turbofurball

I would not - the KE100 was a darn sight quicker than a modern 80 or even 125 trials bike. Also, with the likelihood of some whiskey throttle having better brakes can only be a help. And to a child 65Kg is still plenty heavy enough to stay planted, just easier to get out of problems when you're stuck. If you want to encourage new people into an activity why would you want to make it harder for them?

Very nice!

Point 1 - That may be why Gasgas have been chasing electrification, can't fail emissions if there aren't any! Point 2 - true, but that just means that for new riders starting now learning is easier. When I was 11 my first bike was a '78 KE100 which I could barely lift after dropping (my Dad literally told me what the controls were and then left me to get on with it), a modern trials bike would have been much easier!

The EU obviously prevented Britain from making trials bikes. That's why there are no trials bikes made in the EU ...

The lower one's skills the more you notice extra weight, IMO

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That's the logic applied to road going 125s, but there's heaps of Lexmotos on the road because teenagers would rather have a short lived new bike than an everlasting used one. So the odds of this one being rubbish are less, Chinese manufacturers are good at learning from mistakes

In the UK there's enough used bikes around for people getting started, I'm guessing that's not the case elsewhere

Hard enduro is much more en vogue than trials these days, I have to admit I find it more entertaining to watch than WTC ... maybe that's just where the money is drifting to?

Good bike choice, doing trials competitions is a lot of fun and very challenging! I started out on a Gasgas 125 too, and moved into twinshocks after about a year as the competitions better suit me (plus my partner's blood runs cold at the sight of modern trials bikes for some reason, whereas she loves the old stuff!)

I used to get loads of bruises on my calves before I got my Forma boots (when I first started I was using some Lidl £5 motorbike boots). I still get the odd bruise above the boot, but only when I fall off!

Sorry I didn't see this earlier - the date was on their website, and it was very much on A really good day in fact, very slippery but excellent practice!

Fantastic! The good old "it won't be deep, it's only a rut" trap

That's a funny way to spell Gasgas

Mmm, at the moment we get upwards of a hundred channels of data at 20,000 samples a second and the dummies all have their own internal systems so you can chop a limb off and still know what happened to it ... it's nice to be on the cutting edge, but the early days of data capture look more inventive! Footage of TRL in the '60s looks like a lot of fun, too

There's a reason there are lots of those for sale - people ride 125s for a bit then move up (that's what I did - to twinshocks), and people buy 280s/300s assuming that they want the biggest because that's best and then either scare or hurt themselves. So, if you're super new and struggling with your 247, and if you weigh 12 stone or less, grab a 125 and then sell it on. If you're more fully bodied, or confident and wanting to be more competitive, be patient and get yourself a 250 when one crops up

Interesting stuff! Were you doing data acquisition at that time?

One thing that strikes me about almost all of the trials outfits is that they seldom appear to have a neat stylish look, but rather like they've been shot at by a branding blunderbus

Slow throttle alone works a treat on my Cota, haven't had any issues giving it a good gob of extra throttle when needed

Classic trials is about the most risk averse motorsport there is It's good that you appreciate the risks, many many people don't - even now some things happen that surprise me in regards to things failing! Type Approval for DeLorean is before my time, but I can imagine that was interesting - these days all the preliminary testing is simulated on computers, but it seems to have led to more testing happening rather than less!

If your car hits something stationary the bike continues at the same speed - large objects like that generally get thrown through the windscreen, often after crushing people in the front seats, and can then hit other cars / people. From a safety point of view, it's better to be well strapped to the back of a car than inside. Same goes for vans without a bulkhead. If a bike is well strapped down inside a car or van the tiedown points are the next most likely point of faiure, so beefy fixings with spreader plates on the other side are in order. As for nose weight affecting braking - it does, but remember that you're lifting a ~100kg bike rather than pulling a ton or more of something heavy; that's why there's a tighter speed limit for towing on the motorway. If you're maintaining a sensible stopping distance that weight won't make a large difference - again, unless it is the cause of an accident (or a significant contributing factor) the insurance company won't care about the bike and rack any more than they would a trailer. From my point of view, when I had a car with a suitable hitch a rack was fantastic. Now I have a van big enough to take two road bikes, with chocks bolted to the floor etc, it's transformed my biking experiences and this year and we've been able to do loads of things that were previously not on the cards - worth the expense if you can stretch to it

Yes, an extra light gauge strap to a high point of the car (for me it was in the rear window, to the handle in the headliner) helps to stop the bike bobbing front to back. Also, with a twinshock or trailie on a normal car they get a lot of wind resistance over 50! (wasn't an issue with a modern trials machine for me) I used to do one strap to the handlebars from the rack, and one around the back wheel to the vertical post of the rack. Experimented with one over the middle but TBH that didn't seem to make much difference.

I carried a 95Kg Pampera on a Dave Cooper rack many times when I had a Mondeo with a rusty 70kg rated tow hitch. It didn't cause any problems, but I had the car on a lift every 3 months or so to check everything, just in case. The static max nose weight allows for the dynamic forces that are likely to occur with a generous safety margin. As for insurance, they won't refuse to pay out unless the bike or rack is responsible for an accident occuring - so inspect the rack and tow bar regularly, make sure the bike is properly secured (500kg rated straps are easy to get and longer lasting than market stall specials), and have a light board that works and looks 'proper' (ie. not a bit of cardboard with your reg number written in biro). In an accident the rack will bend before it breaks unless it's very rusty ... if the accident is severe enough for the rack or hitch to be torn off then you'll have other things to worry about TBH. (for what it's worth, my day job is being a crash tester)

Looks promising, though judging by the condition there's going to be a lot of replacing bearings, seals, etc! The Mk3 shares it's brake lever with the EC, for what it's worth

Hello and welcome - this site is more about observed trials rather than long distance, but a lot of the advice does carry over! My other half has a Mk3 Pampera which has been pretty much rebuilt from the ground up (still has bits to do), and I just recently picked up a Gasgas EC250 that had been used for long distance trials (which just requires a freshen, thank goodness!) Good luck with your project Any chance you could post up some photos?