old trials fanatic

Youre on

You lucky bugger

Dont know if it's relevant but most people i know who have fitted Falcons the seals have gone within 12 months. Then again they are rebuildable Then of course there are the Rock Shox. This debate just goes on and on. All depends on personal preference and Bling factor. Noticed at the Classic show Mr Miller was showing the new alloy Betors @ around

Ditto please e mail me with a price. Then perhaps woodie and me can both have one each? I assume they are 199b's Thanks for the piccys Woodie i knew somebody must have taken some. I wasnt going to go mad with the mods anyway just thought about moving the swing arm spindle. Tried Chris Milners the other day which he has done and feels really nice. Much softer on the back loads of grip. He's also steepened the steering. If i cant get another frame then i will probably just do the old girl up as std. I'm not that good a rider anyway so in reality probably wouldnt make all that much difference. Just that you know how it is. You get the frame powder coated etc then think Hmmm wonder if i should have moved that ? Surprised that Dave Renham hasnt thought about a frame kit. He's got the works bikes so has all the angles. Miller did well enough out of the Hi Boy and looking at the ammount of James replica frames on show at Malvern it could revitalise all those old 325 Bultacos in boxes that keep coming up on flea bay.

Now i know the organising club, whoever they are as i have never been so not sure, for the Pre 65 event dont have a website so is there any way i can obtain a list of entries for the event? I was going to offer to observe while i was there but heard from a friend yesterday that they had offered but were told observers were not a problem. Theyre lucky then Would be nice just to see who is riding to see if i know anybody.

Hadnt thought of that. Thanks good idea Martin. Assumed you were going to say "dont bother get an SWM"

As i stated in another post hopefully in the not too distant future i will be getting round to doing the Sherpa up. Shes a 199B a bit tatty in a well used kind of way but just paint and decals as everything works and it's all there. Well looking around the Bultaco stand at the Classic off road show on Saturday i was wondering about "modifying" the swing arm and mounting to make it more like the works bikes or do i just leave it original? http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/NVT160/DSCF0053.jpg http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/NVT160/DSCF0052.jpg Was thinking of riding it in some twinshock events next year. I know it will be outclassed but i do like riding the old girl, something about Bultacos. Thing is i am in a quandry. Do i smarten her up as tsd or sod it and modify and to hell with it. What do you think?

As i was suffering from a bad attack of manflu yesterday i didnt take any piccys at the show Did anybody take any? Especially of the "works" 340's on the Bultaco stand? When i eventually get the James finished the next "project" will be to get the 199B Sherpa sorted and i'm sort of thinking about modding the swing arm and spindle so piccys would be great. Also be nice for people who could not make it there. I hate manflu. Should have been at Burrycliffe today i like Burrycliffe but feel So some piccys would cheer me up

Interesting one this. I was at Malvern today and there were a couple of these about one in as good as new condition. Really. "Open to sensible offers" Now we all know if this bike gets sold it will be for really silly money. How many of these bikes actually get used? Looking over it yes it's a great piece of engineering but lets just suppose you ever intended to ride it then where? It's not elegible for Pre65. Pre70 or Pre72 which only leaves twinshock class where it would be hopelessly outclassed by bikes that cost less than 20% of what you would have to pay for it. If you can afford a piece of garage jewelery like this then good for ya but even though i would love one for once my head would get the better of me

There are fork seals and there are fork seals I bought some from Millers for the Ossa fork legs in my B40. He supplies two single lip seals per leg. The stantions are unmarked but the seals leaked almost straight away. Had the same problem with seals form a bearing supplier which is where Millers seals seem to originate. Saw some two lip seals on Flea bay and thought give it a go. They are great. Proper two lip seals. The lips seem longer and the rubber seems softer. At the end of the day they work. dont know and i go along with Barrys suggestion above as a first measure but as i said before there are seals and there are seals.

