jj65

I noticed on Saturday, after riding through deep dirty water in a section, that the front brake became almost useless and the lever was very spongy, until I pumped it a few times and used it a couple of times to clear the water from the pads. I have never noticed this on my previous bikes with Ajp brakes. Has anyone else noticed this? With Braktec setup (another mont 260 rider with the standard bike also commented on this).

From the man himself..... "I am very happy to be able to make the announcement that I will be part of the Repsol Honda Team one more season. Since I was 16 years old I have had a contract with Honda and with them I will compete my 20th year in the World Championship. It is for this reason that I am very proud of being able to continue with Honda. Renewing a contract at this day and time is very important to me and is, without a doubt one more reason that motivates me to compete. I am also very happy to hear that Toni Bou has been renewed; he is the team’s number one and a good friend. This is a great team, the best in the Championship." So why not ;0)

Saw one of these in the flesh on Sunday, it looked very nice and the owner (Andy) was very impressed with it. The welding on the exhaust header is superb and looks great.

A 2 stroke would go against Hondas corporate policy, made many years ago. (I would have thought you'd be more likely to see an electric bike before a 2t) a 2t engine would cost quite a lot with efi as it would only be used in a trials bike, where as a 4t taken from an other model (like the 4rt was) with a new top end and gear box would be cheaper.What I'd like to see from a new model would be: A separate oil filter access cover. A throttle body as standard (with a USB port and dongle with several different maps, for different standards of rider) Air filter acces like the sherco's. Loose a bit of weight without loosing the quality and strength (easy on a 4rt, as these parts are steel, exhaust system, fuel tank base, throttle body etc, mounting brackets and too many nuts and bolts used than are necessary) A factory HRC race kit for the experts I also would like to see Honda colours. (Like my old 4rt) But I think we'll have to wait atleast another year for something NEW.

I can't recall exactly where I read this (although I seem to remember it may of been a YouTube video from one of the Japanese links, Fuji was also in it and the HRC guy was riding an RTL and was then interviewed), but he did also mention that he didn't think the weight would be drastically lowered either (due to cost). We'll just have to wait and see.

Honda would not be putting that much cash into the team, apart from bike costs, most of the team would be funded by Repsol money. Honda aren't in it to make a profit, they are big enough to absorb the smallish cost of producing the engine and frame (most of the rest is of the shelf). Honda do exactly the same with there road bikes, unlike Many others. The 4rt is not everyone's cup of tea, but they still sell. There is definitely a new bike, as the boss of HRC indicated so, but suggested that the recession meant they considered it not a good time to put it into production yet. I would be surprised if we saw it in 2015, but as Fuji has just been signed for another year, it could be a good time for promoting in Japan as well as the rest of the world. With Toni Bou, Honda/Montesa are just about guaranteed 8 more world championships, unless a new star pops up to challenge him.

Next year is his 20th.

That got your attention :0) what colours do you think we'll get next year? I think it'll be white rear mudguard, white tank and white front mudguard (Honda colours) or white rear, red front and red tank (Montesa) black wheels, silver frame again. Repsol will be factory rep with the wings on silencer and airbox, What do you think? Could also be a Fuji special to celebrate 20 years in the WTC !!!

Get yourself some ti ones, I'm having a job to keep the front end down now :0)

Great news, all the best to Rick and Lawrence in their new venture.

Rider stops, observer counts...one thousand...two thousand...three thousand, rider is still stationary, 5. Simples.The whole point of this thread is to find if we can satisfy both stop allowed and no stop camps, but so far, it would appear not, worst still, so far it's had 350 views and only 35 votes (bit like the euro elections). The reason I suggested a time for stopping is because some will stop for a long time in the section, holding everyone up. The other point which is quite important as far as I concerned (whilst observing) is something that is easier to observe without the observer feeling either intimidated or obliged etc to give a clean or a lesser mark and also doesn't penalise the young and newbies. I have added "none of the above if you don't like any of them. Please vote if you are reading this thread, don't leave it up to others, have your say, as a poll speaks more than a thousand words.

