neonsurge

I guess that's always true: The importer buys them from the factory and the dealer buys them from the importer. And I guess the factory was the original owner so by the times it gets to you it's already 3rd-hand

Wow. And all this kicked off because of THAT? If that's the worst thing anyone can come up with about Dougie, then he's a shining beacon of decorum and appropriate morality compared to a lot of these overpaid, swearing, spitting, referee-punching, cross-dressing, coke-snorting, so-called professional footballers who are frequently held up as appropriate role models for our children by the popular media. In my humble, personal opinion of course.

Eh? I've been working from home in the past couple of weeks and have had BBC News 24 on in the background pretty much all the time and I've never heard of this guy. No mention in the newspapers either (well, the ones that I read anyway). Can't see anything on the BBC or ITV web sites either. With all this exaggeration and hyperbole you should consider a career in politics

I use those disposable contact lenses. They can be tricky to put in but I've never had one fall out. However, It can be a problem if you get a face full of mud though and some gets in your eye.

He was looking for

Or helpful even in the slightest Sockpuppet. But who.......?

More Top Gear love/hate fun here

The manufacturing cost of a bike isn't the whole story, especially when you're talking about a completely new model such as the Beta 4T. It's rumoured that Beta spent 4 years working on the bike and the cost of all that R&D has to be recovered somewhere. So I'll bet that's where a fair percentage of the REAL manufacturing cost lies. Raw materials/parts + labour + % of operating costs + % of R&D against projected sales + manufacturer margin + dealer margin = RRP.

Yep, hit the nail on the head there. Couldn't agree more. I'm a shallow, middle-aged, political correctness-hating, under-achieving slacker too, and proud of it. And that's why I love Top Gear and believe that Clarkson should seriously consider running for PM.

Top Gear is just an excuse for Clarkson, Captain Slow and Hamster to play with big boys' toys and prat about. And get paid for it. It's brilliant. I love it. Don't take it so seriously.

Hi and welcome! In response to your questions, here's my tuppen'worth: 1. No. See here for why. If you're a trials novice (or even if you're not), a 200 or 250 would be a much better bet. 2. I guess

I have a pretty unscientific approach to tyre pressures. Our practise area is similar to the terrain you describe with a mix of big rocks, deep mud, and stone-bedded rivers (frequently all three are found in a single section during trials!) I tend to push on the rim of each wheel with my foot until it looks like there's approximately the right amount of "squash" in the tyres then go and hit a couple of rocks. If it feels like the tyre is hitting the rim, add a bit of air. If it's sliding all over the place, let a bit out. Repeat this process until you have decent grip and front/rear balance. Once you've found this balance you can use a pressure guage to find out the PSI and use this as a baseline for next time. It's worth repeating the test process occasionally though since temperature etc. can make a difference. Obviously, if you're riding predominantly in mud you can run lower pressures but in the end, it's whatever works for you, your riding style and weight and the conditions on the day. In mixed conditions it's always going to be a compromise but if there's going to be a rule of thumb I think it has to be "run as low a pressure as possible without risking damage to the wheels or tyres or upsetting the handling of the bike".

In trials, at least at clubman level, explosive power is frequently your worst enemy. The perceived difference between your KTM and a GasGas 280 (or Beta 270) is largely irrelevant because they're designed to do completely different jobs. I absolutely guarantee you that with an experienced rider on board, a 200cc trials bike will go up hills and other places that would tear any enduro bike to pieces. Even if your name is David Knight. I'm not having a pop at you at all, it's just that many people coming from MX or enduro into trials (myself included, 5 years ago) frequently go out and buy the largest capacity bike they can find, simply because they're used to a 300cc stroker or 450cc thumper and a little 280cc trials bike will be no problem, right? Wrong. In a trial with tight turns between trees, hops over logs with zero run-up and perhaps wet, slippery ground the last thing you want is a big hit of power when what you really need is smooth and predictable power delivery. Which is what you'll get from a 200 or a 250. The 280 GasGas and 270 Beta are really "pro" models which DO provide much more "snap" for really big splats and jumps and require expert levels of control and rider ability to get the most out of them. That's not to say you shouldn't buy one - they're great fun for play riding and make awesome "extreme" trail bikes but unless you have lots of previous trials experience or have no interest in competition I'd steer clear, at least for now.

Can anyone confirm that the email is actually from the ACU? It smells very spammy to me and the mail headers look a bit suspicious (different from and reply-to addresses, peculiar routing...)

