Evening folks hope you are all well, my lad has managed to get an entry into this years Scott trial and I’m hoping to get some advice on what will help him finish.
I’m told a Dunlop rear tyre is a must as they don’t fall off the rim easily, plus I’ll need a few extra fuel cans, if you can think of anything else which will help it’ll be much appreciated. I’m looking to source him a TRS as it what he usually rides.
Could any of you helpful folk tell me where I can find the engine number on my 315R as I’d like to register it for road trials and Montesa Eu want both the frame and engine numbers, thanks in advance.
I'd be grateful if anyone could advise on rear shock absorber choice and length for a 1960 C15 trials bike, previously it had a strange rear subframe concoction but I've fitted a new rear subframe from Progressive Classic Products which is far more trials orientated and has also now allowed the exhaust to run inside the subframe without fouling the tyre.
Evening folks, I'd be grateful of any advice for two problems, the first is in relation to a Triumph piston which I've bought from Burton Bike Bits as an upgrade for my 1960 C15 I've had the barrel rebored to 69mm but on fitting the recommended Triumph piston the gudgeon pin is too tight in the little end, it'll fit but far too tight. Do I need a different little end bush or is the con-rod just incompatible?
The other problem concerns the clutch actuator arm, where the clutch pushrod seats into the barrel in the arm, the barrel has a pin through it but the pin carrier has sheared and no body has a replacement part, I could fabricate something solid but it looks like a bearing should be there to prevent wear at the end of the clutch push rod when it rotates in the carrier.
Good morning folks, I spent a few days in Scotland at the beginning of the month watching the Pre 65 event and it's re-ignited my enthusiasm to get my 1960 C15 sorted and I'd be grateful of any advice.
The rear frame loop where it attaches to the frame in front of the seat is welded which looking at the parts manual isn't standard as they appear to be normally bolted through a bracket between the tank and seat. I'm hoping that one day my entry for the Scottish pre 65 will make the ballot, would the frame as it stands make it through machine examination?
I've fitted the smaller front primary drive gear and it has a 13 tooth front sprocket, the rear sprocket is 62 teeth and it needs replacing can anyone suggest where I can buy a new rear sprocket and what the optimum gearing should be.
I've also fitted new electronic ignition but the bike 'cough stalls' quite a lot and I'm wondering if I should look at renewing the carburettor, the one fitted is an Amal 375/34 but again I'd be wanting one which is Scottish acceptable.
I'd also be grateful of advice on footrest mods or are these best left as standard and also the best exhaust set up, the current exhaust runs outside the frame.
0007: I'm not sure if it's pre-ignition or detonation but it makes a harsh knocking noise especially when the engine is under load and warm, on initial start up from cold it's fine but within a couple of minutes it starts and is there at any throttle opening apart from very low gentle revs with virtually no engine load but if I put the choke on when warm the problem almost disappears.
feetupfun: I'd be grateful if you could let me know the jetting specs for the TK carb at least I'd have a base to work from, thanks.
mickwren: I appreciate Nigel has a vast knowledge of virtually anything trials related and has previously sorted bike problems for me but he's such a busy and sought after bloke I thought I'd give him a break and put the question to a wider audience.
that's_a_five, b40rt and 2stroke4stroke: I'll renew the points and condenser and check the timing, I've been told by a previous 320 owner that adding a second head gasket to reduce the compression will also help so I'll try that too.
Try not to advertise the fact you have a bike, plastering a van in bike stickers and leaving it parked outside your house is an advert to the low life thieves.
Same with travelling to and from an event, be aware of being followed.
Use hardened steel locks and chains (expensive but worth it) with a good quality ground anchor sunk into concrete.
Utilise security lamps which are out of reach and have a mesh guard to prevent thieves using a pole to reach up and move the PIR sensor out of the way.
Paint garage/shed roofs with anti-vandal paint and use good quality locks on doors and windows.
Make sure perimeter fencing is secure, screw fence panel's to posts to prevent the thieves from sliding them up and out of the posts and additionally attach the concertina type trellis to the top of the panels to prevent them climbing over, they are unable to get any purchase and if attempted they trap fingers and make a hell of a racket.
Surround any possible approach route with gravel so they are unable to make a silent approach on foot.
Don't leave tools like hacksaws, grinders, cutters readily accessible should entry be gained by the thieves.
