old trials fanatic

OK guys i stand corrected. Bultacos are wonderful. Just that locally there seems to be more Majestys, Fantics, Hondas, Suzukis and Ossas around that are winning regularly than Bultacos but i bow down to your superior knowledge. I wasnt trying to knock Bultacos and my main comments were to the more commonly available 250 and 325 sherpas from the mid 70's than the later models. I dont personally find my 340 6 speed as competitive as a good Majesty 320 or Beamish 325 but then again i must be weird as i dont get on that well with the Fantic 240 Pro. I find the Fantic too sharp on power and the steering tries to tuck under all the time. Just goes to prove what i said in the first place. Try as many as you can to see which one you get on with best is the only way. Sorry i forgot the SWM. I do hear they are an aquired taste and i only see one competeing locally and he really struggles but then again might just be the rider. There will always be somebody who can make any model of bike win. Even an Armstrong. Thet was a joke so all you Armstrong fans put that brick down. I still stand by Bultaco possibly best for spares. Honda good but very expensive. Fantic good but nervous. Suzuki tough and forgiving. TY Majesty possibly the best but so many variations on the same theme they range from soft and forgiving to rip your arms off and climb a tree. Just try a few and make your own mind up. All the makes have their fans and they wont hear a word against their chosen one. You really have to make your own mind up. Take your time and choose well what suits you sir One for the Bultaco fans

Couple of you asked for piccys of some of the bits. I havent had chance to clean them up but here are some piccys as they came off the bike.

Stu sent you a PM

I know this topic was debated at some length recently and there seemed to be two camps. the yeah why nots and the not in the spirit guys. Well i have decided to break the TY250S i bought recently as now i have the Pinky i will keep some bits for spares and sell the rest. If anybody wants a frame to convert, thereby saving their mono frame so they could always convert back if they wanted to, then i have one for sale. TY250S c/w swingarm pivot etc powder coated red. Will also be putting the rest on e bay in a couple of weeks. Just thought i would offer the stuff here first. If nobody wants any of it no problem just thougt i'd mention it.

Collected my Pinky today and when i got it home gave it a good going over to make a list of bits i want to change / replace. Need some new front pads but am a bit confused as there are 4 types on Trialsbits site. DR

Depends a lot on personal preference and how competitive you wish to be. My personal advice is if you can try a couple and see which you prefer as all the different makes ride differently Before i made a decision though i would check on how available spares are. Some parts for some makes are virtually unobtainable which unless you are a super engineer is a BIG problem. The favourites locally seem to be :- Yamaha TY250 Majesty Fantic 240 Pro Honda 250 TLR Suzuki 250 / 325 Beamish (make sure it is a Beamish not a RL. A lot of RL's get advertised as Beamish) Those four are the most competitive potentially but will need a fair bit of work as a lot of twinshocks are quite "tricked up" nowadays. The spares situation for them is not bad so you should be ok. If you are not so bothered about being competitive but just want an enjoyable day out then. Bultaco 250 / 325 Sherpa Yamaha TY175 Honda 200TLR Fantic 200 Again good spares availability especially the Bultaco via Dave Renham at Bultaco UK Then theres. Montesa Ossa Spares are getting a problem so beware. Finally ones IMHO to steer clear of. Armstrong Italjet Anything using a Hiro motor plus Garelli etc Good luck with your search. You could do a lot worse than get a Bultaco as at least they have good spares and hold their value quite well

I recently posted on that very subject "what do you do when you cant get enough observers". I had noticed recently that the two clubs i ride at, both "Classic Bike Clubs" had recently had to run trials with only half the sections manned. The riders having to observe themselves at the un manned ones. A situation i found most unacceptable. So my personal experience is that it is probably harder in the area locally that i ride to get observers at twinshock and Pre65 trials than modern ones. Then again i may be wrong

Thanks Heath helps with some of the stuff. Mostly i need things like ammount of fork oil, ignition timing, how to strip etc. People on here will be able to help if i'm stuck i hope. Just thought it would be nice to be able to do stuff without having to ask. At least that site give a rough idea of how bits fit. Thanks for the link most helpful. Hope your Betas better I was thinking of possibly buying a Beta but i'm going off them after seeing you and your mates results. I think the Pinky should be ok in the sort of trials i intend doing as i failed to destroy my old one in the 80's however i was possibly looking to get a more modern bike for the occaisional foray into modern club trials as long as they have an old duffers route. Perhaps a Cota 315 would be a better bet?

