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haggetty

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  1. Very watchable, interesting, tongue in cheek. Fun, well done Danny.
  2. Thanks for your encouraging words. I’m sure when I’ve been at the club for a bit I’ll knock around with a few riders and learn loads. I intend to watch at a few comps, and enter a few too to get a feel as to what you need to be able to master in order to complete novice sections. It’s a journey and I just want to be able to enjoy what I do safely, challenge myself a bit every time and hopefully surprise myself a bit too. I’m lucky to have such a good venue nearby - Earl Shilton. The club owns the land, and it’s only £50 a year for 7 day a week access!
  3. Thanks for your smashing reply. Much appreciated. I put together this little vid of my second hour on the bike. I had a go at some stuff that I found a little daunting to look at (and the camera makes look small of course!) Climbs, rocks etc. Apart from looking like a sack of spuds I don’t think it looked too bad - and I managed not to fall off either!! Watching tutorials on YouTube helps enormously when practicing techniques. At least you know what you’re attempting should look like! Wheelies and balancing next!
  4. Hi, I introduced myself a couple of weeks ago with the intention of buying an Electric Motion. I instead bought a 260 4rt - new, from Inch Perfect trials after a days training on an intermediate course. so, what have I learned? 1, trials is a fascinating, addictive activity but is extremely tiring for the over 55, 2 stone overweight, deskbound out of shape operative! 2. Trials is relatively safe but it can bite. A lady on my course was airlifted from Inch perfect with snapped tib and fib! Ouch, freak accident, not on a section, hope she recovers well. 3. Stationary balancing is very hard, hopping the front harder and the rear harder still. How do they do it? 4. It’s a fantastic feeling wheeling a brand new bike from the shop and loading it onto the rack for the first time and chucking your new boots and helmet into the car to take home. 5. It takes far longer than you think to be happy that you’ve strapped your new pride and joy firmly enough to the rack for the 3 hour drive home! 6. how much your body aches after 5 hours of riding the previous day! Bloody hell! 7. Taking the new bike out to my new club (Earl Shilton) was joyous. Spoke to a couple of members, so friendly and helpful. Great place to ride. Practice 7 days a week, dawn til dusk, £50 a year! 8. Be brave, be committed, the bike will do it. Now managing 2 foot rock steps without bashing the sump guard! 9. Tyres grip far better than you expect, 10. YouTube is a great source of learning and Ryan Young is a great teacher (but makes it look sooo easy). 11. Trials takes over most of your waking thoughts, 12. I love slow speeds, turning sharp corners and pulling wheelies! 13. Of all the parts of my body that don’t function as well as they used to, it’s only my knees that I’d like to be as good as new. 14. I aspire to be as good as a 6 year old on an Oset! 15. It’s 1 o’clock, must go to bed!
  5. I would love to have a discussion with towbar suppliers and insurance companies on this issue to get clarification. Is the specified maximum legally enforceable or is it max recommended? Do the police ever stop and check trailer nose weights? After an accident, how could noseweight ever be verified, weight could slide forward in an accident? What if the noseweight was just 1kg over? You can’t be that accurate can you? I used to check my ‘van nose weight by trying to lift the weight by hand. If it was hard work but doable, it was about 70kg and about right, I didn’t mess with bathroom scales every time! My towbar supplier ‘Tow Trust’ actually advised me not to use a Dave Cooper rack on a car because of leverage loads etc etc. Sounded hyper risk averse and illogical to me. I phoned Dave Cooper and recounted what I’d been told. He was puzzled indeed and said his racks had been tested with TT towbars at MIRA, overloaded, and on cars like mine, smashed over speed bumps and all sorts with no problems. He said he’s even seen cars picked up by cranes and swung around by the towball as a demonstration of strength! There’s clearly a lot of toss regarding racks, trailers, loads etc. I will load up and drive accordingly, stick to speed limits and avoid accidents like I have for the last 40 years. If someone decides to have an accident with me, it is much more likely to be their fault. Anyway, what is life without a little risk? I’ve just bought my first trials bike at 57!
