woody

Just had another thought about a replacement frame for the B40. Cheney list a new frame kit for the BSA unit single for scrambles. They also say they will custom make a frame to requirements. Maybe they can use the scrambles frame as a starting point and tailor it to suit for trials by altering the steering and wheelbase. Wouldn't be too difficult I'd have thought. They've made trials frames in the past so must have the right knowledge for steering and other dimensions. Their scrambles frame has the duplex frame cradle under the engine too, so it looks like the original in that respect. Maybe worth contacting them for their opnion Cheney Racing

Run the TYZ with no tickover because I like to ride just on the throttle, no clutch, which is the way I learnt to on Bults, Ossas. Nothing to do with the engine loading up at idle, just riding preference as like I said, if I shut off the throttle I want the bike to respond that way too. With no tickover the TYZ will drop to nothing without stalling without having to dip the clutch - it's for emergencies only. I couldn't ride the 4RT that way due to the high tickover and had to constantly feather the clutch/brakes to go slow which I hate doing unless absolutely necessary. On the Sherco 4T I could ride it the way I like to and didn't need to feather the clutch constantly. I'm pretty sure I could ride that with no tickover too. Other than the high tickover I can't fault the EFI on the Mont, just that the high tickover was the biggest issue for me. I didn't mean that the EFI wasn't good enough to stop the bike stalling - any bike will stall under certain conditions, 2 or 4 stroke - nothing to do with EFI or carb

Only if it can be achieved without the ridiculously high tickover speed. May not bother a lot of people but that is the one thing on the 4RT that I didn't like. I run with no tickover 95% of the time on my TYZ (100% on pre65/twinshocks) as when I shut off I want it to shut off and this wasn't possible with the 4RT, only way to crawl was holding it on the clutch/brakes. Even with EFI a 4RT will still stall if you just happen to catch the wrong combination of gear/revs/tight nadgery part of section - they aren't stall proof. Less prone to cough stalling if the throttle is wicked open from nothing, yes - but how many times do you do that in a section. If you're launching up rock steps from nothing a bike is fired off the clutch anyway, 2 or 4 stroke. EFI is definitely superior but until they can adapt it 100% for a trials bike I'd prefer a carb.

Yes, sounds like it could well be a Whitlock frame - often referred to as a Gollner frame, but they were made by Mick Whitlock for Bob Gollner who sold them (I think Gollner designed stuff but wasn't a frame builder) The Whitlock frame was plated, had a chain oiler and I don't think they bothered with a sidestand. Don't know about the fastners. The rear brake pedal should also be on the left , British style, using a rod straight to the brake arm on the wheel. Ossa frame has the brake on the right with a tortuous cable affair to connect to the back brake. The swingarm on the Whitlock frame usually had open ended spindle slots too, so that the rear wheel could come out without removing the spindle. Ossa swingarm didn't. Chances are it may be a bit earlier than 74 as the frame was brought out for the MK1 Ossa in 72/73 I think. They made the swingarm about 1" longer than Ossa and Ossa themselves lengthened theirs from the MK2 onwards, only to shorten it again on the later bikes. Don't think anyone else made frames for Ossa other than Cheney but as far as I know he only made them for the monoshock version, not twinshock It's going to be difficult to date the frame but if the engine is still the original, that should date the bike for you. The engine and frame numbers on Ossas match so the original frame would have had the same number as the engine, just that frame is prefixed with B and the engine with M. Below is a dating chart for Ossas using the frame number. Just use the engine number instead. Sorry it looks a bit cluttered, something in the software on the page won't retain the spaces I put in between the chassis/model/year. Numero Chasis Modelo A

When it's running its ok, there is a bit of blue smoke but nothing more than the other bikes, so this seems acceptable, although it is definitely using oil. When it's been standing there is a lot of oil burning on start up and I don't know if this is due to wet sumping, oil down the guides or both. The new head is on now so I'll see if there is any difference this weekend at the inter centre pre65 trial - foot and mouth permitting Carb jetting is what everyone else runs or thereabouts, 25 pilot, 110 main and 105 needle, so quite weak really. The carbon deposits on the inlet valve and piston crown directly under the inlet seem to indicate oil burning. I could do with a spare engine to build up really. I was also thinking of getting a modern lightweight frame for the C15 made as mine is twisted a fair bit and beyond sorting as it's been chopped a bit over time. A new one would at least be straight. The only one available though, like the B40, is the Faber/Otter version and for one thing I don't like it it visually and another, it's oil in frame and has no frame rails under the engine so is not eligible for Scotland. I've been put off asking for someone to build one as everyone I speak to about the James replica frames says there is something wrong with all of them and that they have to have one or two things sorted after they've bought them, chain run out of line, tensioner no good, headstock cracking etc. - not what you want when paying

