jon v8

GOV132 ? Dont you mean HNP331 ?

Yamaha Serow - just as another thought.I met Lois Pryce at Telford and have just finished reading her book.Cracking little bike with total reliability.

Wonder which one looks best now ?

Steady up - this is supposed to be a trials forum ! But a smooth one is good.

Dunno,but I've had a DAMN good look.

Thanks David,my posting on the Australian site was to see if anyone there was interested on the possibility of new clutch covers,judging by the lack of repsonse i guess its not a problem.I also posted in the introduce yourself bit,just looked again - 70 views and nobody even said hello.Whatever, I picked up a spare flywheel cover this afternoon at the telford show,on the same stand there was a new TY250B clutch cover and quite a few other bits and TY pieces.Craig Mawlems majesty stand had a great display of TY stuff as did John Canes TY/Trails.So here in the UK a TY yam is an easy choice in terms of spares/upgrade stuff. Saying that most of the other makes were well catered for too,Montesa,Bultaco and Ossa were well represented.

The flywheel cover can be bought new,no problem.Apparently they are cast a bit thick in section and can cause damage to the crankcase on impact.Only what i've heard,no personal experience of it. the clutch cover is more of a problem,I've tried Tig welding them with little success.Can only find them on E-Bay secondhand or at autojumbles etc. I even tried to encourage discussion on an Australian trials website,but no one could be bothered to answer.I have asked a few people here in the UK about having new clutch covers cast without the oil pump face - so it can bve more streamlined in appearance.

I dont know much about Ossa's - except the brakes dont work when wet,then again my TY brakes could be better..... Try here for parts - http://www.inmotiontrials.com/ I'm sure others will be along with help.Good luck with the wound,sounds a tad painful.I've probably still got a scar on my backside from the handlebar of my Fantic.Annoyingly it was a brand new bike, ridng across the field to the first section and a mate rode straight into the back of me - not looking where he was going.That was summer 1987.......

There is going to be a big sort out in my workshop in the next few weeks,so the Serow project which has gathered dust for too long is going to get sorted - maybe well enough to do the Dartmoor 2 day this year.

Well,its moved on a bit this week,a new MK1 Concentric arrived yesterday.Easily fitted with a new cable I made up from a Venhill kit and a new Domino twistgrip...... All excited that I might have it running for sunday,only to find the splines on the kickstart have given up.Looking more closely it seems the previous owner forced what looks like a Japanese lever onto the shaft - the splines are quite different between the two.So now I need to make a new lever up.(Shaft splines are OK,the lever had been made of softer material.) So it was bump started to try the carb out,and immediately I realised there will be plenty of fine tuning to do.It stutters on a snap throttle opening and ocassionally just dies when ticking over - for no apparent reason.Looks like the trusty TY250 will get used tomorrow.

If I see him on sunday I'll ask him,he often rides Golden Valley trials.I'll ask Craig about the frames too,I do know he only has one of the 250/320 types left as he offered it to me a few weeks ago. Really must get around to finishing my TY/Serow engined bike,should have a bit more time now the Ariel is running.....

I dunno,here in the UK I would say its not alot of money,from all the classified ads I've ever read whilst staying in Oz I guees there cant be too many trials bikes on offer....

Well I gave up waiting for the Morgo pump and cancelled the order.I just wanted to get on and ride it... Which I did,yesterday.I managed to complete the trial,all along making mental notes of things that need sorting. The main thing that came to mind is that the Monobloc carb is fairly worn and so is difficult to keep in tune.I've looked at plenty of HT5's and seen either Concentrics or Villiers carbs used,so which is best for reliable low speed running with reasonable pickup ? being a 500 lack of power is not really an issue,and ocassionaly the Monobloc shows how sweet the HT5 engine is - other times it just dies as if its too lean. Pro's and con's of both replacements would be greatly appreciated.

Pester power ! Talking of which the first Bath Classic trial is on at Binegar quarry on sunday - you coming ?

Go on - get it spent !

I had a Honda C100 steppy at 8yrs,BSA Bantam at 10 - always liked the idea of trials but thought it was out of reach... Then I swapped a plunger BSA B31 for a silver engined Beamish in 1984.Been competing on and off ever since. I have to say that since 2006 when I started again after a few years off the twinshock and pre65 has really got hold of me.I enjoy it far more than I ever did riding modern.I used to get the enjoyment out of thinking over the trial AFTER the event - now I like the whole lot,marking out,pi-- taking,riding - basically the whole bit.

I would add that a decent twinshock in GOOD condition will require less looking after than a modern mono.The TY250 I'm using at the moment is one that I bought in 2006.Basically in good nick apart from the engine which I fully rebuilt.since then I've gone through two rear tyres,a pair of sprockets,two chains two plugs and a set of points.(The points were only because I thought I really ought to ) It gets a wash after most trials and the chain oiled.Carb and air filter cleaned out now and again,cables etc oiled. And thats it - It rarely misses a beat,I happily do the Dartmoor Two day on it and only fill with fuel and oil the chain after the first day. Compared to the hassle I had with the last mono,(Beta Rev 3) and the problems I see with other bikes at trials I think the old Yam is about as reliable as it gets. The twinshock trials are marked out mostly for fun - not for hero's. Its altogether different than modern where I used to feel the need to practice or ride every week. Plus your twinshock is unlikely to lose you any money should you decide its not for you.

Just what I was going to say - a TY175 would do the trick like this one; http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Yamaha-TY175-twinshock-trials-bike-/320641845864?pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item4aa7be4a68Twinshock trials is really helpful toward novices,easier sections and help from other riders is always there.Ride at AMCA events and you dont even need a licence.Bike,helmet and boots are all you need to start.Then if the bug bites you can move on,probably losing little if any money.

Well seeing the news at lunchtime today Brisbane is taking a real beating.My brother phoned from Perth and told me a great deal more than the BBC chose to tell us.I can only say that our thoughts are with you all and hoping that the floods subside quickly.The loss of life and missing list is terrible - I really dont know what to say that can make sense or help in any way. Lets hope tomorrow is a better day,regards Jon.

Anyone on here use the TA forum ? I registered on it as I have strong connections downunder and hope to watch a couple of events out there in 2012.Went on the introduce yerself bit and nobody even said hello.No problem I thought,then I noticed a post asking how riders living in Queensland were coping with the floods,149 views so far and nobody could bother to comment.I realise trials is a minority sport,but I'm glad TC is more friendly and active.....

The bloke that wrote that article has never seen a diesel running on light load.I'm going to carry on honing bores when I do a freshen up or re-ring.I could give loads of examples but I cant be bothered.I've also been given advice by learned people from the intstitute of welders about repairing aluminium cylinder heads - most of it was total crap. I sometimes wonder if they feed us minions rubbish to trip us up ?

Silver.

Yea,in some ways - the rh one leaked first and it rode better with only one damping.Then the other leaked and now I think I need to do something about it.(Being a trial rider I dont rush to spend money on it...) But the engine that I built in 06 which rattled annoyingly from the first time I ran it is still going strong.Its a bit of a personal thing building an engine that runs well AND lasts,I guess in this case it has lasted.