Use a decent alarm, we keep our bikes at another address about half a mile away, I've fitted an alarm with a built in sim card which phones/texts up to five numbers of your choice look up www.novibo.com they do add-ons which can you can use to personalise the system to your choice, a cheap and very good alarm - It's stopped our bikes going on two occasions now. I'm nowt to do with Novibo it's just the alarm I bought, there are others on the market undoubtedly as good or better but for the price I was impressed by what was available.
Report illegal bike riding to the cops every time you see it, most of the time they are on nicked bikes. Report every incident of suspicious activity, attempt theft or burglary or damage to the cops and complain if you get what you perceive to be poor or inadequate service.
Mither them until they start to address the ever increasing problem of bike theft and hammer your local councillor and MP until they realise we should be getting tough with thieving scumbags instead of allowing them free rein.
Anybody seen the results yet, what a disaster, they couldn't have got it more wrong. Observers didn't know what classes should be riding what section leading to riders riding the wrong flags as there was no identification on the bikes to show where they should be going; and 32 riders excluded for "missing" sections where in most cases they will have ridden them but the observers have not written down any score. Exclusion is the wrong penalty according to Normandale regs, ten marks is the correct penalty for "missing" a section. Biggest mess up at a trial I have ridden in for years. Experienced clubs should know better and I expect loads and loads of complaints.
The Bemrose has always been a fantastic trial, I couldn't make it this year through work but my parents observed and enjoyed it too and several friends competed and all thoroughly enjoyed the day out.
The stalwarts behind this event who have been organising superb trials for many years do not deserve the kind of comments above, mistakes are made by all of us but sometimes we don't have control over the actions of others, trials are usually always run by a small number of volunteers who are prepared to give many hours of their own time for the benefit of others.
Constructive criticism is fair but not when fuelled by anger and the author of the above comment (who has and does commit so much of his own time for the enjoyment of others) should really know better as without the likes of him and the organisers of the Bemrose we might as well give up.
Happy New Year to start with and many more of them, as trials/enduro riders both myself and the 21yr old year lad have followed your posts and very much enjoyed them.
In fact a couple caused a ripple with regards to the Police and the response from Police in relation to reports of theft, illegal riding and the fact that Police seem to be more concerned with taking money through fines than detecting crime and bringing the culprits to justice (not that justice exists anymore)
But as a cop and someone who is bothered i do struggle to meet all concerns but on saying that some of us still care and will do whatever we can to get your steeds back.
I hope to read your comments and see you riding in many more trials as long as if you see me you'll give me a pull up the section!!
I observed at the Northern Experts and thoroughly enjoyed both the section and the weather - not to mention the bacon butty and brew which the observers voucher paid for!
The general consensus was as you said that the trial was spot on, my lad rode the clubman route and enjoyed it and all of the lads on the hard route I spoke to said the same.
The club, Manchester 17, have the advantage of being associated with a group of people who are both experienced and keen to participate, many of whom have been involved with trials for years including the likes of Scott Ellis, Scott Rowlands, Harvey Lloyd, Ruth and Alan Nixon, Roger Townsend, the Hipwells (hic!), Jude from Gas-Gas and her other half Ade, John Hulme, Ken Eyre and many others.
But on all occasions the driving forces have always been Jude, the president Ken Roberts, Henry Rosenthal, Harvey Lloyd and others - sorry but the 4 pints of Speckled Hen have caused me some confusion!
And as a local employer and trials importer, Gas-Gas are always contributing and the trials world around these parts would suffer massively without the ongoing support.
The club has enjoyed landowners support too and without naming all of them Anne and Jeff Robinson of Hawks Nest fame must rank as a hugely important factor in the popularity of trials in the area.
The relationship between Manchester 17 and the neighbouring Macclesfield, Staffordsire Moorlands, and North Derbyshire Youth clubs is also excellent but the youth element now need to be encouraged to help out more as they are the future of trials and more needs to be done to promote the youth culture and encourage them to participate, as at the moment it's mainly the older crowd who are taking the responsibility.
5 minutes, he must of thought there was no tax on the car !
They pay attention when the crime is of a serious nature - ie - no tax, no mot, speeding, dui, no insurance, no license, no seatbelt.....
Coincidentally, all of which are easy to hand out a fine for !
