trapezeartist

I'm fairly new to the PRBR and have only done about 3 trials with it. Having previously had a FRB, I am still teaching my finger to use it in a progressive manner. Sometimes I just give it a small pull and expect the full effect, and other times I seem to pull it all the way back whatever. It's just a matter of getting used to it, I hope. I've also found the PRBR lever a bit difficult to reach at times. I had a rather alarming descent at the last trial when I missed the PRBR lever, then grabbed for anything in a hurry and got the clutch. More "getting used to" required. I don't use the clutch but I wouldn't remove it. I did consider replacing the clutch with the rear brake for a better feel, but I do want to learn to use the clutch someday. I don't think the PRBR totally replaces the rear brake either. Sometimes you need to lock the back wheel and only the friction brake will do that except in extreme conditions. You also have to learn that you can't feather from brake to throttle with the PRBR (or FRB) so sometimes you need to release the PRBR near the bottom of something and use a tiny bit of rear brake as you are transitioning to the throttle. If you open the throttle while the PRBR is on, nothing happens, so you give some more throttle, and then you get a bit of a surprise when you do come off the PRBR! I wish they had given the thing a better name too. It's such a mouthful.

I have always assumed it's manual. And they seem to give the rider a small amount of margin.

Following cascao's lead, I've now put the number board on Thingiverse for anyone who wants to make one. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6940919

The dummy brake pad is a neat idea. I currently use a cable tie to hold the pads apart while putting in the back wheel, but it's not a perfect system. I think I'll try making something as a spacer with a nice little handle on the top for pulling it out. A similar idea could work on the front too.

Way up near the start of this thread someone (ChrisCH I think) mentioned the virtues of "liquid hydrocarbons" as a fuel. That doesn't have to mean petrol, or any other petroleum derivative. There is a lot of work going into synthetic fuels and they have the advantage of running perfectly well in engines originally designed for petrol so all the millions of existing vehicles could use it. Even a pre-65 trials bike can go green, if you ignore the cloud of oil smoke following it around. A number of UK car racing classes are already using "sustainable" fuel (mostly alcohol-based) but synthetic fuels will come. Think of the chemical equation of the combustion of fuel. If you put energy in instead of taking energy out you can completely reverse it. At the moment the sustainable fuels are expensive, but economies of scale will bring that down. Then the only problem is how to produce enough electricity in a green way to support EVs, manufacture of synthetic fuel, domestic heat pumps and all the other things.

I have a new back tyre about once a year, and I've never changed a front in the time I've owned each bike. So in effect I'm spending about £160/year on tyres. That's the least I've ever spent on tyres in any of the motor sport disciplines I've indulged in. For the moment, I'm perfectly happy with that. If ever someone came out with some super-trick tyre that only lasted a couple of trials or cost £500 a pop, I would definitely want to re-address that. Something I've never quite understood is why all trials tyres have exactly the same tread pattern. Is there some long-standing rule somewhere that defines a trials tyre? Or has it been shown that that is the best solution to the problem? I would have thought an enduro/motocross pattern would be better in mud, though probably worse on rocks. When you look at something like X-Trial, I could imagine there being a benefiting using slicks.

I think you've got too much time on your hands. I've never done such a thing; it all comes off pretty quickly with use. Think of the F1 teams that didn't even bother to remove the paper sticky labels when they sent a car out on new tyres. The labels were gone after a couple of corners.

My new-to-me '23 EM has a headlamp instead of a number board, so I have just made my own number board which fits on the same fixings as the headlamp. Much easier to tape the number card on.

Unfortunately they didn't fit. I thought Sherco and and EM used the same forks (aluminium Tech 39mm) but I must be wrong. I'll give them to someone with a Sherco.

Yes, it does work on a 2021. I did it with mine.

I've just made a pair of the fork protectors. I'll fit them tomorrow and try bashing some rocks the day after.

+1 for Lemur's suggestion. It really only needs quite a modest hit with a decently heavy hammer, and won't harm anything else.

What Comerfords did back in the day and what people do today to make a pre-65 competitive are two entirely different things. But have fun and build the bike you want.

This is a general answer, but I can't think there will be anything different about the TRS. Set of tee-handle Allen keys. The most commonly used are 4mm, 5mm and 6mm but you may need 8mm and 10mm as well (front wheel spindle, for example). Set of combination spanners. I think I only use 8mm, 10mm and 13mm on my EM, plus a big one (22mm?) for the rear wheel spindle nut. Set of screwdrivers. Pair of C-spanners for adjusting rear shock preload. Pointy nose pliers for gripping fiddly things.

The switch didn't fit nicely under the seat because it is designed to mount on a 7/8 handlebar. So I've put it up beside the throttle. Total cost for switch, plug and a bit of wire was just over £9 from eBay, plus some time to solder and heat shrink the three elements together. For comparison, the OE switch from Inch Perfect (not nearly such good quality) is £52.99.