woody

Brilliant to see all those lovely twinshocks. Love the encouragement as well as the sounds of consolement to those who get a 5, presumably from the women doing the filming. I've still got tears rolling down my cheeks from the crash that the crew on the Blue Bult outfit have down the hill. Great stuff. Love to go there next year.

You'll be heartened to hear the latest one then - can it really be true that they have banned Santa in Australia from saying Ho Ho Ho this year - because it is offensive to women......... Apparantly, all would be Santas are being trained to say Ha Ha Ha. For god's sake what is going on. Why don't the people who dream this crap up recieve a f*****g good kicking instead of an endorsement to make their proposal happen. And why don't the people who have these rules imposed upon them just turn around and say f**k off, we're not doing it. The time is coming when this has to happen - surely - please - it just has to. The reason for this nonsense is because Ho is short for whore and this may offend the women

Apparantly. there were RS250 models available in Japan that used the TLR200 chassis, wheels etc. fitted with the RS250 engine, TLR250 tank, so they do look like a TLR200 with a 250 motor and tank. I don't know this for a fact, it's what I was told once, but I have seen 3 or 4 RS250 models like this for sale over the last couple of years. It's a 250 motor, not a 200 - has the 250 barrell. The definite point of ID is that the motor should be prefixed RS.

Yes, Japanese tuner Kondo did 250 conversions for the RS200 motors, which is what the Seeley uses and they have a good reputation. You're right in that it has to have the stroke altered as well as a larger bore to get 250cc, therefore the conversion was quite a lot of work as the engine had to come apart, rather than just an overbore. It's unlikely, although not impossible of course, that anyone in the UK would have had a Kondo conversion on a Seeley but Honda did use 250 Seeleys in the SSDT ridden by Lejeune and the Jap rider whose name I can't remember right now. Could it be one of those? Unless someone did their own conversion using TLR top end. None of which matters anyway. Fact is, it's a 250, not unique but rare, nice bike, keep it if you can. It would be difficult to find anyone who knows for definite whether any Seeleys were offered from new with the 250 conversion. If it is registered, try tracing the previous owners through DVLA (if they will do that) and see if you can turn anything up that way - maybe Honda UK could be among previous keepers.

One of the sets is discontinued now, so no longer available from Yamaha - really good idea given how many TY Monos are out there. Can't remember whether it is front or rear off the top of my head. All you can do is try all of the dealers and see if any have any new old stock on the shelves (for the set you can't order any more - the other set can still be ordered from Yamaha by the dealer) As far as I know there are no aftermarket replacements and Central Wheel won't make them (or wouldn't when I asked some time ago) from an original pattern. Nigel Birkett had planned to have some made but don't know if he ever did so worth a call. if you are looking to replace spokes because they are just scabby, rather than broken or missing, you can get the spokes and the nipples chrome/nickel plated. I did this and they came out well.

If you search back through the Bultaco or Twinshock forums (can't remember which) John Collins did a good piece on setting up a Bultaco clutch properly