Well said Scorpa 3. Totally agree with you. The British Championship rounds should be for the creme de la creme. As the Clubmens Championship should be for the Clubmen NOT the pot hunters. However. Given the hypothetical situation where everybody knows the severity of the sections etc they can expect. Lets say there are only 5 entries and it's you and your club who is putting the Trial on. Do you? 1. Make a loss but thats ok because we want a British Champion to challenge the best in the world. 2. Subsidise the Trial by chargeing extra at your Club rounds to put the money back in the Club coffers you took out to subsidise the British round? 3. Cancel the event as it doesnt make financial or any other sense to put a Trial on for 5 riders? The post was "British Champ - What sections do you like? Me flowing ones especially streams with no tight turns that require hopping etc. But i am not riding. Though we all seem in agreement about the championship being for the elite few a Trial should at least break even financially and it wont do that with 5 entries will it? Difficult one to get a balance this one.

But for an extra

Should it suit the 55 riders who enter or should it be only for the best 5 or 6 in each class? Some discussion would be interesting or are the majority of riders too busy riding their own trials such as the more traditional nationals and Novogar to worry about the British champ? Call me old fashioned, alright i'm old fashioned, but if theres 55 riders entered and 55 riders paid to do so and youve taken their money then shouldnt you in return give those same 55 riders an enjoyable day? Alternatively why dont you take the money off 55 riders but only let the top 5 ride??? Then the event would pay for itself, ALL the riders who rode would be happy and you would have 45 observers I'm being ironic

Sorry. It was just that reading the posts i got the impression that the prime reason for people choosing a helmet was OOOH does the colour suit me? Mines got more vents than yours! This helmet is 50gramms lighter than your helmet! If weight was the prime consideration then get your hair cut. When doing track days or riding a road bike i always buy an Arai because the shape of the Arai suits my over inflated head. My missus has a Shoei shaped head and cant get on with an Arai. Doesnt make one any better than another just different. People get obsessed by weight of a helmet. Pretty soon you dont notice the difference and i defy anybody to do a blind test of a helmet and accurately identify the weight of it. However they will be able to tell you if it is comfortable or not. Helmets do wear in dont forget and what was a little bit tight when brand new may be just the right snug fit after a few Trials. I'm surprised you dont have a wide choice of gear over there i thought you had everything we dont Anyway hope you get a helmet you like. Myself i spent too long marshalling at Road Race meetings and have seen too many head injuries where a contributing factor was an innapropriately fitting helmet. That was where i was coming from with my posting. If colour and vents etc is more important than protection to you then who am i to argue. Think Darwin called it evolution. Two countries seperated by a common misunderstanding of the word irony Didnt mean to rain on your parade.

Cant believe some of the stuff i'm reading here Why do you wear a helmet? To protect your head To protect your head a helmet must fit properly. Doesnt matter if it's Road Racing or Trials if it dont fit properly then it wont protect your head and may even damage it ! Therefore the most important consideration is that it fits YOUR, not someone elses, head. Just because a particular brand or model fits my head it doesnt mean it will fit yours. The same as just because Douggie wears a *****, which was probably made to fit him and bears little resemblance to the off the shelf product, then why should you assume it will fit your head shape? Also if the helmet doesnt fit properly then it will be uncomfortable. If it is uncomfortable it will distract you when riding a section. If it distracts you then you will probably loose more marks than if it didnt distract you. You win trials not by winning a fashion parade but by loosing the least ammount of marks. Oh yes and a fractured skull is also a BAD thing It's not bloody rocket science.

I will be there. Just spectating unless you see a big white Transit stuck by the road side c/w bullbar and a Grumpy Old Man fuming alongside.

Funny that you mention this. I have noticed when observing that some very talented "modern" riders on the latest bikes have struggled on what i would call "traditional" sections. You know slimey climbs no tight turns but the odd slippy rock step as against 6ft wall. Even to the extent that on one section there they were gaily hopping and pogoing half way up the climb and still getting a three when a guy on a 500 Triumph engined Greeves just rode up the section for a clean. "How did he do that". Err he rode it?? Lot of it is down to what you practice and a lot of that nowadays is "How big a sheer rock face can i get up?" or "How long can i pogo". So in answer to you question, which i think you know the answer to already, a mixture of sections which test ALL the attributes that a TRIALS rider, as against a circus act, should have as second nature. You are lucky in that you have some of the most varied and best terrain available. USE IT TO THE FULL. Be interesting to see how the riders who want "harder" Trials put a spin on losing 40 or 50 marks because the sections were too easy

