tricky dicky

A mate of mine has bought one and has restored it a bit and got most of the bits from Steve Goode m/c's. Definitely worth a shot cos it does ride well now!

I would recommend the s3 hardrock pegs and they are as stated about

Its the map for the ignition. I think blue is quick and green is slow but i'm not 100%, i'm sure I will be corrected if i'm wrong!

Ive seen one in the flesh in bits and had a look at how its built and it looks very well built. In regard to filling the bike up with fuel there is an experiment being carried out to fit a hebo auxilary fuel tank and add a longer pipe to attach to the breather. This should eliminate how hard it is to fill up. I am really impressed that it takes 30 seconds max to change the filter! Thats my kind of bike! The bike does as stated above come with a spacer for the dellorto and actually fits the keihin better. I dont see why people are so negative about this bike. It looks so much better in the flesh than on pictures. At least it wont get as much crap in the airbox as the gasgas!

Me and my old man are in. Gutted that my younger brother hasn't got in though cos he really enjoyed it last year even though the rivers were at their worst! At least it should seem like an easy run round this year after having to carry the bike over numerous rivers last year!

Chloe is Shirty Jnr's Mrs. She was the one in the black Trial&Enduro direct suit. Shes been holding the boards up for a few years now. I enjoyed the trial but the format was obviously a resounding disaster. I felt sorry for Fuji and Fajardo cos they both rode well but were robbed cos of a race. Since when is trials a race? I dont mind if they want to have a race but it should be like they used to have in Barcelona when the race was actually as hard as some of the sections and they couldnt go very quick. Trials is an enthusiasts sport. Sod the show factor and all the razzmatazz. Who cares. I just want to see the top guys riding and showing their skill. I for one would pay to just watch Bou practise and I bet i'm not alone there either!

I did a trials school at Earl Shilton on Saturday in the snow and found out something quite interesting. There was an 09 Evo 250, an '10 Gasser 250 and an 09 Sherco 290. The Evo had a brand new IRC on, The Gasser a brand new michelin x11 and the Sherco had a newish michelin x11. The Evo by a long long way would barely spin on the section I layed out. The Sherco was also very good but the Gasser was awful. It was nothing to do with how the bikes were set up either cos they all felt pretty neutral but The Evo/IRC combo was very very good!

Cabestany and Browny were both using Dellorto flatslide carbs which were painted red. Both bikes looked very light and had plenty of power. Browny dropped his upside down and it landed on the handlebars and the new fuel tank/ exhaust and nothing broke so it seems to be built well.

Has anybody got a new Sherco yet? I know of one in my area and i've had a go on it and was very impressed. Just wondered what anybody else thought if they had been on one or got one

The roads are fine in Sheffield. I work just over the road from the arena and its all ok. Either get off the M1 at junction 33 or Junction 34. Watch the roadworks on the M1 from Junction 33, there is a 50mph average speed check. My Dad is down at the arena today building the sections. The car park has been covered in snow all week so I am guessing it will be getting cleared a bit today and tomorrow. Hope this helps.

Ive just nearly fallen off my chair at the fact that a tyre lasts 2 years! That is awesome! I know some tight sods but that is brilliant! I reckon one of the most neglected parts on a bike is definitely the front tyre. I have had 3 fronts on this last year and I have really notice a difference. I do ride every week though and do a fair bit of practise. Michelins seem to last the best in general on the front. I n winter on the rear I would say IRC's are best but then Michelins for spring onwards. Just my preference but I have tried all of them!

Ive got an 09 Raga and mine does the same. The problem is that the dust seals are very tight to the sliders and it causes them to squeak. If you spray either a bit of wd40 or silicone spray on the forl stantions and rub it with a cloth it will stop the squeaking! Hope this helps

I have to agree there about the centre championships. I think its not quite what it was mainly due to the last few years many of the rounds clash with either british champ rounds or nationals so it keeps a lot of the good riders away. The centre rounds aren't usually brilliant trials either so again like has been said before its down to choice. I am quite sure that if the boundary was altered slightly then it would solve quite a few problems!