I've just been trying a new CDI unit and HT coil on my Ossa MAR which is a replacement for the original motoplat HT coil. The CDI unit is made here in the UK and is built to provide 26 degrees of advance in the higher rev range, say at two thirds throttle (I may be a degree or two out on the advance due to my next to useless memory but it is thereabouts) Give it full throttle up a climb or through mud and that is where I could tell a difference. When the revs get higher there is a reasonably strong surge as the ignition advances and the motor really revs out. I was a bit concerned that I wouldn't be able to notice any difference over the standard set up, partly because sometimes you believe what you want to believe and also because the Ossa can really rev its nuts off anyway, but after riding 2 trials on it and playing about on it afterwards up some big climbs I'm happy that the unit does what it is supposed to do. At low revs the ignition behaves exactly as standard and provides a soft delivery with no advance, so there should be no noticeable difference, but I couldn't help feeling that pick up was also a little stronger and cleaner, not massively but maybe just enough to notice, but this could simply be due to the new CDI and HT coil providing a better spark than a tired Motoplat unit. One climb after yesterday's trial was a pretty steep and uneven climb with roots running horizontally across it at various intervals. It was on the expert route of one of the sections. The lads on the modern bikes were mainly using 3rd to get up it. I looked at it and thought bugger it, the bike's due a rebuild so if I trash it, it won't hurt too much... I nailed the throttle to the stop on the Ossa and it went up in 1st. It was singing a bit but it went up. Whether it has extra revs with this unit I couldn't say but it certainly felt like I could hang onto a gear for a bit longer, effectively making the gear a bit longer. The bike is a standard '75 310 MAR with no mods to the engine, well used and in dire need of a rebuild and TLC, but does it rev. The CDI and coil will fit under the tank but require the mounting bracket on the frame to be lengthened as there are now two components instead of one and the original bracket isn't long enough. This is easy enough to do and only took me about 15 minutes to sort something out, just a strip of metal bolted to the original mount. There are 2 types of coil, one of which needs the metal strip bent into an L shape at the end as its mounting bolt needs to point lengthways as opposed to sideways. Doesn't matter which coil is used as the advance is built into the CDI, not the coil. This is designed to work with the Motoplat electronic stator, not the points ignition. At the moment there is not a replacement unit available for the stator itself but this is being developed so hopefully there may be one soon which will mean that there could be a complete replacement electronic ignition for the Ossa models fitted with electronic ignition. Not sure if anything is planned for the points engined bikes but if so I'll post it. I've no idea on price or how many of these are available. If anyone would like any further info they will be available through TY Offroad. All I can say is that it works and is a viable replacement for the motoplat HT coil, particularly if you have a duff one. No need to go looking for a used replacement or trying to find another new one, this will do the job. At worst it is equally as good but in my experience it provides a noticeable improvement with the advance curve at higher revs which is genuinely useful on longer climbs or burning through mud.

Ah yes, remember it now. He had a job lot of stuff from a local dealer amongst which was the Paris Dakar 200 bike (don't know the proper model name for it) which had an electric start engine. There was a spare engine with it which was in bits and this was this engine that I was looking at the camshaft from. He didn't fit one of these engines to a TLR200 though, the bike he had was a proper Honda production model, maybe an MTX, so unfortunately I can't offer any help as to what would be involved in fitting one of these engines into a TLR200 chassis.

Any chance you can point me to the original posting as my memory is next to useless and I can't remember much about this. I think it was a bike a mate of mine had got hold of in a job lot - if you can find the original posting it may jog my memory as to what I was on about

Can't help you as I don't know which electronic ignition you are running, but I'm curious to know which system it is - especially as it uses a 1 pound flywheel. Is that an internal rotor with coils around the outside? Most trials flywheels are about 5 - 6 pounds at a guess for Bultacos, Ossas etc. The only aftermarket electronic ignition I've heard of uses the standard Bult flywheel

I've had 2 and 4 stroke Yam enduro/motox bikes and it is common to all when the clutch is used a lot. Like you say, it overheats, the plates swell and this causes the cable to go slack as the pressure plate moves away from the pushrod end which means when you pull the lever the clutch doesn't fully disengage.When it cools the plates shrink again and normal clutch action returns. Not much you can do about it really other than to stop and take up the slack in the cable when it happens - but then you have to let it off again when it cools or it will slip. No idea whether aftermarket plates or baskets etc will help. I just tried to use the clutch as little as possible. Hydraulic clutches are not supposed to suffer from this as the fluid will always compensate for plates swelling and keep clutch operating normally - can still happen to KTMs though which are also only too willing to impersonate kettles when the clutches caned hard

Well, haven't ridden it for 4 or 5 years now, mainly because it isn't one of my favourite events. In all the years I rode it (as a Classic round) there was never much to really have a go at and it all came down to a couple of sections in the last group to take a few marks. There are no horrifyng stoppers as Doogle has mentioned, all the sections are rideable so don't think you've anything to worry about there. The rounds at Bootle, Lancs County, Torridge and Hillsborough are the harder events of the series Next year there is the possibility that here will be a 50/50 route - details yet to be finalised I think, see seperate thread on the subject - so that riders who don't want to compete on the full championship route can still enjoy riding in a traditional trial using eased routes on 50% of the sections. Going back to the Peak, in the years I have ridden it the Police have been very visible at the start venue and out on the route, particularly one year when they were waiting back at the finish to check bikes for road tax etc. - there was a very large gathering of riders in a field a short distance from the finish area for some reason.....