Had a quick ride on Jon Bliss' Sherco 4T earlier this year - it's a 2005 model that he has sorted the problems on himself using a different carb, sorted out the wiring mess and added a flywheel weight. This bike gives no problems starting, hot or cold and is extemely tractable, in 3rd gear it will drop to stalling speed, no clutch, just on the throttle and then take off without any fuss. I didn't get to try it on proper sections unfortunately but it felt light and agile and felt like a bike I could ride my way - without having to ride on the clutch all the time. I was quite impressed with it. Haven't tried a 2007 model but I've heard one and it was noticeably louder than the 05 bike. Compared to the 4RT I owned until recently - I prefered the Sherco. Neither bike is heavy to me as I'm not obsessed with this weight nonsense - they're all light. The 4RT has a front weight bias though which makes it feel heavier than the Sherco in my opinion, on the Sherco it was easier to flick the front round to pivot turn off kickers. With the Sherco I could also drop to a crawl on the throttle as the tickover was normal. The tickover on the 4RT is too high for me which means clutching a lot to hold the bike back to crawl along. The 4RT also snaps the power in quicker, even with a slower map (although I daresay you could map it slower again than I had it) whereas the Sherco was softer and smoother coming off the throttle - 07 may be different. The 4RT could be a swine to find grip with in certain muddy conditions too, sometimes brilliant, sometimes I felt I was riding on a rim, not a tyre - and it was nothing to do with not riding it like you have to ride a 4 stroke either - I have my own opinions on that subject.... I always felt with the 4RT that I had to ride it quicker than I wanted, more of a point, squirt, flick, point squirt bike, particularly on rock streams whereas I felt with the Sherco I would be able ride it slower and pick my way around and over things, how I learnt to ride back in the 70s when that was the way it was.... Also had a quick go on a Scorpa 4t - one of the original 10 that was sent over here for evaluation last year. Just in a carpark but impressions much the same as the Sherco but not as much power/torque, but I don't mean by that it didn't have enough, just not as much due to it being 250 against 320. From the quick try I had it felt good but I'd need to try both it and the Sherco in sections for a more realistic opinion. Only thing I didn't like was it took an age to warm up for some reason. Haven't tried a Beta 4T. If I was considering one of the 4 strokes I think it would be the Sherco as I really like old fashioned torquey power and the Sherco has plenty of that and from what I've seen of them, they grip very well too. Only way is to get to a test day and try them yourself as everyone will have differing opinions. I've tried to be as realistic as possible with mine.

I'm going to need the tranquilisers just thinking about this as the b*****d thing wrecked my ride in the Isle of Man classic and I haven't forgiven it yet, but, deep breath and here goes... It's a standard bike apart from better forks and it has a Grimeca front wheel which was fitted when I bought it, subframe lowered, bantam rear hub and rear shocks moved but that's it - nothing trick about it and it's a heavy lump, looks a mess, but I like the way it rides. The engine is the problem as it fouls plugs and cough stalls at times, sometimes I can catch it and save a stall but it costs marks, other times it stalls. It did this in Scottish 2 day and buggered up the weekend, sometimes it was fine, others it was a bitch - too erratic to be carburation so in an effort to cure it once and for all I replaced the PVL with a new one after Scotland as I'd had enough. After that, problem cured and it behaved itself perfectly and after a good few events since Scotland, including 2 or 3 with a fair bit of road mileage I'm still on the same plug, not once has it fouled, although the plug is always black and the piston and head build up with carbon, so I'm assuming oil is being burnt. Anyway, good I thought, sorted, now it's running reliably and consistently I can concentrate on setting it up to run the way I want it to - soft as possible off the bottom so no clutching needed. So off to the Isle of Man and confident of a decent ride, but no, after behaving itself since Scotland I'm 3 sections in on day 1 and it coughed and stalled on the exit to the section and fouled the plug. It fouled the plug over a dozen more times which cost 2 fives and a few dabs, plus 12 on time through constantly fixing the bloody thing and changing and cleaning plugs. I won't mention the 3rd five that was caused by the front brake, which hadn't worked well all weekend, suddenly and inexplicably grabbing and locking with the grip of a deep sea clam on another easy section, launching me over the bars to land at the feet of Wrighty who, for a few seconds - which may be a world record - was rendered speechless by this display. The assembled spectators managed a collective ooooohhh as I spun ungracefully through the air. All in all, cost me what would have been a genuine 3rd place but the tranquilisers are doing their job and I'm almost over it now... The engine has a triumph 650 piston (3rd different one in an attempt to get the compression ratio as low as possible - trial and error as I've no experience of what works best and this is one of the areas where peoples opinions vary greatly....) Amal 622 carb with two manifold spacers, amal throttle but a slow action is going on next, recently aquired a trials gearbox, standard road cam, PVL. Nothing radical. The frustrating thing is there is nothing obvious that is causing it - after running fine it just started doing it again out of the blue, naturally at an event of the status of the Manx Classic, not a noddy club trial. I'm wondering if the oil burning is causing it so I've fitted a recon head tonight to see if that stops that as the head is the only thing that hasn't been renewed, bearings and piston are all replaced so I'm guessing oil is coming down the guides - the next ride will tell if it makes any difference... Anway, feel better now that is off my chest but you did ask and it was good therapy venting off about it...