Houseape, as a serving cop I agree with some sentiments but really despise cop bashing threads from those who do not have a clue, I have arrived at jobs within 5 minutes on many occasions and often when the report has been of a burglary or robbery but what you don't see or understand is what happens in so many cases
We are driven in the main by home office measures.
I joined the cops to catch the scumbags who steal your car or bike. Or break into your house, assault your elderly parents or grandparents and take money from them but regardless of my ideals we, as a country, are financially motivated and those of us who can pay will pay and those in power will ensure that will not change.
I've posted before on here about what i struggle to come to terms with in my job, I'm 47 yrs old now and have been in the job 17 years and have seen many changes but close to 4000 people each year die on our roads from mainly speed and/or alcohol related deaths, a lot less die as a result of burglary or theft so there has to be a balance.
If you get rammed up the backside tomorrow by an uninsured and unlicensed driver which will cost you a lot of money you may feel differently as you would if (God forbid) someone close to you was injured by one.
My argument is that we don't seem to have any consistency and the penalties for committing crimes can in some cases be so severe (mainly where the government lose money) yet so meek and mild where scumbags get away almost scot-free for burglary, robbery or theft.
I work mainly ten hour shifts and since the inception of the new 24 hour drinking laws now rarely get chance for even a brew in a shift but I accept that compared to my previous job as a mechanic I get a good wage, shame our lads and lasses in Afghanistan don't.
And so you know cops are on performance indicators which means they have to get a certain amount of ticks each month (as an example a traffic cop will have to get so many no seat belts, speeders, mobile phone users etc) but with no reward only to keep the job they are in.
And if you think its bad now the penalties for those that can and will pay for misdemeanours will increase soon to help with the financial defecit the western world faces.
Had exactly the same problem with my lads Beta Rev 3 and after replacing the key it sheared again but that was down to me not tightening it up enough as if you look back through other threads the torque setting for the flywheel nut on the Rev 3 is around 103 ft/lbs. And since then its been fine as it was for 18 months prior to shearing.
Check what the torque settings should be but it seems if they are set as per manufacturers instructions it should solve your problem.
I rode the Fisher today and my 08 270 Rev 3 was running a bit rough and seemed worse when it got hotter and seemed to keep choking up then on the second lap I gave it a good clear out and it just stopped running. On trying to restart it it fired up occasionally but spat back a few times then died again.
My dad said it sounded like the plug had whiskered so I put a new one in but it was the same, I took the plug out and grounded it and when I kicked it over it was sparking. I've looked at other posts but am not sure as it seems it could be down to more than one thing. Does the stator cause this if it packs up or is it more likely to be the black box under the tank?
Dunno mickwren but i am sure Eiger would point out that at teh end of the day the Police are just people with all the foibles that we all have.
I remember getting done for incorrect spacing of the numbers on my number plate, they were 6mm out BTW how i hung my head in shame, when i pointed out to the officer a couple of cars passing that had worse plates than mine one was in itallics for christs sake. His response was and i quote "i'm doing you sonny not him" funny ha ha !. He did ask "is your front number plate the same?" told him why dont you take a look ? Realised at that point ther was no point in trying to reason with some / most /all Police.
Perhaps he had had a bad day as per Eigers posting and as i said before i wouldnt do their job but i do wonder sometimes what goes on inside some and i stress some, because i have to believe there are some good coppers out there, coppers heads.
Like in so many walks of life nowadays common sense is so sadly lacking
Totally agree, common sense went out of the window some time ago. I could once use discretion but with Home office pressures and the desire for statistics it is increasingly difficult and where once you could simply have a word with someone, now you are expected to deal with them formally.
I am expected to achieve a number of arrests, stop-searches and other targets each month, it doesn't affect my pay but if I don't then I'll be up in front of my Inspector explaining why I've failed.
Others in different departments such as traffic also have similar targets and will for example, have to achieve so many fixed penalties for speeding, no seat belt etc.
I saw a post on here a while ago, I think it was from Andy, it showed footage of a traffic car with two cops in it snoring away and it reminded me of when I started as a new cop and we had to do a 5 week attachment with the divisional traffic unit.
