old trials fanatic

www.pre65andtwinshocktrialsparts.co.uk

With most of the country in the icy grip of winter the Peak Classic Trials Club held their Round 10 of the Club Championship at a very cold Cookes Wood, Youlgrave near Matlock last Sunday. The day was cold but the sun shone and this popular venue was thankfully snow free for the 39 riders who braved the elements, some from as far afield as Wigan, Hull and Yorkshire. Mention must be made at this point of Terrance Sammon who made the long journey from Wigan only to find his Whitehawk wouldn

Now we are getting there. Love the frame

Well guys and gals i've been there all day and with the help of Derek Carson the event is definately on. The access road is fine but we have some rock salt ready just in case and we have set the sections out on the easy side but from todays experience i dont thing they will polish up much so come along and have a fun day in Cookes wood on your bike

No missed that. Thats closer to what i was thinking. Thanks for that

Last time i heard they are still paying them. Talk was "we need to because we need to keep the best people to get us out of this mess" quote from Jeremy Vine show. Err just remind me who got us into this mess in the first place?????

Thanks but not what i was thinking of. I'm thinking more like Kenny Roberts or as per RD400 / RD250 1970's

err i'm interested too as i was seriously thinking about doing the same and could do with something to show the man with the spray gun. Whats the address of the "Aussie" trials site? cant find it on here. US and Canada yes but nothing for the colonies

Just a note to say that if it is at all possible the Trial on Sunday will definately be on. I wont know for certain until Saturday but please check the clubs website www.peakclassic.co.uk for updates. I have had to cancel one round of the Club Championship i dont want to have to cancel another one. Slight change in Club championship awards due to the cancelation of Bracken Rocks last month. Previously a rider had to have scored in the class for 6 rounds of the 12 to be eligable for an award. due to having to cancel the last round and there now only being 11 rounds i have changed the criteria to must have scored championship points in the same class for 5 rounds. Even if we do have to regretably cancel any of the two remaining rounds this change to the criteria will stand and not be reduced. So fingers crossed and lets hope the weather gods letr us go ahead on Sunday.

Nice one makes a change to get a more informed and decent length feature on the sport. Well done BBC Look North.

Thats just moto cross with some bricks thrown in

Just wanted to say thanks to everybody for the help. Did the job today. Once i knew the size of teh "tool" required it was easy to make one. If it's of any use to anybody i used an M14 bolt which has a 22mm across flats head and welded it to an old 1/2" drive socket so i could use an extension bar. Suppose you could use a length of tube whatever. Any job is easy when you have the right tools and the tool made this a breeze. Thanks again one and all

LOL OK think i ought to explain myself. After reading back does come over a bit not what i meant. The venue in question as many know was Burycliffe Quarry and the land owner didnt want us holding events there as we have a class for air cooled monos. I have to respect even if i dont understand that the point of view believe me we have argued it over a beer or three many times and will continue to do so hopefully we may get the venue back. thats what i meant by under review. Incidentally we added the class 1. because we are an ACU club and had to have the class at Centre Championship rounds so thought why not have the class all year. It's been poorly supported and some of the riders just left their twinshock at home and rode the aircooled mono so no more entries overall. I have also noticed that locally, i wont and cant speak for the rest of the country, it is much much easier to obtain the usage of new or old venues that have been lost to trials for a while if you are a Classic Club. As usual then the modern clubs try to barge in but the landowners have been much more favourable to the Classic fraternity using their land than the modern clubs. Why is that? well i remember this last summer sitting round a friends house talking bikes and having a beer, there is a trials venue behind his house, and i was disgusted to hear some of the abusive language and "attitude" coming out of the woods. The noise from the bikes was horrendous too. Needless to say the event was a "modern" one and complaints were made by the local villagers too. Now what sort of image does this present of the sport? I wont say our sport because i dissacociate myself from that lot. Does it promote a possative aspect to perspective newcomers? Would you want your offspring to take part in that environment ? As a landowner would you want that and the associated mess and carnage to your land ? Modern trials needs to take a long hard look at itself and make and more importantly take some hard decisions or it wont have a future. Bikes, rules, sections, attitude, ethos the list is almost endless but something must be done if the protagonists want to continue. There has been talk of limiting the number of events, we have 12 next year BTW, on a day in the centre because of falling entries. So they think reducing the ammount of choice is the answer? I think not. As it has been said by many before "give them what they want and they will come". So why dont more modern clubs learn from the Classic Clubs, adding a class for pre65 or twinshocks doesnt count just to boost the funds it's STILL NOT a Classic Trial a couple of friends have the bruises and broken bits to prove it, instead of doing the same old same old? No idea i refer you to my earlier comment re dinosaurs.

