turbofurball

Well, it's a completely different type of riding. I used to be comfortable on my R1 on the track, but a 250 for trials is plenty for me.

If you enjoyed Bassella then you would need a week for the Sammy Miller museum! (though the trials bike selection is a bit lacking IMO, most of it is given over to road racing and vintage bikes). It's in a very pretty area, so worth swinging by ... most of Lleida province is ignored by tourists, so it's great if you want to get off the beaten path. There's also an off-road experience place near the museum, they've got a good circuit for blasting around if that's your thing (it can be seen from the other side of the lake, that's how we found out about it, lol).

Also bear in mind that a 280 is pretty vicious bike for someone new to trials. Not sure I agree about Betas being the best, any old trials bike can be fine if it's been maintained properly (or a horrible money pit if not).

To Catalunya, or the museum specifically? If Catalunya, yeah absolutely, especially with a bike - there's a reason why it's the home of modern trials, but many of the roads are spectacular too (my daily commute looks like a bowl of spaghetti on the map, lol) If it's the museum I think the Montesa thing is only for this year, they had moved a bunch of the regular bikes out for it. There's another Moto Museu in Barçelona though

Many (I got a plain white one, but they also do yellow and maybe custom colours if you ask nicely)

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention I got another pair of Forma Boulders second hand in near-new condition a while back, too (for when my originals give out), and that was a good way to get them cheaply - thanks for the reminder Carl

Because we can now travel around Catalunya me and my other half decided to go for a day trip up in Lleida to see something different. We looked on a map and found a lake with mountains (bigger mountains than ours at home), castle ruins, lots of green farmland, etc etc. We stumbled upon the Moto Museu de Bassella on the way so had a look around (because it wasn't too hot to leave the dog in the car) and it turned out they had a "75 years of Montesa" exhibit on, taking up a whole floor there. A lot of the space was given over to the trials bikes but there was other stuff too (I didn't know they had made outboard motors, go karts or washing machines), and there was footage from trials going back to 1969 showing in a little cinema room. Apparently, this is what my 349 should actually look like ... And the evolution of the modern style bikes is nice and colourful This is Ulf Karlson's original 1980 World Championship bike - very cool! They also had former championship bikes of Bou, Fujigas, and Lampkin, but I didn't take photos of those (sorry). So anyway, that made for an excellent day out. Also, my other half now wants to save up for a 4Ride having seen one in the flesh, lol.

I have a Shedworks tank, it's both pretty and functional (though I did have to add some padding to prevent rubbing / rattling). It's much smaller than the original though.

I did my first few events with a pair of Lidl motorbike boots that I got off ebay for £5. They completely fell part, so I invested in Forma Boulders which (once broken in and properly oiled) have saved my ankles and shins many times and are still going strong ... also, they give good support to the soles of my feet whereas some other road bike boots flex around the pegs too much to be comfortable after a while.

Is it definitely chrome and not silver paint? White Wonders came with their frames painted red, but back in the day Sammy Miller upgraded frames came chromed ... though I don't know if he ever did them for Montesas. Of course someone could have had it done after buying the bike, too ... it looks like the frame on my Ulf Karlsson 349 in everything but the finish 😅 Edit: your front wheel is from a later bike BTW, it has a Honda era brake.

Is there way to put a washer in the resin to reinforce it? Without something sturdy I suspect it'll go again ... mines cracked there but still mostly intact, but it's noticeable that the fibreglass is wider than the frame so if you do the bolt up tight it gets squeezed (which is probably why mines cracked).

I have a bit of squishy insulation material zip-tied to the frame that's just enough that there's a little resistance to sliding the tank on, that way it never flaps around even when the bikes dropped. The fibreglass cover should hold the tank on

Absolutely, also it *feels* really good quality ... my only real frame of reference is the 125 TXTPro I used to have, though

This woman right here 😎 I picked up a 1-owner '99 Sherco 2.5 (Graham Jarvis SSDT edition) this week, and finally had a chance to take it for a spin today ... I had completely forgotten just how lovely a modern-style bike is to ride, and this one is mechanically spot on It's fully road legal so I can go and roam without worrying about Rangers breathing down my neck (especially since the TY is noisy as hell) Lots of "roads" here are actually pretty good trials practice spots so it should mean the only limits now are time and how fit I am ... this is actually a road (as well as a river bed): However I do need to grow some ovaries 'cause I managed to drop it at this little step because I didn't have enough momentum The only weird thing is that only after buying it did I find out that the Sherco factory is closer to my house than Gasgas and Montesa, so this really is a local bike

That looks very cool! 😎

Those are all good points! I forgot to mention air filters in my previous post. I hate dealing with air filters.

Best pull it and have a look then! Even if it's not that you may find the cause ...

No piston, valves, barrel, mains, crank, pressure-holding seals, gears (on some), clutch (on some), chain, spark plug, points ... no fuel mixing either ...

Pretty much everything made after 2000 is going to perform well if it's in good condition. 250s are generally pretty chilled but don't discount a 125 or 200 for getting started - trials riding is completely different to enduro. Absolutely avoid starting on more than a 250. The important bits for the major makes (Montesa, Gasgas, Sherco, Beta) are available, and any of them in good condition can last well if treated right and will retain their resale value. Consider asking at your local trials club if anyone has a bike for sale, that's a good way to get a bargain and/or a known-good bike sometimes.

A radiator specialist can do a pressure test on it, but usually it's only pinholes that cause leaks when running but hold with the engine off. How are the hoses? Is there an expansion tank that's over-filled?

There have been recent criticisms over the scaleability of renewable hydrogen generation by people in the know (not me) who speculated that it would probably mostly see use in industry and HGVs ... I'll wait and see, but it would be nice.

Press to connect kill switches are available from any dirt bike shop here, the most common ones are small and square - better than a road bike switch. I'll stick with lanyards though, because sometimes I like to have a little siesta on the ground before I extricate my bike from a tree

The stretch jeans I have are a lot more forgiving than my Jitsie trials trousers 🤔

Yes, they're expensive.

No worries on that score, the trials scene is by and large welcoming and patient with new riders and plenty of people are happy to be genuinely helpful when it comes to understanding techniques too One thing I'd say is don't worry too much about having fancy trials tops and trousers - a comfy helmet and trials boots are the only special bits needed, I still mostly ride in stretch jeans and t-shirts and use cheapy Mechanix gloves more than the proper "off road" ones I have. Good luck with your new hobby!