How do they find out anything at all, never mind the frame makers. The pre65 scene is like some underworld cult with everyone wanting to keep things secretive to gain every adavantage in machine trickery and preparation.... I've been torturing myself trying to make my C15 perform correctly for the last year and trying to get info can be more painful than being forced to watch ant and dec on a Saturday night. OK, it's not that bad really and people can be helpful with ideas - even if a lot of them do conflict, but unless you are 'in the know' it can be difficult to find out who can do what and how to get in touch with them as they all seem to do these things as a sideline from their main businesses, which is why you don't see their services advertised anywhere I guess. As far as I know, no-one makes a B40 frame apart from the Faber/Otter type and the guys that make the James frames may not do a one-off - Alan Whiitton for example will only do a minimum of 3 James frames at a time. May be worth having a word with Alan Wright (I don't have his number since he moved) as he knows everyone and may know who to put you on to for a B40 copy.

There seem to be an ever growing number of people who are making replica frames for older bikes now - at least 4 or 5 different types of James replicas being made I think - Whitton, Jackson, Wright, Holland, someone else.... Duncan Macdonald makes the Cub frames, Craig Mawlam and Mick Andrews have both had Majesty frames remade. Whether any of them could/would copy a B40 frame and modernise it I don't know. With the exception of Alan Wright's James replica (he also had Bantam replicas done) they are all quite pricey at

01242 239055 - that may be an old number but it's the only one that I know of Not sure whether he makes complete frames or modifies existing ones or either.

Positioning is all down to personal preference really, how you like to ride, how tall etc. I've ridden a few TLRs and they are like most bikes from that era, too high for me leaving me hunched over the bars, but I'm over 6' so the lower the better. Don't know exactly how much they are moved with this kit but it bolts to the original footrest hangers which you should be able to see in the picture and get an idea of the distance the new mounting position is away from the original. Colin is about 5' 8" and he says his own bike which he hasn't had chance to do yet (a 250) is not as nice to ride as the modified one

Yes, a kit is available for the 200 and one for the 250 is on the way, or may be available now, not sure. Have a look on the website, link below, and then look under parts and you will see a picture of the footrest mod, Colin's number is on the site. tyoffroad

Hoping to be back on the Majesty for this one Malc if the engine is finished, or maybe the Ossa. SWM is last choice at the moment after it mauled me at Devon - or was that due to me being still more than half-cut from the previous night

Entries are slow coming in for this trial - why? People won't ride the Sammy Miller series - too easy, won't ride the ACU Classic as it's 'set out for modern bikes' (rubbish - it isn't) or won't ride it because they don't want to see modern bikes at a Classic trial. In a different thread a few months ago, people were saying the ACU Classic should go back to just classics and they weren't interested in riding sections that were too hard and set out for modern bikes (as stated above they aren't) The overall opinion was that the ACU should kick out the modern classes and go to 2 routes. That it seemed, would be the answer to getting more twinshocks and pre65bikes back out there. So here is a trial for classics which covers all the angles, 2 routes, British bike and twinshock classes on both routes, no air-cooled monos or modern bikes to upset anyone - so where are all the entries. Even taking into account people being on holiday the response so far has been poor it seems. The organisers have gone to considerable effort to set up this trial and it will be a great shame if it isn't supported. Are we riding these bikes or just taking photos of them and talking about them..?? (my entry is on the way Malc, hopefully also cajoled a few other mates into riding too)

