I find my beta is good, but ive heard that u canny go wrong with a Montesa

Maybe a good way would be to look what riders chose the year before.eg in 2003 Total entries were GasGas 77 - Sherco 60 - Beta 52 - Montesa 38 - Scorpa 14 - Yamaha 5 - Aprilia 1 - BSA 1

Final Results had Sherco winning, but the top twenty were listed as follows

GasGas 8 - Beta 5 - Sherco 3 - Mont 3 - Scorp 1.

What people are buying at the clubman level is a pretty good indication

These results are really interesting when you hear guys slagging the Gas Gas, which after innitial problems in 02, was still the main bike of choice in 2003. - Now if you check the same thing for the 2003 Scott Trial you find these figures Total Entry Gas Gas 50 - Beta - 49 - Sherco 48 - Mont 30 -Scorpa 16 - As most people know Graham Jarvis Blitzed this on the Sherco.

Beta did well with 4 bikes in the top 15 as did Gas Gas and Sherco - Scorpa had 2 but Montesa only 1 ?..... Outlaw Dave

Not really a good gauge because those riders will ride what they're used to riding and whilst you may not believe it there is a MASSIVE climate/terrain change between Fort William and even as far south as Edinburgh or Glasgow so what may suit back home may not be suitable for

the Scottish.

Looking at the 2002 stats for the SSDT (because I have them in Excel so easy to calculate):

121 of the field were from England

50 of the field were from Scotland

9 of the field were from Wales, Isle of Man or EIRE.

81 were not from any of the above.

However, the question was about riding in Scotland, not riding the Scottish, so the only people qualified to answer this are amongst those 50 who are from Scotland and who ride there regularly.

I stand corrected, he did say what is the best bike for Scotland.

So I will change my answer, the cheepest bugger they can get

My 2000 Sherco 250 has done three SSDTs and everything inbetween on two sparkplugs, one waterpump seal, and plenty of oil changes - not a bad result for a modern bike - I do however think that Montesa make the best quality bike.

Surely must be a scorpa , as i have not had to change the gearbag oil since 2 years ago , although i must admit to changing the airfilter every two weeks or so!!

If it invloves maintenence , then i am not interested. Oiling the chain p****s me off!!

I hate having to be a grease monkey .

Now spending hours painting it, that is a different story..... :madsanta:

I thought the gearbag was for putting thi boots and riding togs in

suppose mine does have an oil in it.

Now then Ishy , i am presuming that 'gearbag ' was a Yorkshireism for the gearbox.

Maybe we just made that up between a few of us??

it depends on the weather

Edited January 2, 200422 yr by munch

Now then Ishy , i am presuming that 'gearbag ' was a Yorkshireism for the gearbox.

Maybe we just made that up between a few of us??

Sounds like a Yorkshireism, Dirtbag, or Dirtdoctor, would come up wi.

I reckon the bike doesn't matter. if you can't keep your feet up your knackered.

Thats what i like about trials you can spend all the money in the world on bikes and kit but you will always find the person with the most ability will win.

If you are contemplating riding the SSDT then from a clubmans perspective the choice of bike is important. I have competed (I use the term loosely!) in the Scottish a total of 15 times since 1985 and have finished every event and have ridden most makes. The fact is that some bikes need to be nursed round the week more so than others. The 'least maintainence' machines I've ridden were initially a Yam mono and later a Yam TYZ.

To get an idea of reliability I would suggest that you look at a selection of clubman and their bikes as you generally find that these riders complete the event without much outside help. The better riders tend to have a van waiting for them every time they come off the moors and some riders will tell you that after a long, cold and wet piece of road work such as the run from Fort William to Chairlift when you arrive with your nads like small pebbles its amazing how some other riders look like they have just climbed out of a nice warm van!!

Happy New Year.

Eiger.

Sounds about right Eiger, but even the Yam had a job keeping together with Rob Crawford nursing it round, He would pass me doing speeds I didn't think any trials bike could acheive, only to come round the next corner to see clouds of steam and Rob in a beck-hole, splashing water on her trying to stop the head from glowing.

Bye the way, nice walnut whip on the nippers head in the avitar

Ishy, I also remember Rob Crawford having overheating problems, I can't remember the year but from memory I think a couple of TYZ's had similar problems, something to do with fan motors I think. But a mate of mine has ridden in 7 SSDT's on his TYZ without any problems and the bikes engine is still original apart from new rings and a new clutch. If I was contemplating a bike for Scotland my choice would start with Montesa first with the rest pretty much on an even keel in second. After saying that my current bike is a Gas Gas Pro and its like any bike you choose, you get to know what needs to be done and when. I need to tape up the airbox before it sees any mud and clean it out after every wet or muddy trial but although that can be a pain in the a***e I love riding the bike and am happy to accept it.

As for the comments re the avitar my lad is 14 now and the walnut whip still causes havoc when he goes to the barbers!

Eiger.

Eiger is right,

the most important thing is to know your bike, its strengths, its limitations and how to look after it - the worst thing you can do is change bikes a week before the scottish.