I was assigned to a bloke who on 6am to 2pm shifts (when we worked regular 8hr shifts) would park up at 6am on the A6 some 4 miles short of Manchester city centre and on Vascar (an in-car speed indicator) he would spend the next 90 minutes giving out speeding fines to people on their way to work. The road where he chose his prey is four lanes (two southbound and two northbound) and has a 30mph limit. He would prosecute around 10 motorists then return to the nick for a brew, write up the paperwork from his mornings work and then do sweet nothing for the rest of the day.
I remember feeling that it was not Policing, almost every person we stopped was on their way to work, and as such were generally pro-Police (or at least had been until that point) and probably more importantly, easy prey and would pay the fine. He even gave me a rollicking once for admiring a motorcycle we had stopped and being too friendly with the rider.
During the attachment he had a couple of days off and I was switched to work with another traffic cop I'd liken him to Father Jack from the tv programme, he had massive hands and a purple nose and swore like a trooper but I spent 2 days with him stopping car after car and hammering the occupants for any and every offence from seat belts to number plates, he never stopped and frequently finished work late. But he impressed me as his targets were not decent law abiding people but the criminal fraternity who seem to get away scot free so often. He has retired now but i still hear the regular burglars and thieves I come across mentioning his name and referring to him as a b*****d who showed no mercy. Shame we don't have more of his like now.
But on a different note people rarely die as a result of a burglary or theft but do die from speed and/or alcohol related injury so we need to strike a balance and there is a need for cops in all guises.
Sweeping statements that all cops are disinterested idiots are wrong.
Well i've read all that and i must admit i feel quite humble.
In answer to your initial question when the incidents first started happening about two years ago when i moved to the area i did phone the Police, lets call them that after reading your post i feel it fairer, they didnt get back till the following day came to look at the field and grudgingly took details. Never heard anything, never saw an increased Police presence nothing. About 4 months later a car was set fire to and again i rang 999. This time the fire brigade turned up as did the Police but the Police had to stay with the fire engine to protect it and the fire men from the local scroats.
To give the local community Police due when i rang recently because a "scrap man", pikey, had been caught by my dog and me loading cast iron furniture into the back of his pick up from out of my garden after jumping over my 6ft wall to get it. I went for him with a bit of 4 x 2 and he threw it all off and scarpered quick. The Police did attend after approx 30mins but as i didnt get his reg number which was probably irrelevant anyway being a pikey they couldnt do anything. They drove around the estate and did get back to me with an incident number but as far as i know nothing as happened since.
I am probably bitter because of where i live and as soon as i get back on my feet i'm out of here and the scroats can have it all to themselves.
I read your post and thought why do they do it? you i mean. I couldnt / wouldnt but thats the nub i suppose you and your colleagues are all we have and in reality thats better than nothing i am sure. Suppose part of the problem is we never see you, the Police that is, unless we are being done for something so our judgement may be slanted. Some of your colleagues attitude doesnt help either, remember the one who suggested i move who was then asked to leave.
I dont condone any rider trials or otherwise riding illeagally and that includes without the landowners permission, we all suffer because of the actions of a few, but i do feel persecuted at times by the Police and do genuinely feel as i have an address and am on the database, DVLA electoral roll etc , that i am an easy way of the Police hitting their personal and divisional targets. I am not on my own in this believe me.
However i appreciate your post and offer but for the sake of my windows i have found that in this area keeping your head down is the best policy. A Police car outside your house may not be a rare occurance in these parts but it's an advert i can do without.
Perhaps if all the Police i have had to come into contact with over the past 56 years were as measured as yourself, seem to remember a local copper giving me the odd cuff around the ear for scrumping and then taken home to get another one from me dad LOL, i wouldnt feel the way i do about who the Police are there to serve and protect.
I appologise for any offence i may have given to you.
No offence taken and I appreciate your reply. Yes some cops lack manners, commitment and our attitude is sometimes poor but many of us want to do what is best and really do have compassion and a desire to lock the scumbags away for as long as possible.
And I can appreciate your concerns over the cop suggesting you move, and I would have asked the same question - why should I?
Life is difficult for many of us now but my view is that we are still there and will help so phone us and if you get short shrift then phone again then hound us and them make a complaint, be a pain and write to your MP, local councillor, senior cop. They hate letters and complaints.
Things will change for you, you just have to be persistant.