Nice bike. Strewth dont think i've ever seen a big bike dwarfed by it's rider before

No it wouldnt. To simplify it's the whole thing the bikes, the style of sections, the no stop rules allow that style of section but most importantly it's the sort of people who ride at Classic Clubs events. When you allow modern bikes the sections alter in severity no matter how old the rider, over 50's whatever, and no matter how much the organisers keep vowing they wont. Sadly the final nail in the coffin is the attitude of Modern riders on Modern machinery, see Charlie Prescotts posting earlier on the nail mate. I know some of the riders on Twinshocks at our Classic Clubs Trials also own and i assume ride modern bikes also but thankfully so far, by and large, they have left their "modern attitude" at home with the modern bike. Air cooled monos are an anomaly and are currently under review. They have cost us the use of well loved venue already. I have my own views but as i said under review. As for some people prefering to flash the plastic etc i still feel thats a factor. Everybody i know who has spilt blood, sweat and tears to build, restore, develop their bike are the kind of people that make the Classic Trials Club the one you want to be a member of. It's about commitment. Trials is a way of life NOT just something you pick up and put down for two hours on a Sunday. Why the heck do people want to turn up 5 mins before the start and rush around as fast as possible then clear off before the rest of the entry have even finished. Then again thats another issue or is it????

Obviously dont have many rocks or steps where this came from. Ground clearence is sadly lacking and i dont get why anybody would go to all that trouble and not address that obvious shortcoming. Actually i dont mind the bike,i've already got two kittens, but i know a Mills frame does it a lot lot better.

Think youre all missing the point here. The reason Classic Trials are gaining in popularity is because they have nothing in common with modern trials! Stop thinking of ways to make modern trials more like Classic Trials. We are happy as it is. Let moderns go their own way like the Dinosaurs. Evolution works in many ways but a dead end street will always be a dead end street and in evolution terms will die out. Modern trials are nothing to do with the sport of Motor Cycle Trials which has been enjoyed for nearly 80 years, in some kind of recogniseable form, so "if it aint broke dont fix it" however some things are so broke they cant be fixed. I'd sooner tinker in the shed than go to a modern trial and it looks like i'm not on my own. As someone said earlier, think it was Rosey, there's plenty of twinshocks and pre 65's out there many more than are currently being used. Supply is not the problem. As for the mega tricked up pre65 well i've stared long and hard at me James and i dont really see what people are on about there's nothing that "trick" about it. Most has been made by me in the shed using skills i've taught myself. Isnt that what the essence of Trials was way back then? I do the same with my twinshocks. So whats the problem? Trials riders have always spent hours working on and developing their bikes. If anything is "wrong" then perhaps it's the "modern" idea that people want to buy it not work at it. Thats society nowadays. Talk on this post has been about how a manufacturer should make this or that bike. You are the manufacturer. Put your ideas into reality and learn what works that way. Get involved with your bike, pre65 and twinshocks are like that, dont just look to buy something more akin to a fridge that you just wipe over after use. Be part of it. "What is Classic Trials" if you have to ask you wouldnt understand the answer. Merry Christmas

Actually i'm swaping a damaged chrome stantion for a better one but all the postings have been helpful. I have an air wrench so will start with that but am thinking of making up a tool. I assume the reference to 22mm is across flats?

Appreciate it. I do remember there was something posted on here a while back but i have searched and cant find anything.

Youre trying to compare monoshocks to twinshocks and there is no comparison. I go back to my earlier statement about suspension travel or to be more accurate rear wheel travel. The main reason for going mono was to get a longer and smoother rear wheel movement. That is what a longer swing arm does, simple physics really. As for tighter turning well i did also say in my original posting that there is always a trade off and a longer swingarm means a longer wheelbase which means slower turning all other peramiters staying the same. Of course a shorter swing arm gives grip at the expense of looping over on climbs but a longer arm gives better grip on climbs and absorbs rocks, steps etc maintaining grip and traction. To maintain the length of the wheelbase and get the bike to turn tighter you would have to steepen the head angle and the trade off for that is the bike will tend to "tuck under" on tight turns over rocks especially. Why does everbody never look at the big picture? If it was that simple everybody would do it. If you decide to modify from the "compromise" that the manufacturer thought would suit the vast majority of their customers you have to decide 1. What do i actually want to achieve and 2. What downside am i willing to accept?

How do i remove / dismantle the fork legs on a TY250 mono? I seem to remember a while back that there was a special tool required to go down the inside of the tube to lock it then you can undoo the bolt that goes up through the bottom of the slider. Be damned if i can find it though. Anybody have any details.

Depending on the shock mounts positioning, usually better to lengthen between the shock mount and the rear wheel spindle as a general rule of thumb, it can give a longer suspension travel at the rear wheel which in theory should give softer longer suspension movement improving traction. However the trade off is a longer wheelbase which makes tight turns more difficult. when you "modify" a bike the first thing you should do is decide what it is you want to achieve and where you are havin difficulties. Dont be a sheep analize what you are doing. Decide on a course of action and accept there will always be a trade off. somebody is bound to disagree though

The spelling, witch ?, was giving me a headache

Am i drunk or something i'm really having problems understanding this.