ridgrunr

Does it look like this one? http://utahtrials.com/bike_pics/scorpa/95works255.jpg

Here's a video of a Scorpa electric 5.7. They do ride some obstacles towards the end of the clip. Think I'll be keeping my 08 Sy250R for a while longer though! http://www.trialworld.es/galeria/913-video-pruebas-de-la-scorpa-electric-57-en-japon-por-shizenyama.html

I'm not sure about the stator thing. Usually they work or they don't. I'm thinking fuel tank vent problem. I know this has probably been addressed here somewhere, but make sure your gas tank vent is clear. My 2008 Scorpa has a vent tube that runs from the cap down along the frame. It got partially pinched and I experienced almost the same thing you did. I reran the line to insure it was open, and haven't had a problem since. Same thing happened on a buddy's Sherco that had some sort of wiz bang one way valve on it. It appeared to work when he blew through it, but it didn't causing the bike to stall after a few minutes. Let it stand for a few minutes, and enough air would finally bleed into the tank to start it again. He took off the valve, ran a piece of tube and has been fine since. Worth a shot.

I trail ride my 08 Scorpa SY250R all the time. The Five Miles of Hell is an example. Fuel capacity is the problem for trail riding any trials bike, but that's easily fixed. Here's my set up for extra gas. Just took an old number plate, two aluminum bicycle water bottle holders and two one liter aluminum bottles for an extra 2 liters of gas, then after the trail ride it only takes a minute to remove it and put my number plate back on for the weekend trial.

We've fought the observer war here for years and finally gave up. We tried about everything and finally have gone to group scoring, where the class goes out and score each other. We group score in classes and personally I'm not a fan of class group scoring, mostly because you end up with riders scoring riders who they are competing against. You also tend to get a "good ole boy" thing going after awhile. A better way to group score is to mix the scoring groups. It's fairly easy to do, simply determine which class has the most riders and use that as your base. For instance, if your largest class is 8 Advanced riders, you'll have 8 scoring groups. You simply put their names on a paper and line up the rest of the riders beneath them with no two riders of the same class in a scoring group. I like it because it requires riders to actually think and choose lines, instead of playing follow the leader, or waiting to ride till everyone else in the class has ridden to determine which is the best line. I like this too, because no one knows how anyone else they are competing against is doing till it's all over, so the incentive to keep trying is greater. Also, no one is riding with, scoring, or being scored by anyone who they are competing against. The riders scoring each other are from different classes so the scoring is more likely to be accurate. It also puts lower class riders riders out there with upper class riders where maybe they can learn from the experience of riding with better riders. I agree having dedicated observers for each section is the way to go, but that seems to get harder and harder to get.

I think one major problem here is the same as is going on with most of the other forums. Lot's of lurkers, but few posters. Whenever somebody makes a post, there's always half a dozen "in the know guys" who are more than willing to shoot him down just to get a hoot out of the "guys". Some guys have thick skins, but your average guy doesn't. They'd love to post and talk trials, but what's the point when there's always someone so willing to post a burn? Once burned...twice shy.

They all have their pluses and minuses. I had 4 GG's, a Beta and two Fantics before my '08 SY250R. They all had their good and bad traits. My Scorpa isn't perfect, but it does everything I ask of it, and there's something about that suspension. Mines got the aluminum Marriocchi (?) forks. No dog bone bearings in the rear end to have to replace constantly either. Can't quite put my finger on it how it does it, but it's saved my bacon more than a couple of times. Once was last year on the Five Miles of Hell. Got off line and ended up having to jump a huge gap (or drop off a cliff!) So I gassed it and over it went. I never even saw that stinking foot high stump till it was going under the air born front tire. I knew I was going to biff it, but the rear end smacked that stump and soaked it up like it was barely there. If there had been a seat on the thing I'm sure I would have puckered it right off! I love that Yamaha engine too. I dropped the countershaft sprocket one tooth which makes second and third gear more useable. good luck with your decision.

Naaw...traction is all in your left index finger.

Just about every bike I've ever owned had a little rattle in them at idle in neutral. All three of my GG's did. I don't think my KRoo did, but it had a real hydraulic clutch instead of just a hydraulic slave like most bikes do. Used to bother me on the GG's. I changed out pistons and rings and clutches and stuff, and never could tell much difference. Finally decided that's just how they sound. My 08 SY250 has a little clutch rattle too. My TY350 did too. A mechanic told me that most bikes like a little noise. If they don't make some, something is probably wrong. You should hear my Kawasaki Concours. If the clutch is not slipping or dragging and seems to engage and disengage all right, or unless it sounds like it's going to come apart, like Tony says, make sure it's got decent oil in it, and just ride it. It's probably just singing too you.

If the carb was overflowing, you've probably got something stuck in there. Make sure you run a real thin wire down through the jets to ensure they are clear. Just looking through them isn't good enough as they can look clear, but have a thin scale of varnish that can still plug them up. I know this sounds like a dumb question but...there is gas in the tank right? You'd be amazed at how many times guys think they have problems and have just run out of gas. Another dumb suggestion. Make sure you haven't accidentally turned the gas flow off at the pet cock. After you get it cleaned up and running, put a little SeaFoam or something like that in the tank and start it up till you're sure it's in the carb between rides. The junk they are calling gas these days has so much crap it that it seems to gum up things a lot quicker than it used too. I've had problems with both of my road bikes with the crappy gas they sell. Good luck.