I agree with the post about dates clashing. The centre always moans that the centre champs is not well supported. How can it be justified that on the same day as a centre champ round there is a british champ round or a major local national. There was an instance of this earlier in the year when the Jack Wood trial clashed with a centre champ round in Banovallum or Pegasus, cant exactly remember which one but I know where most riders would ride. This is not a criticism of the organising clubs, its down to choice but surely when the dates are picked then this should get noticed. The problem with the trials is the actual shape of the centre. It covers such a vast area. I know many riders that travel to Macclesfield and Man 17 when there are trials on more locally. This does have an impact on entries but theres nothing that can be done about this as its a different centre entirely.

I have no problem at all with the club running 22 trials in the year or whatever amount it is and I do support the club. I know that they are very very enthusiastic and I can only credit them for this. I do think that some clubs run trials and clash when there aren't land issues and there could be 5 trials on one sunday then the next sunday there is nothing on. As a rider this baffles me as I do like to ride every week and to have a choice one week then no choice the week after its an odd situation. I think some more planning needs to go into the dates and locations of the trials so everybody gets a fair crack and then the numbers will increase. This is the problem to me. I have ridden no end of trials lately and there has been a very poor entry due to other events being on locally and riders are having to observe themselves. To me this is fine if it is done properly but I know for a fact I observed approx 10 riders through a section and fived quite a few of them and when the scores came out surprise surprise there were no fives. This however wouldnt happen with a better entry and a full house of observers.

The Sherco 290 runs better with the keihin on that is why Chris uses it. Apparently the inlet actually fits the keihin better than the standard dellorto so it is obviously designed to be fitted! I also had a go on the new bike and I must say I was very impressed. I used to be a Sherco rider for many years and then changed to a gasser. It did really feel like a gasser to ride. Its made me think a lot and i'm actually quite swayed towards the sherco now. The sherco is much better in real life than pictures. Its definitely an easier bike to ride than before, the only thing I found was that the handlebars felt low and i'm not very tall! The bike definitely gripped far better than the previous sherco's, maybe its cos of the extra weight over the back end, who knows. The bike has got more lock than before and felt very light on the front end which is never a bad thing. I rode a lap of the trial we were at and cleaned every section first time which was somehting I didnt do on my gasser so I was quite impressed!

The problem is in the east midland centre is that the club running 4 trials in 1 month is running approx 22 trials next year, it may be more. The people that run the club are also the permit secretaries for the centre. The trouble is with the centre is that it covers a vast area and each area has its own set of riders as such. Many riders would travel from Derbyshire to Lincolnshire regularly to compete and vice versa but the trouble is is that there are far too many trials on. Surely it would be better to have a 3 lap 15 section trial with 15 observers and 100 riders than 5 clubs having 5 trials each with 20 riders and 2 observers each resulting in riders having to observe themselves. It isnt a case of having the product that people want whatsoever. I know that peak classic and midland classic clubs cater for the old bikes. No problem but they dont cater for anybody else other than old bikes. The clubs that are in question are the clubs that cater for everybody and not just old bikes so I dont see that Old trials fanatics view is very relevant at all. The fact of the matter is that in the centre there could be 5 trials running on the same day within 20 miles of each other. If this is limited and everybody gets a fair bite at the cherry then its more fair. After all, trials is never going to make any money, its a participant sport not a business although some seem to see it as a business!

The Sheffield & Hallamshire trial at Eadons Fields, Dronfield tomorrow (27th) is still on. The snow has thawed no end today and the road is no problem getting down to the venue. If anybody you know is riding then pass the message on as it is set to be a cracking trial.

I've got one thats painted gold and got charged another grand for that pleasure but it does ride nice! Its a 250 and I run 11/42 and its pretty good, any of the first 4 gears are fine for sections, bottom isn't really my scene cos i'm a second gear rider, always have been and always will. I agree with Roseys post, just fill it up with petrol and ride it. All this tinkering about is psychological! If you want a quicker bottom gear run 11/41 but otherwise 11/42 is fine for anybody.

