rosey

..... come on that picture surely isn't real.... I still can't believe it

Bike launching great stuff! (not)..... like stray bullets what if it had hit some other poor bu99er? It goes to show that you don't need to have 'owt upstairs to be really good on a bike.....proper caveman stuff. Did he have a club with a spike on the end too? Appalling behaviour...if he had a brain that incident would be something that he would regret for ever!

01 model TXT was a great bike..... its not likely that it will be that good after 6 or so years of abuse, but its about as sorted as they go as its the last model of that design apart from Edition '02 /'03 models. Build quality on all trials bikes is generally pretty poor (built to a cost), so the GG will be as good as the rest (apart from Jap stuff).

...If its a Spanish made switch... you might want to check that the switch works!!!! I was stunned to find that also on the handlebars lives another 'switch thing' that alters the power delivery dramatically. It lives under the RHS grip and is directly linked to the carb with a cable. Works a treat it does!.. No need for this electrical tomfoolery/work of the devil stuff!

New Gas Gas Briggs and Stratton eh? I hope its quieter than a Montesa (F)4RT! My lawnmower is quiet! Mind you, there may be nowhere left to ride in 2009 anyway!

I was just thinking (easy there)...... If promotion is such a worry for anybody then they could remove all the badges/decals from their bike and even the manufacturers name from their car and clothing etc..... Oh and leave the bike name blank on the entry form when they enter a trial too.

I assumed that it must be legit now to change wheels.... I read it and thought hmm they must have changed to rules. Bike swapping and others working on riders bikes is also not unknown in events... I guess its what you can get away with. I saw Colley swap bikes at a Brit Champ round many moons ago...... the minder didn't even get the 'replacement' dirty so the swap was a bit too obvious! Oh and Lampkin's Beta (aye when he rode Beta!) being worked on by others in Kinlockleven. etc... etc... etc...

Nothing wrong with that report from Shirty! My only concern is that (unless I didn't see it) he did not use the word MEGA..... Gas Gas promo stuff always used to have the 'M' word.... What's happening? Is he mellowing!

Bang on! Actualy the trials would be harder for the top guys to win if they were easier...it won't help them when they have to compete at top level, but then it doesn't help the other experts does it when they are too hard. Bloody hell what a memory! I rely on still having the results in a folder... 1st Crawford 26 7th Rosey 85! 15th place was 103 30th was 141 marks and the list of riders right down shows a competent centre expert level field! There wasn't thbig void in the late 80's even the early 90's but now it's a chasm... The sport has done all it can to get on TV (arena trials etc), but the viewers are not bothered. But.... if the Scott as WTC and the SSDT then that might put an end to minders?...riders having to fix their own bikes?... Oh I've been there before!

And in golf you get a handicap so you really can believe you can beat a good player with low single figure handicap.... Even though in reality he can play well and a high handicaper can't Big unfit people play golf .... cus its easy to play! And because its easy to play, loads of people play it and they can play it in normal clothes.... Its really really cheap to play ........ Oh and there is loads of places to play it too. Trials is a great sport. Tough and rewarding (not financially unless you are the top very few indeed). Golf sustains a huge industry which is worth billions... Woods gets over 80 M USD from sponsors! and look at all the lower rank pros even a club pro will get a nice living with all that tax free fiddle from lessons etc. Sponsorship in trials is a funny thing. It gives the poor kids a chance against the rich kids, but why bother when the rich kids make the results and their parents pay for their bike and the van and are DAFT enough to put stickers and manufacturers names on their van, bike etc. A look in the off road paper sees a lot of riders all dressed smartly riding new bikes... not many are sponsored to the level that they don't pay for things.... and this is way off being paid to ride! Whilst there are pretend professionals why bother sponsoring some of similar ability. I dont know the bike sales in the UK 1500 per year? less? at 3500 GBP I bet the importer is paying 2000 without VAT... God knows what a dealer makes. An importer has the hassle of warranty and spares backup etc. It depends on how many bikes they sell as to what money they want to commit to promotional things Trials has always been on the verge of an explosion.... but now it's on the verge of not having any venues. I once heard that it was the motorsport with the highest level of participation. I don't know if this is still true, but there are a lot more hobbies/distractions to do now than say 10-20 years ago.

Aye I bet Elton will like to 'join' the others too...... so long as Barrymore doesn't invite em all back after for a dip in his pool!

Yamaha TY250R mono Its not my favourite (That is strangely the Fantic 300 heavy and big!), but I must admit the TY mono was a huuuuuge leap forward

Believe it or not, I was a minder (god forbid) two years ago!

Nigel dabster...Tiger Woods without a caddy... I was thinking this when I wrote my reply.. Sure I would like to see all progolfers without caddies and no I'm not joking!

