diggler

I have been watching this post with interest and would like to make the following observation. Myself and Lancsvet (who appears on these pages from time to time!) did the lions share of the course plotting for the Lancs County round. I would like to say that modern bikes do not enter my mind when setting sections for this event! I am of the opinion that if you can take 6 to 12 marks of the likes of Nigel Birkett, Phil Wiffen & a certain fat lad on a Majesty twinshock or similar marks off Dave Thorpe & Neil Gaunt in the pre 75 class then the modern bikes will fall in line behind. If someone on a Beta Or Sherco goes round for 1 or 2, well good for them !!!! So far as Majesty340's theory theat the series in badly supported or dying! our entry was split as follows- 17no Pre 75 43no Twinshocks 14no Air cooled mono's 71no in the modern bike classes No Novices,Intermediates or Experts to prop the entry up, just the classic classes!! That is 74 riders in the 3no what I would call the classic classes, hardly a bad entry for a trial on their own? There was a similar split and numbers at Bootle the day after. My own theory on this good classic entry is that both trials have no roadwork!! A lot of the older twinshock & Pre 75 bikes are not road registered and who wants to spend a couple of grand restoring a bike and then thrash it around the roads? Thats what Honda Fireblades are for!! So as Woody has said earlier, I dont know what rounds you ridden or orginised Mr majesty 340 but you obviously have not been up north!!!!!

Sounds like Majestyman340 has never ridden one of our trials!!

We have made a start marking out the Next round at lancs County I can confirm there will only be one route But there will be nothing in that you cannot sit down and have a three! Or pull the clutch in and ride out of the side safely! That is not to say that there wont be some tough sections! After all we are trying to find some British champions!

Number 142 Up with sparrows on thursday can't wait for that lovely ride up to chairlift !!

Majesty belongs to Andrew bingley It was a 250cc in the picture and now is a 320cc If you see him you will understand why (he's a big lad !!)

Big John, the bike is an ex comerfords bike, The longer front exhaust pipe and the removed rear mudguard loop were a mod of the time by Reg May. Dave Renham has the comerfords decals!!

Rick 1 you may be interested in this photo of the 340's older brother ?

The shocks on the bike are the old rock shocks with blue painted springs. Pete Edmundson had some on his stand in the SSDT parc ferme he is going to start selling them again !

And the other side !!

Thought some of you may be interested in how the project was coming along !!

And another close up. The bike is definatly not one of the comerfords 40 as verified by Dave Renham. But the frame number is very close to the modified bikes, so he is not ruling out the posibility that it was a bike modified by reg around that time ! i.e. untill he discovers evidence disproving this, he will not rule out the posibility of it being some form of comerfords bike, there must have been some 'experimental' bikes before the 40 replica's were produced ?. It may be a while before any proof surfaces as i am sure Dave has better things to do with his time than trawl through old pictures and documents for me. whatever it is, I am well pleased with it !!!

A couple of close ups for you

Woody, I cannot understand why your front brake is no good, as you know i have a Mono front end in my majesty and the front brake is the best thing about it. A Majesty doing stoppies is a sight to see !!!

Been talking to mr Renham who says his records show the engine was prepared for Rob shepherd. He is unsure of the frame and is still checking (engine & frame have different numbers). There is a photo of Vesty in the book spanish trials bikes (going up a water fall) with the back end modified exactly the same. It has definatly not got one of the box section swing arms in, but it rides so well that i think its been done by some one who knew what he was doing !! It seems to have caused a stir anyway !!!

Maybe you can see the pivot point on this one Dabster ??

here is a shot of the damper mounting, will take one of the swingarm tonight (it is pushed forward nearly touching the engine) ps. I think this will perform better than the Majesty Woody !!!

A veiw from the other side

A closer veiw, the exhaust comes out of the right side and is wrapped around the barrel

I have just aquired this 199b at the weekend, the power delivery is awesome ! far snappier than my 199a, but still smooth ! Could be a bit special this one, I am checking into the history with Dave Renham to see if it is a Comerfords bike, or a copy. Needs some TLC before I unleash it on the Classic Series !

Here is photo of my comerfords 199a Bultaco All the mods of the era - Longer front pipe Modified rear mudguard loop Not as exciting as the 199b bikes, but still good to ride. (ps. If enyone is selling a 199b, in any condition, I am in the market)

SORRY! My bultaco 199a Is blue framed and 325cc, with 350 decals Hope this has repaired the hair that Mr Dabster has split !!!

Mr Renham has kindly sent me an electronic ignition kit to try/evaluate on my 199a 340. Fitting is simple, remove the existing stator plate with the points etc and also the wiring loom and coil from under the tank. Replace with new stator plate,wiring loom and coil under tank, the original flywheel is retained and used. As for timing there is no right or wrong setting, it is a matter of preferance, the new stator has a timing mark on it that is a starting point (it is a compromise position). you can then retard the timing to make the engine softer at the bottom end (more grip) or advance the timing to make it snappy off the bottom. I can report that the system does work well, easy starting and no re- gapping of points every time the bike is used. Once the bike is timed to your preferance, work can be done on other areas to improve performance i.e. carburation !

Funny you should mention TBM. I have just spent an afternoon with Mike Rapley testing the 4RT for this magazine. We also took Mike,s trusty 2004 315 with us for comparison. Some of the comparisons we made on the sections were lets say, intresting. I will say no more as you will have to read mikes article in TBM (which was going to print today), knowing Mike as I do, I donot think he will duck any issues, and will tell it like it is. So you may get the un-bias comparison that you are looking for.

Now, Now sparky once a year is plenty( you must of felt the earth move when I hit the deck ? ). Dont crash as much on the twinshocks ( not as much lock, for the lock to lock wobbles) Think I will have to stick to them !

I have been watching this topic with interest and now feel I will have to comment. I thought the sections on the clubman route were exellent (for me) but at the same time realise that they should be aimed at clubmen (to hard this year ?). I now find my self (as do others !) over 40 & over weight and now find the expert route on national trials to hard, I ride for enjoyment ! The problem is that more people like myself are migrating onto the clubman route, so causing the orginisers to stiffen the clubman route up. The answer would be to ease the hard route (i.e. take out the big steps, as they do not take marks of the top boys) or do a 50/50 route with a mixture of hard and easy route sections. As for not enjoying the trial on sunday, the main reason for that was I was full of Flu ( off work untill the following thursday) and was knackered after 2 groups. The big get off (landing on my head, looked quite funny by all accounts) was the straw that broke the camels back, and I give up while I was still in one piece. Maybe if the sections were not as hard I may have finished ?, I was riding quite well but was an accident looking for somewhere to happen! I am not criticising the orginizers/course plotters as I mark out trials myself and know what a thankless task it is. I know most a the lads that mark out this event and I am sure they will take the comments from this years trial on board, and apply them next year (I would agree that the manx 2 day would be a good yard stick as both routes were spot on this year). N.S.