As i said earlier as youre a house owner, registered keeper, pillar of the community youre an easy target for plod to keep his targets up and the chattering classes pacified. Last night there were 4 foul mouthed scroats on "bikes" and quads on the playing field and a to??er in a scooby pullin doughnuts, no offence meant Andy, but was there a plod to be seen anywhere? go figure. I know the bikes werent legal, dont know about the scooby but doubt it, either way they have made a right mess of the playing fields. They then proceeded to ride off on the roads of the estate. Plod nowhere to be seen as per usual in fact you never see a plod here after dark and never ever on foot.
No i am not condoning riders in a road trial not taxing or insuring their vehicles but would just like to see plod, whose wages I PAY FOR LETS NOT FORGET !!!!!, go after the scroats who will go on to mug or worse somebody at some point BEFORE they go after the easy targets.
When and if i ever think of an instance when plod ACTUALLY did something useful for me and i cant i might feel differently.
When i rode in Spain the difference was amazing. At the trial the police couldnt have been more cooperative even stopping the traffic to let the riders cross or come onto the road. Now i never expected that !! Then again i'm used to this lot over here.
Old trials fanatic, as a plod it concerns me you have such a poor opinion of us as, if I was aware (and I can speak for 95% of those I work with) that such an incident was happening in my area I would be there to deal with the foul mouthed scrotes and the car driver. So, did you bother to phone for the Police (plods) when you saw this was happening or would doing that frustrate your obvious need to attack plod as you seem to enjoy doing?
If you did phone what was the response, did they give you an incident number, did they say they would send an officer, did they send an officer and how long after your call did they attend?
I cannot accept that if plod were aware of such an incident they had not responded and if they did not respond after any call you might have made then you can and should make a complaint.
I worked nights last week, the first night - a Monday, I dealt with a shooting at a pub, a male in a ski mask walked into a busy pub during a card game and blasted another with a sawn-off shotgun. Plod (a colleague and me) had to arrive before the paramedics to ensure their safety and rightfully so, many of the others present were hostile to plod presence and some considered it was our fault the shooting had taken place for not being there to prevent it. After dealing with that I resumed patrol (stopping off at the nearest nick to clean the blood and snot from my clothes and wash my hands) and attended one job after another, fights, windows being broken, businesses being broken into, domestic assaults, prowlers and then ended up in the custody office from about 3am with a prisoner for a domestic assault.
The next night was equally busy starting off with a stabbing where one alcoholic 40 yr old stabbed his equally inebriated brother with a large kitchen knife after an argument over who had hidden the white lightning.
After that I took a drunk driver to another division of my force area after a nasty crash as the intox machine (a computerised breath specimen analysing machine) on mine and an adjoining division were faulty. All these things take time and the jobs rarely stop coming in, and in these two nights I'd not had time to eat or have a brew in either of the 10 hour shifts and neither had any of my 15 colleagues, strange when I look back as 17 years ago when I started in the job at the age of 29 after the recession had too much of an effect on the motor industry and mechanics were struggling for work, we paraded with around 35 cops - sorry - plods, yet we are busier than ever and have less staff.
Wednesday night was slightly quieter and although i locked up (arrested someone) for yet another domestic assault, I had a good 20 minutes to cram in a sandwich and half a brew before I turned out for yet more jobs.
Thursday started with an armed robbery and the arrest of the culprit by a colleague and then it was just a constant stream of work, mostly alcohol related, some drug related but never anything other than challenging and draining.
It's the same for most response plods in most forces.
We get well paid and as such we should be committed and work hard, don't get me wrong I know a fair few work shy fools who swing the lead and moan about various ailments and they get nice 9 - 5 office jobs with every weekend off and a guaranteed dinner break and they get paid the same as me and our employer allows this without any challenge.
I know that we have recently seen incidents where the plod have failed to help people, such as the chap with learning difficulties who had been taunted for years by local thugs and was found dead in his garden last week and the lady who took who own life and that of her daughter in a terrible car fire, again after years of abuse from local thugs.
But many similar people have been in similar cases and have been helped by the plod, we just need to make sure it includes everyone and we get it right first time.
And day in and day out I see and hear of criminals who pose a real threat to society being released early from prison or being given non-custodial sentences for serious crimes, and despite what the government says about crime, it has increased but the way crime is recorded has changed, it's massaging figures to dupe the public.
