Hi , just finished the Ilkley Classic trial, which has 85 miles of road work , on my 1990 gas gas 325 air cooled mono . When I was on the road and inbetween sections and stood up the riding position is very uncomfortable because I have to put too much weight on my arms and the only way to take weight off is to ride with bent knees but I find this impossble to maintain for any distance , anybody got any cures? Nick

For 7 painfull years in my late forties I suffered with tendonitus in elbows ;I found the only way to amelierate this was to bring/rotate the bars back. It worked for me. It used to be (and still is for me) that riding is like walkimng ..i.e you do it on yore feet but modern bikes developed and modern riding tecniques lean towards strong arms being required.

ten out of ten for effort. your bike isnt built for long distance trials it was designed to ride sections not 85 road miles. the knack of riding the thing over long road distances is to vary your position and sitting down is a major part of that. i'd acknowledge that riding ' seated' is niether easy or comfortable yet i suspect that an officer of the law might 'demand' that you do so to be properly in control of your vehicle..

ten out of ten for effort. your bike isnt built for long distance trials it was designed to ride sections not 85 road miles. the knack of riding the thing over long road distances is to vary your position and sitting down is a major part of that. i'd acknowledge that riding ' seated' is niether easy or comfortable yet i suspect that an officer of the law might 'demand' that you do so to be properly in control of your vehicle..

The bike is dual use and is modified for long distance work by adding a seat from a pit bike ,a 12 toothed front sprocket and a half litre metal drinks bottle fixed to the top of the fork downtube as a fuel reserve ,I also run an O'Ring chain .Would rolling the bars back towards my body allow me to stand more upright for the long distance stuff ?

Riding position/comfort is subjective and depends how tall you are (or how old... knackered wrists, back etc)

The riding position is normal for bikes of that era, the footrests were quite high, especially in comparison to today's bikes. So even with 6" rise bars, a rider over 6' is going to feel hunched however you position them. You may be able to find some 6.5" rise bars but they are not common anymore, 6" is usually the maximum.

If it is really causing you a problem you will need to fit some kind of bar riser or relocate the footrests to a lower position

Unable to move footpegs "AL the Spanner" welded new ones on for me and they are set up brilliant for trials which is more important than my aching thighs and arms.Thank's for your comments and advice, Nick

Riding position/comfort is subjective and depends how tall you are (or how old... knackered wrists, back etc)

The riding position is normal for bikes of that era, the footrests were quite high, especially in comparison to today's bikes. So even with 6" rise bars, a rider over 6' is going to feel hunched however you position them. You may be able to find some 6.5" rise bars but they are not common anymore, 6" is usually the maximum.

If it is really causing you a problem you will need to fit some kind of bar riser or relocate the footrests to a lower position

Exactlly what i thought, higher bars and lower the footpegs!!

How fickle we old riders are , after three years of restoring and one and a half years of riding and worrying about the 350 gasser it is up for sale because I have just bough a new gas gas TX 125 Randonne , it was the proper seat and electric start and the price that made me do it!