neils on wheels

Wat that Tommi's weight, or his bike's?

They've obviously got the response lined up for our area. I wonder if its a standard national response? Or more likely, a co-ordinated response from each party?

I have just received a letter from my MP (Stratford upon Avon) in response to me writing to ask for his support in opposing the Off Road Registration Bill. Now, I don't ever expect a politicial to use the words "yes i will" or "no I won't" in a letter but I think the tone of his response is positive. Below is a quote from his letter: "It does seem to me that, rather than introduce a costly and complicated new licensing regime, our first response to this problem ought to be to better enforce our existing laws. There are already a number of offences that can be used against people riding mini-motorbikes in an anti-social and dangerous way in public places" If you haven't already written to your MP, then why not do so now? The more we influence thinking like that described above, the better for the future of our sport.

J, I had a play with my 2002 Sherco a while back. I weigh about 65Kg and ride pretty easy stuff, so wanted it soft. I set the front & rear sag to around 70mm, on the rear this was just a case of winding the shock pre-load it's an 02 model so there is no damping adjustment), at the front I cut the plastic spacers from inside the forks down (I bought a bit of DIY plastic pipe first to experiement) to reduce the spring pre-load. I did mix oil (50/50 2.5wt & 5wt PJ1) to get an avergae 3.75wt fork oil, I went with the factory recommendation of 330cc per leg. It seems OK & for me softening the forks has helped the front end bite in turns. Hope this helps, Neil

I've seen a few photos of Stefan Everts on a trials bike & also some video of Jean Michele Bayle who had a Gas Gas, not surprisingly he looked pretty handy!

Jack, I won't be riding 'cos I'm in a bit of disarray having recently moved house. But I will be taking my turn at observing so keep your feet up! Neil

I used to own one. it was a 'Series 5' Flourescent orange tank, forks & hubs with white mudguards - the rear being a single seat unit that ran from the back of the tank. The engine is 156cc, essentially an evolution of the Fantic 200 engine. I think it was an '89 model but I owned it 2nd hand for a year or two so can't really stretch my memory that far back!

I have a policy called 'Protecta' for my unregistered bike, it's organised through J. Gill Insurance Brokers Lidget Lane Thurnscoe Near Rotherham South Yorkshire S63 0DA

Does anyone know what happened about Marc Frexia riding the Barcelona indoor? I'm sure I read he was an invited wildcard, yet his name has not appeared in the results.

I don't think Bou's bubble has burst but it does question the new 'no time to fix your bike' ruling. It would appear this has played a part in each of the 3 rounds so far with first Cabestany, then Rage & now Bou suffering.

Bou is ceratinly a special rider, particularly indoors. But the 4RT looks to have come on hugely indoors, the bikes looked awesome with Doug & Fuji riding them in Sheffield, remember Doug was leading Sheffield for 3/4 of the trial. What is impressive to me is how quickly Bou has adapted to the 4-stroke, particularly given his extreme riding style. But, to answer the question, yes he can be beaten. However, I do hope he wins the championship.

Wow! That's some depreciation for John Boy, no wonder them Rev 4's are expensive!

The Scorpa press release on todotrial says Frexia will be riding the 4 stroke. It also rather amusingly says "250 SY F counts on front bracket and cushioning Paioli buttock, system of escape centralized underneath the mudguard " mind you, my Spanish is not that hot!

We'll be visiting friends in Madrid the weekend of 17th/18th, so we're thinking of taking in (what should be) the final round. Ominously, I got in touch with the stadium who replied that the organisers have not yet told them when tickets can go on sale. Perhaps my wife & I will be going flamenco dancing after all!

