earthmover

And whilst you've got the radiator off all the wiring is easier to pull down and check for any signs of cracked insulation, or rubbed spots which will short out and leave you stranded after two laps at the furthest point from your car. Mark

Today I found that the secure lock-up where I keep the bikes that won't fit in my garage, isn't. Sometime over the weekend, my girlfriend's 125 Sherco, and my Honda CRF250x, were stolen. The thieves destroyed a steel security door, and tried to cut the lock off the gate, eventually making their escape by cutting a section of chainlink fence when the lock defeated them. This was from Cuddington, Cheshire, a couple of miles from my house. The Sherco is an '05, and has a few distinguishing features, most obvious being a Kehin carb. The Honda is an '04, registration PN04 PZJ, with a full lighting kit and 40mm bar risers. Any info most gratefully recieved. Mark

Are you looking to get an MOT certificate, or a road legal bike? The two aren't necessarily the same. You don't need a speedo to get an MOT, you do need one to be legal on the road. Daft isn't it? Best bet is to find out (via word of mouth from your local club, not t'interweb) a local tester who is sympathetic to the needs of trials bikes, and take it there. I had my Rev 3 tested for the last two years with the intention of riding on the road to some local lanes. The second time I took it I didn't even need to get it out of the trailer! Since then I have found what everyone else already knew, trials bikes are sh*te on the road. Mark

Didn't know whether to start a new thread, as this one seems to have sparked off some "interesting" replies, but decided to finish this one off instead. Andy.T & handsome_al; Yes I have been warned about the ethanol effect, both by Oxboy when I bought it from him, and from others. I have used it every weekend since I bought it with no ill effects, but I do drain the tank on Sunday night. I take the fuel pipe off the carb, slide a short length of larger diameter pipe over it which I lead back into my petrol can, then lean the bike over onto its left side with a tie down from my garage wall. The top yoke mod was suggested by Ian when I was chatting to him, he showed me what he had done to his bike, I thought I'd give it a try. I like what you've done with the old bolt holes handsome_al, I might just copy that. I rode it in a trial yesterday, Aqueduct Classics at Llandegla Moor. Dropped 17 marks on the clubman route, which was about mid-pack. Very, very pleased with the way the bike performed, and think that some of those marks can be shaved off once I get more used to it's characteristics. I can't believe how tight it can turn, and finds grip (sometimes too much!) where I didn't expect any. There was quite a lot of interest in the bike too, as there don't seem to be that many in our neck of the woods. Can't wait for the next trial now! Cheers Mark

Had an email asking about this, so to reiterate, the bike wasn't one that Ian had built for sale, it was one that someone else had asked him to put on his stand. I'm sorry if I've given a wrong impression, Ian has been more than helpful, and the problems with the bike were nothing at all to do with him. Cheers Mark