  6. Yeah, that’s my plan. Dave Cooper rack for the trials bike and a Motolug trailer with the big V-Strom on it. (On a 1.4 VW golf)
  7. Any brave souls care to declare their laziness re oil changes and the effects thereof? I mean, what happens at 30/50/100/oh Christ I’ve never changed it, real life scenarios?
  8. Unfortunately, common sense no longer applies. It is not permissible to sit on a river bank or canal towpath and fish alone at the moment, nor play golf on your own or even fly your own helicopter alone from your own house, pick up a bag of chips from the chippy and fly home again without attracting the wrath of the masses. I fully support your desire to keep your skills up to date and believe that it is still a ‘National Health Service’ and not a ‘Covid Health Service’. There is nothing morally wrong in the desire to pursue an entirely acceptable and normally legal activity. I’m afraid however that you must accept that it doesn’t comply with the current diktat and you will need to ride with a spare. £200 in ya bumbag until April 12th. At 57, I have, to some people flouted the rules. I’ve shopped when I didn’t necessarily need to, exercised more than once a day, drank cider in a closed beer garden with the Mrs, shopped without a mask (but with an exemption lanyard) and hugged my mother. If you want to go and ride, ride.
  9. I’m sure I will, thanks. I can’t wait!
  10. Some very good points there and I agree that the EM is only a partial solution. I have been thinking about little else since my first post, weighing up the pros and cons and taking on board lots of the constructive and considered comments. To that end, I have decided against the EM as my first trials bike! I have asked for my deposit to be placed instead on a 4rt 260. I will try the 4rt out during my training session at inch perfect on 2nd April and will also try the Beta 250. Had a good long chat with Graham at inch perfect and discussed the pros and cons of each machine. I understand that the Beta may possibly feel a tad better in some conditions, and the 4rt in others. As I have experience of neither I’m choosing what, I feel, may be the better ownership proposition. I’ve considered getting an old secondhand model for a couple of thousand to get me going, but if it was worn out and ran like a dog, it could put me right off for one thing and be expensive to put right for another. A nearly new machine may have been looked after, or may have been used like a wrecking ball and not maintained. So, I have decided to get a new one. It will save me nearly £2.5k on the purchase price, and, I think I stand a better chance of losing less if I sell after 3 years or so. It feels like a massive indulgence and it is I suppose but after the last terrible year it will bring some much needed cheer! So, thanks all for your comments so far, maybe there’ll be more!! cheers
  11. Me too on the crystal ball front! Yes, I agree that the EM might be a hard sell at 2-3 years old and that means losing a shedload of money. It’s an unknown. Common sense tells me to look at a good newish 2T at around £4K and just get on with the business of coping with its relative lack of convenience. Now I know I can practice on a nearby trials ground 7 days a week, the need to be silent is not a compelling g argument!
  12. Yes, embarrassed was probably the wrong word. The bike will certainly be capable of much more than I’ll be asking of it - apart from its ability to carry a heavy load that is! I’d probably feel more comfortable turning up on something more conventional but the Electric machine has many compelling advantages and no real disadvantages as far as I can see.
  13. Thanks for your reply trapezeartist! I fully agree with reason 1. Reason 2. Yes indeed, seasoned triallists may be embarrassed turning up on an electric bike! Understand that. I really hope I can keep my embarrassment gene suppressed! Reason 3. Most that have used the EM Race reckon it’s as good as an electric can get and is more or less the equivalent of a petrol bike now in terms of its capabilities! Do you think it will lose value quickly because of the suspicions of battery life? PS still trying to justify it myself actually haha!
  14. Great stuff, thanks Aaron. Certainly looks a smashing venue and great for practice. Looking forward to it. 👍
  15. I guess you don’t see many electric trials bikes at the moment. Probably mainly youngsters on OSETs. A cheaper 2 stroke to start on makes perfect sense, and if my circumstances were different, that could work. I will keep my options open for sure but the sheer convenience, lack of need for maintenance, lack of smell and no heat is all very compelling. The fact it wouldn’t annoy neighbours or anyone else because it makes no noise is probably the biggest advantage of all. Hopefully it’s ability to be ridden completely submerged in water would never be tested but it could come in handy haha! The test ride will decide it for me.
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