nigel dabster Posted January 30, 2004 Report Share Posted January 30, 2004 How low? Small boys run as low as 1 round here. Try advancing ignition? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ridgrunr Posted January 31, 2004 Report Share Posted January 31, 2004 (edited) Man I fight this every year. The manufacturers are merciless. First meet of the season I see the guys who show up on the shiny new bikes, and I drool over them (the bikes!), oogling the lastest gimicks that are put on there so they can say the bike is "all new" and way better than brand X. Sometimes those gimmicks work (liquid cooling), sometimes they don't (upside down forks) but they have to change them or else we wouldn't think we were getting the newest latest technology,and they wouldn't sell bikes. I admit that there is usually something in the latest newest bike that will probably work better than the previous years model, but not always. One thing that I know is true about the sport of trials...unlike many motor sports, the bike makes up about 30% of the equation. The rider makes up the other 70%. How many times have you seen all the guys in a class who are riding the latest techno wizzo machines get totally hosed by some dude that shows up on a ten year old bike that looks like it just got dragged out of the chicken coop ten minutes before the meet? Dougie, on a Honda Trail 90, could outride me no matter what I was riding. I think most any of the modern bikes bikes (say past 1994-5) are plenty competitive for the average mortal at the club level. If your name is Dougie Lampkin you need a new bike every year. Of course the newer the bike, the easier it probably is to ride...up to a point, but there have been new bikes put out that simply didn't work as well as the previous years model. New isn't always better. If you trail ride a lot, the new micro capacity fuel tanks on the new bikes definately are not a plus. There are guys who will tell you a new bike every year is a must. One guys says he buys a new one every year so that he never has to do any maintenance or buy new tires. I think that's great, cause it allows them to take that first year depreciation hit so the rest of us can pick it up cheap a year or two later. But the key to all of them is maintenance. I have a 99 GAS GAS 321 that is just as tight and feels just as good as my buddies brand new 2004 GAS GAS 280 Pro. Same thing with my thirty year old TY250. I keep them maintained. They run great and they look good too. Yes his Pro is lighter, and has all the new gimmicks, but my 321 has been paid for for 5 years (he's had three bikes in that time, but I don't think he's had three times the fun. He's spent three times what I have for sure). And it hurts a whole lot less (ego wise any way) when I fall over (and you are going to fall over) than when he does. The first scratches are always the worst. I imagine I'll be getting a new bike in a few years, but that 321 is way better than I'll ever be. You asked, so there's my .02 cents worth. Edited January 31, 2004 by Ridgrunr Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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