Thanks guys some good ideas there. Personally i dont like any age element coming into it. Almost impossible to date a current "Classic" bike. Mine will now be a 60 not a 64 so thats a lesson learnt. Do like the idea of a special test as it at least has an element of skill to it. Perhaps there is some element to the age thing re the rider. generally speaking a fit 20 yr old will probably beat a 60 yr old most times all being equal. Somehow though doesnt feel right age discrimination and all that so i come down on the special test to be used after furthest clean then most 1's etc still doesnt seperate a rider. Back to the Trial. I will still score a win in the club championship points but only get second in the trials results. This is wrong to me and a joint win and two awards with the next rider finishing 3rd to me would have been fairer. Oh well no use crying over spilt milk just have to keep trying and you never know maybe some day everybody else will get punctures and i mught get a win Moral of the story is always read and know the rules of the trial you are entered in. DONT ASSUME. Also make sure you clean the first section on the first lap and the second if you can

OOOPS should have said the club in question is BMCA dont know what their ruling is as a governing body? do know they apply a slightly different interpretation of whats "in" a section and when you are "out". They rule the front wheel as entering a section as "in" but the rear whell must pass the ends cards to be "out". Even so working on TSR25 if it had been an ACU club then yes it would still have been a tie. Thanks

I have waited a bit to post this and thought long and hard about how to word it so that it doesnt seem sour grapes. Well been unsucessful so if it appears so perhaps it is a bit but i am generally interested as one of the clubs i ride at, which will remain nameless, apply tie breaks in what i feel is a strange way. Let me explain. I am not that good a rider but enjoy my rides. Sort of a midfield dabber and wobbler on the Clubman route. Now the other weekend i had a particularly good ride and all yes all the guys who always beat me had a bad day or suffered mechanical trouble. This resulted in this dozy old fart actually finishing on 1 mark lost unfortunately this was the same 1 mark as A.N.Other rider who happened to be a guest and not a member of the club. We both had 1 mark on section 1 on the first lap. No issue with that we both rode well on the day but i will probably never ever have the chance to win my class again. Not the end of the world but the way the club decides a tie break sort of bugs me. Firstly furthest clean. OK as per normal. Then furthest with least loss of marks. Also OK as per normal. Then oldest bike????? Err what? How the heck do you classify the age of a "modern" Pre65 bike? and why should you? I think my bike has just got older Think i must have been mistaken as to it's age. In fact after asking the Club Secretary he didnt know but thought that the first criteria in a tie break should be the age of the bike not furthest clean So out of interest how does your club settle tie breaks Not really sour grapes honest

Thanks Bigfoot, love your avitar will she be observing? she's not HL is she?, but have finally sorted accomodation out. Staying in Glencoe which is better for me than Ft William as i can only get up there for the Pre 65 event and it's closer to Kinlochleven than Ft William. Only

Hi Vinnied thanks for the e mail. Sorry i havent posted the piccys before but it's been a bit cold and i couldnt be rsed togo out in the shed. Well i'm honest anyway. Links below. Been used for twelve months now no problems and the motor revs out superb. Even Alan Whitton said the motor was very good along with everybody else who has ridden the bike. I used a Fantic 240 pro foam cut into a strip as 1. its under

Oi it's a con Where's all the pictures of wimmin

Thanks Big John just rang the lady but like every body else she's full. Looks like the Fort William and surrounding areas economy is due for a BIG BOOST Thanks for trying apprecaite it

Bugger just had a phone call from the place i had booked over the phone last night. Allegedly they have made a mistake and have double booked the room. More like realised they can make more money by letting it to two people instead of one so look like i may miss out for another year Never seems to work out for one reson or another. Perhaps i'm fated not to see the Pre 65 or SSDT ? Just phoned all the other places i could find on the interweb and they are ALL booked up. Cest la vie not meant to be. Hope those of you who have been lucky have a good time Thanks Slapshot for the maps appreciate it M8