neonsurge

Just to close the loop on this one, I admit that my first post seems kinda silly now and I'm convinced that as far as the indoor series went, Dougie had a couple of bad results, realised that he'd have to take a lot of risks to beat Raga and decided to just ride the remaining events steadily to avoid the possibility of any injuries that might compromise his assault on the "real" championship. My totally non-expert opinion: Raga is without doubt the most technically gifted rider in the world today, but he's not a complete rider in the sense that he doesn't seem to be able cope with mud, wet/dry sections and generally inclement weather as well as Dougie and Fuji. Maybe it's just experience and it's clear that Raga's time will come, I just don't think it'll be this (or maybe even next) year.

Sorted it. Thanks guys. It was a bit of a "Doh!" actually: As Alan B suggested, it was the master cylinder adjustment. As soon as I loosed it off, the pistons slid in reasonably easily.

I've just attempted to install new front brake pads for the first time on this bike (GasGas 270TXT) and I think the pistons are siezed. After removing the old pads, I can't push the pistons far enough back into the calipers to install the new pads, let alone get the caliper back onto the disk. Am I missing a trick here? On my previous bikes I could just push the pistons back into the calipers with a screwdriver, install the pads and off we go. The curious thing is, if I reinstall the old pads, the brake works fine. I'm befuddled.

http://www.acu.org.uk/HandBook/SectionG2004.pdf - see page 16 of the PDF (139 of the handbook).

I wear glasses and used to have horrendous misting problems when I did trailriding and enduros, especially when it rained. I bought a pair of cheap safety glasses from B&Q and with a little bit of modification (heated the arms and bent them inwards so that they fit in my helmet), they worked brilliantly. Didn't eliminate the misting completely but definitely a big step forwards.

...and I've just checked Eurosport.co.uk which lists world indoor trials live at 9pm. Any advance? Mind you, they'll probably show women's tennis instead. Tennis seems to take priority over everything on Eurosport and those little skirts are only interesting for ten minutes or so

Can anyone supply a URL to the 2004 ACU license download? I can't find it on www.acu.org.uk anywhere. Many thanks.

Which is exactly what'll happen. Either that or they'll become national parks in which case every weekend busloads of pensioners will arrive complaining loudly about the lack of toilet facilities, the price of a cup of tea and how funny the countryside smells before buggering off back from whence they came leaving twenty tons of rubbish blowing around. Then in the evenings the local scumbags will dump and torch an endless procession of stolen cars while retards in clapped-out Transits disgorge mouldy old sofas and matresses into the undergrowth.

Just wondering what's going on with Dougie in the past few weeks. After a strong start to the indoor season and his total domination at Sheffield, it's as though he's just lost interest. After five years virtually unchallenged at the top of the sport both indoor and outdoor, has Raga's continuing ascendancy started to affect Dougie's usually impenetrable mental defences? It looks like more than just a dip in form... Here's hoping that he's written off the indoor series and is just looking forward to the outdoors... I'm not so sure. Are 7 world chamionships enough? I'm a huge Dougie fan and I'm NOT writing him off, but if the commitment's gone I'd rather see him retire than slip into mediocrity. C'mon Dougie, get it together lad!

Yep, you'll need a strap wrench (or bodge together something that does the same job) to remove the collars. It took me ages to work out why I couldn't separate the inner and outer fork tubes and we ended up using a length of canvas wrapped around a pair of mole grips. Hang on a sec... don't I know you?

While all of the previous replies are valid (ahem), I used to have terrible corrosion problems with my enduro bikes and have tried many solutions. As usual however, the oldies are the best: To remove rust, use Solvol and a toothbrush. If it's really bad and in an area where you're not too bothered about the possibility of scratching, use a stiff wire brush instead. If it's just surface corrosion, spraying with WD40, leaving for a couple of minutes then rubbing with a dry cloth usually does the trick. To prevent rust (re)occuring, douse the entire bike in WD40 or similar (ProCare is pretty good) after washing. It's probably not a good idea to spray WD40 onto brake disks though Protect the areas most prone to corrosion (header pipe, spoke nipples etc.) with a coat of vaseline. This will offer pretty good protection against road salt but the only sure-fire way to keep the brown at bay is to hose the bike down after EVERY ride.

