and piston to South Cerney Engineering and take their advice.Whoever bored the barrel to take the liner didnt get the correct amount of interference.I dont think I'd want to trust Loctite or similar to hold it,plus it wouldnt be good for heat transfer.An oversize OD liner fitted correctly is the best way forward I think,with the bonus that the heat transfer would be much better.

I was looking for a Bultaco back in 2006 when I wanted to get back into trials.(Simply beacause I'd never had one before)At the time I couldn't find exactly what I wanted and ended up with 2 Yams,one running,one in bits.I have to say I'm glad I did,all the Bultaco's I've tried since have felt awkward,with draggy clutches and rubbish brakes.The Yams by comparison have lovely soft motors,smooth clutches and steer perfectly.The front forks can be soggy but can be easily sorted,the rear end is down to shock choice and setup.The brakes work and best of all they are stone reliable.Easy spares etc,just an easy way to do twinshock trials.If you want more ground clearance you can upgrade the frame to Majesty spec.(Will get around to building one of mine eventually...) As said its all down to personal taste,for me the Yam is very easy to live with.

If you are not in a screaming hurry,(As in the next couple of weeks) I could convert it to a pretty much exact replica of an early Majesty for you.

All good now,what was that all about ? Some lovely bikes there !

Andy is right,I get the same message.