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I bet everyone has had an initial scare, we just all get over it. You probably won't be able to do it again as self preservation takes over, practice practice practice is the way forward especially if you can do it with someone with more experiance than you. 

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Yep perfectly normal.

My first attempt on a trials bike (after plenty of years riding other bikes) I went to change gears and not used to removing my foot from the peg to change gear I some how managed to go over the handle bars... still not sure how it happened but it was in the parking lot at the dealer so was more than a little embarrassing. I find that falling off is great learning but best done on soft ground watch any trials event and you will see experts falling all over the place... the fact that you didn't fall off was probably the scarier part, I find rolling around on the ground is often less stressful than staying on the bike. On soft ground letting your bike go will do it very little harm and often the best option after a while you will get a better feel for things and will fall off less and then start trying harder stuff which will lead to falling off more - All good fun :)

 

 

Edited by michael_t
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Ha, ha, was going to post about double-blip myself (you may have heard of it, or will do in due course) ; I'm just soooooo tentative about the throttle I'm finding i'm not giving it enough on the second blip, so struggling to get over anything much more than a foot high!

Yeah, that is my No. 1 issue; getting confidence with the throttle. I'm OK doing simple stuff and where I've found it best to learn is going up moderate short slopes; if you don't use enough throttle, failure is reasonably safe. You just have to keep adding a bit and a bit, taking it real steady. I'm an older newcomer to trials, so throwing myself at obstacles and beating myself up is not an option!

The bottom line though, is that 1st gear is like having a stick of dynamite under your right wrist! So I'm often in 2nd to tame things a bit; just starting to use 1st a little more. If you want to pop the front wheel, never use the clutch, just leave that engaged and learn to use the suspension as an assist.

As someone has said, it is about practice, practice, practice, I suppose in some ways it's like learning a musical instrument, timing, finger movements, coordination...

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Make sure your carb is adjusted to very smooth running at Idle and just off of Idle,if the setting is off and the motor blubbers or stumbles  it will aggressively respond once the throttle is opened up father and the next metering component of the carb comes into play. That said it is also important to think of your clutch lever as a second “throttle” twist grip sets the power level,clutch lever feeds it to back tire.

 

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5 hours ago, htrdoug said:

Make sure your carb is adjusted to very smooth running at Idle and just off of Idle,if the setting is off and the motor blubbers or stumbles  it will aggressively respond once the throttle is opened up father and the next metering component of the carb comes into play. That said it is also important to think of your clutch lever as a second “throttle” twist grip sets the power level,clutch lever feeds it to back tire.

 

Having now ridden the bike a few times I would say this is totally the situation. With my clutch lever around bite point when moving slowly if I blip the throttle it really jumps at me.

How do I adjust or set this up ?

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38 minutes ago, Stevew250 said:

Having now ridden the bike a few times I would say this is totally the situation. With my clutch lever around bite point when moving slowly if I blip the throttle it really jumps at me.

How do I adjust or set this up ?

I think this is what a trials bike is supposed to do?  The missus has taken over my old Rev 3 and so I bought a TRS.  The first time i tried a wheelie I went over the back.  That's why they have a lanyard kill switch.  It has taken me a couple of months to learn to control the thing but dropping the clutch will lift the front wheel with virtually no throttle at all.  A double blip will launch you skywards and it is essential to shut the throttle down as soon as the rear tyre has done it's job, or better still pull the clutch in.

It takes a while to get used to it but you are on a machine designed to jump up a two meter vertical obstacle.  I am sure I will never do that but the bike can.  people keep saying to me about all the modifications that remove the power like low compression heads but honestly if you don't want the performance why buy the bike?  There are plenty of 125cc machines around.

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2 hours ago, ChrisCH said:

I think this is what a trials bike is supposed to do?  The missus has taken over my old Rev 3 and so I bought a TRS.  The first time i tried a wheelie I went over the back.  That's why they have a lanyard kill switch.  It has taken me a couple of months to learn to control the thing but dropping the clutch will lift the front wheel with virtually no throttle at all.  A double blip will launch you skywards and it is essential to shut the throttle down as soon as the rear tyre has done it's job, or better still pull the clutch in.

It takes a while to get used to it but you are on a machine designed to jump up a two meter vertical obstacle.  I am sure I will never do that but the bike can.  people keep saying to me about all the modifications that remove the power like low compression heads but honestly if you don't want the performance why buy the bike?  There are plenty of 125cc machines around.

It's not about not wanting the performance it's about learning and understanding all aspects of the bike, how it rides and how it works. 

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The clutch transfers power from the engine to the gearbox.  The point of bite is where friction is adequate to transfer that power.  if you rev the engine at or near that point you change the dynamics of the clutch and the friction.  So - if I understood your post correctly - the increased power, the "blip", moves the bike forward even though you have not fully disengaged the clutch? This is because the additional power creates more friction and the engine power is transferred to the gearbox.  My riding skills are not good enough but I understand this is the basis of the manoeuvre called the splat?  You add power while slipping the clutch before a final "dump" of the remaining power.  I think that's how it works anyway. 

The clutch is a major part of trials riding and coordinating it with the throttle allows you to do stuff that is not otherwise possible.  I've ridden road bikes for years and trail bikes for years but this stuff is like learning to ride all over again.  Honestly I don't understand why so many people recommend modifying a bike to overcome lack of control skills.  Surely that just makes a person skilled at riding a modified bike?  Maybe I'm wrong but that's how I see it at this point in time.  So I fall off a bit and make a fool of myself now and then but hey so what - nothing new for me :)

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Sorry, I may have mis-explained about my use of the clutch.

Yeah, I do use the clutch when I'm riding slooooooooow, like a lot of the time; when practicing slow turns and so on. It's the dropping/popping the clutch, like you would do on a road bike, to wheelie that is not necessary. I guess ( ? ) that it does become necessary eventually, when doing the BIG obstacles, like for a Zap, as I understand it. I'm so far away from that level that I don't even want to think about it! :)

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I'm aware of clutch operation .. 15 years of motor trade and Motorsport (rallying). 

I have no desire to turn the performance down, however if it is possible to make it more manageable whilst I initially learn ... Remember I have never ridden a bike before ... Then I'm happy people are willing to give advice and I can choose what avenue to go down. 

As my initial post mentioned ... It scared me ... Having now been out a few times and having listened to the commenters I realised I wasn't the only person with that fear and I'm now able to roll around over banks etc with a sense of what I'm actually doing.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi Steve. Lean forward, use the clutch and get used to the power. Try some launches just get used to it. I've ridden fast road bikes all my life and my Beta 250 still catches me out because the bike weighs the same as me! Practice small throttle control. Ween yourself onto the power. Hope this helps. Giles

Also, try letting off the clutch after you dump the power to feed it in more slowly until you get used to it.

Edited by Giles Latchford
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On 6/18/2019 at 12:23 AM, Stevew250 said:

Having now ridden the bike a few times I would say this is totally the situation. With my clutch lever around bite point when moving slowly if I blip the throttle it really jumps at me.

How do I adjust or set this up ?

If the clutch is near the bite point and a little blip makes it jump you might also consider changing the type of transmission oil to something a little thicker to get a more progressive clutch action.  

I know a lot of Gas Gas owners that use very thin oil like ATF, GRO, or another thin oil.  On the thinner side I like Maxima MTL 75 witch seems to be more progressive over the ATF but still quick overall, however the Maxima 80 or 85's can slow the clutch action down a bit more however will feel more fluid drag when cold so be aware.  

Not sure this is helpful but hope so.  

Good luck and keep at it!

Edited by jonnyc21
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