Man, I think that's opening a can of worms that should stay in the can. A slide is pretty easy to score, but rules that become too subjective cause nothing but problems. We've seen that with the backup rule. Did the rider back up? Did the bike backup? Did the rider's foot backup? Causes too much trouble. Same thing with the rotation of the foot. Did he rotate, or was the ankle just bent? De he not rotate enough to actually rotate? What's considered a rotation? How many degrees? We'd never adopt that. It's a dab till moved...one point.

I'm not saying we need to change any rules or anything else, I was just curious if anyone knew where the stopping at three came from. Man if I could if I could stop counting at 3 on golf my golf game...well we won't talk about my golf game. On another note, I'm pretty sure we talked about this in another discussion, but if the NOVICE sections are so hard that the riders are getting any 5's, they are way too hard. Should never see a 5 in a NOVICE section unless the rider just stalls the bike or does something really odd. A 3 maybe even if a rider paddles through the entire section, but never a 5.

I've got an 08 SY250R. Part of the reason I traded off the GG for it was because it dosesn't have all that rear suspension linkage. I replaced a lot of linkage bearings over the years. The Utah sand is hard on them. At the level that most of us mere mortals ride, I doubt many could ever tell the difference. I will tell you though that it seems to work fine, as I had a couple of instances last year that could have turned out bad when I got off my line, but the suspension just soaked everything up and saved my butt, so it turned out fine. Mine has the Yamaha motor. The new Scorpa's actually have a Sherco motor. Can't tell you anything about how the Sherco motor works, but I'd expect it's fine. Probably a little more compact than the Yamaha motor, but that hasn't been an issue for me either. I've owned about all of them except the Montesa, and have to tell you that it's pretty much whatever fits you best. None of the makes are perfect. My only complaint with the Scorpa is that it takes a little more doing to get at the carb for jet work and such. Once you've done it a couple of times it's no big deal. Most of these machines use similar components too, such as brake master cylinder and such so finding parts shouldn't be a problem. Have to go to Scorpa for stuff like fenders and such. I haven't broken one yet. They seem very playable and don't seem near as prone to breakage as some of the others makes that I've owned. I doubt that you can go too far wrong with any of the makes out there, like I said it's a do you like Fords, Chevys, or Dodges sort of thing? I've liked mine. So far it's been bullet proof. Good luck with what you decide.

Probably not going to get over there anytime soon, so enlighten us with your wisdom. Something to talk about on a snowy winter day. Why does 3+infinity=3?

I'm sitting here looking at all that snow, with nothing better to do than ponder the unanswerable questions of the universe and have been wondering why 3 + infinity = 3? What's behind that concept of allowing unlimited dabs and still only getting 3 points? I know that it's just always been that way, but why? Isn't the idea here to get through the section without trying to get any points? Seems like at every event, there's always a section or two that guys can't get through without paddling through the entire section. Can't even pretend they were riding the bike. I mean come on for heck sakes, I try like hell and manage only 3 dabs, scoring a true 3, while another guy slops though the section with 18 dabs and gets a 3 too? That just doesn't make any sense. It makes more sense to actually score all the dabs...up to five. So it would be true score of 1, 2, 3, 4 and then the 5 being the section failure like any other failure. I guess if someone really liked the dab concept a section failure wouldn't have to happen till after the 5th dab, which would give three chances for a true dab, then on the 6th dab you are done. I don't know. Just wondering and hating all that snow.

Personally, I've only seen pics of the new Ossa, but the rear facing cylinder really intrigues me from a center of gravity stand point. Looks like a super tight neat engine package. Time will tell.

When replacing the hose just be careful that it doesn't kink closed at the 90 degree bend. When I worked at Checker Auto I discovered that they sell all sorts of preformed bent auto hoses of just about any diameter and bend that you can imagine. I just took my old hose in and matched it up to something hanging on the wall. A mic works well to ensure that the inside diameters match up. I found one that was "S" shaped and was able to cut two hoses out of it.

As far as the seals go, a seal is pretty much a seal. Get out your Mic and measure the ones on the Sherco, inside diameter, outside diameter, height. Match em with something you have and you're good to go. After you put the new seals in, put a set of neoprene fork slider protectors on to keep crap from getting in there and ruining them again. Protects the sliders from light damage against rocks and stuff too. I've never had a seal fail after I put the protectors on.

Haven't bled my Scorpa yet, but I suspect it may be like my Gassers were. Simply pushing the brake pedal wouldn't push the plunger deep enough into the master cylinder to force out all the fluid so you could never pump it up to push the air out. The air would just move back and forth in the line. On the Gassers we had to disconnect the plunger at the pivot point where it goes into the bottom of the master cylinder, then push against the master cylinder piston with something like a round screw driver that was the same size as the piston plunger. That would allow me to push it deep enough to get the air to flow out of the master cylinder line so I could pressure pump up the system to get the air out of the bleed nipple. The Scorpa's could be the same. If you are having a problem it might be worth a try.