Don't know for definite that it is on, but chatting to Pete Salt at the last Miller trial he said they were looking to try and run it again soon. Not sure of the planned date but the venue will remain at Mow Cop, near Stoke

Talon will generally do you whatever teeth number you like - have you asked them. I've had none standard sizes from them. I've a Yam mono rear wheel in my Majesty. The mono has a smaller sprocket than the twinshock but they did me a sprocket for the mono wheel with the number of teeth to suit the twinshock.

Thanks for that, I was thinking of trying a dellorto myself on a MAR but wasn't sure of the jetting to ask for - have a starting point now.

Try these Website for EMPF Not sure about any ACU rule/guideline about using power washers (irrelevant if the rider doesn't participate in ACU events) but how it can be environmentally unfriendly when a large number of bikes have been circulating around an event for the best part of the day has me a bit baffled. Some issues can be taken a bit too far in today's PC ruled (ruined..??) world. Without question, if a landowner doesn't want power washers used on his land, that is a different matter altogether and their wishes should be adhered to

Yes it was and yes you can sill get them, also from Miller and maybe Bultaco UK too. Lots of info on this site, may also be able to download a manual (sort of) from there. Also keep an eye on ebay as Ossa manuals appear on there now and again. Mats Nyberg Ossa As an alternative carb you could use Mikuni, Dellorto etc. but you'll have to use trial and error for jetting as there isn't a spec sheet for jetting anything other than an Amal - unless someone is using one successfully and can provide the jetting info.

This used to be the rule under the original stop/hop/reversing allowed rules. If you stuck a foot down when stationary it was a 5. The way around this for riders who were about to lose there balance whilst stationary, was to move the bike forward slightly and take the dab, therefore it was a dab whilst moving forward to regain their balance, not a stationary dab and a 5. Then, the whole process would start over again. The rider would hop the bike back to where they were originally, stationery balance again and try and line the bike up again for whatever obstacle they had to negotiate. It took ages for riders to complete sections, the queues were massive and it was a real pain in the @rse to be stuck in one. Time limits are ok in world rounds but totaly unfeasible in club/centre trials. When riders did stationary dab there were arguments and rows as to whether they were stationary or moving. As ever, top riders got the benefit of the doubt over stationary fives, average Joe didn't. And what happens when you sump out on something having failed in an attempt to get over it. Stationary balancing whilst sumped isn't balancing, the bike is being supported by whatever is under the sump after the rider has FAILED to get over it. However, a 5 wasn't given and the rider was free to spend ages wriggling around to get back off whatever they were sumped on, reverse back and have another go - and again, and again until they got over it or eventually fell off - usually the latter - so much more efficient to 5 them for failing to get over it originally..... Allowing stop/hop etc means tighter and much harder sections. The real fact is, there are very few riders (relative to the overall numbers competing) who can perform the tricks properly. That's why WTC has so few riders. The British Championship class doesn't even have enough riders participating to fill all the points scoring places and the difference in scores between the top 3 or 4 and the rest is huge. There are too many riders competing these days with abilitiy that is nowhere near that needed to perform the simplest of wheel hops. One set of rules allowing trick riding will just kill their interest and put trials back where it was back in the early 90s with entries for all the major trials including the SSDT decling. My own view is that things seem fine as they are running 3 sets of rules - all the major events are well supported/OVERSUBSCRIBED that run under the stop allowed but penalty is a 1 rule, or the full no-stop rule like SSDT. The riders who want FIM do what you like rules have them for the British Campionship - look how well that is supported. So it's not hard to see what the majority would want if ballotted. But I think it would be wrong to impose one set of rules, whichever they may be. It's just not workable any more. I still can't see why there is confusion over what set of rules you're riding to in event. READ the regs, it seems pretty simple to me.... As for observers not knowing what rules they should be enforcing, observing has never been consistent regardless of the rules - this isn't a criticism of observers, just a fact. For example; Stationary dabs were not always penalised as a 5 Stops under no stop rules not always given a 5 Stops under 'stop permitted but a 1 mark penaly incurred' - dab not always given Stationary dab should be a 2 not always given - maybe never... Rider using tree/stream bank/rock to support self/bike not always penalised etc. etc. etc. And riders will still bend or blatantly break rules to gain an advantage win at all costs, bugger the spirit of the event - I've seen full on trick riding under full no-stop rules on a tricked up Pre65 bike. The riders know the rules, so do the observers, but because it is a leading rider, pulling off a clean, the observer presumably feels they should give it and no penalty is incurred. There's no simple solution to the problem of 'observing rules', but I think the days are gone that one set can be applied to all events.