I guess its all relative. I remember watching world rounds in the 80's and there were loads of riders and it seemed real. When I mean real, I'm refering to 'God thats f@~kin great, but you know it seems like I could nearly have a go at that!' There were even good Centre/British champ level riders entering To me thats good for the sport...I should add that there were loads of spectators too.. which is also good. I was in Spa a couple of years back for the world round and thought that it was impressive, but to be honest a bit boring too! It really did look like an arena trial. Trials was originally about getting some lump of a bike over a tough course...then the bikes improved, but I still think the riders should have to fix their own bikes. I always used to carry a bum bag in big trials and I've lent many a tool or part to somebody who beat me... I look back now and think how daft I must have been (and still am I guess) To ask observers to stamp out cheating is easy, but hard to do. Not everybody wants to be faced with a big threatening minder bloke dressed in lycra (although there are websites dedicated to this I bet or is it WWF?). If they were able to easily give penalty marks then the riders/minders would have to think again.

Exhaust catalysts are not as expensive as you may think, but they will add a few quid to the price of the bike and compared to other pollutants, motorcycles are not a worry.... The sad thing is that whatever we address, noise emissions, land erosion (hmm), the off road fraternity will be squeezed and squeezed until it is no more. As I mentioned above (previous post), a lot of the noise is from the modern trials riding styles... No I wouldn't want to see trials go back to no stop, no hop, (even if I was still riding!). I think noise pollution is a worse enemy than air pollution. I'm sure that you are all very tolerant of others due to trials riding... I think it makes people open minded, but from the outside there are many many killjoys who dont see the 'sense in tearing up the countryside'..... and what I've seen many of these are the lowlife that flytip and empty their dogs on the playing fields In the past noise tests were farcical with riders shoving restrictors/kettle defuzzers up their chuffs. It would be nice if the manufactures made cpable bikes out of the crates and then realistic noise limits can be set. Anyway whatever you ride enjoy it while you can and I hope its for a long time too

Oh right if thats correct then its a good option.... BUT why don't Montesa fit em as standard then?... cost down? ha ha ha. Seriously if it makes that much difference then the manufacturer should show some responsibility.... unless they come restricted and silent, but then the bike would not be fit for the purpose its sold for would it?

Stupid..perhaps, but if it was written into the rules 'nobody in the section other than the rider'...AND here I mean not catchers, I'm sure things would get sorted out pretty quickly. The riders would not be able to do the harder stuff as they would have nobody to position wheels, put in kicker rocks and catch. The sections would become much more sensible, plus if they broke their bikes after launching them and had to fix them themselves...hmm???? Yes its stupid alright, but it just might work

Why don't the FIM sort world rounds out once and for all: A) No minders! The riders have to work on their own bikes! The minder argument may go down the line of 'well its a safety thing re: catching etc.' but I'm sure this can be overcome

If all the 4 strokes are as noisy as the Montesa 4rt then we can kiss trials goodbye!!!! Land will disappear a lot quicker. I know of certain areas that have banned Montesa 4 strokes due to complaints.... It is not just that simple, as the newer style of riding 'rev and splat' sounds like tree felling (e.g .chainsaw..... then crash!) .... great anyone for cyclotrials?

My parents used to run trials and they both had to be members of the club to run the trials! It was done just to put something back and was OK. Since then I have learned that there were a few other senior members who were never actually paid up members(*)... Its a trivial point, but just shows how pathetic some can be.... *It may be just a rumour but one was elected as a club 'head' and I'm told for 'deffo' that it was then discovered that they had never been a full member! Worse than this though..... At one of the same club trials years later (others now in 'charge')...they actually charged the landowner to ride in the trial on his own land.... great eh! I'm sort of 'aware' of other clubs that certainly pay 'expenses' to themselves. I reckon some of these expenses might be quite nice when viewed as a tax free income. The answer is... Soon there will be no need for clubs as there wont be any land... But if we all become illegal we will have the access to loads of land... just dont get caught. The sad thing is that the more legal you try to be the more you will be nailed by the feds, insurance and the lot....

What about the guy in 7th ...Paul Bolton..I'm sure he is/was a trials rider too

Surprisingly underated bike... last pinkish one (94) was best with hydraulic clutch etc (Phil Disney rode one for Malc Rathmell sam year as I rode the Scorpa), but nice tractable motor, doesn't need any mods apart from suspension softenng from standard, but if you are 18st then I expect it will need hardening a bit........... I tested one in 92 or 93 and found it to be much better than it looked. They were A LOT better than the first model Scorpa! I'm sure that Rathmell's could point you in the right direction

Oh dear not these things again... In m eyes the bike is worth what a bulto is worth....condition depending. HOWEVER peple will buy some right crap if history is attached (crappy paintings etc)..... If a buyer is daft enough then fair play. Bet that smashed in S -Class what Dina was in would fetch a fortune (or has it been sold). How many sets of Jesus's fingers did Blackadder have ? But I bet Vesty had a fair number of Bults. not exactly like Jesus's fingers then!