Hi,

 

I'm really keen on getting a Rigid (I like a challenge!) and while top choice would be something like a nice big Matchless, funds just aren't going to stretch that far at the moment.  I've been looking at little Bantam's and the most available option at the right price is by far a plunger framed version.

 

Are plunger frames going to be any use or will I be fighting a losing battle?  I will be buying it as a bit of a project but will be trying to keep it reasonably standard so would rather not start replacing the rear loops to get rid of the plungers.

 

Any opinions would be appreciated!

 

Thanks!

 

take a loooong good hard luck at evevery pre 65 clip on you tube check out the members and their bikes on the yorks classic website subscribe to the excellent emag on these pages read every copy of off road review and add up the number of plunger framed bikes.. take a hint..

Hi Guy's.

 

Hi Simon.

 

Look my first trials bike I built was a James  with Plunger suspension?? Why ? well I found the bike for £5.00 for sale on the side of the road at the edge of the village I lived in, and I only had five pounds saved up from my pocket money in my jam jar.

It was a good decision !! because that got me into the trials riding game. I had to fit a 350 x18 rear tyre (Tire) . there was not enough clearance for a  full 400.

But this little bike started me off with a life time of building trials bikes the way I wanted them, and there is nothing wrong with that.

A BSA Bantam plunger frame is an easy convert to a Ridged Competition D1 Bantam, You just need to remove the plunger castings and replace them with two laser cut plates welded in to the right position to hold the rear wheel. Job done.

Forks are another thing you can have fun with to keep them period.

 

Good luck with the project.

 

Regards Charlie.

Thanks for your thoughts chaps!

I see what you mean about the lack of plunger frames being used and there's obviously a reason? That said, like Charlie says, as a first time proper project bike the bantam might be a good idea after all, as a cheap option? Instead of cutting and welding maybe the plunger units could be locked out somehow? I'll keep looking either way, don't think the idea of a rigid is going to go away!

If you fancy a challenge and a (relatively) cheap route into the sport without being too bothered about your score, then a lightweight plunger would do it for you. Remember, a decent rider on a poor bike can still put up a reasonable performance - it just needs riding.

I'd be wary of altering a standard bike's suspension to ride in a different class though, that sort of thing is known to raise eyebrows, if not hackles, which is all rather unpleasant.

Edited May 15, 201511 yr by cleanorbust

If you fancy a challenge and a (relatively) cheap route into the sport without being too bothered about your score, then a lightweight plunger would do it for you. Remember, a decent rider on a poor bike can still put up a reasonable performance - it just needs riding.

I'd be wary of altering a standard bike's suspension to ride in a different class though, that sort of thing is known to raise eyebrows, if not hackles, which is all rather unpleasant.

So you are saying a plunger is a twinshock then ? 

Hi Guy's.

 

Do you know OTF , You are right. Wow. never thought of this before.

 

Bring Back Plunger frames, with, Rockshok conversions., or even Betor.

 

Regards Charlie.

I feel like I've opened a new can of worms!

On a serious note though (not that it matters either way to a future purchase), I'd always assumed that plungers were classed in with rigids? Is that the case? The more you actually think about it the more they are Twinshocks?!

Depends where you ride, but plungers have own class separate from rigid.

"So you are saying a plunger is a twinshock then ?"

No.

"So you are saying a plunger is a twinshock then ?"

No.

Well its not a rigid and it does have two shocks so why isnt it a twinshock ? 

Because it's a plunger, which as noted can have its own class.

Hi Guy's.

 

Well I probably won  one of the first awards riding a plunger framed James then, it was the best newcomer award for a novice riding the Banbury NOBAC trials in 1961-2.

 

This club went on to support me for most of my trials riding over the years, it is just a pity that it had to fold when the old membership could not find younger guys to take on there mantle.

 

Regards Charlie.

Hi Guy's

Deryk.

You are so true about the Monday morning thing.

 

On the James I described above, I would bolt back onto the bars the little spotlight that I used to be able to get back home after work on the bike, in the dark nights of winter.

This and the tiny rear light that never seemed to work? well it kept blowing the bulb? the lights were connected up to the direct lighting connection on the magneto, and this somehow sapped the power for the spark, so when the lights were plugged in,no switch just a push in connector the revs had to be kept well up, or the motor would die.

So the route home was interesting to say the least, there was no shutting off or the lights would dim and the engine cut out.

This gave me the bad  habit of taking the John Cooper racing position , around bends. well there is no way you could lean the bike in, it had to be kept upright.

I seemed to end up pushing the bike in the dark more than riding it home,and my dinner was almost always warming in the oven when i eventually got home.

Happy Days.

 

Regards Charlie.