turbofurball

£2500 is about right for a twinshock bike that's in properly working condition; I paid much less for both my twinshock bikes, but they've both needed a shedload of work. Conversely "modern" type bikes that are "undesireable" (10 to 20 year old 2 strokes) can be found for about £1K in good working order if you're patient. Note that with ANY used bike you need to know what you're looking for in order to find a good one - there are huge numbers of trials bikes for sale that look good but are falling apart under the surface. If you're not mechanically inclined, find a local club member of good standing who is willing to help you; trials clubs are generally a friendly bunch and often good deals go to club members without being advertised elsewhere. Last bit of advice, even though you've ridden motorbikes before, avoid anything bigger than a 250 like the plague for a first trials bike - as soon as you're in a confined space in sketchy conditions you'll understand why!

That site is accurate enough that DVLA accept it as a source for dating old TYs before registering them for the road The serial numbers are a little confusing in places as they sold the 125 in some places and the 175 in others, but with similar numbers ... still, it's all in the chart!

That's a really interesting link, thanks for posting it up

Or they might just want to make their own patterns? I know I did when I had a modern bike, and I asked the same question at the time. To answer OP's question, I didn't manage to find any templates when I last looked, but that was a couple of years back. Best solution is to get a set of cheapy stickers off ebay and measure them

That does sound like a nice holiday Welcome, Bob! Have you got any photos of your steeds?

Best thing is to ride it and see if it feels cramped, most twinshock riders want a certain modicum of comfort that the original riders weren't worried about ... at 6'3 your chap may struggle. My TY has a peg kit and benefits from it, though without the lengthened back swingarm it might have been a bit wheelie happy in it's current state of tune! On the Cota I have a 1" lift on the handlebars and stock foot pegs with a little extra platform welded to give more surface area.

A stockish TY175 is a really good first trials bike and fun for pootling on green lanes too ... with a little seat time on any bike you will have context as to where you want to go next - I chose to modify my TY to make it into a more "serious" machine (it's a bit of a blank canvas for making your own bike), but selling and then getting a Fantic would be a good choice too

I spoke to Gasgas yesterday, and they're sorting me with a set The front AJP 2 pot floating caliper is a bit more obscure so they're off to look into it today ... it'll be so good when it's all done!

Yup, it says discontinued and other sites list it as out of stock or "call us before ordering" I'm going to call Gasgas UK today on the off-chance. Apparently the AJP 4 pot caliper is compatible, and they sell it bundled with new pads too for £87, so it's all covered ... just need to find the right rebuild kit for the AJP 2 pot floating caliper now, lol

Do the AJP 4 pot calipers just bolt on to replace older Hebo ones, or is a little adaptation needed? Also, does anyone know where you can buy them new? Alternatively, does anyone know of a secret stash of Hebo 4 pot rebuild kits?

They all feel like pussy cats till you put them into a trials section Anywho, looks tidy

I love that Dan's MC website, he has a fantastic writing style

That sounds fantastic for getting kids involved - good job!

This could use some photos for context - TBH if you can tidy up / fix what's already there then I'd say do that, and just keep an eye out in the future for nicer bits cropping up on eblag

A search by frame / vin would indeed be the most useful tool from dirt bikers' point of view (though it needs to be properly secured so nobody can find vin / reg by searching for a type of bike)

A TXT Pro 280 is a serious machine (though I know people have said it's more mellow now than it used to be); consider getting a flywheel weight and slow throttle for it to begin with (before it gets fired off into the top of a tree by accident) ... for context, I go in the A class at track days, have been riding for over 30 years now, and my 1980 TY175 has a good amount of power now I've been doing trials for a couple of years. Where to start - go to a trials school, or a casual / novice / "really easy" event. I found an understanding experienced rider to babysit me at a local fun trial for my first time on a trials bike, and after that a willing volunteer at a local club helped me through my first few competitions - in fact loads of other riders and observers have been wonderful and are why I'm still doing this This youtube channel is a good place to look for tips, though having a little experience helps give it context

It's nice 'cause you don't wreck your knees like in enduro Twinshock / classic trials is even more chilled, but still plenty challenging. There's some standard advice - go to watch, try it before buying a bike, and don't go for anything with a big engine right from the off even though you've been riding a long time (I'm sure there's more, lol)

Trials is a good hobby to share with kids, hope you both like it!

Like THIS ONE? Not a lot of use if nobody looks there, unfortunately Would be nice if it had the amount of backing that the bicycle register has from the police (ie. a little)

I've always used WD40, but that might not be ideal either, lol

I think the point here is finding stolen bikes when they appear at events

A nice little compilation ... though some of those clips are from quite a while back!

This is a big part of the reason mine are registered, insurance on a registered twinshock is ~£75 for me here (bonus for taking it to do some shopping, riding to work in deep snow, oh and maybe trials that include road work). Also, I think the reg plate puts some more casual thieves off since it means the numbers are all recorded somewhere official.

Thanks, I wanted to choose a colour that wasn't red & white or black & yellow ... the the colour is called "Technomagenta"

I'm guessing because old bikes don't have a VIN number, just a frame number which is easier to change. They're also less likely to be numbers matching.