I'm confused (doesn't take much): Both Graham Jarvis and Dougie Lampkin are listed but I thought that they were both riding the Spanish championship instead...? Is it 'cos, y'know, it's Graham and Dougie and they get an automatic entry? If so, fair enough I suppose but since it's unlikely that they'll be actually riding, are they occupying slots that could be allocated to other riders?

Thanks for everyone's help. I'm told what I need is a "blind bearing puller". Problem is, they're

That sounds like a reasonable plan of attack, Alan. There's no problem getting the bush out - let me explain (if only to get some fustration off my chest): I recently replaced the entire "bottom end" of the suspension linkage, dogbones, spacers, bearings, the lot at a total cost of nearly

Thanks for the reply. Hmmm. I'm not sure that I understand what you mean. The hole through the swingarm is dual-bore; the bearings are pushed into the outer bore on either side so that they're flush with the inner bore and the bush is inserted through the lot (see attached pic). There's no way that you could remove both bearings in one go, unless I'm missing a trick somewhere.

The inline filter on my Gasser is a Beta part!

I'll keep this brief since I've asked far too many bearing-related questions here recently: How do I remove siezed upper linkage bearings (where the linkage connects to the swingarm) on a '99 GasGas 270TXT without a bearing press/puller? Is it possible? Would heat and perseverence work? They can't be drifted out 'cos the bearing is flush with the swingarm casting. Once again, I'm totally unworthy...

I bet it wouldn't even have been mentioned if you'd been playing football. It happens to me all the time: Someone turns up at work with a broken wrist sustained during a football match and the boss is all "hard luck mate, how did the match go, did you win?" whereas whenever I show up with a bit of a limp following an off in the previous days' trial it's all frowns and "you need to think seriously about packing that in..."

The review of the new Sherco 4.5i enduro bike in this month's TBM mentions that Sherco are also working on a 330cc 4-stroke trials bike. The interesting is that the enduro bike is fuel-injected... I wonder if they're using a sleeved-down version of the same motor?

Me, me!! (7.58pm...)

Just wondering what's the most popular bike in different areas of the country at the moment 'cos 'round here (NE Yorks), you can't move at a trial without tripping over a Beta! All of the dealers in the area are multi-franchise, so it's not just a case of people buying what's easily available and serviceable locally. I've spoken to one dealer about this phenomenon and while remaining pretty neutral did confirm that for him at least, Betas outsell all other new bikes 3 to 1. For the *average clubman*, all modern machinery is going to be far more capable than the rider, and it's therefore more a combination of personal brand loyalty and preference (ergos etc.) than raw performance isn't it? I own a Gasser although I'm pretty brand-neutral (it was a case of right place, right price) and I'm considering a change. I'm not looking to start yet another "my bike's better than your bike" type of discussion, I just wondered if the "Beta fever" is spreading elsewhere or if other makes are more popular in other areas. Just wondering...

Just to provide a bit of closure on this one, after thoroughly cleaning the carb, I replaced the plug and air filter, drained the crankcase and changed the gearbox oil. Runs fine now. Thanks for everyone's help!

Problem is, the DRZ engine that Suzuki supply to CCM for their 404 model probably weighs more than a modern trials bike on it's own!

My "home" club is Scarborough DMC and I usually ride "clubman B" (aka easy course) and to be honest, I find it difficult. That's probably because I'm a cr*p rider, but the expert lines on the same sections can be truly terrifying and I guess that's where the problem lies. It must be difficult for the people who lay out the sections: There's such a spread of ability in the club, from total novices and old, fat has-beens (me) all the way through to national/European-class riders that to make it challenging enough for the top guys without making it impossible (or dangerous) for us mere mortals must be very difficult without resorting to seperate courses. I think that they do an excellent job in this regard, even if it means that for me, "five is the magic number"

At the risk of being a "me too" (oops, I've already done it), take a look at the Novogars. Like Subria said, practically identical to the Gaernes but cheaper to buy!