herbie

I thought the mono Betas were just after the Yam in 1985, i.e.: TR32 - 1985 TR33 - 1986 TR34 - 1987 Interesting about the JCM, though.

Have to admit I was never a fan of the JCMs. Always remember Birkett riding one at the Scottish and it sounding "as rough as a badger's" on the final sections on the Ben - 1988? Anyway, w.r.t. the video, was the 323 seriously a mono version as early as '83? Would this have made it the first PRODUCTION mono? Always thought the TY was the first production mono in '84.

That's my recollection too, Paul. With both Mick and Birks developing these bikes over such a long period and with such a large team, as the Hamilton Team was, I guess that 99% of the development that was to be done, particularly with the engine, was achieved back then. OK, Trials and riding styles have moved on in 20 years, but to such such a degree that would make that development obsolete? I doubt it. One bike I do remember which was right at the VERY end of the Hamilton line of TYR's was one that "Wee Pagey" rode which Mick was developing. I don't know if any of the rest of your team tried that or similar configurations, but I recall is was a short stroke version - around 230CC? I remember this being a "stop gap" before the TYZ came out to try and give the TYR a snappier more "modern" response. Not sure if David ever rode that version in anger but I certainly remember him riding around on it at his home. If someone is wanting to make their TYR's engine behave in a "more modern way" then I guess this might be something to look into. If I were ever to get another TYR, then I would want it to the spec of Mick's bikes. The 270 I had with shortened inlet was just so soft and just kept pulling liked a tractor (in a nice way). Nothing compared to today's machine and still outdated at the time, but for a TYR - LOVELY - and great for belting along the roads at the Scottish!

When I got my Pinky converted to 270cc the only mod I had done to the airbox was to get a small piece of wood to prize open the airbox lid. This was a recommended mod by Birkett who sent me the recommendation after doing the 270 convertion and shortening the inlet. The piece of wood was, if I recall correctly, as long as the width of the the airbox and had two slots on its underside for it to locate on the top edges of the airbox. It was also circa 10mm high, thereby "prizing" the lid some 10mm up at the front. Hope this makes sense! Although there may well have been a "proper" Japanese alternative airbox, I don't recall the Hamilton bikes of David Page, or even Mick Andrews having such boxes.

I have to say that I feared the worst when I saw the title of this thread - still shocking news though! I knew Grant from many of the trials throughout Scotland in the late 80's and early 90's. Always a friendly face and always had an encouraging word, particularly when the going got tough during the Scottish! I sincerely hopes he gets on the road to a full recovery as quickly as possible. Please send my best wishes. Graham Herbertson

I used to use the standard 10/35 which seemed to be fine. Only geared it up to 11/35 for road work at the Scottish - always changed it back for "normal" trials afterwards. Regards

Kinell, I've taken the weight off my 250 and want to refit the outer cover without the spacer. Do I need to shorten the existing allen bolts or are they OK as they are? I just don't want to over tighten them and strip the threads on the casing! Regards Herbie

Did Luke Wood not win it three years on the trot? Which year did the late David Page win it? I recall it was the only year it wasn't televised for some reason - a shame.

I've always just put the head in some cold water to help make the carbon deposit a little more brittle and then scraped it off with somthing a lot softer than the alloy but which is still sufficiently hard to remove the carbon (e.g. a plastic spoon). This has always doen the trick for me.

They wouldn't just change this rule to help a certain young Spanish lady would they?!

I suppose only the French could come up with something as barking as this... Looks absolutely brilliant IMO!!! http://www.camozzi-trial.com/articles.php?lng=fr&pg=4107 Anyone for splatting it up a big step?

I reckon Steve Colley on the '89 Fantic 305

Just seen this on the brilliant camozzi-trial.com website: http://www.camozzi-trial.com/articles.php?lng=fr&pg=3777 From what I've read somewhere else on this forum (presently can't find the thread) it seems that gas-gas swingarms have been problematic for a while now although it has been argued that this has only been associated with the magnesium versions. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but the example shown here appears to be the standard aluminium-alloy version. Is this therefore possibly a wider-scale problem that previously reported?