turbofurball

Well, this was back in the day, but his honesty probably explains why the business was never very successful, lol

Good point, the number of dodgy MOT places appeared to be dwindling greatly at the time I left the UK, but maybe now there's more "Buccaneering Spirit" to go around (?)

When my dad was running a motorbike breakers he got burned once, he got a lot of used bikes at auction and some were stolen ... after that he didn't mind asking awkward questions when buying them! Similarly I looked at a really nice DRZ400SM while back in the UK, it was the most stolen type of motorbike back in the day, and this one was a ringer - the numbers on the vin weren't in a 100% straight line. It pays to use more stringent than would be considered "polite" when buying bikes, legit sellers don't mind honest questions and checks

Well you can ask to see someone's driving license instead I guess.

If everyone had the proven (by use of official ID) name and address of the previous owners then the likelihood of the bike being stolen goes down dramatically, because no theif wants their details to be kept with the bike. Here it's normal to take a snap of the seller's ID card when buying a bike. One thing this wouldn't prevent is cloned bikes, but then nothing short of diligence can wipe that out.

Morals aside, removing the cat will mean the bike won't pass a MOT.

Good luck with your new hobby! Once you've got your boots it's definitely worth getting along to a local club, being around more experienced riders helps to improve your skills at a phenomenal rate when you're starting out

What a lovely video, thanks for posting it up It looks like exactly my sort of event, nothing too hairy and aggressive!

Nothing piques my interest quite like a trials bike with a rack on the back In other news, there's no shame in asking that a used bike comes with some sort of extra documentation. When I got my Gasgas it came from a retired trials specialist who had originally sold the bike new, so I got a copy of the original sales invoice, for instance ... these days I wouldn't buy a bike that's not road registered.

It's much cheaper to just get 2 stroke oil and mix it yourself, it's not hard to do just get a 10L fuel container, stick exactly 10L in it at the pump, chuck in 200mL of oil, give it a shake and you're good to go. I keep my Stihl fuel for my chainsaw, because it can sit on a shelf for a long time without going off - not much risk of that with the trials bike, lol

No, toes and knees pointed down. It's comfy enough that my bad knee actually seems to like it, for a while at least. I would imagine shins on footpegs would be agony 😬

Shins?! When I'm cruising along on my Sherco with my bum on the bike my heels are on the pegs ... admittedly the cornering ability is limited, but with a top speed of about 30mph it's not really an issue

Hot (2-stroke) singles in your area?

Wez Moto, Wez is a nice guy and the hoses are really nicely made ... and he was cheaper than Venhill for what I wanted

Unfortunately this site has a gap, so it was made sometime between 1975 and 1982, lol Little bit of advice, the Haynes for the TYs includes the TY80, which might be handy

Welcome, good to see another woman on here! (there's no shortage of women riders IRL, but I seem to be the only one to post here on the regular). I'm glad you found a solution to your kickstarting problems, lots of petite riders stick with 125 trials bikes for that very reason ... even though I'm taller there are times I'd like an electric starter too, lol. Most of the top women riders are about your height so you're in good company

Isn't the purpose of a crush washer to account for scratches and dents? I've not seen a bike assembled without crush washers before, is it a new thing to not need them?

That's a good video, thanks for the link I need to work on stopping on landing, I've been letting myself roll off afterwards way too much!

Sometimes I used to get anything loose off with a stick and then drive to a garage with a jetwash on the way home. With a trailer it was nice and easy to do the bike in-situ ... with a van it was more of a PITA so I got a 12v water pump, 20L water bottle, and hosed the bikes wherever wouldn't cause a ruckus, which worked for all but the stickiest of muds.

I went out for a short ride the other day without goggles on Sunday, took a fly to the eye and got pinkeye so I'm thinking this is good advice! (I usually wear goggles, but figured because I wasn't going fast or far it would be ok ... famous last words) I'm mostly concerned with hurting my wrists these days.

This was a problem when they were new IIRC. Since it's now an "old" bike if it were my I'd get a pro welder to put some fresh metal in and then keep an eye on it.

I use the heatproof ones that are made for working on engines, the palms are made of a sort of suede material

Well dang, that's a shame the quarry was a really really lovely practice space

Well, if everyone had the same taste the world would be boring And yes, Señor Bulto left Montesa when they wanted to cut out the race programme during a period of purse tightenning - he was passionate about competition more than profits!

I'm 5'10 and use standard bars on my ST250 without problems. My TY175 and Cota 349 have higher bars than stock, and my other half has back problems so she has risers on all her dirt bikes too, so your mileage may vary It's better to be comfortable on the bike and slightly less competitive IMO.