So Old trials fanatic I'd like you to do me a favour, although you don't live on my force area I know a few lads and lasses who work for Derbyshire plods and if you have a plod related problem then you can phone me (pm me for my number) and I'll make sure you get to change your attitude about plod. Or maybe you are just one of life's moaners and you'd rather not so you can continue to vent your misplaced anger. I hope not.
Old trials fanatic, yes I've met hundreds who are not arrogant bullies but are hard working decent people, I'm a cop with Greater Manchester Police and have worked for the force for 17 years, I've met some fellow cops who are arrogant and have a different perspective of life and the job than I do but they are a minority and I've also met and work with many decent cops who experience aspects of life that most people would not believe and do a great job in the face of adversity.
If a member of the public phones the Police to report an incident we are duty bound to investigate it whether it's someone littering or breaking into a house.
I have committed numerous offences on my trials bike before I was a cop and as the Addict states have learned from that, if you ride a trials bike on the road with no insurance, no licence etc etc you deserve whatever penalty is given. However, there lies another problem in that those of us who commit relatively minor traffic or other petty offences get hammered and suffer heavy penalties at Court.
But those who break into your house, attack you to steal your car or commit other similar serious offences get off lightly, the Law is an ass and common sense no longer prevails.
And in addition to that the Police also give the impression they are not interested, as a cop I was leaving hospital recently on a day off and my head was elsewhere at the time when a local well known drug taking/dealing burglar drove a team car (car used by a gang of lowlife) through the hospital grounds and almost ran me down, stopping at the side of me briefly.
As he passed me I saw a computer on the back seat so I phoned my own force and I might as well as not bothered as the response suggested they were not interested and as the rest of the public make similar calls and get the same response I wondered why people bother.
And on a different but similar note, a mate works for the Border Agency (customs), a female from Bosnia who looked to be around 45 years was arrested my me for stealing a purse belonging to a 75 year old lady after her handbag was dipped. The Bosnian had arrived in England six years previously but at the time had stated she was only 16 so she would benefit from lenient laws for the juvenile element of society.
However, Customs were not able or allowed to 'age' the woman as it was considered they would be biaised so only social workers could 'age' them and as they were not available 24 hours a day the immigrants are allowed to stay pending an appeal which can run to years.
If you want me to open your eyes to the real society we live in then PM me, looking where you live I believe we must know each other, but for you to slate all cops when you have not got a clue is wrong.
My lad rode the Bemrose today and I observed and thoroughly enjoyed it too. The standard of riding on both sections I was involved with was unbelievable and one of the best rides of the day was Jonh Shirt Junior at the first section at Staden Quarry - a safety dab spoiled the smoothest ride of the day.
It was a good day out, however the Police were out in force and stopped a number of bikes, including a rider who was not only not in possession of a valid insurance certificate, but the bike was not registered and he only had a licence to drive a car and not a bike. As I understand it the only reason the bike was not confiscated was because the Police could not arrange recovery at that time.
In this day and age you cannot behave like that and deserve all you get.
The cop who stopped him then visited the start but his arrogant attitude and bullying nature did nothing to help and after being offered the chance to see the entry forms and list of officials he left although he seemed to change his attitude after a phone call to his boss, but the damage was done.
Some complaints had been made by a local resident who was annoyed that some bikes were not displaying a valid or visible registration plate.
Next week see's the Fisher trial and all competitors need to be ready for any machine examination and being stopped by the cops who after this weekend will no doubt be out in force.
The follow up is that I've replaced the mains and both fourth gears and it was a pretty straight forward job, only needed an impact wrench to remove the clutch housing nut and the crank gear nut on the clutch side (and a flywheel puller).
I've replaced the main bearings too and things looked to be on the cheap side but the bore was pitted and piston scored so more costs are involved, but still a relatively easy job to do overall and not beyond the capabilities of most practically minded people.
Scott trial 2023
in UK Trials Talk
Posted
Evening folks hope you are all well, my lad has managed to get an entry into this years Scott trial and I’m hoping to get some advice on what will help him finish.
I’m told a Dunlop rear tyre is a must as they don’t fall off the rim easily, plus I’ll need a few extra fuel cans, if you can think of anything else which will help it’ll be much appreciated. I’m looking to source him a TRS as it what he usually rides.
Many thanks.
Pete.