Scraggydog, I ride a 200 Sherco, it is a few years old but smooth as silk. I'm only about 10 stone so it is never challenged. I have to say that I hold the bike back, not the other way around. Riding club trials it is pretty rare to feel the need for more power but in almost every section the easy nature of the bike is a real benefit. At the time I bought it the 125s were very revvy, whilst the 200 does have some torque. On top of the ego factor of having a bigger bike, I think people are wary of 200s because of the resale value. Now that youths have to ride 125s the 200s are arguably even more niche than they were before. I believe 125 development has come on leaps & bounds in the past couple of years as the youths have to ride them & there is a real market. I guess the issue here is the riding style you need to adopt as they still seem very revvy, but then again have you seen what Alexz Wigg & Ross Danby do on 125s? Not many of us are going to be riding to that level on any bike. I'd say go for a 200 by all means, but why not try a 125 in comparison before decide? (Thats what I plan to do when I can ride often enough to justify a new bike) Neil

When warming the engine try & get it into a high gear as soon as possible. You can either push off in neutral then quickly knock it up into 4th, or if you've got a stand to warm it up on you can get it in gear with the wheel spinning off the ground. I tend to find that again, by the time you've got up to 4th even with the wheel driving in mid air it will free the clutch up. I've adopted this practice on my current Sherco & my old Beta Techno & it seems to work, but I've never ridden often enough to always find a free clutch when I get on the bike.

It has been anounced that Fajardo is going to Beta. There has been no news about Frexia, so the default assumption would be that he is still on a Beta. I think thats it for the WTC, with Michael Bown riding Beta in the Junior Championship for Top Trial Team

I've just seen the rider list for the 2007 IWTC, no surprises but it looks like a Raga vs. Cabestany title fight doesn't it? Surely they are the only serious contenders with 3 guys on 4 strokes & 2 wild cards. I think this championship is getting less & less relevant

Irg, try this link to Hermitage Farm http://www.motorcycletrialing.co.uk/ It's near Cheadle so not far from Wolverhampton. I went there once when working near Derby, it wasn't bad,

The recent signing of Toni Bou to Honda has upset the applecart a bit and coupled with the fact that those Gas Gas financial rumours just will not go away, it seems Fajardo is off to replace him at Beta. Now Farjado is a good rider, but I can't see him breaking into the worlds top 5. Honda once again have 3 of the 5 top riders in the world, they have been powerful in previous years with the 2-strokes but the 4-stroke campaign has stepped it up a gear to the point where their budget probably exceeds the rest of the paddock's put together. Given that a trials rider's wage & the bike development is so small compared to funding an F1 & MotoGP effort, Honda just seem to be blowing the rest of the teams away. Gas Gas & Sherco now look like being one rider factory teams. Meanwhile Beta & Scorpa are either unwilling or unable to have a top 5 rider on their bikes. It would be fascinitaing to know what income Honda's WTC effort generates compared to the cost it consumes. I also have to think that trying to keep up with such a large & rich competitor has effected Gas Gas. I know this post isn't going to change one thing, but surely this cannot be a healthy situation can it?

Or perhaps Honda have signed him up to develop a nice lightweight 2stroke for the modern rider.... Mischief

I think divergence will be the name of the game, with world & national championships remaining or becoming more elitist, whilst 'big day out' single lap trials and multi day events experience growing entries. Raga's comments in the Hawkstone programme were interesting as they relate to spectator friendliness, i.e. shorter trials near to urban centres. Maybe not too surprising from a guy who thrives indoors but it could possibly widen the appeal. From a personal point of view I love the annual fix of seeing the world's best (or at least the backs of their several minders) at very close range - closer than in any other world class sport I can think of - and will always prefer the live atmosphere to TV. The other possibility is trials parks. A few more clubs are buying or securing access to land and more holiday places are spinging up, often at farm based venues. Another possible source of divergence could mirror that in mountain biking, with the play-riders (practicing & trick riding at private venues) becoming distinct from the marathon competitors for whom a day out in the hills is as much the attraction as the sections.

Must have been cold enough to wake him up as he didn't do too badly afterwards!! Must try it myself at the weekend :-)

Does anybody have any details or experience of travelling to the Andorra roud of the world championship? I note that last year the trial was based in Sant Julia de Loria, whilst this year it is listed as La Rabassa, which I believe is just a few Km away. I'd be keen to know where is the best place to be based & what is the best airport to fly into. Many thanks

Well, you could always enter a TDN team for 1st October in France and prove it!