lselph

Don't underestimate the bike. I fived a section 3 times this last weekend before I stopped thinking I needed to powerblast my way up a long climb (thinking I needed lots of momentum). I watched some little kid ride up the steepest part sitting down. So I stopped trying to race with momentum and just rode up nice and easy feathering the clutch for grip and life was much easier. less speed with a feathered clutch = LOTS more grip than moving fast and applying lots of power. I kept sliding out ont he cross hill. Oh well I won't forget next time.

I ride District 4 in NY. Come on up. http://www.district4trials.org/

Thanks tomtomtom Weather is finally breaking can't wait to get out and ride again. I came across this video on youtube and it is neat to watch becuase for the first one the bike is off. Hopefully I will have some better video's this summer.

Possible real simple question. Are your front brakes hanging up? Get the front wheel in the air and spin it. If it binds the tire will wash out easily. I have an old motocross bike that binds up and I can always tell because it wants to wash out all the time.

Well it's going to happen. I will be getting the new bike this weekend and riding it in the snow!

Have an 04 Sherco 290. runs good works good. Friend is selling his 06 little better shape lot less abused. I can sell mine and upgrade for about 500 bucks. Wondering if there are any big benefits or anything that I should consider holding back for. I have ridden the 06 and my only real impression was that it felt wider between my feet. All opinions are welcomed. Thanks.

Mind if I ask how much you weigh and what your riding level is? I feel like I am punishing mine pretty good at 210 riding novice. Although it's the jumping and practicing which get her bottoming out the most.

Could it be even more simple than the gearbox... brake maybe. If the rear disk is supposed to float and is bound tight maybe that is it. Even with a boned up gear box the tire should rotate a little forward and backwards with the slack in the chain. As a side note. I saw a bike bind the chain behind the front sprocket (between sprocket and swing arm) and that locked things up tightly. Cause of this was a very very loose chain. If it is brake check and see if something got jammed that caused the rear brake to be engaged when you put it up on the stand. If you can't find anything try gently prying the brake pads apart to see if they just hung up for some reason... If no luck use your bleeder valve to see if you can release pressure from the line to see if that frees it up. if it does then you may have a master cylinder issue or maybe a stuck lever or something. Good luck and keep us posted. I am interested to hear of the results.

That was the one! Thanks all.

I am doing a presentation on trials here at work (Supposed to be a fun thing) and I remember seeing a video of how to score. It had lots of 5's and was kind of comical. Wanted to include it but can't find it anywhere. I am sure I am just searching for the wrong keywords. Anyone want to make it easy for me?

Tombo... which piece of info was the most help? I too am trying to get comfortable throwing the rear end around but have trouble just getting it in the air well. Doing it standing on the ground seems to only tell me my arms are weak......

Related story. I have an 05 Sherco 290. Whenever in 1, 2, 3 and going downhill with the clutch in the engine stays idled depending on speed it doesn't seem to want to slow the engine down. I figured the clutch was not fully disengaged so I adjusted the little adjuster guy on the clutch lever in more and gave it another whirl. Seemed fine and life was good. Had a trial two days ago with a couple long rides between sections and hit 4 and 5 for the first time in quite a while. Bike wanted to slip very easily in these gears. 1, 2, and 3 worked flawlessly in the sections. Got looking at it afterwards and I had adjusted the little adjuster so far that it never came out far enough to pump more fluid into the line. (this is my first hydraulic clutch) The next day I adjusted the lever out so the plunger could come out further and then rode around the yard a bit. I don't really have a lot of room to get up to a good speed and put it in 4, and 5 so I got going a bit and shifted it up anyway. Now it grabs enough to stall the bike if I would let it. Not sure if it had anything to do with running temperature but it is working well now. HOWEVER I am back to the idling high with the clutch in situation. Not sure if that is all an adjustment or why it would grab like heck in 1, 2, 3 but slip in 4 or 5 but I thought it might be relevant.