Well, if Rossi is worth so much a lap and also in development, he is underperforming this year. He has fallen short in development and he is getting beaten not only by Stoner. If it is because the bike is inferior that is down to him and the development team then. Although I'm not a fan of Rossi I accept that he is an exceptional rider, my point is he isn't the only one and none of them win on an inferior bike. Capirossi won races last year on the Ducati - where is he this year? Like I said, if you forget Stoner and judge the Ducati on Capirossi's performance you'd say it was crap, as you are about Rossi's bike - you can't cherry pick facts to suit your own purpose. All the facts must be considered and one of them is that Stoner is doing an exceptional job, including at tracks where everyone said the Ducati would be beaten easily. In his first year in 500, Rossi hit the floor a good few times too remember. As far as Rossi's team mates, he has been undisputed number 1 in the team, like Schumacher in F1. Their team mates don't get a look in and don't kid yourself they have equal equipment, everything is geared towards the number 1, the team mate has to make do with what they are given and are used to evaluate new parts, to pick up points towards constructers championship and to help the number 1 in any way possible, they aren't there to win races unless number 1 is out of the race. Edwards actually came out and said at the last race that Rossi has specially made tyres of a completely different construction from what is available to him. At Honda, Pedrosa and Hayden were on completely different bikes last year. You can't compare like for like with team mates, they have different machinery and equipment, just the name is the same. However, Edwards has finished in front of Rossi a few times this and last season. You will never see Stoner and Rossi on an identical bike - Rossi wouldn't want to be in the same team anyway - he has already tried to stop Yamaha from signing Lorenzo as he doesn't want him as a team mate (scared of being beaten...??) Just like Schumacher quit when Ferrari signed Raikkonen and told him they wouldn't continue his position as undisputed number 1 in the team - he quit rather than race on equal terms with someone as good as him. As regards the race being exciting, I never said it was - it was dull as are about 70 - 80% of them and I watch them on fast forward after the first couple of laps. All I meant was no-one ever complained of them being boring when Rossi was winning. It makes no difference to me who wins the title but it would be nice if Stoner did get it. So far he has been unaffected by it all, remains pleasant and cheerful, doesn't slate his rivals and most importantly, doesn't have a trace of arrogance about him when he wins - unlike Rossi with his playing of the violin when he won at Donnington in the wet a couple years ago (not so good on this year's wet track...) or hands behind his back with head bowed at another race as he crossed the line. And thankfully he doesn't have a bunch of tossers waiting somewhere around the track to dress him up like a chicken on the slow down lap...

How do you work that one out........ When Rossi moved to Yamaha everyone was jumping up and down banging on about how he was winning on an inferior bike because his talent was worth so much a lap over the other riders - what a load of bull - and an insult to other riders. The Yamaha wasn't inferior, it wasn't the same bike as the previous year's duff model, Yamaha and Gerry Burgess put in an awful lot of work and redesigned it for the new season and Rossi had a good bike. If he is so good and can win on an inferior bike then why isn't he winning on an inferior bike now.... this is what amazes me when I hear the B*****ks that Moody and Ryder come out with - they forget what they have said from one race to the next and contradict themselves over and over. One year he is god on two wheels and can win on a moped, the next year he isn't winning because the bike is no good. If he is as good as they spout he should win a motogp on a 250... At the start of this season Burgess and Rossi were perfectly happy with what they had developed and said that they had built a bike that would punch out of corners and out turn and out brake everything else and the bike does look to do that quite effectively. They also stated they weren't concerned with top speed as top speed is irrelavent when coming out of the last corner on the last lap and accelerating to the finish line and out accelerating your rivals to it. I remember Moody, Ryder and Mamola acknowledging this as bordering on genius. However, they hadn't banked on Stoner riding the wheels of the Ducati which everyone, all the 'experts' and 'pundits' included widely acknowledged as a poor handling bike and which would get stuffed on twistier circuits. Stoner has ridden his balls off and made it handle, so then all we get is bleating about the Ducati being a superior bike. What Stoner has done on the Ducati is down to Stoner himself - where is the other one? Capirossi could well have won the title last year if he hadn't been wiped out in the Barcelona crash that put him out for a few races - so he can ride a bit. He won a good few last year but this year is nowhere and Stoner has out-performed him. Disregard Stoner and if you were to judge the Ducati's performance on the strength of Capirossi's performance this year I'd suggest that it would be generally regarded as lacking. Credit where it's due, Stoner is doing an outstanding job this year and good luck to him. Rossi, after years of having the best bike or at worst, one that was the equal of others, is now finding himself in the position that many other talented riders have found themselves in over the years - on a bike that is not performing as well as it could and which doesn't allow the rider to ride to their full potential. Kenny Roberts went backwards on bad bikes after winning in 2000, Hopkins is now a regular front runner as the Suzuki improves - too much reliance on the bike's performance these days and tyres and electronics. Bad luck and ill fortune has happened to many riders in the past, it's just Rossi's turn now. I'm not a Rossi fan by any stretch, his antics get on my tits and I think he is a dirty rider but I am well aware that he is one of the best riders out there. Maybe next year Yamaha will again give him a bike on which he can challenge for the championship but the simple fact is, none of them, including him, can win on an inferior bike. And as someone else has already said, why was no-one saying that the races were boring when Rossi was winning them... one rule for one and all that

