nigel dabster

I always thought the year he did his knee it might have been so different.

Your original statement is above for all to see, and open to interprtation. Why you need to dismiss a valid suggestion beats me, and I would bet not many bikes either needed or had mots at the colmore. Of course it was the right decision to cancel the event who is suggesting otherwise? Lastly to think plod even knows what a trials bike is, that working lights need to have a working brake light and could test it, would be happy with the tax disc and numberplate on the vast majority, is stretching it somewhat. get real.

If you think lights will make or break our sport you are a bigger fool than we thought.

ditch those full face helmets!

for years (and this is why bikes come with lights) on the continent you need lights. all the top riders seem to have them anyway so why not make it compulsory to have lights in road trials?

I think the importers should do more and then direct buisness to the insurers that will insure us. Reality check on how much of a minority sport we are in.

You know all that from Verndon? Good going matt!

Bizarre! why is the sprocket so big? Why modify the club foot but leave it so big? Spend all that time and effort but not modify the frame. yamaha rear hub? massive torque arm on rear hub, poor job looking good imho.

I believe all importers sell bikes direct to the public in some shape or form. Pidcocks certainly have a showroom open 6 days a week, Birkett does with the ossa saunders is going to with the jotagas and so on. The buisness model for selling trials bikes has undergone change over the years which is only natural with the advent of the internet surely? What is your objection specifically?

you need the bultaco book which has some great colour photos in it and details. This might help a bit http://motos.coches.net/revista/noticias/noticia.cfm?idNoticia=2646

never were any good, really.

I got one from shirty

All off road?

talking/overhearing steve saunders with the bike at the wallace I doubt if a top line rider will be on the bike anytime soon, I think Alexz is 100% committed to giving it his best shot on a gas gas in 2012.

is ag bikes near enough?

depends on the event but closer to the 3rd route last year, assuming both routes will be harder than s3 this year?

No I am not saying that inconsistency hasn't just (will?) appear, but the no stop rule requires a judgement call which seems very open to interpretation. It is imperative that direction be given or else its a recipe for disaster imho because of all the reasons stated many times by others. Perces video of 2011 BTC shows clearly bad judgement and marking of stop allowed where Dibs and others clearly go backwards. 5 for sure but the riders got away with it. With no stop it will be much harder if there are not guidelines set out beforehand, then naturally people will vary but at least someone is TRYING to get a level playing field and the arguments would be less? I think no stop is daft to be enforced in the 6 BTC events but it needs to be given a proper chance and that can only be done with consistentcy surely. We are not talking about every football match we are talking about 12 different (observers) referees at one event, big difference. to me its just so obvious we need lots of support and thought devoted to the pinnacle championship, isn't it a desirable thing that arguments be reduced before they start and everyone knows a stop for nano is a 5?

But this is the problem the observers will not be left alone if they are inconsistent, surely? no one is saying they will all mark the same but surely this is only fair to the riders in a British championship event that we should try?

I think that if you look at the comments after the wallace re marking then someone needs to grasp the nettle and say what is and is not a 5 clearly, explain and if necessary during practice demonstrate this to the riders observers and officials, otherwise inconsistences event to event, observer to observer, will create a situation which far from helping the BTC will ruin it before no stop is given a chance to work or not.

But then if Alexz's was a five so was connor and Fry? Then to be uber strict dan at 25secs stops for a nano too?

valid point, no stop is straight forward when you have a stream to ride. It is so clear for all to see that dry conditions in vast trials areas in the south its difficult to mark out to take marks from the top lads as perfectly shown by the videos.

I do think stop for a one or stop allowed would/is easier to observe, but on a tricky section no stop is very stressful you are making judgements all the time.

Would I observe again? Probably not. I also think that Sam James and Alexz were riding the section to what the observer was marking rather than the rules as I saw them earlier in the trial.

I was an observer at the Wallace on another hard section, and was as consistent as I could be all day. I run my own buisness have two teenager daughters a full time working wife and try to help at my local club. I have never been so stressed for ages as I was for those few hours. 3 or four riders were very up set at my decisions and the reasons are simple; 1) we have ridden stop allowed so long that people have forgotten a momentary pause is a five, if marked exactly to the letter 2) Each observer will choose his own standards (I know I felt obliged to explain that a nose wheelie would be a 5 if the front wheel stopped) and I felt a leaway should be give to hopping the front wheel in a forward direction (the section was tight). 3) each observer was able to choose his own "momentary pause" In my section Sam Connor was very much no stop as was Alexz, they were riding to "my rules" and may have got the benefit of the doubt on a step Sam more than wiggy but not a stop imho. Now here is the problem, at the BTC both riders and observers will have to have a demo rider do a demo section or there will be massive arguments as to whether riders actually stop or not. THIS MUST BE DONE or the BTC will descend into one big long argument and the BIG IDEA (no stop) will ruin the championship before its started.

Trying to do what precisly. There is a big difference between what is sustainable (think you didnt mean that word) and why the wtc is having problems in getting larg entries, but who said you must have 30 plus riders? Times change sections are incredibly difficult and only a few can manage them, but this is the same in Spain Italy and France aswell. From the meeting at the ACU it was clear that pretty much every top rider is against no stop. If its such a good idea then why not the ladies and the youth british champs aswell?