Have an 05 Sherco 290. first year of trials.. loving it so far. Trying to make sure I have the bike set up correctly. I weigh 210 ish. With the bike set the way I bought it the race sag was very low high (which ever means I had very little suspension left when riding). So I cranked up the pre load and now sag is much better but the unlaiden sag (can't remember what that is refered to) is virtually 0. I feel like the rear should be softer but if I ease up on pre load I run out of suspension travel and comming down on the suspension after a small jump results in me drilling the thing to the end of it's travel. rode my first event in the Novice class and only took 18 points so hopefully I am riding a bit above newbie level. Wondering if settings in the rear are making nose wheelies and bunny hops harder. I have some things to try just haven't had much time to get on the bike recently. Anyway I have heard of a heavier spring maybe that will help... no idea. All thoughts welcome. Front suspension seems pretty spot on. All linkages, bearings, etc are all in great shape. I know that to get better I need lots more practice but I want to make sure I am not hindering things by having an imporper set up. Thanks to all.

Well it's been a while and I have been riding a fair amount but my concentration has not been on doing this a lot. One thing I notice is that if I try to load the suspension to pick the rear up I load front and back and then when I try to unload I unload both and it kills the whole effect. Maybe I should jab the brake when I compress so the front stays down and as I move forward the rear would rebound more giving the desired effect. Either way the thing is when watching an expert rider do it it seems effortless I am doing a lot of work and getting little results when I know it should be the other way around. I did find that trying it while dropping off a small bank onto a trail gives a great oportunity to stand her up.. and I can even swing it a little bit. Staying balanced afterwards is not an issue I just need to be able to get her up easier and higher. Another note at 210 I have the pre load quite high. Even with it quite high I still am a little short on the "sag settings" for setting up a bike. The bike handles well on all terrain that I throw at it and I would think a more preloaded rear would help the situation but I could be wrong it's been known to happen although without my wife I'd never know when

When I took mine off I had to use vice grips on the bar end then loosen the allen then twist back and forth with the vice grips to get them out. After regripping I thuroughly lubricated the threads on the inside that tighten the bar end. I also destroyed 2 allen wrenches because the bolts were stuch. Good times.

As far as I know the factory 04 Sherco 290 shock is not adjustable for anything but preload. Which I have cranked up a bit because my race sag with it where it was measured about 50 percent of the available travel.

Well as I work on things I try to get a good nose wheelie. If I am comming off a foot or two drop onto flat ground when the front tire hits I can stand her right up no problem (of course weight is forward and the rear wheel doesn't have much on it anyway). If I am riding on flat ground with a little speed I can stand it right up no problem (speed + front brake = endo). But for the life of me I can't force it up with little forward motion. For instance like Ryan Young does on his video. Now I realize I won't be able to do it like him but I should be able to get something. Here are my mental notes. * Jumping on the rear suspension to fully depress it is not necesary. It feels to me like a short snappy jab with my feet gets me more reaction. Maybe this is timing and maybe this is the biggest problem I am having. * It is very hard to press forward on the handlebars. Down is obviously no problem. It feels like as soon as I push myself forward all the pressure I am trying to exert is on my thumbs and I run out of ability to do this quick. When I try and rotate my hands down a bit I end up with my elbos too far down which puts my arms too far from straight to be able to push at all. * There is a chance that my out of shapedness may be a factor. I try to reference my bodymass to each maneauver. At 210... ish.... and being used to staying within a certain area of movement (regular dirtbike riding) it is hard for me to swing my weight. But I am getting used to it.... Floaters.... * quick grab of the front brake doesn't do it. I have to really hold the brake to keep the bike up. * Have tried a few on steep downhills and when the bike comes up quick I chicken out and let go of the front brake which results in a second of free fall (back tire is not on the ground to slow down). just wondering if anyone has any tips or tricks to help learn the proper technique? Thanks.

