g4321

'At the Classic Show' All of the bikes in that picture would look much nicer in a rocky Scottish burn section or traversing a muddy bog. Few of the bikes there are more than 20 years old & are not yet past their sell by date. I might be sad but I can identify a TLM, 2 RTl250's and possibly 2 Gollner Hondas in the background. All of which would be lovely bikes to ride in club trials! I can understand the interest in Classic bikes from the 60's and earlier (there are very few classic bikes from the 70's in my opinion!) but bikes from the mid - late 80's - perhaps I am getting old! Motorbikes are made to be ridden, competition bikes are meant to be used competetively.

You may initially end up having problems to get the Tubless tyre to stay on the bead of the wheel all the way round the rim at low pressures. The tyre will seat perfectly well but untill the tyre is bedded in it may tend to partially pop off the bead once the pressure is dropped to normal pressures. The only way to rectify this is to rotate the tyre on the rim to where the area that 'pops' off is covered by one of the security bolts & try again. When this has happened I have left the tyre sitting on the rim at high pressure until the day of a trial - dont know whether this has helped or not. I have done a few trials where the bead has partially popped off the rim but have never had a puncture (YET) due to this After a few trials you will find there are no further problems with the tyre- patience/perseverance is required. This is just my experience after using tubless tyres for the last 3 - 4 years on a tube rim, the same problem has occurred each time I use a new tyre.

Spoke to 'rep/demonstrator' of Ultraseal at Scottish Bike Show today about suitability of his product for low pressure use - ie trials tyres. I emphasised that we were talking about pressures as low as 3-4psi but he assured me that Ultraseal will work even at such low pressures, claiming negligable loss of air before the product seals. He said that it is used in grass cutting machinery & low pressure trailer tyres with excellent results. I am only quoting what he said, he seemed knowledgeable about his product but remember he is a salesman & probably does not know the abuse a trails tyre takes so dont blame me if you try it & 1/2 way across a moor in the Scottish you have a puncture & no way of fixing it. Me I am still sceptical, for the reasons I quoted in my previous post.!

I agree with this having had many a five from John in the past! He plus most other observers are CONSISTANT this is the main thing. A Five is a Five - dosn't matter if you continue through the section after stopping - the rules are clear & are the same for everyone.

I doubt very much that this cub engined special is competing in the P65 class. It will make a very interesting & competetive Twinshock bike & by the look of things would be competetive in a 'normal' trial. Just because its got a cub engine dosn't mean its used in P65. I bet the rider has wiped the smile off many a modern bike rider with this bike.

From 2003 Classic Motorcycle test - so slightly out of date Armac Cub Frame Kit Main Frame -

I dont know Duncan but suspect its the same chap who builds the ARMAC framed Tiger Cub. This bike is detailed/tested in The Classic Motorcycle, September 2003, just so happens I was browsing through this magazine last night I recognised the name. He is the same chap who rode the Scottish on a Monocoque Ossa in the 1975 Scottish. Theree are contact details in the magazine - dont know if they are still current so let me know if you want them. Gordon

If the chain has a rivet link fitted - find the rivet link - the one that looks different to the rest is the best description & grind off the end of the 'pins' then use a screwdriver to pry the chain apart (cheaper than a chain braker & does the same job? Then get a split link to suit the chain from your local dealer - otherwise get another rivet link & re-rivet the chain. If you intend refitting the chain (without splitting the chain!) the easiest way is to pull the swinging arm pivot bolt out, let the chain pass the swinging arm pivot then remove the back wheel spindle & remove chain complete. Clean it then refit - it also lets you grease the swinging arm pivot!

Mr B I know a guy very well who manages a tyre shop (not local) his opinions of this sort of product cannot really be printed without resort to a lot of four letter words! ie Dont bother on the road! As for trials I would have 2 concerns. I suspect that since you will be running 4 - 6 lbs maximum & the slime sealing punctures works as a puncture starts the pressure loss may not be sufficient to make the leak fix work. The other thing which would concern me is that the slime within a tyre is more likely to make the tyre slip or rotate on the rim. I seem to remember on of the Bon Accord guys (Bob Prodger?) tried it at the P65 Scottish last year & it didnt work in that he still had to change a tube complete with the mess the stuff made!

had a look at my Haynes XL/XR 80 - 200 manual - its for post 78 engines. I think there is a Haynes CB125 single manual which is for the earlier engines which may be more suited. Then again the basic engine design is identical!

