ChrisCH

Clay says the bean counters are not pushing him around. I think he should maybe let them - just a bit.....

You might find the parts you need here: https://classicandvintagesuspension.co.uk/product-category/front-suspension/betor/

You would need to find a courier that understands the correct paperwork, but in theory there is nothing to pay in import or VAT. https://www.chamberelancs.co.uk/2021/11/export-and-return-of-goods-for-repair-to-and-from-the-eu/

Most local bike repair outlets will service forks. My local one does mostly motocross, but will work with trials forks too. I am also lucky to have a suspension specialist nearby as well. https://www.racelab.co.uk/ However Betor are not a brand most will know or be able to get the parts for if doing a full rebuild. I think the OP will need to send them back to Spain. That would be my number 1 option. Sadly it is (now) a major PITA with all sorts of VAT and import/export BS to do and hoops to jump through. Might try https://twsuspensiontech.co.uk/services/shock-rebuilds-repair

The manufacturers do a restoration service - you'd need to ship them back to Spain. https://www.betorspain.com/en/1076-restauracion-betor-forks.html

Thanks for that very informative post Alan. My missus has the '25 Factor-e and the front disc has a very slight noise under rotation. The mud and a bit of wear has shut it up but that explanation is very helpful in understanding the issue. She had a Beta Evo years back and I replaced the disc with a Galfer and it was much better than the Beta OE. The current EM setup is very good though - the braktec stuff is excellent.

The bike will climb a steep rocky hill very well. The electric motor gives enough power at low revs to tackle most stuff. The big thing to get your head round is the lack of a flywheel. When you roll the throttle off the bike stops. It takes a bit of time to get used to but I am sure you will find it OK. You need a clutch on a petrol bike so you can build power on the engine without forward motion. Electric is a different mindset. The lack of a clutch is more an issue if you want to power the front wheel up from stationary or very low speed. You need to compress the forks and blip the throttle. To be fair I need the same technique on my Honda CRF but my TRF will lift the wheel on the clutch very easily. I hope you enjoy the Escape and it solves your issue. If money were no object I would buy one tomorrow.

The PRB is an interesting device but I agree with the above analysis that it is not a suitable substitute for a rear brake. My immediate thought to your original post is that on kids trials bikes like Oset the rear brake is where the clutch lever should be as is the case on a pedal cycle. (US push bike spec is other hand - really odd - French do it too). Can you get a ride to see how it works for you? The Oset 24 is just about big enough for an adult. Once you experience not having a clutch it will become clear. You have - in effect - an "automatic" and seperate front and back brakes. Would that work for you? The EM Escape might be worth a look if you need a saddle and just want to ride for fun. I am sure it would be possible to link up the LH lever to the rear brake as the system is hydraulic and should provide the pressure for the rear caliper.

Thanks - I tried to set up yesterday and have failed. This is really annoying. I do wish they would make the software run on a Windows laptop - that would be so much easier.

Anyone using this now? I have just managed to download it (app) and hope to get it working over the weekend. The phone number they require is to send you a code to set up the app - I am not sure if the number needs to be the phone the app is on or any phone to get the SMS? Inch Perfect use one phone to manage all the bikes. Clearly once set up the app will manage multiple machines.

One of each? Got to be the best option.

I think; as the situation is in the UK at the minute, it makes sense for many households to have an EV and an ICE car. This would work for me with an EV van and a diesel car. No one is 'virtue signalling' with an electric car it is a lot of cash and a sensible decision as they are better than ICE in so many ways although they can be problematic until the infrastructure catches up. In four or five years time EV will be the popular choice. The Ténéré is too tall for me. I like the CF Moto 450MT and might be tempted when new stock arrives. The old Yamaha XT range always was a good option. I liked the 500 but they are bonkers money now. There is - I think - a new 600 coming? Might be worth a look. Adventure bikes are the fashion go-to right now but not my thing as a main bike. I will keep my GSX for the minute - it does everything I need for road use and cannot depreciate any more. I looked at the Triumph Trident 660 but it is not as good a bike as the one I have. As long as I can buy petrol I intend to keep the Suzuki. I will be dead by the time it is illegal to ride it ☺️

Nope. Like them or not (I aint keen) the EV is the future. The ICE is in its death throes. Most governments will ban new ICE light cars at some point. The big question is therefore motorbikes. Currently there is no real agreement about bikes. Most European countries (inc UK) are looking at ICE bikes banned later than cars. 2040 is the current year (proposed) here. Lots of time for an alternative to be developed. The market is running faster than this because for many people an EV car is a better option than an internal combustion model. So there is a real possibility that traditional fuels will become more difficult to buy sooner than expected. Again not a problem for trials as we have a container with petrol in the van. For me the concern is road motorcycles. Small tanks mean frequent filling. A diesel car will do maybe 800 - 1,000Km on a fill, a petrol bike maybe 200 - 300Km. Eventually you will need an app to find petrol as it is phased out. The electric road bikes like Zero are a bit rubbish at present. They are stupid money too. Trials will go electric long before road bikes.

Hmm.. The link for the international site doesn't show the trials stuff. UK importer site is better and has the two trials bikes: https://www.arcticleopard.co.uk/arctic-leopard-models.html#trial No idea if anyone has ever bought one.