I actually just started pulling this off Friday. Pretty small but I am starting to get it. I can clear a railroad tie and usually cover a few feet in the air. I have trouble with controlling the front end in the air at slow speeds so I am doing it while rolling along in 2nd. No clutch as it is too much to think about right now. But again I am trying it and getting better. Mentally and for timing sake bunny hops feel like a good size jump without the jump. I noticed that when I would try and use a small branch to jump off I would actually come off the ground sometimes without hitting the branch.. So just like when hitting a jump you start off solid ride up the take off jump off with your legs and then get a little forward to bring the bike flat. For the hop the take off is your wheelie and the level out just takes a little more force. Downside of that analogy is I find myself stomping out the landing everytime which does nothing but punish my suspension. Mainly using one continuous burst of power but this results in acceleration. But I figure hey I'll get the rear off the ground any way possible then start working on making it better. I think a fun idea would be to use a small log and hit it with the front and hold power to jump off it with the rear getting as much air as possible with slow speed. Then move to a much smaller branch. Then to a piece of foam. My guess is with the foam as a guide and a mental take off you would be able to get the tire off the ground. Anyway I am pretty new to this too so just trying to spitball ideas. These are my feeble attempts. Good luck.

Just got the new pro taper high bars... plus misc. other stuff.... AND the Ryan Young training video. Got to watch some last night but will be working on setup and lots of other stuff.

Enjoy the city. I have lived in NY for 30 years and have never visited NYC. I would like to eventually just never have. As far as trials stuff. To find places I went to the manufacturers websites and searched for dealers. Gasgas seems to have a bunch. From there a little mapquest.com to find out where they are exactily and I would imagine there should be something fairly close. Sadly not a single dealer listed for NY has a website to see if they are a motocross store who is authorized to sell trials or if they are a true trials shop! Although from NYC you would have to check dealers in New Jersey and PA as well. If I had some time to burn I'd dig around for you. I have some things to do tonight that will involve some waiting maybe I will check around a bit.

All: I am fairly new to trials. I have been studying up for a couple years waiting till I was able to get my first trials bike. Got the bike. love it to death it's everything I ever wanted. End of the first week on the bike I have a buddy over (4 wheeler rider mainly) and he decides to try some wheelies. Short version he gets into trouble doesn't grab the clutch and doesn't let go of the throttle. Result Rear fender minus about 3 or 4 inches, and the bars are bent all to hell. He lived. On to the important stuff. I take the bars off and proceed to bend them back (this was hard to say the least). Now the weather has gotten nicer and I am logging a lot more time on the bike and my hands are not enjoying a long day on the bike. I know a lot of this has to do with hand strength. I have a motocross bike I ride pretty regularly, and a Harley that I am on just about every day the sun is shinning. I know from starting motocross riding that if you death grip the bars you burn out the muscles pretty quick. I am still working on not doing that but it's fairly hard when my body position is so far forward on my hands. So finally the question...... Are my handlebars shaped incorrectly and this is causing discomfort OR am I just a little tall 6ft and some risers would be good, OR am I just a wus who doesn't bend his legs enough while riding? The bars are pretty straight but I wonder if they originally had some angle back to the them. I don't ride with anyone else who has a trials bike yet so I have nothing to compare to. I am still playing with suspension to determine what is correct I know I am pushing the limits of the stock spring (I weigh 215 lbs) and to get anywhere close to proper race sag I have the preload quite cranked up and I think I am still sagging a bit much. Anyway I have read countelss information on setup and know I either over load the preload or get the heavier spring (Or loose 25 pounds HA). Any help or suggestions are welcomed! thanks.

Amen to that! All you get out here is nature, trees, rivers, creeks, old barns, farm land. Only the good stuff. NYC is a 6 hour trip away. But http://www.tryalsshop.com/ is a place I plan on riding out to at some time. It looks like it is a good 4 hours from NYC. Where exactily are you going to be in NY?

What kind of things are covered in the first video? I been riding dirtbikes for what feels like forever and have spent 5-10 hours on my 04 290 so far this year and a training video would be great but I don't want it to not challeng me?

I bought my wife an Impreza a few years ago and she loves it. The car is beautiful and fun to drive and it's not even the wrx or sti version. I had been planning on buying her another for our aniversary but they are so damn ugly now. Oh well. Chances are my money will go elsewhere.

Thanks. While I have the head pipe off I am going to try and fish around with the piston and see how it looks. Maybe try and scrape out some of the gunk (toothbrush or something would probably work well.) if there is any then when I get everything reassembled ride the poo out of it a few times. The build up is very soft at the muffler and of the pipe. Maybe next year I will rebuild the motor and clean everything out good.