I agree with you Billy! That's one reason why I quit buying the "Trials" videos. They had become roller coaster of two second clips set to music that I can't listen to. There was one video made years ago for the 1997 Donner World Round that I still really enjoy watching. That was the last year that Jordi Tarres rode (he signed my copy of FEET UP! that had the story I wrote about him), and it was the year that Dougie beat out Marc Colomer for the Gold. It is an absolutely awesome video. It shows all of the sections with the actual sounds of the bikes, the minders and the appreciation the crowds had for those spectacular rides. Then at the end they took some of the best video, slowed it down and put it to almost classical music. THAT was magic! I think it was a Videooccasions video done by Sacramento PITS, and Robert Walker. I still get chills when I remember section 13. Jordi, Mark and Dougie were the only ones who got through it. Most everyone else looked at it and took a 5. I'll never forget standing on that wall and watching Dougie Lampkin clean that section. We all yelled so loud we could have started an avalanche! That day...Dougie was Superman, able to leap up vertical walls with a single bound!

Our club has historically ridden and scored our events in class groups. I personally don't think it's the best option for a number of reasons, but it's what we do. We've toyed with riding observed, but like everyone else it's tough to get all day observers, and few guys will drive 3-4 hours to get to an event just to score and not be able to ride, even for club points. We've split the day some too, with half the classes riding in the morning, while the other half score, then reversing it in the afternoon. I wonder if there are any other options the clubs are doing that work well?

I appreciate all the great info I got, from both the guys who set them and the guys who ride them. I tried to take the ideas that made the most sense and put them into a "Basic Section Setting Guide". It's still a work in progress, but if anyone is interested in seeing what I came up, here it is Basic Section Setting Guide. If anyone wants to use any of the info there, feel free. Thanks for your input.

Motovita, GREAT stuff there. I'm going to use a bunch of it!

Great ideas guys. This is what I was looking for. We have different Trials Marshals at each event. That means in a year we will have at least 20 different marshals, setting sections for events that are as far as 6 hours from each other. I am going to attempt to put together some guidelines to help them know what they should be striving for, in an effort to keep the events somewhat consistent. I know it's a big task but if no one ever told you that a section should be no more narrow than three feet, how would you know? I rode sections last year with literally less than 12 inches between the split markers. The guy was doing his best, but just didn't know. No one had ever told him what he should be shooting for. From the ideas I get, I'm going to try to come up with a Sections setting guide lines page to give to the guys. If you think of more, please add them. I've gone back through the posts and here's a quick list of the main ideas posted so far: 1)I usually try to shoot for the average skilled rider losing one point per section. So a three-loop, eight section Trial will see a good rider having an average score of 24 points lost. 2)I know I'm a bad rider but I have Fived the loop route more than once and had hill climbs harder than in a section. Don't forget the Novice Rider has to be able to get to the sections. 3)Minimum section width ; Some say 3' some say 4 4)What point spread to shoot for? 1 point per section for the winner, 30 sections=30 points 5)When setting sections, its best to make them too easy rather than hard, someone will have fewer points and win the event, or do gate trials events, let the riders pick the line that they can clean. 6)When i lay out a trial i would look to have the winner of each class finish on less than 10 and more like 5 or 6 thats a 10 section course over 4 or 5 laps. 30 points from the winner of a class i feel is making the course too hard for the majourity of the field 7)Cater section difficulty to the competitors that routinely finish in the middle of the class. This will give them a decent challenge and keep it fun. Those at the bottom of the class will have something to practice for but not so difficult as to scare them away. Those at the top of the class would soon find it too easy and would consider moving up a class. 8)When I set up a club Trial, I usually try to shoot for the average skilled rider losing one point per section" means that the majority (average) riders come in with that score, the winners will be in the +- 5-10 point range. 8)For me, a "club" Trial should be inclusive, fun and a good time to learn. We also have our "serious" events during the year (like our Octobertest, which is part of a four-state series) that the riders know will be more difficult. 9)1 take into account the whole event....in other words some sections should be easy most the class gets 0 and then about 2-3 should be hard most class gets 3 (really we are not looking to get 5's); i feel sometimes with different set up crews all setting up an event that everyone wants to make a spectacular section with challenging turns/climbs etc and the end result is 8 hard sections 2 sections should have smooth "flow" and make clear sense 3 riders need to understand that it is okay to plan to take a dab in a tough corner instead of trying to make it and getting a three; and if something is too hard/over your head it is okay to take a 5 and save energy and your bike. 10)Points are generally not taken on big stuff, but the odd turns and off cambers that require better technique. 11)30 points from the winner of a class i feel is making the course too hard for the majority of the field. If you think of more, please add them.

But that's exactly why we have classes. If you are not getting enough of a challenge in the sections your class, you should move up a class to get that challenge, not expect the sections in your class to get harder to keep you challenged.