2stroke4stroke

I wouldn't worry too much, it is Spain we're talking about after all. It was the same when I was waiting for an Ossa in 1974. Manjana rules!

Apex, I've been trying to PM you without success - could you please PM me?

I remember that well. It was the first time I observed at the Scottish but I struck lucky that day as I drove the back marker's car up for him and so avoided the worst effects of the snow.

That's because it is "Beeta". You'll be telling me next you didn't know the ancient Greeks had trials bikes

Do I foresee a Wobblers time and observation event Allan? It's been forty years since we had one in Scotland as far as I can recall.

I suspect you've got access to good chemical stuff we can't get nowadays. The best degreaser spray I ever had was of South African manufacture, Spanjaard if i recall, but I'm sure it would kill small mammals if they got a breath of it.

You really are a glutton for punishment Allan. Or are you just trying to mask your considerable riding ability.

Unless the dish is so far out that you are having to put the wheel in squint to avoid the tyre rubbing the swingarm then the offset is not the problem. Trials bikes, unlike road bikes, are not necessarily designed to have the wheels running on a common centreline. No matter what the offset the wheels would run parallel when so set. That said, build quality being what it is, it can be necessary to have differing "clicks" but usually only by one or two. If you sight along the chain then you can tell when the sprockets are in line which should mean the wheels are in line, but not necessarily. For trials I'd say the chain alignment is more important than a small difference in wheel alignment (how often do you have the wheels in line in a section?). You may need to find a compromise position between chain and wheel alignment.

I don't know what your chances of finding one would be but the silencer to have for solo work was definitely the Birkett one.

I've done a few as well and, despite all this stuff about heating the casings and watching the bearings fall out with a tap on the bench, nobody I know has not had to resort to a reasonable hammer. I'll believe it when i see it - maybe there's a video somewhere?

I would be very surprised if your bike had not originally been registered as most people still required a bike to be road usable then as all the good trials still used roadwork. Worth a try at DVLA with the frame number perhaps?

When I was at the Scottish this year I was talking with a chap who goes under the name of TLR Transformatitons and he uses a plastic tank by Acerbis which is designed to be used under a dummy tank. Might be worth googling or contacting him. The alloy ones were notorious for leaking at the rear seam so better to avoid if you can.

Bit of over emphasis on his past I thought - 3 trials pictures in the report. Has the Mail ever had one trials picture in its sports pages?

No big problem I suppose as it's easily put back to standard but, once you get in to some proper sections you'll find it grossly overgeared. Remember one tooth on the front is approximately equal to four on the back. Even adapting for the SSDT Lampkins only suggest a one tooth increase and really that's only due to the relatively straightforward sections allowing the change to ease the roadwork a bit.

No matter what you do cable manufacturer wise you won't be producing any "stoppie" pictures from your TY The brakes seemed good in the day compared to the anti-lock Spanish stuff but there's a design flaw in the front brake, namely that daft bend at the mudguard stay - you can see and feel it flex. If you can design that out then you'll be doing something useful.

42 is standard on the 200, don't change it - my 200 came with a 41 courtesy of the previous owner and a 42 made all the difference in rideability. I expect you'll find the final drive sprocket is standard too. Don't worry, you'll find plenty of occasions to use bottom as it is and it's as fast as anything over the hill in the upper gears. You have another 5 higher gears to choose from so there's no point in raising the gearing. I have used fifth in sections on my 200 before now, it's a very flexible motor. It's down to individual style - I know someone who "always" uses second but he's kept the standard gearing because thirty years of experience tells him a lower gear comes in handy.

If I'd the gear I would have done.

Someone recently lent me a screwdriver at a trial but there wasn't really the chance to engage in conversation about where he got it - it was a 5mm Allen key with a screwdriver blade on the long end - a most useful thing to carry. I can't see anything like it on the net but does anyone know where these can be obtained? It didn't look home made, being chrome plated.

It's been chucked in by one of your mates to wind you up.

Thanks for the enquiry Dan. I had intended to give an update to all who offered the helpful replies but have not yet been able to get to the bike – should do so this weekend. Of the suggestions made I’m inclined towards the HT lead answer as the plugs don’t appear to be fouled and the bike runs perfectly up to a certain point in the rev range. And I’m not that tight - previously used (not worn out) plugs were employed as that was what I had in the toolbox having just used up the new ones on my twinshock. Will report later.

I wonder if anyone else has experienced this one and knows the cure. Bike is a 2003 200 which has run perfectly all its days. I took it to a trial three months ago and it started and ran fine on putting about but when I tried to rev it it developed a really bad misfire. This both in neutral and under load. After draining the carb in case of water in the petrol I put in an old plug and this immediately sorted it and it ran fine all day. I put it down to some reason caused by the lack of use. It hadn’t been used since until this Saturday when the same thing happened. The plug which had been fine last time out had to be changed to get rid of the misfire and the bike ran fine all day thereafter on a worn plug. Come day two of the trial and same again, the perfect yesterday plug had to be changed. After checking the Woodruff key, I tried two or three plugs with no effect and had to scrounge a new one, which still had a slight misfire but that disappeared after about a minute. Bike ran fine so, in order to try a “hot” experiment, I put yesterday’s plug back in after the first lap which reintroduced the bad misfire. Put the new one lap old plug back in and a slight misfire occurred but disappeared after about half a minute and the thing then did two long laps absolutely fine. I had wondered about coolant getting in to the combustion chamber (there is avery slight loss of coolant) but it had a new head gasket and pump seal a couple of trials before all this started. Any ideas?

Does anyone have the correct sprocket sizes for the TL 125? Thanks.

I wouldn't personally, but GG UK should be able to give you the clearances so you can measure things and decide. But you'll probably get away with quite bit more wear than the theoretical max.

I can just see now the disagreements over measurement of time stopped. Personally I wouldn't want to be **sed with having to time things of that duration as well as observing the rest of it. But an interesting idea. I always feel that the simpler something is the easier it is to enforce.

You can get 2 in the old Berlingo van which is shorter than the new one.