The correct size pilot jet can be either 33, 34 or 35, depends how it runs cos they are all different. The mixture screw should be between 3.5 and 4.5 turns out. What I do is get the mixture screw to 3.5 turns out then increase by 1/4 of a turn untill it runs sweet. Remember to make sure the tickover isnt too high when you are doing this cos it will mess up the carburation. The tickover wants to be so that its running but not wanting to stall. I run a dellorto carb and have a 34 pilot in with the mixture 3.5 turns out approx, sometimes I tweak it to 3.75 turns depending on the weather

My technique for riding mud is very dependant on the section obviously. Sometimes its the very gentle high-ish gear approach or the other is similar to the approaches said above. I would pull the highest gear possible, either 3rd or 4th and the trick is to get straight and rev the bike flat out and dump the clutch which will cause the bike to spin. Bodyweight needs to be low and back. When the wheel is spinning clutch the bike and it will clear the back tyre then shut off very slightly and the bike will grip due to the tyre being clear and weight being back. This is a trick that all the top guys use. Hope this helps

I dont think that the gap will get bigger. The main point of the matter is somehting you hit the nail on the head with and thats that observers wont dish out 5's and they should. Bugger upsetting somebody, its a sport. In any other sport there are penalties for doing things wrong ie golf, you hit the ball into the water and you get a dropped shot or in snooker, you miss and give away 4 points. I think that whatever rules it is that the observers shouldnt be scared of fiving little johnny cos his dad is an ar5ehole! they should just get reported straight to the clerk of the course and excluded in my opinion. I would only ever dream about questioning my score if I had been penalised for something that isnt in the rulebook. Its irrelevant to me what rules it is cos I can ride both. I dont mind the hopping rule at all but something needs to be defined by the clubs to state which rule it is at the trial. There are numerous events that I have ridden this year and nobody has a clue what rules it is! As for the original post, the problem that I see is that everybody wants a route to suit them, this just isn't possible to suit everybody and never will be! As my dad has pointed out to me many times, when he started riding in the 70's, there was one route and that was it! When I started riding in 91 there were usually 2 routes but the beginners route was just starting to filter through. I rode a trial on sunday and there was 5 routes, in my opinion its so much effort and the 50/50 hard/clubman route doesnt do anything but ruin the hard route. This 50/50 job is a gimmick and unless the land is perfect it doesn't work. All in my opinion obviously!

Its not anything to do with the good old days at all cos evolution is a good thing. The trouble is is that you are contradicting yourself by saying that the corners have to be that tight, the problem is that a hopper will go into the corner and stop, if the observer penalised this and said its a 5, end of story then it would soon stop these people from stopping and the corners would get ridden round properly. I made a section when I was doing a trials school at earl shilton and it was allegedly impossible without hopping until I rode it without hopping and the young lads I was training all managed it without hopping. That to me proves a point that when the lads rode it ****ing about hopping that they were losing marks left right and centre.

I kind of agree Ishy. Trials has definitely lost its way in this country. There is the obvious problem that the top guys are head and shoulders above everybody else and the bikes are too good nowadays. I dont think the gate system is the way forward though, its making a mockery of trials cos isn't it the lowest score that wins?!!!!! Surely this gate system doesnt prove anything and just gives people the easy way out. The problem that I see is that people are scared of loosing marks which I really dont understand. Surely the aim is to improve and not have everything on a plate. I know people think its great to be able to hop about like toni bou but they are in a different league to what any of us are ever going to be. I agree with a previous post that surely a tight corner and not being able to stop and hop round is far harder than being able to stop and re-position. Sure hopping is a skill but sections shouldnt be designed that require hopping then the riders that cant hop will be on a level playing field but then the guys that can hop will use their skills to make the section easier. Surely that what trials is about. The main problem is people dont stick to the rules. The hopping rule solves nowt cos the riders are unpenalised for reversing.

I have had gassers for the last 5 years and I have had all of them apart from a 125 and 200, I ve had a 300,280, 250 and even a 225. Nobody who rides the novice route needs anything more than a 250. BUT the 250 is quicker off the bottom end than a 280 or a 300! I am an expert rider and ride to a decent standard and the 300 is far too much for me. A very good mate of mine who is a multi national winner has softened his 300 off considerably with head spacers and allsorts and that is very nice to ride but a lot of trouble to go to when a 250 or a 280 would do the same job. The 280 and 300's are definitely a handful for the majority of riders. The main thing with a 280 or 300 is to make sure you have a flywheel weight on or you are wasting your time completely.