Nope. EV are taking a bigger share of the market globally as time passes. You are wrong. There has been a slow down here in the UK as the subsidies and tax advantages have been reduced. The Chinese market is very much moving to BEV. Some of the car companies that sell big gas guzzler models are kicking back to try to persuade the regulatory authorities to allow the non fossil hydrocarbon options rather than the ban on ICE altogether. I don't really know if this will work or not. What seems most likely to me is the growth of low emission areas in cities and the wealthy that buy these sad manhood substitutes will have an EV for the city and a petrol phallus model for the out of town drive. Whatever. I don't much care when it comes to cars. The #1 issue for me and all of us here is the potential prohibition of ICE motorcycles after '35. If this were to happen at least there is comfort in the fact that the new (EV) trials bikes are every bit as good as the petrol models. Should be a good secondhand market by then as well. The big unknown is if the Chinese manufacturers enter the trials bike market. I have no view on that. The Artic Leopard (sorry - I put "snow" last post - my bad) might be the bridgehead. https://www.arctic-leopard.com/

Yup. There is a big lot of BS around electric as an automotive fuel right now. But you are correct that there are other alternatives to fossil hydrocarbons. For trials bikes I think the issue is neither here nor there - we really do not use enough fuel to have any influence one way or another. E85 is a step in the right direction but (as best I understand it) that requires fuel injection? The Vertigo is - I think - the only non carburated bike at present? Light cars will go electric - the trend is very strong and the air pollution in cities makes it inevitable. Maybe not 100% of all cars but for city use it is going that way for sure. I would buy an electric van if they were not so expensive. For my usage it would be better than the current diesel. I need a van big enough for two trials bikes and they are big money. My wife likes the electric bike very much - the new Factor-e is really really good. Again a bit too expensive right now to buy, but the running costs will be lower with no engine to service. I cannot fault the bike - maybe a few kilos too heavy if you are really trying hard to find fault with it. Road motorcycles is a hard one. The little bikes for ride to work are OK in electric but bigger stuff doesn't cut it. Without the car market going over to synthetic (non fossil) fuel its hard to see where the market for that fuel will come from, so hard to see the economic case for manufacturing it. Assuming humans survive long enough there will come a point where you cannot buy petrol at a service station and it will only be in a (small) can for vintage stuff. I think my TRS will be worn out by then 😁

Back on topic - the question for the US trials market is whether the new Pres will push up the cost of trials bikes to replace other taxes and if so, whether Vertigo is seen as "Chinese" and as such gets the biggest hit in the trade war he is planning? https://edition.cnn.com/2024/10/26/politics/trump-income-taxes-tariffs/index.html Most trials bikes are european in origin and might not get hit too hard. Whack job Reagan put a 45% tariff on Japanese bikes as Japan was the boogeyman back then. Bad news for Volvo cars too?

Americans are tired of their children. 😁

We don't have the required engineers anymore 😁

Which ones have you ridden? I found the old EM to be not so good as my TRS, but the new one is on a par or better. It takes a fair while to get used to as they are different for sure. Yes too expensive - hopefully the Chinese will bring the price down though.

Hydrogen will never ever be a fuel for small (less than 40t) vehicles. There are many technological reasons why. It has a role for large vehicles although the German experiment with trains (to which it is suited) saw a return to diesel/electric fairly soon (not sure totally why - see https://hydrogen-central.com/why-germany-first-hydrogen-train-is-partially-switching-back-to-diesel/) Hydrogen was (and still is) a massive lie by the oil & gas companies to pretend they are going green but still burning fossil hydrocarbon. There already is a perfectly good gas if you need it - LPG. Electric is most certainly the future for the light car market. China is the main manufacturing centre for electric cars and electric is 50% of their current domestic sales. China also is the main place of manufacture of PV panels and has a massive growing solar sector. Their government is committed to solar and is moving fast in that direction. China has terrible air pollution and little oil so needs to import oil or domestically produce cheap as chips electric from the sun. There is only one outcome of those variables. This is why the idiot Trump wants to tariff Chinese EV by 100%. The yanks are scared of China overtaking them as world no 1 economy. China will overtake USA soon, probably while the orange idiot is in power. Whatever. We are not bothered by such stuff as we like motorcycles, not cars (or trains). For trials bikes electric is a good fuel. Better in my opinion than liquid hydrocarbon for the majority of riders. For road bikes liquid hyrocarbon is a better choice. Road bike EV are thus far not much cop - too short a range and a bit heavy and clunky. Hard to see how current battery technology works for road going motorbikes. That might change, but for now I am keeping my Suzuki thank you. Road bikes are going Chinese. CF Moto is the brand of the minute (and doing well in the GP). The price advantage is considerable and the build quality good. We are at the turning point. Same place we were with the Japanese bikes in the 80s. However trials is not big in China. All I am aware of is the Tenaci Wong and it is going nowhere much. This industry news could be (I said "could") a shift. It would be great if China started to figure in trials a bit more and such an expansion would be good for the sport IMHO. So, to recap. The future is Chinese (CF Moto?). The future is electric (EM/Yamaha, Gasgas, Honda, OSET, Snow Leopard?)

The future is Chinese. The future is electric.

You might be able to get the bike tested and approved for UK road use. You will need to take it to a test station for type approval rather than an MOT test. https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-approval/motorcycle-single-vehicle-approval

If it has lights etc then really it is a "road" bike (like a CRF300L Honda for example) or it was in China. It will need to meet UK emissions levels (Euro 5) and relevent laws, also the lights will need to be UK specification. An enduro bike might be road legal if it meets those requirements, but the chances are the Chinese bike does not. The manufacturer will only fit lights etc to meet UK laws. Competition bikes (trials) generally do not have road lighting, but are still required to meet the new Euro 5 emissions standards. If the bike is sold as "off road" - like a pit bike - then it is for off road use only and they do not need to provide any documentation as you can use it off road on private land where it does not need to comply with any road laws. It sounds like that is what the ebay seller is telling you. If it is new you don't need an MOT for three years.

It is not the import tax that is important - it is whether the bike is road legal or not. If it does not have UK type approval then it might not be suitable for road use. Competition bikes (trials) are exempt from type approval so it is not a black and white issue. If it off ebay and the seller says it is not road legal it probably isn't so DVLA will not register it.