I went to the Telford show with the intention of buying a Twinshock trials bike, after extensive canvassing of our local Classics club members opinions. Two hours into the show, my wallet is lighter, and I'm the proud owner of this: The bike was on Ian Pebery's stand, but wasn't one of his. The owner was at the show later that morning, and filled me in on a couple of little things that needed doing. I'd already spotted a couple of my own, but was confident these could easily be rectified. Everyone I knew at the show commented on the purchase, so much so that I started to panic that I'd bought a Lemon! With Ian's help we put the bike in the back of my car, and I left just before the snow screwed all the roads up! Later that evening, after checking the oil (none! ) and sticking a drop of fuel in, I started her up. Engine works, clutch works, gears work, brakes work. Job's a good 'un. Then, things start to go a little downhill........ The second time I started her up, my slipper (?) slipped off the lever, and it kicked back, cracking the casing. This turned out to be a very poor welded repair, liberally covered with filler. Happily, I was right, the problems were (fairly) easily rectified. Again, thanks to the great information resource that is Trials Central, knowledgable friends, and helpful and enthusiastic dealers. First I fitted a new folding tip gear lever, and a gear change shaft repair kit. There was no o-ring in the old one, and one stripped bolt hole. A tab washer was needed on the gearbox sprocket. The fuel tap and the carb were stripped and cleaned, and an in-line filter added. A sidestand was added, and the Betor shock springs changed to 40lb ones. Ian provided me with a replacement clutch casing (the old one has now been properly welded as a spare). I've extended the upright part of the brake pedal upwards, and added a "stop" rather than allow the pedal to rattle against the bottom of the clutch case. The kickstart shaft has been replaced, and a blob of weld on the kickstart knucle has put the lever perpendicular to the ground again. The forks required the most work. The sliders are quite badly pitted, both above and below the seals, and I'm not sure these forks have ever seen a service! The top caps were very tight, but had no spanner marks on them. The springs and spacers were rusty, the oil was milky sludge, but worst of all, the right wouldn't go down the last two inches of travel, and jammed if tried. The slider would go all the way down in the left leg, so it wasn't that, but looking down the bore of the right leg showed nothing obvious. Working on the "what's the worst that could happen?" theory, we honed the bottom of the leg with emery tape wrapped round a dowel in an electric drill until the slider went all the way. Both of the sliders were then degreased, the pitted areas gently cleaned with a brass brush on a Dremel, then filled with Areldite. 24 hrs later I carefully rubbed them down and then polished them smooth. A thourough clean of all the internals, new seals, and 130ml of 10w oil and we have full travel, and about the best action I think we'll get with stock springs. I'll ride it like this for a while and see what happens. I bought an old top yoke off flea-bay, and had the original handlebar mounts machined off, so I could move the bars forward. This has only had a brief test ride at the moment, but seems to help greatly in keeping the front wheel down! The billet ones look great, but I can't justify spending that much just yet. I'm really looking forward to getting a few trials under it's belt now! Cheers Mark

Just to wrap this one up, new kickstart shaft arrived today, excellent service from TY Trials. Fitted it this evening, job sorted! For anyone who is still unsure, go to TY Trials website, follow the links through TY175 parts to the diagram of the kickstart mechanism. If you look at the drawing of the shaft, at the opposite end to the splines there is a cast piece loosely resembling a number 6. This is the piece that should be fixed on the shaft, when it doesn't, we get the syptoms described in the first post. And just in case anyone thinks, as I did, that you can do it without dropping the oil by laying the bike on its side, then have plenty of rags handy. There is now a large stain on my garage floor as testament to the error of my ways. Cheers Mark

Thank you majesty320, that is the confirmation I was looking for, previous comments make much more sense now! Have ordered a new one this morning, and will see if I can renovate the old one as a spare. Cheers Mark

Hi Nelly, Noticed you didn't live too far away, figured I'd see you at a Frodsham trial at some point! Cheers Mark

Hi folks, Been scouring this section ever since I aquired a Whitehawk framed TY 175 a couple of weeks ago. There have been a few issues with it, which I have sorted with help both from here and friends (Hi Johnny!) One of the main bugbears is the kickstart, not staying where I put it. Now I have an idea of what it is, from comments on here, but would like some knowledgeable person or persons to confirm it. Occasionaly after starting the bike, the kickstart returns to a place higher than it was. I first thought this was worn splines on the actual lever knuckle, but have just confirmed that it isn't. If I tap the kickstart lever forward gently, it will go forward, as if the "stop", doesn't? Your thoughts gentlemen, please. Cheers Mark

When putting the side casing back on, put the top off a felt pen or similar over the gearshift splines to ease the seal over them. Mark

And it helped me no end too, as I'm currently looking at a set of forks on mine that may be completely FUBAR. Thanks for all the constructive replies to a question that I may have wanted to ask after Sunday! Mark

Hi Owen, Just curious as to what particular reason you're thinking of ging this route. As a recent TY owner, I'm looking long and hard at the forks myself. How far have you got with the orignals? Cheers Mark