Donald There are 3 sources of parts to approach - Gordon Farley's, Appleyards & Dave Silver Spares. You can find out from some of the online dealers in the states whether Honda parts are classed as obsolete from their part numbers, this can also be done by visiting your Local Honda dealer (probably McGowans in Aberdeen) I vaguely remember seeing something about another Honda piston which will fit as an oversize piston - possibly from an industrial engine (I have no recolection where I saw or heard of this) Let me know via Email the parts you require & I can give you the part numbers off the microfiche. The bike i recently rbuilt had a slightly worn bore but I went down the route of re-using the piston (which did not appear too worn) with new rings & a light hone of the bore. Seems to have worked with the bike not showing any tendancy to burn oil. Gordon

Send me an Email with your details - I cant contact you via the contact details. Gordon

Does anyone have the spoke dimensions to hand for a TLR250F - rear wheel ?(although I will replace the front eventually) Who do you recommend as a supplier - idealy who has the dimensions on file? I have a new rim to build onto the wheel but its easiest to leave the bike with the wheel in it & tyre on it for the moment - hence my question. Gordon

Add a little bit in to No 5 here. Have a length of hose/pipe going from the nipple into a bottle or tin half full of fluid so that there is minimal risk of air getting drawn back into the nipple. Its also a lot cleaner than spraying fluid all over your garage. Faulty brakes are not a nice thing to have so if you are anyway unsure of how to bleed your brakes get a friend to show you how - you dont want to find your brake lines full of air or a leak appearing when you can most do without it. Its easy to do once you know what you are doing.

Everybody thinks they are a good driver - me included but there are ways to find out how good you really are - not how good you think you are! Might be an idea to get an observed drive with your local group of the IAM - this will open your eyes to how good or bad your driving actually is. making the effort and trying/passing the IAM test will be of a benefit in that it both improves your driving skill - NO MATTER HOW GOOD A DRIVER YOU ACTUALLY ARE & it will benefit you financially - at least 10% off your insurance. Riding a bike for a while on the open road will let you see how badly some people do drive & will open your eyes to the possible consequences of bad driving. Just a thought!

Sorry to say Andy stupiddrivers.co.uk sums undertaking up up to me!

Not in the UK As for US environmental policies they avoid the Kyoto Protocol but decide to ban 2 strokes - they might have got one thing right ? Take what happened with MX. Have a look at a local MX meeting, 4 or 5 years ago 2strokes were more common than 4 strokes by 4 or 5 to one. Now the ratio has reversed, this has nothing to do with the USA (except the manufacturers have had to develop bikes for the USA!). The vast majority of bikes sold up here are 4 strokes now, be it KTM, Yam or Honda or even some of the smaller manufacturers. 4 or 5 years ago Yam and Honda 2 strokes rulled the roost with only a few individuals trying 4 strokes, or alternative makes. Once people saw the reliability was there & once they tried a 4stroke bike they were hooked and made the change over. There are a few guys who changed back to 2 strokes after finding 4 strokes harder to get on with. It will be interesting to see how trials goes over the next few years - there certainly seems to be a lot of guys waiting until any 'teething troubles' are ironed out of the Honda(Montesa) before they decide to try one. Possibly next year will see an influx of a much larger number of 4RT's!

The above statement might be a bit over the top! Honda seem to think, and I suspect they know a lot more about engine sesign than any of the 'experts' in an online discussion board that a 4 stroke can again be competetive. Taking trials alone look at how well Honda did in the 1980's, World Champions, British Champions - you name it they did it you seem to forget that all those bikes were FOUR STROKES. Just think what the bikes would have been like if they had continued to develop the RTL? As for Motocross & Enduros - go back to 1999 when Yamaha took out the first modern Jap 4 stroke MX bike this revolutionalised the sports - if it didnt equal the 2 strokes then why are most riders buying 4 strokes now? - you can still buy 2 strokes in the UK but these are few and far between at local & national levels.of competition. Hopefully once the real World Championship ie outdoors starts we will see a bit better how the new 4 strokes get on - lets face it how many of us rid up 10 foot high piles of pallets & oversized truck tyres on a normalk trial - not a lot! Until then lets not judge things too strongly or make statements which we cannot back up with fact.

