Nishijin

Sorry, I ride a Sherco

On a budget, the Acerbis is comfortable.

Modern bikes would need you to stop and clean the carb, swap a new air filter, and have two oil changes by mid-afternoon if you had events that long.

Light enduro, or 80’s/90’s mono…

The first week I had the Sherco, I drove it 8 miles across town to get to an event I wanted to check out, and the 8 miles back. It was exhausting and horrible. I kinda swore off ever doing it again. It’s just not fun riding them on the road.

First couple hours after getting the new-to-me Sherco, I practiced in shorts and tshirt, came home with massive insect bites on legs and arms. Never again. Another few practices later (in MX kit) I was feeling lazy and didn’t put my knee guards under the trousers. Dropped the bike and got a massive bruise right next to my knee, where usually there knee guard sits. Never again. The other week I was trying to turn around a low hanging tree up a ditch, got my arm stuck on a barb sticking out the branch. Big big bruise on the bicep for such a tiny hit. Haven’t worked out how anything but practice could have helped there! Still waiting for the chest bruises.

It’s the super epic music on the video, with the CGI, to drown out the chap’s description. Amazing. It actually looks like a very good support. How did it size? I have relatively small hands and wear an L/10 in Jitsie/RST/Richa/etc gloves. I wonder if the L support would fit, plus I guess I’ll need to size up on gloves.

Such an epic video.

I had my bike come with me when dismounting on an incline on a green lane a few months ago. Didn’t go to hospital, but suspect it was a very minor fracture on the right wrist, outer edge of joint. Carried on riding these past months, like idiots do. I wore a skateboarding wrist-guard (more comfortable than those brown orthopaedic ones) for a while when not riding. Whilst riding I used weightlifting wraps to help keep some compression and support on the wrist itself. Proper solid wrist supports were too bulky and uncomfortable. I found the elasticated weightlifting wraps good while riding, and the neoprene material type support wraps good for down time after riding. People will recommend you the megabucks proper supports; they are probably right.

…doping

I am only practicing for an hour a few times a week, so I am still wearing MX trousers. I have three pairs of Progrip pants, and all three size up differently. One is so tight I only wear thin D3O type knee armour underneath. The other two are loose enough to wear hard plastic Hebo pads or thicker soft pads. I wear knee protection under the pants Like you, years of cycling forces me to size up no matter what I wear. For me, I am happy to suffer the added thickness of the Progrip kit to avoid it shredding on a small off or catching on a branch.

Have you (as a result of the bolts) shorted something elsewhere, which is now breaking the circuit? Another component also fubar?

I really like that @nigel dabster remembered, it like “oh! I forgot to mention!” as if a day hadn’t passed. There should be more of this.

Nitro boost for the transitions

The initial question may be regarding ethanol content, however my remark was more nuanced. https://www.which.co.uk/news/2020/09/supermarket-petrol-quality-what-you-need-to-know/ https://www.fuelcardservices.com/why-is-supermarket-fuel-cheaper-than-branded-petrol/ and so on…

Totally agree. Bin the supermarket fuel, and accept morally ambiguous big names like Shell or Esso. Use their premium fuels. Even Shell Fuelsave is still E5, but for the cost I only put V-Power in my bikes. If I’m caught short on a journey I try to keep it 95 octane and E5…even Texaco premium is E5 I believe.

I suppose that if you were looking for some kind of pre-60’s scrambler-cum-rock-dodger it would be a worthwhile exercise. For example the Royal Enfield Trials Replica: https://gvbikes.co.uk/product/royal-enfield/bullet-range/bullet-500-trials-edition/ It would be capable of gentle green lanes but too heavy to do anything serious. I don’t like picking up a DR350 (or a CRF250) on a muddy track, I wouldn’t dare try lift something like a Bullet. I had a GN125 that I used on green lanes all summer last year, with road tyres. In some ways it would have been a great base to convert into a trials-ish bike. It ended up a kind of tracker build, with wide bars, sump guard, fork protectors and stiff suspension, which could survive the mild lanes. It could handle gentle green lanes, but not much else. It wasn’t a trials bike, it was a road bike with some compromises to use on green lanes. Have you done research into what trials is? Have you looked at what the bikes are, how they evolved, and what their purpose is? If have a plan to do any actual skills practice, then you can do it on any bike… but you cannot truly practice trials on anything other than a trials bike. This may be a contentious statement. Personally I wouldn’t be building a BSA to learn how to ride.

Been wearing Progrip MX kit while practicing. They have lots of stretch panels and don’t seem too thick, but they aren’t thin by any means. Not sure that anything would stop me dripping after an hour solid practice. Nothing that would survive grazing a tree or catching that superfluous bramble anyway. I was also thinking about MTB/BMX kit, but the price is eye-watering for anything worth more than a few rides. It’s a shame that the ‘secret’ practice spot near the house has a lot of biting insects or I’d gladly wear shorts.

Be persistent. They can be mega-slow by email, may be worth calling by phone and calling again.

Very odd. The only time on three different 4T road/offroad bikes that I cannot hit neutral is poor oil, and incorrectly adjusted lever.

Hmm. Well you’d have thought so, but just searching ‘clutch drag’ on-here and you get a dozen issues across all the brands. Alongside that comes the varying suggestions in oil and weight. When you bled it, are you sure you bled it well enough? No leaks either? Is the lever action more positive? It only takes a small bubble to kill a hydraulic system’s efficiency. I’m quite sure my ‘16 ST300 has some clutch drag, so minimal, but the idle drops fractionally once put from neutral into gear. Haven’t had the courage or patience to strip the clutch and try sort it.

Or maybe you wanted a heavier oil, not lighter?

If it’s anything like e-bikes, I’d assume the brake sensor switch cuts output to the drivetrain to avoid mashing up the innards.

Keep us updated!

Have you used a carb’d bike before? You only use the choke lever to enrich the fuel mix to aid starting from cold. You should see a plunger on the other end going into the carb - whichever is pulling it out from the carb ‘should’ be choking. Choke causes a high idle but relatively poor running if you leave it on - you only use it to start the engine from cold. Once the engine is started and warm, slowly drop the lever halfway for a minute, and then drop completely. If the engine cuts out even when warm, or the engine is hunting, be sure to check your idle and air-fuel adjustments. Carbs need cleaning periodically. Did you look up what a decompression lever does? http://86.43.94.97/moodlecp9a/mod/resource/view.php?id=168 Lots of bikes have them, but you can read the above link or the below post about a different bike. Principle is the same. You only use the decomp lever to aid starting. Have you been shown correct technique on starting? It will be like the XR or any other bike. Slowly push the kickstart to highest point of compression (top dead centre). Then one smooth fast kick.