I rode it this year for the first time and yes, it is an enjoyable weekend so I don't think you would find any disappointment in that respect. Just lots of like minded individuals enjoying riding the trial on their favourite bikes. At the end of Sunday's event a lot of riders stopped off on the ride back into Douglas at the pub (don't know the name) by the tram station on the Prom to have a pint, natter and enjoy the glorious weather. It was a great atmosphere and nice to see so many twinshocks and Pre65 bikes parked up at the side of the road. Can just imagine trying to do thast here.... As Cubby said, accomodation is down to personal preference and riders are spread far and wide, no 'communal gathering place' as far as I know. You don't need an expensive or trick bike to compete in this trial. A TY175 is easily able to cope with the easier route sections and with a capable rider, could cope with the harder route sections too, no problems there as power isn't the name of the game. As long as your bike is well prepared and everything works as it should, then you will have no problem. The most important thing is that the bike is reliable and responds predictably, no nasty surprises with misfires, lurching flat spots, bits dropping off, leaking shocks etc. It's a long mileage over two days and any weaknesses will undoubtedly been exposed. The less you have to think about worrying whether this or that component is going to fail, the more you'll enjoy the ride around - trust me......... Take spare points and condensor with you, unless you have electronic ignition fitted of course. It's a good idea to move the condensor out from the stator and up by the HT coil and mount a couple of spares up there also with wires and connectors attached. That way, if a condensor fails you can swap it over without having to remove the flywheel. A good pair of shocks is a good investment too as the sections are predominently rocks - plenty of time to save up and fit a pair of Falcons. Go for it, it's a great weekend

Forgot to mention, although someone else did I think, if you're using the standard all steel plates in your clutch then you should use 300cc ATF - Once clutch is adjusted correctly there should be no slip or drag with ATF

As a bike to start with you could do a ot worse than a Yamaha TY250 mono as you will get a good one, preferably one of the last models with a front disc as standard, for less than

If you look in either the Bultaco or Twinshock sections and do a search on Bultaco clutch, you should find a very useful piece by John Collins in setting up a Bultaco clutch - obviously it assumes that your plates and basket are in good working order. As for colours I use what I want, couldn't care less what anyone else thinks, it's my bike. On the Sherpa, Ford Radiant Red and (I think) Moondust Silver look better than Sunburst and Silver Fox in my opinion - deeper red and and more brilliant silver. At least I think it is Moondust Silver...

I don't see how the rules are to blame for the scenario that started this topic off. Rules are quite clear - you can't go backwards, it carries a penalty. You can't use your feet, it carries a penalty. The bike clearly moves backwards, that's a 5. Observer gives the benefit of any doubt on that one. Feet, as in the toes, are definitely used to assist getting the bike unwedged - more than once, therefore a penalty is incurred, could have been a 2 rather than a 1. The problem is that of observers having to give marginal decisions in high profile events involving high profile riders. If the rider pulls off a skilfull maneouvre, albeit one that is outside of the rules, resulting in much applauding and airhorn blowing from an assembled crowd, then there is (unconscious) pressure on the observer. Because it is a difficult section and the rider has put in a lot of effort, chances are they'll not always get the correct penalty. Trials riders, particularly at higher levels and because of who they are get away with a lot. If a tennis player puts in a super-human effort to return an impossible shot and it lands a millimetre outside of the line, they lose the point, no matter how hard they tried or how much effort they put in - they don't get awarded the point just because it was a difficult shot. Same with the golfer who nearly pulls off a 50 yard putt over an uneven green. If it rests right on the lip of the hole, they don't get the shot just because it was hard. The rules are applied. Why should rules at trials be bent just because a section is hard. Don't see how the rules are the cause of the problem. And I'm not criticising obrerving standards here either, it's a thankless task which I've done a fair share of.

In UK, the red slimline tank was replaced by an alloy tank/seat unit due to fibreglass tanks becoming illegal around 1973/74. These tank units were blue/silver and used on models 91/92 - 150/151 If I knew how to show a picture I could show you one... As for colours (UK paint that is) Ford Sunburst Red and Ford Silver Fox, 1970's colours, are commonly used as they are reckoned to be a close match for the slimline, with Ford Electric Monza Blue for the later blue Sherpa 199a.

Woodruff key sheared on the flywheel? If the flywheel has turned on the shaft it could backfire as the timing would be out