Four routes Scorpa3 blimey. We only get two routes at most trials in these parts. I get confused with two I didnt mean to get anybodys back up with any of my opinions or comments just felt that there was a feeling talking to a few of the riders locally that the sections by and large were about as tough as they want to be for old codgers on classic bikes like myself. There was some concern about letting riders ride on modern machinery and that the sections would get more difficult as a result. This would then discourage the riders on Pre65 and in some cases twinshocks from riding. This has happened at one club locally Peak Classic where at a recent round, Dudwood Farm, only two British four strokes competed. That is also the club where i will now be riding the Pinky as their Classic trials are getting too tough even on the easy route for Pre65 bikes. That is the cumulative effect of twinshocks and then aircooled monos on a Classic Bike club. Even at Midland Classic a club where supposedly nothing pre72 including twinshocks is "supposed" to be allowed a recent round at Rhodesia had riders of Pre65 machinery riding down 4ft sheer drops into the river resulting in quite a few over the handlebars moments. Thankfully nobody was injured but a 350 Triumph twin landing on top of you is not to be encouraged. The sections in question were laid out by a family who have a young son who competes in modern trials and saw nothing wrong in the sections severity and felt that they were a doddle. They would be on a modern bike but not on what the trial was intended for. That unfortunately is generally the outcome when modern bikes and Classics mix IMHO. Also allowing discs again IMHO would encourage the same thing which i think was Woodies position in the earlier posting of which i spoke. NOT trying to spoil anybodys enjoyment i just worry about some of the local clubs direction. Peak Classic was a good club for Pre65 when it was formed. It was a pre 65 club that had a few twinshocks riding. In a matter of 2years it is now a twinshock club with a few Pre65 riders and the club secretary is now talking about scrapping the classes for British bikes and combining them all into one class as there are not enough entries in that class to warrant seperate class awards. Probably at this rate there wont be any. I wont ride my B40 there again. Perhaps my local area is different to the rest of the country. I dont know but it seems a shame that the bikes for which the club was founded are being forced out due to the impossibility of some of the sections. That came from an ex centre champion and regular competitor in the Scottish Six Days trial said to me at a recent round. Made me think. Hope i'm wrong. I know most on this site wont agree with me.

Thanks will give them a try. Tried Hirsts and Birkett Motorsport both have them but

Didnt fancy the modern mono route as those sort of sections are not my style and if you ride the Clubmans route on a modern bike to me it seems like cheating. Only my opinion i am NOT passing judgement on any who do. I did say "Only my opinion" now i understood that we still had free speech in this country and as such i am "allowed" to have an opion as much as you are Paioli. I dont recolect calling any body a cheat that would be uncalled for and would be up to the clerk of the course anyway. All i was trying to get over was that if I rode a modern bike in the events i enter which will be Peak Classic as i will still ride a Pre65 bike in Midland Classic events then I would feel as if I was cheating. As for the "immature" comment i can only assume that you refer to a passing comment i made about what appeared to be a little "over the top" reaction to a posting made by Woodie in an earlier posting re converting a TY250 mono to a twinshock and then riding in the twinshock class. Yes i felt that your response did show an ammount of immaturity as Woodie was only expressing an opinion which he is entitled to do as are you as are all of us. And for what it is worth i STILL agree with him that modifying a mono in such a way to have what i percieve is an unfair advantage in a class that was created as an alternative to the trick cycling route. I felt the more interesting arguement not put forward in that post was how about putting a TY250R motor in a twinshock TY chassis? I am considering buying a newish Beta to use in local non Classic trials and would ride that on the clubman route as many do and as Scorpa3 said "Almost all of us ride for fun and that is what trials should be all about. Having a good day out on the bike with like minded people." Again my opinion horses for courses. Modern bikes in Modern trials Classic bikes in Classic trials. But YOU ride what YOU like where YOU like. That is up to you not me. My only fear is that when people ride modern bikes even on a no award / guest basis somehow even though the course setter says they wont let it affect the way they set out the course it always does. Same thing happens with Pre65 as soon as the more tricked up bikes enter the courses get made harder to "take marks off them". Thats life i suppose perhaps it's me.

Exactly the reason i've just bought a pinky. At my age and with my lack of ability even a Pre65 is getting hard work on the Clubman route. So when the aircooled mono class was introduced it appealed to me. Also didnt want to trash the 340 6speed so it was twinshock or aircooled mono and the pinky won on spares and reliabilty plus i loved my old one. Still run the B40 at Midland Classic events but looking forward to using the mono as it gives me a ride locally more than once a month. Didnt fancy the modern mono route as those sort of sections are not my style and if you ride the Clubmans route on a modern bike to me it seems like cheating. Only my opinion i am NOT passing judgement on any who do.

Tried E Bay M8 but the ones on there apparently only cover the twinshock model not the mono. Something will come up. Just surprised there isnt a website somewhere.

Thanks Jordi sent you a reply.

This might have been asked before but anybody know of a website i can download a manual or a parts list for a pinky from? Alternatively anybody got one spare they dont use anymore? Dont know if they are still available but if they are i bet they costapacket.

I know but i can barely get in the garage now for "projects". Think i will keep the plastics as the front and rear mudguards are brand new just fitted plus the tank is ok as is the seat, can you get pinky seats? Might keep the rear wheel also as it's not damaged and someone is bound to do spoke kits at some point so might be worth getting it rebuilt as a spare at some point. So the frame, shock and linkage, front wheel and forks are surplus to requirements so far with a ? over the engine.

