jonabonospen

I have been looking for the Ryan Young DVD but nowhere seems to have it in stock. I even phoned MotoMerlin and asked them about it but they said they had no stock for a at least 3-4 weeks. Have been watching some trials technique videos on the trialstrainingcenter.com website and they seemed quite good. What I am unable to find at the moment though is the very basics for starting out like riding technique and style, foot positioning, gearing etc. What I am thinking in my head at the moment is to try practising balancing on the bike at a standstill without the engine running in the garage for a bit of time each night, then in a week or two once I have a rack sorted out go to the Swaine Woods and just have a steady ride around to feel comfortable with the bike. Then moving on from that to trying some slow figure 8's then on to going up and down steady slopes. Then after that I suppose it would be to move on to trying to ride over small rocks and logs and tackling some steeper hills up and down. Does that sound sensible?

I am just starting out riding trials after years of road riding and have joined Horsforth club so I can practice in Swaine Woods. What I want to know though is what are the first things and steps I should take when learning how to ride and control the bike? Should I just ride around gently at first? Then on to uphills or downhills? Lifting front wheel? etc etc. I just dont want to run before I can walk but also dont want to pick up bad habits very early on. Hopefully someone at the club will let me ride with them from time to time and impart some of their wisdom on me but for now I just want to get started.

Just about to get my first trials bike, a 2006 Beta 250 Rev3, and it is the first ever 2 stroke bike I will have owned. I assume I need to mix the 2 stroke oil and petrol myself first, but to what ratio / measurement? Also, if you are going tiding for the day then how much fuel do you tend to go through roughly? (just thinking of what size petrol / jerry can I am best getting).

Well the JTR has gone to a new home now. Just had an offer last night of a 2006 Beta 250 Rev3 in exchange for one of my road bikes and that seems like a really good bike for me to get after what some of you good peeps have said. Will see if it actually happens and a swap takes place.

I just bought my first trials bike last week, a 1996 Gas Gas JTR 270, but once I got it home I realised it needed some work doing on it. When I started to try find parts though I found to my amazement that some parts for the bike are no longer available to buy from Gas Gas, like the hoses for example. So I have decided to sell the bike and it should be going tomorrow. What I want to know is what are peoples recommendations for what models and years to go for when looking for a new bike? Sherco? Gas Gas? Beta? Scorpa? I want to keep budgets down and reasonable as I am sure I will be dropping the bike a bit to start with and dont want to be dropping and breaking a bike that I have just spent thousands on, but then again on the same line of dropping it a lot, I do still want to be able to buy replacement parts for it if I drop it and not find like with this JTR that some parts arent easily available. Ideal maximum budget would be around

Just bought a 1996 JTR 270 and have some questions to ask. The seller advertised it as a TXT 270 but when I look at the paperwork he has for it there is a letter from Gas Gas saying that the frame number indicates it is a JTR 270. What is the difference between the JTR and TXT models and how will I know for sure which one the bike is (I assume it is a JTR model as Gas Gas have said that it is)? I have had the bike running and it has a couple of issue that need fixing but I cant seem to find anywhere that lists parts, nor do I know how to fix one of the problems: 1) The exhaust manifold to engine connection has a leaking gasket and you can see the current gasket looking like it is bubbling, like it was more like mastic in there rather than a proper gasket. Cant seem to find anywhere though where an exhaust gasket is listed as a spare part for sale. Anyone able to give me some advice on the problem and point me in the right direction for a replacement part? 2) There is water coming out of the radiator overflow pipe and then evaporating off on the warm engine. Not just the odd drip but a slow steady flow, and the fan isn't coming on (I turned the engine off though after a while once I saw the water kept coming out of the overflow). My uneducated guess would be that the fan is not engaging when it should be, and then the water not cooling and it is boiling over and escaping out the overflow. Any thoughts / suggestions? 3) Had the biking ticking over alright once warmed up, but then after a few minutes it would just die and cut out. Could this be connected to the above? Does the bike have a cutoff of some sort if it is just getting too hot? Here is a picture of the bike:

Yeah I realised after I had posted it that my original comments then turned in to a clothing question and perhaps it should be in another section of the forum. Sorry mods.

Thanks for the advice guys. Definately going to make sure I have some good boots. Just dont want to go down the full biking clobber yet though as I want to make sure I like it first off. Plus I dont fancy the skin tight stuff as I am a bit of a chunky monkey and think I would make people feel violently ill if they saw me in that sort of clobber.