Yes, that's definitely been ground down as 32005 original/correct size is 47mm O/D

Got the size now, it's 43MM O/D, 25MM I/D and 11mm thick. The number is 324305. This isn't a common size so you won't find it on SKF, FAG etc product listings but as mentioned before, I'm sure it is the same bearing as a Yamaha TDR125/250 TOP steering stem bearing. The Sherpa bearing is 45mm O/D and I don't think there is a taper roller available in that size. Using a 47mm O/D bearing ground down to 45mm as Swooshdave has, is probably what the Miller conversion entails but because these are 15mm thick the top nut mods are required. Using the bearing 324305 only requires the steering head to be sleeved down as being 11mm thick it doesn't stick out of the steering head. The Sherpa bearings are the same top and bottom and are common from type 49 right through to 199b. They are probably the same on pre-49 models too but I've never worked on one so can't confirm.

You can get a taper roller which is the same I/D and thickness but has an O/D 2mm smaller than the bultaco cone bearing. If you know someone who can make you a 1mm thick sleeve to go into the steering head then these taper rollers will fit without any need to modify the top nut. I've done mine this way. It doesn't have a conventional part number so if you quote it to most stockists they won't have it listed. The bearing is now in the bike so I can't measure it, but, I'm fairly sure it is a Yamaha TDR125/250 TOP steering bearing, number is something like 324405. I'll have a look tomorrow and see if I can find it or whether I've the measurements written down somewhere. The only difficulty is getting someone to machine you the sleeve to go into the steering head, otherwise no other mods required.

Electronic ignition won't give any performance increase in terms of power output. I don't care what the theories are about better, fatter spark giving optimum performance at this or that revs, I've run my Majesty with both points and electronic and it runs the same. It's a 320 and doesn't need any more power anyway but what I'm getting at is that electronic doesn't magically increase torque output or turn a 250 into a 325 or a 125 into a 250 if you see what I mean. What electronic will give is a consistent and reliable spark, built in advance (matter of personal opinion as to how beneficial this is) and a more accurate means of setting the timing. No points wear to give erratic running, no worries about failing condensors, corroded points when it's been standing, doesn't matter if water gets in as it will still operate. Basically fit and forget. There are several options. Find a TY Mono stator/coil/CDI and use that, it will work with the Majesty flywheel but will be a sod to set up as the keyways are in different positions on both bikes so it's not a simple bolt on job using the timing marks to guide you. Backplate slots may need to be elongated to get the stator in the correct position for the timing. Could prove a headache, depends how patient you are and how much messing about you want to do. Use one of the aftermarket kits from Craig Mawlam but pricey now at about

Sorry, don't know which models they take them from but as they've been doing it for a good few years they must have used the TXT type at some point. Not sure what other bikes they use them off but with engineering facilities I guess just about anything can be made to fit. Take a look at Eric Boocock's C15 in this week's Classic Dirt Bike - looks similar to a Yamaha motocross kickstart

Haven't done it myself so can't tell you how it is done, but most common kickstart used here in UK appears to be a GasGas type lever. Seen mainly on Pre65 bikes and looks quite neat

Here you are Neonsurge, the answer to all your problems. Not quite North Yorkshire but close enough. Can't remember the guy's name I spoke to there but very helpful indeed. http://www.sonicsolutionsltd.com/index.htm

Thanks for that Dab Dab. It's ok about the photos as I doubt I'll ever do the conversion, was just wondering whether it was a straight fit on the taper or not