After stripping my TY250 S/R mono i have decided that it will need too much spending on it to get it up to scratch so i have gone the whole hog and bought a Pinky. I was just wondering what parts were worth keeping as they might be useful as spares for the Pinky? Thought i would then probably put the rest on E bay to try to get some of my money back. Any ideas on what bits are transferable and whats not? Thanks

One more thought. I remember when i had my first TY250 mono, just got another one see my other posting, i had it tweaked by Mick Andrews and the power was very smoooooooooth perfect for a duffer like me. Now a lot of this was down to the tail silencer which are no longer available. John Shirt used to sell them however i understand from talking to Nigel Birket today they are making soon a replica, takes about a week to fabricate

Well gone and done it. Thanks for all the helpfull advice guys. Couldnt afford a pinky and a TY250S, i know it's not the one to want but it was cheap, came up locally so i bought it. All i've got to do now is get it in some kind of shape as it's a bit rough. So loads of stupid questions will be asked so please help if you can as when i had my old one i never needed to put a spanner on it so learnt bugger all about them except they are dead reliable. thanks again for the advice

Well i've gone and done it i've bought a TY250S mono. I know it's not the one to go for but 1. I couldnt afford a Pinky. 2. It was cheap. 3. Im a crap rider anyway so dont think the extra for a Pinky would make much difference. 4. If i find i enjoy it i can always sell it and buy a Pinky anyway. So got loads of questions like: where is the best place to buy parts? What is the best silencer my old bike in the early 80's had a sort of roughly diamond shaped one that i got from Mick Andrews and ran really well with it. Can you still get them? I heard there was a mod to the front brake to make it better using a different brake plate. What was it from? My forks dont seem to have much travel,about 5.5", they are 29.5" long but have a long spacer tube fitted inside about 4" long is this right? are they getting coil bound? My Betors on the B40 are off an OSSA and they have 6.5" travel. What mods are best? I seem to remember a different airbox top plus jets from John Shirt were fitted to my old bike too. Any ideas. Finally for now where can i get a complete exhaust from? mine is a bit knocked about. I will try to post a piccy but i'm not very good with confusers. Heres the other side. I know it looks rough but might clean up and it will do to start with. One thing i forgot to ask was i hear spokes are made from unobtanium. What do you guys do then ???

Sutty if your idea was adopted then i might as well sell the bikes now. Assuming i could then find anybody to sell them to as unless the person buying them had a "pet" observer then they wouldnt be able to use them either so trials bikes would be little use to anybody. Believe me i have tried. The wife hates trials, my neighbours hate bikes, my workmates think i'm weird as i'm not football or golf obsessed, my dad who used to come when i was younger is dead so apart from hireing an observer through advertising in the local paper etc i would not be able to ride. The idea is fine till you work it out. Will never work for everybody. Some yes but a lot of riders are in my position. It is a difficult one i agree. I still feel that a parallel should be drawn with local football matches. What we need is a corps of observers all qualified in some form and maybe even registered with the ACU, AMCA whatever who can be called on and booked for your upcoming trial. One other thing i have noticed some weeks there is a real clash of events in my area and clubs need to get together more to stop dates clashing as this also dilutes the pool of available observers. Whatever happens it cant go on like this. Something needs to be done or we might as well not bother and just pay the fee and treat it as free practice day and then you dont need any observers at all.

Never having entered that event i am frankly amazed that there are entries on modern bikes no matter what age the riders are. This is EXACTLY what i have been on about to club officials locally but they dont listen. As soon as you allow entries on bikes other than the ones that the event was created for the sections ALWAYS get tougher. We cant have so and so winning on less than 10 marks !!! YES WE BLOODY WELL CAN SOD HIM. What about the rest of the entry. There are plenty of trials for modern bikes and air cooled monos belong with twinshocks at best but not Pre 65. You can't trust the organisers that they will NOT alter the severity of the sections once modern bikes are allowed even on a guest no award basis. The sections always get unduely tough and that deters the pre65 bikes from turning out. Nothings changed since the 70's when the monos first came out. So back to the original posting and thats why converted monos should NEVER ever be allowed to enter as twinshocks.

Shame i couldnt vote for two entries as i prefer Pre 65 and twinshock no stop no discs. However i may also as my post in aircooled monos suggests get an aircooled mono. I think after all the advice given i will settle on a Yam but the problem now seems to be the prices are climbing quite rapidly. Oh well just have to keep looking. Nice to see this section Classic has been put up and i am sure it will be very popular.

Thanks for the suggestion but 1) in a big fat git 15 stones and 2) the aircooled mono class locally is pre 95 so the scorpa is out on both counts. thanks anyway

Now this has probably been debated on here many times but i seriously would appreciate the advice. Some of the local "Classic" clubs dont seem to cater for or want the pre 65 bikes so as they have an air cooled mono class thought i might try that seeing as i'm an old fat git with very little talent so the modern trials are not my cup of cocoa. Seems to come down to TY250 mono, Beta TR34, Fantic 301/303 i've seen a Montesa 309 and a Gas Gas but spares might be a problem. TY250 is probably the favourite as good parts availability and bullet proof but are they competitive against the Beta or the Fantic? Seem to remember they could hold their own in the early 80's but i packed up in 85 so dont remember the Beta much. So come on guys pro's and cons and hopefully you can help me decide if 1. it's a good idea as there seems less and less places locally i can get a good ride out on my B40 2. assuming it's a good idea which would be the best bet for an old duffer like me?