big john

It's a well known fact that if an entry is received after the closing date, that in itself is sufficient for the organising club to reject the entry. The entries opened in October that is surely time enough to get an entry to the event secretary? Big John

They do two things, they are in effect "baffles" and... help seat the spring onto the damper tube. as an aside, I took the liberty of making up two types of tool for Bultaco forks, one which fits the up to 199A type Betors and the other which fits the 199B type fork with a small but important modification to the damper tube. It enables me to tighten fully the allen bolt on the end of the damper tube nice and tight (not over tight) without relying on the spring to do the job fully assembled. Big John

A man called Mick Wilkinson! you mean THE Mick Wilkinson from Kettlewell, former Francis Barnet & Greeves factory rider, who also rode in the ISDT for Great Britain no less! Mick Wilkinson - One of motorcycling's greatest characters! Big John

Sounds to me decidely like you have maybe inserted the seals in their carriers incorrectly or maybe left out the o rings, its drawing air from somewhere, assuming your throttle slide is not stuck wide open! Big John

Firstly you say it would rev massively, is that by itself or by you winding open the throttle? Assuming its not a stuck throttle or knackered crank seals... That particular model/type of Bultaco was a bit difficult to start even when brand new. From memory the proceedure was a couple of kicks with the throttle wide with petrol off. Like priming kicks without fuel Then: Petrol switched on, with twist grip wound fully open, tickle carb antil flooding out of the tickler overflow hole. Close throttle. One kick throttle closed, and another and another if it doesn't fire on first kick. She then should then burble into life, maybe even feathering the tickler to give a wee bit more fuel, while she settles down. They were quite prone to flooding-out those bikes with 627 Amals. Hope this helps. Big John

Both my son's trials bikes are now on MSM, best deal by far, saved over

point 1 - I certainly would not want to ride the old Staircase on a road bike, I have walked up it many times, I know exactly where it is, its trickier than it looks on film! Point 2 - I have many times, except it was called a "Matchless - G3C 1959, same as an AJS, only the timing casing and tank decoration differs! And it wasn't seriously modified other than Renthal bars, 18inch rear rim; alloy rims fore and aft and modern footrests! - A proper Pre-65 bike wholely and exclusively... well within the spirit of the Pre65 Scottish!

Tell us more about the Toyota Hiace please? Someone once said: If its good enough for the Taliban...... They appear to have an "enviable reputation". They appear boring and old fashioned, but do they really go on forever and have the lowest running costs, what about real problems, have they any real bad points? Interested to hear from any Hiace owners. Big John

Well there you go Metisse, you made the wrong assumption then. "B40RT" aka Ross, is not of course alone, what I knew was there are others that are on the reserve list, had a few phone calls about it. Ah well, never mind, you can please some of the people.......! I don't believe in sacrifices either, I have always taken the view, if I get in, fair enough, if I don't.. same applies. Regards, Big John

Who said I was on the bench, from where did you get this information? You are totally mistaken there sir! Big John

This event has regularly been 100% over-subscribed for many years. The limit is 180 riders, it cannot be easily extended to accommodate more competitors, because it uses the public highway and there are tight restrictions in Scotland for this facility. I believe, although it has not been substantiated, that it has again been oversubscribed by about 70%. I have spoken to quite a number of people who have decided not to enter this year, this has unfortunately failed to "solve" the over-subscription issue. A number of suggestions have been made on here (and elsewhere) and even approaches made at various times to the organising club and it's officials. However most of these "suggestions" ensure that the proposer (and all his/her chums) are assured of an entry if such schemes were to be implemented. The worst idea I ever heard was restricting entrants to being over 40 years of age, this in itself would be in fact an "ageist" act, not recommended and also ensure that continued interest in the event would eventually cease! A lot of bikes that enter are not really in the original spirit of the event, which was in reality a "diversion" for a mid-week bottle neck of traffic at the SSDT. The first event saw a load of ex-factory riders obtain a suitable machine of the period (e.g. Arthur Lampkin on an ex-works BSA Gold Star; Jeff Smith on another; Gordon McLaughlan on an AJS etc... etc) Now I'm afraid we see very interesting machines dating from 2009 or later, which while technically brilliant and expensive pieces of kit, but falling far short of being "Pre65". And if they don't get a ride...well need I really say more? And before some bright spark says anything...NO, I am not the spokesman of the E&D club thank you very much! See below! The photographic submission with initial entry is a good thing, I have lost count the number of times guys have sent me a photo of their bike asking if I thought it would comply, my answer has always been, you are speaking to the wrong person! Now they have direct access to the Clerk of Course and Eligibility panel for a correct appraisal. As Slapshot3 has already said: It's their trial, their way! Big John (IMHO...) edited for spelling mistakes.

