heffergm

Today I borrowed a GG 250, probably 5 or so years old. I'm used to a 300. The off idle response was what I'd call very soft. My 300s, Beta and Sherco, were both very crisp off the bottom at small throttle openings. The 250 felt like a 300 wrapped in a moist blanket. I was considering a 250 as the next bike, but I really didn't like the lack of crisp throttle response. So I'm wondering of this is a normal 250/300 difference, or of the one I rode was just way past it's prime, or maybe it's a GG thing?

So I can't do this yet on flat ground, but curiously enough I found it easier to start learning by rear wheel hopping from one obstacle to another. This way you get the feel for the correct bike position and what you need to be doing with the clutch, but you can also carry a bit of momentum to help you through. Basically I just set up two large logs parallel to each other (each about a foot 1/2 high... make sure they won't roll) and 3 or 4 feet apart. Zap onto the first one, get the front end high, and then think about launching the back tire into the next one with a little clutch and a stab of throttle. Then when you land the next one, still thinking about keeping the front end up and your weight back, you'll need to feather the clutch some more to keep the bike from stalling, then as the front end starts to come down power off the log. Good fun!

Can anyone confirm one way or the other if the 250 has the same clutch spring retaining washers that you can flip to change clutch pull effort that the 300 has?

Extra grip aside, MX boots have tons more protection than trials boots. You'd never catch me on the enduro bike with trials boots. I'd have broken toes and feet more times than I care to remember.

It's perfectly normal that with the engine off and bike in gear the rear wheel doesn't spin freely.

Sounds good. I'm going to see of Stu will rent me something to ride. Senior B here I come...

Is there a big difference in how hard it is to kick a 300 vs a 250? I'm a small guy, and I'm used to starting the 300, which basically entails me finding TDC, both feet on the pegs, and drop all my weight. It's not something I like doing all day long, and when I watch guys like Bou and Raga kick through their bikes like they're running 2:1 compression I'm a little jealous. It's not the end of the world for me to start the 300, but given that I rarely see anything more than half throttle, if the 250 starts noticeably easier, I can see the appeal...

Awesome comment. Cheers for that. Spero che hai una buona sera.

That I can't argue with... my Beta master cylinder leaked from the off. If they're like this from new though, what's the point of a rebuild kit? Presumably it's made with exactly the same crap components, so I wouldn't expect it to solve anything.

Mine did exactly the same thing ('15 Sherco 300). I never really dug into it to figure it out, but yup... exactly as you describe. Bled it a few times, no change. I have a hard time believing it needed a rebuild... especially since it did it from brand new.

http://www.trialscentral.com/forums/topic/51154-front-end-clunk-sort-of/?fromsearch=1

I'd be way more into t-shirts as prizes rather than trophies (in local club events... Nationals is different story obviously)

Oh, and the radiator shroud easily pops in and out on the beta. On the sherco it doesn't. This is example of very small but sensible things on the beta that are missing on the sherco. On the downside with the beta, all the hardware (nuts/bolts) feel like they're made from soft cheese. I didn't find this to be an issue on the sherco.

The TRS has some really nice looking custom machining. My only complaint is the silencer, which looks like a giant sausage.

The left side kicker never bothered me but I do see guys starting them off the bike with their right foot so apparently it is weird for some people.

Well, last year I made that same decision and went with the Sherco. I'm probably going back to a Beta this year (still slightly up in the air) but I'm not buying another Sherco/Scorpa. I like a lot about the bike, but a couple things bug me. One is the oil drain bolt, which has an 8mm head on it. That, and it not on the bottom of the motor, but rather horizontal. I looked at it the first time I changed the oil and thought "this could be trouble". Sure enough, somewhere around the third change some swarth from the transmission ended up on the threads, and while I was putting the bolt back in it got hung up. A tap from the other side cleaned it up, but that was annoying, and never would have happened if the stupid thing was where it should be. That and the fact that the bolt is tiny bug me... something that goes in and out of the motor that often should be beefy (the Beta drain plug is like something you'd see on a cars oil pan). The other thing that worried me, but that I haven't actually seen break, is the footpeg mounts. On the Scorpa/Sherco, they're a welded, integral part of the frame. On the beta, the footpegs are hung off a separate mounting bracket that's bolted to the frame (the TRS is the same). This makes infinitely more sense to me. Not sure if anyone has ripped a footpeg mount off a Sherco before or not, but it looked too vulnerable to me. Another bummer was the rear mounted gas tank, which I figured was neither here nor there. But the thing seemed to swell in the heat and made the gas cap impossible to remove without pliers when it was hot out. The first time I discovered this at a trial was a little annoying. Something really simple I liked about the Beta: quick connector for fitting the factory wrist strap lanyard. No removing bodywork and wiring, etc. Just unplug the old and plug in the new. Another one on the "simple" front: adjusting the rear shock damping on the Sherco is impossible without removing the rear bodywork and gas tank. Beta can adjust on the bike. Same goes for other simple maintenance stuff, like the rear brake fluid resevoir... can't get to it on the sherco without removing things. On the Beta it's easily accessible. The Beta also turned a whole ton better, so if you're not a hopper I'd go with the Beta. In Sherco's defense, I've forgotten most of the things that bugged me about the Beta at this point... oh wait, I remember: sticky clutch (fixed with the Beta clutch fix) and a slight clunk from the headstock (fixed with a bit of tape). Other than that, I miss it. In short, the Beta felt much better engineered to me... things are where you can get to them, less likely to break, and generally more friendly to use.

So now it's marginally heavier than your average Beta... which is more or less irrelevant to me if the difference is minimal (it is), and it probably comes down to the battery it's toting around for the FI. There's a lot that looks really sloppy to me though. Not the bike itself, just all the materiel surrounding it. It's enough to give me pause were I ready to lay down that kind of money.

Meaning you expect the 2016 factory bikes to be out next month? That doesn't quite seem right since that's when the regular model release is, so I'm guessing it's more like the 2016 factory won't be out till the end of 2016. Which rules that out!

I can't be the only one slightly dissuaded by the amount of typo's in the advertising material and website, can I?

Just a general note about t-shirts to people doling them out: get the best materials. If I buy a t-shirt and it turns out to be a horrible coarse material, it's never going to get worn no matter what's printed on it. Spend the extra money and get a lot more return for it in terms of hours worn (i.e. advertising).

Does Jarvis ride the Scott these days?

Bingo. They'd have blue, orange and red painted frames. All with the same motors and parts but different branding. Works for KTM and they only have orange and blue.

Speaking of which, what exactly is the difference between the two models other than 3kg (which comes from weight savings where?). And since the two models are apparently not just different colors, what's the price difference? Vertigo's website is atrocious.

The high res photos I've seen of it do look nice. But I can I take a moment to mention what a horrendous name 'Vertigo' is? It sounds a non native english speaker picked it out of the 'sounds cool' list, without noting that it's sort of the antithesis of what you're striving for when riding a trials (i.e. not feeling dizzy and losing your balance). Don't get me started on 'combat' and 'ice hell'.

I guess, but if you add the fact that it's the first year for a never before produced bike from a manufacturer that has zero history as such, it's a bit of stretch. Which isn't to say I'm not interested... fuel injected two stroke sounds great. But are they going to be around in 2 or 3 years? I'd really need to weigh that before choosing it over anything else, especially given the price gap.