jon v8

So does anyone know for sure that they have gone bust ? Be a darn shame if they have,the helmet I have is by far the best one I've had.The new waterproof jacket I had for Christmas is a top bit of kit,so is my bum bag.

Agree with Matty,however you look at it the TY will be easier to build and be more forgiving in terms of reliability etc.Cubs are nice to ride,but the motors are fragile and need lots of care esp if you want to ride regularly.

We are running a trial at Frys Bottom farm near Chelwood on sunday,with classes for rigid,Pre unit,unit and twinshocks.Monos are tolerated if you are over 50.... The postcode for the site is BS39 5QN,and there will be orange arrows to guide you in from the A37/A368 roundabout.Should be a good ride round with 2 routes, nothing too tight or serious.We have an excellent catering van onsite and you can enter on the day - 10.30am start. Late info details will be on our website; www.bathclassicmcc.co.uk

Plated bores may have been slightly better for close tolerances/more power etc.BUT to the owner needing to repair or rebuild that engine it just means more money and hassle - like most other modern non servicable components in engines.Most of the regrindable or rebuildable parts are now single use.Very good for the manufacturers to make money,not good for owners,nor the planet. Rant over.

Nah, its a single dab.

You dont need a Whitehawk or a Maj the way you were riding on sunday ! Finishing on a single dab like that... I think a few Golden Valley feathers will be ruffled.

Ty175 - and yes I'm aware its not modern.

The BBC weather forecast isnt looking too good....

You are always going to get queues,with 140 riders esp so.... But its really not fair on the observer if everyone misses the queue then goes back - he or she then gets stuck with a huge backlog when all the other observers are back at the carpark hopefully enjoying their well earned complimentary fish and chips with a hot drink. I take a very dim view of section jumping - unless there is a darn good reason for it.(Struggling to think of any at the moment) Finding 10 people at the start of a trial who are willing to observe is a tough task,I try my best to look after them.

You can practice all you want - the way to get better is simple,just ride more trials.

If you get a wiggle on,you could buy it tomorrow and test it at our Bath Classic trial on sunday....

I think you should stick that bike on the scales. It cant weigh much more,if anything than my old TY250 I was on yesterday.Never thought I would pick up an HT5 like that,makes me think the petrol tank must be full of lead on mine.....

Have a go yourself,its not that hard to do.On a trials bike it does not need to be straight down to the last thou anyway...

Slow, it matches most things I do....

If its a TY250 you should be OK,most Majesty tanks dont have a rear fixing,but the front mounts are the same,same rubbers etc.The Majesty mods to that area of the frame are under the top tube to create room for the spark plug.But if it does need changing in any way it wont be a big drama,its only a mild steel frame - so easy to alter.

I think you need to restrict,(Slightly) the return pipe to the tank,if its too easy for the oil to go back into the tank,there is no way it will bother to find its way up to the rockers.A bit of experimentation is needed,you dont want it to all go to the rockers or it will just fill the engine up with oil,smoke like hell and hit the bigend/mains out when there is nothing left for the pressure side to pump.

I carry my TY250 on a Dave Cooper rack,been thousands of miles with it.Esp usefull on the motorway as it does not restrict you out of the third lane.Its also good in lanes when you have to reverse - alot easier than backing a small trailer you may have a job to see.

I just enjoy the study of finding grip in mud,there are so many types and it can change dramatically,esp during a multi lap trial.Often the second lap can be very slippery after everyone has gone through,but sometimes a bit of sun or even just the bikes going through will dry it up and make more grip available on the the next laps Steve Saunders on his Honda RTL were absolute magic to watch on mud - he could find grip where there was none,often just difficult to stand up on.Real skill. Hope its not as cold as the forecast says in the morning or I can see my carb freezing up again,like it did at the Guy Fawkes....

Mud is where the skill is - welcome to REAL trials !

Martin,I think 28thou is plenty for a plug gap,increasing it will only put more strain on the rest of the ignition system - esp under heavy load/wide throttle openings etc.My experience with igniton systems on Rover v8's running Lpg has shown that a reliable spark is all you need,Lpg being harder to ignite than petrol.The wide gap of the platinum plugs on later RR's and Discovery II's gave alot of problems with burnt out plug leads and coil tops.Going back to a standard NGK plug with a 25thou gap makes the leads and coils last far longer,cuts down on misfires and wayward fuel trims. If you want to widen the gap I would suggest you scope the HT lead and make sure the peak voltage is kept below 20Kv. Hope I'll get time to sort out my AJS properly for the Cotswold,I'm on a course fri/sat,so it might be an oil the chain and fill it with fuel job...

Time to get yerself a proper bike then - 500T Norton..... ?

I think you need to google vasectomy - my wife may have been happier if it meant what you seem to think it is..... But in reality its two 10mm lengths of tube lasered out.

Good stuff Martin,keep it going.Hope your back is on the mend.... I'd very much like to have a decent go on your Mont one day,perhaps put it through a few sections so I can see what I'm likely to end up with.I did toy with the idea of selling both my Monts a few weeks back,but concluded there isnt much point.They will just have to sit and wait a while for me to restore them....

Needs a bit more padding,but very easy on the eye.... Was going to add I wonder what the ride is like,but I guess thats a bit off topic.

OTF, I wasnt having a go,just trying to encourage people to build bikes and enjoy them,from scratch or an old nail - whatever.(And trying to keep money out of it)The point I was trying to make is that the satisfaction from making a trials bike up from bits or converting an old road bike is immense.I dont know about you but a big part of P65/Twinshock trials is seeing the creations of the riders and chatting to them about what they have done,how its going etc.To me thats the whole spirit of what we do,not just cleaning section after section,or collecting pots.