Ok, let's stop going around in circles, each to their own, no one will be happy with whatever rules we have, but let's just see what you all would vote for if you had this as a choice (fun) So here's your choice: 1. No stop as it is. 2. Stop allowed as it is. 3. 1 to 5, one Mark for each of the following up to 5 in total, combing some of the current rules in no stop and stop allowed, i.e. stop 1 (a 5 after 3 seconds?), foot down 1, go backwards (slightly roll back) 1, lean any part of your body/bike (except tyres and sump) against an object 1, etc, etc, up to a total of 5. As a rider, I like no stop, as an observer I would go 1 to 5 every day (it would make my life so much easier) and as a spectator, I would also go 1 to 5 (it would still be spectacular, but the best ride would be a clean and the best rider would win. Please vote, but please don't turn it into an argument, there's enough threads like that already.

I would have thought you could use a gas gas/sherco spoke, as don't they use the same rim and hub. Why would it take more than a month for delivery, order the part and pay express delivery.

It must be soul destroying for all the other riders watching him.

Please don't take this the wrong way, but these are the issues that the CAA may have cause for concern. c) within 50 metres of any vessel, vehicle or structure which is not under the control of the person in charge of the aircraft; or d) subject to paragraphs (3) and (4), within 50 metres of any person.

Hi john, Your videos are great and give a new perspective to our sport, (I don't want to be a kill joy, just trying to make you aware as my brother has one and has been asked to film a trials event, financially it is prohibitively not worth it, due to the licensing and fees etc) but the person operating the DJi vision may want to check the CAA web site and EuroUSC before they continue using it. There has already been a prosecution by the CAA, costing the pilot over £4k in fines and costs. (Let's just say, YouTube and Vimeo could be used against you) the bbc did a feature about it today and the guy on there said the CAA are clamping down on illegal and unsafe use. I don't know if your are aware of the restrictions around people and property, the max height and using a camera on a drone etc. I'd hate to hear that they have got into trouble or anything and I hope you don't take offence to me contacting you about this. I did try to pm you, but you cannot recieve pm's. Here's a link, http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=1995&pageid=16012 Cheers Andy

St Blazeys Montesa are a alpinestar dealer, so should have some.

There £20 mate, I'll PM you details if you want one. I'm at work until late, but I'll put a pic up later.

The angle sensor is not a good emergency engine kill switch, the engine will run for quite a few seconds before shutting off. I've removed on all my bikes, use a lanyard kill switch. Whilst removing it, you can take the opportunity to get rid of a lot of weight and tidy that area up, get a future condenser from H&D and junk the massive Honda one. The future alloy fuel bases and carbon hose, alloy banjos are a good upgrade too. I use a T Miles alloy base for the rectifier as below. You can also see what I did with the bank sensor wires.

The main point in this discussion is consistency in marking, when I observe, I treat everyone the same, I may or may not observe slightly different to the observer on the next section, but what counts is that each observer treats everyone the same, with no favouritism. As Bigfoot has confirmed, the observer was consistent with all who rode his section, we can argue as much as we like, he was the man on the job and he observed it as a 3. We may all have our opinions, but there's no vote, the only decision is the observers on that section and he doesn't have to justify it to anyone. Observing is not easy, I enjoy it sometimes, but dread it other times, it can be confrontational sometimes, a thankless task other times, but mostly a joy, to watch people enjoying themselves, whilst putting something back into the sport. We can all have our opinions, but let's not turn this into a witch hunt, just think what might happen, if all the voluntary observers stay at home.........

The observers are the ones that have to decide, not the spectators, but I would have given a 5, unlike mr Dabil's effort, which was a superb clean. All the riders will have no doubt benefitted from a lucky call at some point, but that was a very generous one.

If the rules had been changed for Honda, then surely the minimum weight would be 76.5 kg. I do agree that the bikes should be production based with slight tuning etc allowed, whereas the indoor WTC could be less restrictive. It's a shame ktm don't make a trials bike, it would no doubt be very good (don't they build the engines for Beta 4t ?).

Anyone got any pics of Dougie's bike, just wondering if the engine is slightly different to the usual gas gas one ;0)

Doh, Oops, yes, I meant soap. The last time I had to do it was 2001 on a 315 rear brake.

I believe if you melt some candle wax on it and then heat it, you can heat it to a temp just until the wax turns black. I may be wrong, so hopefully someone else will advise otherwise, or confirm.