turbofurball

At trials tyre pressures that sounds terrifying!

I registered my TY with a handwritten note that had the name, address, and signature of the seller on it, so it doesn't have to be official paperwork. Sorry I don't have more to contribute! Someone else on here recently wrote to DVLA and got a response saying that their bike had been registered in the past and they just needed to fill out a form to get a new V5.

By the same token, if I had a speedo I wouldn't want to be taking it off and putting it back on all the time ...

For this sort of thing the way I approach it is to not have anything dodgy in case you get pulled over - this is far more likely if you're playing about on green lanes (or riding on the road to a practice spot) than attending an event where there's lots of other riders about. I was stopped several times when I was still in the UK by police who were following up on reports of "hooligans on motocross bikes", when the police saw that I was 100% legit I didn't get any trouble - if one of them was having a bad day and saw my bike wasn't legal then I would have had a bad day.

A fair point, though at that point if someone isn't mechanically inclined how would they know if the problem is simple / cheap or not?

Any bike not currently running: $100, unless you plan on breaking it for parts. If all it needs is a 'small piece of work' they would have done it to help it sell, this is a universal rule for buying anything mechanical.

¡hola! ¿donde en españa estas? Es un gran país 😄

Registered bikes are more desirable / easier to sell for a couple of reasons: It can be insured easily, it's less likely to be a "hot" bike, it can be used in trials which have bits of road between sections (common on classic trials), and it's easier to take to competitions overseas (though I don't know how much that will be happening after Brexit). Also, it means that when selling potential buyers don't have to take your word on the age and model of bike. All my bikes are plated, I found having an unplated bike to be a pain in the backside in the past. As for 40mph (if that) on the road, I love riding green lanes on trials bikes and the low speed for bits of tarmac to link them up isn't all that bad when you know what to expect.

I have Forma Boulders and "chunky" calves from years of skating ... they work ok as long as I don't try to wear MX knee pads inside

Hmm, all food for thought ... I think I´ll nab a bit of spare foam from work and try different shapes stuck on with gaffer tape. At the moment I'm doing ok with just sitting down in the V, so any increase in altitude would be a help, lol

Perfect, that's exactly what I was after - thanks

Given how cheap and easy it is to add a bike speedo it wouldn't hurt TBH ... they aren't exactly intrusive, and it'd come in handy in the event of any jobsworths / nimbys encountered on the road or green lanes (because they're detachable, so you could take it off and throw it at them)

To save me reinventing the wheel, has anyone seen a guide on making your own universal trials seat? (like the Apico ones) If not I'll knock something together, but I can envisage lots of trial and error (pun intended), I've seen a couple of local riders who made their own but of course I haven't had a chance to engage them in conversation 😕

You can't get much more different than going from a liter bike to trials ... I used to have an R1 but now I live on a mountain with tight twisty roads so smaller bikes are more fun (much better for my bank balance)

Yeah, dust like you get around a chainsaw can be fine enough to swim past a non-paper filter, I have to watch for that too (and limestone dust from where my garage floor is breaking up in places)

Lol, here sometimes Montesa Cota 25 go up for sale, they're usually gone in less than day! Anyway, welcome, and I hope you enjoy yourself!

What kind of debris? It's possible the fuel filter mesh is too large to pick up on something floating in the fuel, or that the fuel mix has been sitting long enough to separate, or even that something inside the system is breaking down (ie. very old air filters can turn to dust, something in the carb can be scraping when the throttles applied, etc).

Yeah, it's worth it - one of the most knowledgeable engine guys I knew heard my TY at a trial and told me what was wrong, lol

I've used Uhu contact adhesive before with success.

2100 feet shouldn't be enough to affect the jetting that much, I'd suspect engine variability (ie. compression, exhaust being a bit oiled up, etc) would explain differences more than that

Agreed. Also here most banter happens on Whatsapp which is also horrible for group communication because everything gets burried ... I realise I'm on the old side too, but I haven't seen a social media replacement for messageboards like this, so I'll keep coming back!

Just a spare split link and pliers, as I said before - unless you're skipping chain maintenance altogether odds are against other parts of the chain failing ... in fact, I don't think I've ever had one fail like that (just on ones that have been well used and then sat in one position for a long time, or where I've bought bikes that have been neglected, or where the chain was obviously worn out but I was persevering anyway to save money). You can, but why would you? I haven't yet worked out the point of why my o-ring chain came with a split link instead of a regular master link, because it's going to last the same amount of time as the rest of the chain - it's not like you can soak an o-ring chain without causing problems. I do keep spare bits of chain just in case I need to 'patch' one, but so far it's just been a case that they fail in more than one place in rapid succession ... at some point I could string them all together for a freebie though 😅

FWIW I usually run about 13psi for fast trail riding and about 8 for gentle with a bit of trialsy play. 4psi is in the range of what you want when you're doing trials competition on slippery surfaces and not great for trails.

Yup, that's a split link. Trials bikes usually have them as standard whereas many trail / enduro bikes (and road bikes) use o-ring chains with a master link. If you're only riding trails and it won't rub on the frame then an o-ring chain is better, but not serviceable on the roadside. Because I'm special my commuter road bike has an o-ring chain with a split link 😅 As for chain tools, I use a grinder, link breaker, and a link splitter / master link tool for the road bikes. They all have their uses, but if you think a link splitter alone is a good way to take apart a serious road chain it might behoove you to know it's much easier with a grinder and breaker combo!

I like to have a chain with a split link, and just keep pliers and a spare split link if I'm going a long distance.