Some interesting comments & highly polarised views as usual! Today went to my usual practice ground to meet up with 6 other local riders, at gate 'practice ground' I realised i had left my 'lid' at home. Knowing my luck if I rode without a helmet all afternoon i would be guaranteed to have a big off & damage my head!. A 14 mile round trip home was called for to pick up my helmet - probably 10 years ago I would have played around for the day without wearing a helmet but too many MX crashes & trials bike falls due to badly placed trees and branches has changed my opinion & I will no longer try anything serious without a helmet. Smash of the day went to 'Duckwizard' & seeing an 8 or 10" long deep score in his helmet where the bike disagreed with him I bet he was glad he was wearing a 'lid'!

John you should know what a 2 stroke is by now, horrible smelly things that they are, you have been riding one since i first met you! Occasionally I see a big & heavy competition G3 Matchless telling you where it wants to go in a section but does your statement mean you have seen the light and are planning to dump the stinkwheels altogether in the near future?

Strange Guys book or CD. Up here in SACU country we did not get a choice whether to get a book or CD. Motorcuycle sport is trying to become environment friendly, just think of all the trees cut down for a mountain of paper to provide an ACU handbook for every SACU competitor. Many of us would have been happy with a CD!

Looks good so far Brian. LeJeune I think is the correct surname. Would be nice to see some techincal details on the RTL/TLR/TL range eg dimensions, engine details etc Gordon

Bigfoot & Boofont (What a choice of names! - but best of luck in the Scottish) The way I look at it the vast majority of riders compete for entertainment/amusement/exercise & are not too bothered whether they finish first or last. Myself I know I am unlikely to win anything but 'winning' is not the reason I took up trials. If I thought I could 'win' I would not be riding 18year old bikes! I like to try and improve my scores from lap 1 to lap 3 - sometimes this happens and often it does not. I know i do not have the skill or more importantly nerve to ride many of the 'A' routes or the Inter routes and at some trials I have competed I was a little uneasy with some of the 'B' Route sections. Perhaps if I started 20 years ago Lampkin would have a rival - NOT! My main aim is to have a 'fun day out' with light hearted banter between your mates on how well or badly you/they are riding. Trials seems to be really taking off again in the NE of Scotland, particularly in my local area where there are often 8 or more riders from within 5 miles of Elgin practicing on a Sunday, whether any of us will ever make expert status in the near future is debatable.

Trouble is Mark that there are two views to this:- It was brought home to me at the last trial where one of the guys who has always to ride the hard route - dont know whether an Expert or Non-expert commented to me and several others that he fancied buying a twinshock because he felt he was no longer happy riding the hard route. It is likely that there are a lot of 'good riders' out there who feel the same way and do not fancy riding the hard route because of the severity of some of the sections - hence the reluctance to get upgraded. On some trials I can fully appreciate their opinion! Have a look at the scores from a trial in the novice class and see the wide range from close to zero down to 100 - 150pts, perhaps the novice class could be split into 2, but the argument will always be where do you draw the line & those in the middle of the pile in each half could feel they are hard done by in the level the 'split' is placed. The same thing happens in MX races where it was a common sight to see riders hanging back in the heats to ensure they did not qualify for the A class, some because they did not feel confident racing with the A group and others as you say wanting a little bit of plastic to show how good they are - NOT!

If your crank seals are leaking its highly likely that the main bearings are worn - the leak is usually due to movement in the main bearings, just replacing the seals will only mask the problem for a short length of time. The only real solution is to strip the motor & replace the main bearings & crank seals together. Its not going to be a big job but will save you having to go through the same rigmarole in 3months time. This is a common problem in MX bikes where the revs are a lot higher for longer periods & replacing seals & main bearings is seen a regular maintenance. Buy yourself a fourstroke and you wont have this to contend with anymore!