ALL modern trials bikes are good. In trials, bike balance, handling (geometry, suspension etc.) and engine response are critical and the smallest flaw in ANY aspect of a bike's nature is amplified many times due to the low speeds involved. Combined with the relatively small number of manufacurers, this means that there's simply no room for sub-standard bikes in the current market. Having said that, there ARE differences between makes and even models within the same range. This is why you should ride as many different bikes as possible before making a decision. Some people are more comforable with GasGas than Beta. For others, Sherco or Scorpa just feel "right". 4-stroke fans obviously tend to gravitate towards Montesa but most of the other manufacturers have 4-strokes in their range too. It really is a matter of personal preference and it's a fact that 100% of current trials machines are way more capable than 90% of the people buying them (or thereabouts )

Yes, the thing with all the wires is the stator. If it's knackered JLI will be happy to sell you a new one of course, but there are a couple of companies out there who will re-wind and re-seal it for you. If you can't find the woodruff key on the crankshaft, the odds are that it's sheared off completely and the bottom half has fused itself into the shaft. Look at the surface of the shaft very carefully and you should see a rectangular mark on there somewhere. That's what's left of the key and you'll have to carefully prise it out somehow. If the key's sheared then I wouldn't bother messing with the stator until you've replaced the key, reassembled and tried to start and run the bike again. Virtually all of the symptoms you describe could be attributed to a broken woodruff key which costs a couple if quid as opposed to

There was talk of a TC Wiki a while ago and if something like that could be used to build up a knowlege base lists it'd be really useful. I'd be happy to help out running something like that if required. Maybe even just a sticky FAQ in each bike-specific forum?

I know from talking to people that it's the very fact that it seems to be the same people posting and replying a lot of the time (not so much in the bike-forums but elsewhere) that puts people off a bit - it can come across as a bit clique-y sometimes. This is completely inevitable of course: It affects just about every high-traffic community site that I visit reguarly but I think some of the longer-standing members could do with turning down the snark and sarcasm a bit sometimes. That would help. There's also a problem with discussions going way off-topic and turning into casual chat that would be better conducted via email or IM or something but again, the moderators can't be omnipresent and to a large extent it's down to the members themselves to ensure this doesn't happen on a regular basis. Some thread pruning would be useful on occasion though, if just to press the point home. I don't think this even qualifies as criticism (and if it does, it's intended to be constructive) - I'm just trying to offer suggestions why there are far more members than regular posters

Geek valentine: "Roses are #ff0000, violets are #0000ff, all my base are belong to you." Well, I thought it was funny the first time I saw it

As an attribute to the page's BODY tag. For example: <body background="images/mybackground.gif"> Or you could do it in the stylesheet... body { background-image: url(images/mybackground.gif); background-position: center; background-repeat: repeat-y; }

Dudes, Email? IM? IRC? Telephone?

Errm, I may be wrong (and please tell me to bugger off if I am) but it sounds to me that you're confusing 4-stroke and 2-stroke engine internals. Your Beta is a 2-stroke which means there are no valves, cams etc. in the head - intake (via a reed valve) and exhaust is taken care of by ports in the cylinder (like you said). Much simpler than a 4-stroke car/bike engine! HowStuffWorks.com has an excellent explaination. If you've been lucky enough not to seize anything with the incorrect fuel mix, I'm still betting on a sheared woodruff key - the symptoms you describe are almost exactly the same as when the key went on my old bike (twice - caused by worn main bearings although that's not necessarily the cause in your case). Either that or the stator plate has slipped somehow and the timing's gone way off. If the stator itself has failed, the bike wont start or run at all in 99% of cases.

Just got back from setting out tomorrow's Cliff Collinson trial. Should be a good one, 2 laps of 18 sections covering all of Low North Park from Aubrey's to Moor End. Hopefully there's something for everyone in there, the clubman course should be steady for all (nowt daft) and there's some big stuff for the experts. Spilt start so there shouldn't be much queueing (hopefully). Post here or on the SDMC forums and let us know what you thought!

Just to second the suggestion of trying to kick it with the throttle wide open. The manual for my old enduro bike (Suzuki DRZ400 affectionally referred to as the "Big Yellow Pig") said to never touch the throttle when starting but I quickly learned that if the bike had been dropped or stalled there was no way that bugger would start without holding the throttle open while cranking the leccy boot for 4-5 seconds.