g4321

Pity to spoil a nice looking Matchless by picturing it next to a BMW car!

This is the advantage of a fourstroke - you dont gas everyone around you with oily & smelly 2 stroke fumes! Just Joking really - NOT!

If it is not the kickstart lever slipping on the splines of the kickstart shaft it is likely to be one of two things (in my opinion) 1) the clutch is slipping very badly - unlikely in that you would notice it when running the bike 2) the kickstart ratchet is slipping & not engaging properly - i would think this is the most likely, unfortunately this will involve splitting the ctankcase to investigate/repair. Sorry to be bearer of bad tidings Gordon If you are happy to continue running the bike try fitting up a manual decompressor, this will allow you to easily bump-start the bike where there are any hills/slopes & minimise use of kickstart.

HondaRS & Woody - just saw your reply! Had a look at bike today & can confirm that 'pinky' disk brake forks are 35mm while earlier bike which a friend has are 36mm diameter. In addition the forks are different in appearance - the older bike has a more rounded slider while the pinky is a 'squared off oval' appearance. The yam forks seem to be a bit shorter than the TLR forks (need to measure TLR properly first) but have to wait on a phone call from owner whether or not they are available - his mate who showed me the bike says they are (fingers crossed - I might yet move into the era of disk brakes and mono shock bikes in the same year!) Gordon

Honda RS, you stated that Pinky forks are 35mm diameter. Can you confirm that this size is correct? I may have the chance of the complete front end locally for very reasonable price - nothing definite yet unfortunately but its better to go armed with the facts when you go to view! thanks Gordon

Thanks for the info guys

Simple question for you knowledgeable Yamaha Guys. Am I correct in thinking that the later model aircooled TY250' Yamahas had disk brake front ends? I know there was a Talon conversion available for earlier ones. What diameter are the forks on these bikes? Are they any good (the forks & brakes not the bikes)? and finally if someione is feeling very kind what is the length of the forks?

Marky G - Simple question to ask yourself In 15 years time will your bike be worth more than it originally sold for - I guess the answer is no. Perhaps its time you joined the revolution & bought a Honda 4 stroke where a bike can be ridden for years & will hold its price - or increase in value! - I am joking - everyman for himself, the world would be a sad place if we all liked the same things. All I was doing was listing a price a TLR recently sold for on Ebay - perhaps since this bit of the Trials Central bulletin board is about Honda Trials bikes this will be of interest to people who own & ride Honda trials bikes - then again perhaps not? All the best Gordon

TLR250 sold on Ebay - Italy Price reashes new high! 4000 Euros,

Well corrected should have said But the question I still have is this as good as traditional hard chrome - I dont think so - look at the amount of bikes with worn/discoloured coated fork legs. hence my original question

Mr B I cant remember whether your forks are anodised. Is the action of the neoprene gaitors likely to wear the anodising off fork stanchions when dirty/wet - this is something I have always wondered? Hopefully someone can answer my question. If so perhaps the alternative of 'old fashioned' fork gaitors (like on my TLR) would be an alternative. Gordon

Training Our local scrambles club has for the last several years had a 'training day' for all the schoolboys in the club. This was organised by one of the top club Enduro riders. He organised several high standard riders who were very clued up technically to freely give up their time to help with the training. The advantage of this method was it was all riders the schoolboys could look up to and relate to and it was not as if they were back at school. Without fail all the schoolboys claimed it helped their riding & it was clear that their riding had improved to all the observers. there was little or no charge for this training day (possibly a

Sue/Pete/Big John The trouble is that from the motocross/enduro club members perspective they see the SACU favouring Road Racing & see MX/enduro entries/licences as subsidising road racing. This was always the feeling from the local MX clubs, togrether with the SACU having a distinct central/southern Scotland bias, not seeing any returns to the sport in the North from a vast amount of money (as they see it) paid out to the SACU. I am fully aware of the insurance costs, capitation fees etc that have to be paid out but to the average club MX rider all they see is

HondaRS & Big John know a lot more about these things than me but my comment about modern internals was really about damper assembly & springs. hopefully this clarifies my previous message. Gordon

They are always oversubscribed at the moment for entries so it is unlikely another class is ever going to be required. The only way someone can check for 'trick fork internals' is to strip the forks of every bike, no doubt there are plenty trick fork internals out there on P65 Scottish bikes but there is a limit to what can be picked up on by the scruitineers. Simple things such as Jap or Italian carbs, modern forks & wheel hubs are easy to catch!

When were 'Otter Frames' first made? If its later than 1965 then its obvious that they will not be eligable for the P65 Scottish.

For interest - from March 6th 1987 TMX Appleyards TLR200 -

Try Footman James I found them better and more knowledgable than Nash or Bennets for both old and modern road bikes. Dont know if they insure trials bikes though?

John / John & Sue Licence arrived in post today. Not lets see do I paint last years riding number on my bike for Sunday or this years (sorry using SACU terminology next years) ? Yours Confused Gordon

DanGleebitz No doubt we will see you at Woodside on Sunday then. I heard yesterday some of the motocross guys were grumbling about not seeing their licences yet either. Gordon

How does this affect someone who has applied for a licence at the start of the year and wants to enter a trial before the 1st of Feb? Would they need a day licence?

When the Scottish Motorcycle show was run by Robbie Allan it was an excellent event to visit but it has gone seriously downhill in the last couple of years when the management/owners changed. Dont know if I would recommend a visit or not any more?

Came across an old TMX help article about a 'Gaskell clutch modification' ie Clutch plate, operating arm & shim and clutch juddering. Has anyone heard of this or know what its about - just for interest sake? It talked about using stronger springs - surprise surprise!

Might be an idea to use real names rather than 'Mickey Mouse' PC discussion group login pseudonyms? The SSDT Programme aint going to have any of the names you all go under on this userboard ! Least that way for anyone spectating they might know who they are looking at when they get stuck in a bottomless bog or clean a tough section. I doubt very much whether a spectator is going to say to his mates that was a good ride by 'Gizza 5' there. or 'Boofont' should have cleaned that section - 99% of the spectators at the Scottish would think you came from another planet if you started using these names in public! Gordon best of luck to all of you whoever you are! Me I would like to change my login id to something more sensible - ie my nme.

Booma Thanks again. I will make a note of the Stevens Trials Centre number. I had my 'modified' tank top in the tank all day today and it seems to be working well - ie I did not get petrol all over my legs, the breather was working but this was a pretty easy test. the real test will come at the first trial when the bike is more likely to spend a significant amout of time on its back, on its side etc. If the top works OK then I will continue with this solution - if it dosn't I will contact 'Stevens'. For interest sake what I have done is turn down the original rubber cap to fit inside a short length of PVC 'waste water' pipe. This seems to be a suitable fit! Gordon