The other side of the coin........ I started competing in Trials in January 2010 on a second hand Beta Rev 3, after many years of MX and Enduro. I did a year in Adult Beginner, and moved into Novice in January. I consider it a good day if I remain in double figures at a modern event. A good friend of mine bought a Twinshock, and started entering Classic events, at which there is a "non-award" section for modern Mono's, and invited me along for the craic. I am under no illusion that my low scores in these events is down to anything other than my being on a modern bike. The organisers are very friendly, the events are well run and well attended, and I enjoy watching the older bikes being used as they were intended. I have ridden in five of their events this year, and look forward to the next. I'm even considering getting a twinshock myself now, but would I have taken that step had I not tried the events? Perhaps the ones who are complaining are those that moan about everything anyway? If riders are trophy hunting on modern bikes, then who are they trying to kid? Only themselves. The sections are, IMHO, what determine the trial. If a club needs more entrants to be viable, then denying someone because of what they ride would seem suicidal. Mark

Just trawling through old posts and spotted this. My G/F has a 125 Sherco, which we got "cheap" off fleabay. I have been going through it repairing/replacing bits where necessary, and had the exhaust system off the other day. I left it leant against the wall in my garage overnight, and found a pool of sticky black gunk had run out! Might be worth a try, just make sure you have something to catch the gunk in though, not the best thing to tread through the house, DAMHIK. Mark

I use Rock synthesis 2 stroke oil, mixed at a ratio of 1.5% oil to petrol (that's 15 ml of oil to 1000 ml) which is roughly 70/1 in old money. I mix up 5 litres at a time and that will last my Beta 250 and my g/f's Sherco 125 for a trial and a bit. HTH Mark

Didn't think you could resist for long mate! Mark

Hi Dodge, Good call, could well have been the case. I have now stripped all of the paint off, Nitromors will remove it if it has an "edge" to work from. The outside of the rim appears as if it had been sand blasted before painting! It looks a little odd at first, but once it's covered in mud it blends in perfectly! Mark

Hi Johnny, that was some mud! Chewy, my first thought too, but this is paint that has been on from new, the metal underneath is pristine in every way! The only clue is in the "sand" colour, but as suggested, fuel range would be prohibitive, and what could they carry? Mark

Has anyone heard of Trials bikes being used by the military at some point? (anyones, not just ours) I recently picked up a rear wheel off fleabay which has been painted in what is best described a "sand" colour. This has been done by dipping the entire assembly, not applied by brush or spray. When removed, the metal underneath is as new. It's a Beta/Sherco/GasGas type hub, with stainless spokes and a gold coloured alloy tubeless rim. Just wondering, that's all. Mark

Just remembered that I didn't come back to this, so if anyone was wondering: The jetting is 45 pilot, 122 main, JJH needle on the middle notch. After a few more runs with known fuel (Rock Synthesis 2 at 1.5%) shes a lot crisper. My g/f rides around at very low throttle, so have had to teach her to blip it to keep it sweet, whereas with me riding its absolutely fine. Mark

Cheers for that Neo, wrote down what jets are in mine, but the note is in my (centrally heated) garage next to the bike! Will compare this evening when I get home. Ta Mark

Hi folks, Recently picked up an 05 125 Sherco with a kehin carb on it for my girlfriend (she can't kickstart my 250 rev3). Bike starts ok, but fluffs badly off idle. I've removed the carb, cleaned it thouroughly, altered the float tab to stop it pouring fuel out and refitted it (which was a pain). Plug looks reasonable, but with this cold weather I didn't want to mess with the jetting blindly if some other kind soul already had the perfect set up. Cheeky I know, but you never know until you ask. Ta Mark

So I'm guessing that you were the one riding in the MX helmet on Sunday then? How did you get on? Mark

Have you routed the throttle cable correctly? Did you tighten the elbow on top of the carb? Is the cable seated in the elbow properly? HTH Mark