ishy

I have a very nice 92 TLM 260 R, probably one of last ones made, all the others were water cooled by then, no class to ride it in this part of the world. Got to wonder were the bikes would be now if they had all stayed with air cooling, probably just what we ride now with a air cooled head on them, no coolant, Fan, radiator, water pump, hoses and electrical, all that must weigh more than a simple finned head. Would an air cooled clubman bike based on today's models but priced cheaper, sell ?.

I wonder if the army fueling team measure it to the nat's in the big tanks they use for the SSDT, or just slap a gal er two of pre mix per tank and call it good.

It's just the borrowers

Didn't the Beta rev three evolve in to the evo

Farts are a bit like ghosts, you have a feeling they are there, you can even smell their presence, but I'm sure I have never seen one.

Bushes first term I would of voted for him, and even the second term, although not as keen I thought he deserved the chance to prove himself. Both parties are too busy falling out to get anything worth while done. Can this new chap get them working together and get something accomplished that is in the best interest for all, I think he want's too, as he said last night "not as a Democrat, or a republican, but has an American". I thought Bush deserved the chance, I now think people need to give Obama a chance, I don't care which party they belong too, it's more important to me they can sort the problems facing both the world and the country. A big change is needed, is he the real deal ?.

I thought Obama made a better case for becoming president, when he spoke he sounded like his words had meaning and truth to them. All the tripe about tax cuts and how they would best help Joe the plumber by both parties are hollow words and sales pitches, I was more influenced by who could stand up in front of the people, sound like a world leader and make you believe them, Bush was poor at this, McCain was better and Obama was better than both. I think Obama, will do more to get both parties working together, mend broken bridges world wide, and also gain more respect from other world leaders. I don't agree with free trade, I'm all for fair trade, but I think the Bush administration sold out to the highest bidder, I think Obama will do more to create job's in the US. The nation voted, they seem to think the same.

Why what ?

I thought trials riders were a bit more level headed than some of their posts suggest, I think both Obama or McCain would improve world opinion on the US, the majority of US citizens went for Obama, many countries don't have that option. I couldn't vote because I kept my British citizenship, Ham's post don't make me too proud of that at the moment. I would of gone for Obama if I could vote.

04 2.9 Dave. You can eliminate some parts by doing a few simple tests. You can jump across the two connectors going to the temp sender/thermostat with a paper clip, the fan should be on all the time, if it works well, then the T stat is the only thing out of the system, so that probably is the culprit. With a test light one end grounded to frame the other to the yellow power wire coming to the T stat, start the motor and see if you have a good light, pick up the idle a little and see if the light gets brighter, not too much or it will blow the bulb in the test light, a good light at idle indicates your probably ok to that point, dull to no light, check for a bad connection, you can trace the yellow wire back and test at first plug in from the motor and all connection with the test light. Fan, could be getting hung up on the fan shroud, coolant hose, or even a zip tie, I have seen people tie wires, clutch hose, and throttle cable, to the fan shroud, and to make it look neat, push the tie connection under the mount, the fan blade can catch on this. Also check the fan for side to side play, if the bearings are worn, it could be binding up at low revs. The fan has nothing to do with the water pump, the water pump is circulating coolant all the time, The T stat is just an on off switch, when the coolant is hot enough, it allows power to go to the fan.

First day of the NATC meeting is usually for sorting the schedule, we might see entry fees posted in a day or two. One thing I don't like when I go to sign on at the event, is we also want parking fee, land use fee, and a camping fee, cut the nickel and dimeing, if it's $120 to ride an event, charge $120. if I know up front and mail it in with my entry, then I don't feel I have been gazump't with another $100 or whatever at the event.

Dear Shelly, I wonder if you could help us out. My associates and I at IAG international, seem to have over spent at the office party last Christmas, not a lot compared to some of our parties, but enough that we may not be able to have a party this year. I too have found myself alone, the wife took the spare yacht to the Med, and hooked up with some oil guy who had a good year in petroleum sales. My proposal to you, is you send your 8 million to this account 123BENDOWER4AGOODFUINGR8NOW, and I will then refinance you a variable loan, a lot more lucrative than the few pennies you could make off a povey up front fee scam, come play with the big boys. Even if the poxy loan scam fails, we always have a 100% guarantee that the secretary of the treasury will bail us out, our good friends in the Arabic and Asian countries will loan the secretary any amount of billions, and I know for a fact, before we! well.. not exactly we, but future beings descended from our gene pool get 10% yes!! 10% paid back, some giant black hole will have taken care of it, it's called futures, a great way to make trillions, just keep passing on the paper until the end, it's a well proven winner. So you see Shelly, you have a once in a lifetime chance to become one of the IAG elite, don't be shy you know it makes sense, even if you are on the verge of croaking, why not go out in style.

More like two people volunteered to host a two day national last year, after being talked into making it three days each so the series was more than just four rounds, we/they, focus on the good points of less travel and expense to cover up the actual fact no clubs wanted to host one. What if only one person volunteered to do one, would the format change to a six day event, just to get more than two days in. There is a good amount of cash to be made by clubs for hosting nationals, also some good deals on forclosed property, now might be the chance to get that practice area for the club.