You are quite correct Charlie, photos had to be supplied by entrants this time. However the photos are purely for the event organisers use only and not for public scrutiny, it could lead to copyright and other such issues if they were to be published on an open website. Some owners may object to their photographs being distributed (data protection and all that!) I believe that there have been a number of rejections after the photographs have been submitted. Slapshot has a point, you could cut, copy paste a whole heap of stuff on this event from previous years! Big John

I've been watching a video sent to me by Jock McComisky taken in 1986 by an old hand called Jackie Williamson of the Pre-65 Scottish Trial (when it was a one day event) and the range of machinery and genuine Pre-65 machinery was quite staggering. Apart from Rob Edwards' Triumph which was clearly a Triumph Adventurer in reality and Alex Buchanan's Triumph which George Greenland later identified as a Wasp built in 1968 - the bikes were pretty much "as they were". Very few James seen in any of the shots and the Tiger Cubs spotted had heavyweight teles and certainly no trick forks as far as I could tell. Everyone used a period carb, probably set up as best they could. A good cross-section of bikes ridden, as they had been in the 1950's and 1960's with some earlier variants than that as well. The sections were also not so tough. Everyone seemed to be enjoying their day out. One very interesting piece when the cameraman tried to take a shot of a certain Mr. Miller change the fork oil on his Ariel, he was told in no uncertain terms to "go away". I would imagine that the innards he intended to keep secret! No-one seemed to be too concerned about who was riding what as they were all period machines, even Walter Dalton looked considerably younger back then, he was driving a brand new (C reg) Ford Sierra 1.8 diesel! Pity it all went a bit shall I say: "sour", from just 24 years ago isn't it? Big John

You are not alone! Big John

That depends on what you mean by gossip and snippets? Big John

This is not good news for the sport. White Bros as a firm is about 80 years old. Derek White is a decent guy, lot of respect for him not only as a dealer but as a fair businessman. Big John

If you are talking about an Old air cooled Bultaco Sherpa 250 its 600cc of Gear Oil such as Castrol EP80 or 90. If its a Bultaco Sherco water cooled (modern) its 450cc of light gear oil or even TQF. Big John

You should consider getting one of the FDOS needle roler conversions, they retail at

Got to be careful there, if both machines exist and the frame and motor numbers are identical then there is a legal matter that the DVLA would pursue vigourously, as there should never be two machines using the same registration mark. Prosecution and impounding of the vehicles and eventually crushing is an option open to the authorities. Effectively "ringing". Big John

Hi, Interestingly, I recently bought number 700, donor bike was also 199A. Frame kit is going to Spain to a very good friend who needed one! Rest of this machine will remain here for obvious spare part availability, definately not for resale! Big John

Try Halfords diesel fuel line, it is fuel/oil resistant and is braided, comes in a variety of bore sizes! I have it on my BSA and Matchless. Big John

Rosey, you are a class act! Spot on! Big John

Like it, think I spotted one of my old photographs in there! Steve Saunders on Ben Nevis putting his tool belt back on, watched by a young Caroline Sandiford. Rothmans RTL270...the business! Big John