I have managed to sell one of my road bikes this week so took the plunge and bought myself my first trials bike tonight . I have bought a 1996 Gas Gas TXT 270 for a bargain price. I was looking at spending a bit more and getting a 2000/2001 bike potentially but I saw this come up for sale toady and it seemed too good of an offer to let pass, and comes with a trailer too Can anyone tell me much about the model? The next thing now on my hit-list is to get myself kitted out with clothing. I know I need some decent trials boots and a trials helmet, but other than those two items what else do I NEED? For now I just want to go ride the bike at a club practice ground or somewhere and get used to the bike and stuff and just have some fun on it to get used to it, so what do people recommend I wear? Combats and a warm jacket together with proper boots and a helmet?

Cheers for all the advice guys. Am going to just go to the Spen trial today as time is a little limited. My nephew isnt coming with me now but my mate and his little dog will be with me instead so if you see us walking around then feel free to say hello. I will be wearing a high viz coat and rigger boots, and like I say, walking around with another guy and his little dog.

What time do these go on until?

Cheers guys. Think I will probably do the Spen Valley one from what you have said. Maybe see you there.

I am looking to maybe have a go at trials riding and was pointed in the direction of the Spen Valley trial and the Horsforth trial both on this Sunday (30th) to go have a watch of what it is like. Been on both club websites to find details but it doesn't say anything about start times or anything. As a spectator what time is best to turn up? I dont want to turn up early and be stood around waiting while things are set up or whatever as I will have my little nephew with me and he will be getting restless just waiting and not watching bikes. So when is best to turn up? Also which do people think would be better for a total novice to go watch, Horsforth or Spen Valley? I understand the Horsforth one is a Beginner and Novice trial which I thought would give me a good idea of the things I could potentially be attacking early on, but dont know what the Spen Valley trial is in terms of novice or difficult etc. Spen Valley is closest but want to try see something relevant to what I could be doing.

I did my Direct Access at the age of 26 and it was the best thing I ever did. Went from having never ridden a bike before to within 2 weeks riding around on my own ZXR750. If you are over 21 then do the Direct Access. As long as you are sensible enough to be steady with your right hand then you will be fine. If you just do the normal test though and have the 33bhp restricted licence for two years then you will get fed up of the lack of power way before the 2 years is up and then it will seem like a grind.

Thanks very much for the offer jsp but first off I need to make some space in the garage and sell one or two of my road bikes in order to free up some funds and make the space. What the bikes sell for will determine the budget I have, although I think it will be somewhere on the cheaper end just until I see if I take to it or not, somewhere between

Looking at giving trials a try and got loads of questions to ask so thought I would try put them all in one post if I can: ABOUT ME: I am 29 years old, am a chunky chappy at around 18 stone (I'm just too short for my weight - 5'10"), and have been riding road bikes for about 4 years, currently riding a 1995 ZXR750 and a 53 plate Honda CBR1100-XX Super Blackbird What sort of bike should I be looking for? 250cc? bigger due to my size? Should I look for a road legal bike or does it not really matter, just personal preference? Where do people recommend I could ride and practice around Wakefield / Morley in West Yorkshire? Think thats the most important questions I can think of for now. Sure there will be plenty more to come though.

Hello there boys and girls. I'm Jon. I am 29 years old and I live in Wakefield in West Yorkshire. I currently ride on the road and have been doing so for about 4 years now. Currently I own a 53 plate Honda Blackbird and two Kawasaki ZXR750-L bikes. Due to some financial commitments I have to fulfil (bloody taxman), and also due to wanting a new challange and to learn some new skills, I want to sell my two ZXR's and then buy myself a trials bike and give it a bash. Being honest I couldnt decide what sort of off-road riding I would like to try, but I think trials is the one for me for now. It seems to be the safest of the different off-road disciplines, probably the cheapest, and also maybe the best for someone with no off-road experience. I did like the look of the trail riding / hare & hounds stuff but think that the skills learnt in trials would be pretty essential to tackle hare & hounds riding. The other benefit to the trials riding is that there is a place pretty close to me in Birstall (sure plenty of you know it) so it would be really local for me to get too and from. Have got loads of questions buzzing around in my head about it all so will start posting them up