I don't think you will find many that would argue with that. Take the last PNTA rounds in Oregon, I put up my hand and said I would be trial marshal, because the year before it didn't happen, I spent a couple of month of weekends clearing sections, then most of the week before the event marking the forty section required for the two days, the weekend of the event I had to do sign up, riders meeting and collect score card's and add up the cards after each lap, do awards for the first day, then go make alterations of the course for the second day. On the second day run round trying to find observers and repeat the first days task's, it cost me in fuel and other expenses, most of our club couldn't even show up to ride and support the event. Having done a few nationals I found much of the above to be the case too, and the truth is! many trials marshals not only in the US but around the world know just what I'm on about. I'm in a better position than most regards the amount of time I can spend on an event, but most have to put in a full week of work then add the rest to that. The NATC meeting is coming up and we will soon find out how many are willing to take on the task for 09 at best I think trials at national level will be in survival mode. We can't complain If there is only a couple of locations for 09, I think anything more than that will be a bonus.

The NATC for the most part is made up of representatives from clubs who host the events. The format for the events seems to work fine. Many of the proposals you suggest, have been tried, the reason they are not in use now is quite simple. Probably the biggest reason for less events, many of the national organizers who would put up their hand and did the work in past, have got too old or burned out, the boomers are buggered and Gen X doesn't seem bothered, Could you and your club host a national, would you and your club host one? it's easy to point the finger. Ringo!! is this what you have come too, isn't your club the only happening club in the country? step up.

I think it would of been a ten round series this year, if five clubs had been willing to host them. Not the NATC's fault if clubs won't volunteer.

Remember the artist formaly known as Michlin!! he once mentioned this and we all took the p*** out of him

The US national series this year tried a format of two three day events as the national championship series, I rode the first three rounds, not well enough to challenge for the tital in my respective class so didn't spend the time or expense on riding the next three round's, I would think more than just I did this. Would one week long championship at a location like TTC be better ? say three days of qualifiers and two days of finals, held in the summer vacation. Would it be a better format ?

The money , the passion, which when gone will be the decider ?

Told 08 was to be the last running of the Terra Nova, a Canadian event I always said I would do but never did, this being possibly the last running I thought I had better go. So I let my mate Adrian Lewis know I intended going and it might be an event he would also like, he in turn got his mate John Harker to join the team, and Fri night before the event they showed up at my house after a ten or so hour drive from California. So 5:30 am sat morning the three of us set off in the Chevy astro cruiser headed for Vancouver island, a four and a half hour drive to Port Angeles up past the scenic Olympic mountains, then a 90 minute ferry crossing from Port Angeles to Victoria, arriving at Lake Cowichan the start of the event around 4:30pm. The whole weekend was a lot of fun, with a well organized event, with a top notch food service provided by the wife's and spouses of the committee, providing lunch both days half way round the course, Canadian thanks giving dinner after the first day ride, and fully cooked breakfast before setting out for the second days ride. First day was bright and sunny all day, with many places to get pictures from high on the mountain tracks, the course was much like a Monday or Saturday in the SSDT without the sections, and all went well without any problems or worries. Below, my favorite climb of the event Sunday had a splash of rain so the rain jacket came out, and the days ride was the previous days course backwards. Lunch break on day two, hot Smokey sausage, hot veggie soup, bread roll with turkey, stuffing, candy bar to round it off, another fist full of Smokey sausage, I was feeling like a bloated sheep on Rannock moor, after the ladies serving lunch chased us off for being greedy buggers, so we set off for the second half of the days ride. Well we got on to this gravel road and started sending them on a bit, I leading and Adrian Lewis and John Harker, hot on my heels the four bangers were singing on quite nicely. Rounding a downhill bend at a fair rate of knots, I noticed a fair lump of road was missing and a culvert pipe suspended over the canyon of doom!!! being both agile and nimble I got the pickle to slide sideways and managed to skinny past the canyon on the bank side. Alas!! my mate left it a little too late, what the daft bugger was trying to do sliding sideways down the culvert suspended above the canyon I will never know, but it looked soooooo cool until he ran out of pipe, then the severity of the situation sank in and whoa this is going to hurt flashed through my mind. I ran over to see if the bike was OK, only to see it upside down steaming in a sad heap in the canyon and the pilot looking like a lost lobster spitting sand. The first order of business was get some photo's of the mega get off! then three of us set about the task of dragging the bike out of the hole. Notice the tyre mark end of pipe We all came back tired but in one peice and sporting a big grin, had a great weekend and thank the team at Victoria motor club for a job well done.

Cope with p*** pot in hand :unsure; make sure you get a picture of that Clive.

Fat, no hair, and pants full of sh 1 t, nearly full circle John.

Pair of packers

FIM know what they are doing, I think ? don't they? five or six changes isn't a lot is it? well the sport is growing isn't it? so they must know what they are doing.

After the days ride in the SSDT, nothing beats that first pint, bloody luverly