jon v8

Would he/she be related to the creator of the Ramblers association ?

Its all down to what works for you,I had a new TLR250 in 1986 - one of the most beautiful looking bikes ever,couldnt ride it.Traded that for a new 241 Fantic in 87,not much better on that - then bought a horrible tatty 86 TY250R in 88 and had a great time on it.(And it never went wrong,unlike the Honda and Fantic) Watching the bloke who beat me on Sunday on an SWM 320 had me wondering about them,the red/white ones are surely some of the best looking twinshocks out,not forgeting the later Beta's.But what are the SWM's like to ride ?

Good news - I've found the old original,(But very dented) front pipe off his spare bike.So with hopefully a larger enduro tailpipe and a lagged/covered front pipe it should be alot better. I'll chop up some fuel hose to damp the fins and see what its like. Cheers for the ideas.

I've never been that fussy about trials helmets, there are still pics of me on the wall riding without one.But the lid I have now is a Hebo one very similar to the Airoh one shown above,best helmet I've ever worn - light,comfy and airy when its hot.best of all theliner comes out so you can wash it.I bought it from BVM,think it was about

Good stuff,are you going to come down to the next Bath trial,25th Oct on Lansdown - its a good venue,esp if its wet !

No,my puter wouldnt do it either,had to ask a neighbour to print it off for me.What number were you ?

Yep,probably my best ever ride - came 2nd on the hard route on 10,7th overall.Totally chuffed,pity we didnt meet up Bo.

Thanks for that,I'll have a look around on E-Bay.I was going to do the fins anyway as there is so much row there,not thought about the inlet so much,I'll see how it goes.I dont really want to cut up the new expansion box,but it acts like a big drum so I think it may have to be done,maybe make up a simple baffle inside to stuff some wadding into to keep the power pulses from acting direct onto the outside of the pipe.

The Golden valley club have a trial on Sunday if you are interested,usually quite a varied selection of bikes/abilities. Its at Climperwell farm 2 miles south of Birdlip on the B4070. I'll be wobbling round on my Ty - if its dry on the hard route,wet it'll be the easy route.Its AMCA,and you are required to wear a helmet.

Anyone ?

Maybe using Concorde as an example wasnt a good idea,what I was meaning is that now its gone it takes twice as long to cross the Atlantic and look as though it will stay that way.All of the talk about the makers not updating the bikes so often,not supporting the Scottish or pulling out of trials altogether makes me wonder if if the modern bikes have gone far enough ? If you look at the diminishing sales and low turnout compared to the current twinshock scene you have to question where its going. I hope it does pick up,but modern bikes are generally miles better than the people that ride them apart from the gifted few at the top - but it all has to come back to money,will there be enough bikes sold to keep it going? Better EFI and the under tank seat may be seen as improvements but both are minor tweaking and will come along - I was looking for major changes like the first mono's or disc brakes.

Just read through the whole lot of this..... Am I alone in wondering where trials bike development is going to go in the next 5 years ? What more can the manufacturers do in reality ? Is it going to be like Concorde ?

I'm going to stick a spanner in the works here and say its a backward step to move the condensor outside the engine.The main reason being that alot of car condensors are now of very poor quality,even Lucas ones dont seem much cop.I've converted a few older cars,4wd's and a tractor to electronic ignition because of the rubbish quality of ignition components.Wheras the points and condensors I have had for my TY's from JK Hirst seem to be as well made as the originals.All I do in terms of maintenance is to seal the mag cover with silicone each time I take it off and I squirt a small amount of WD40 around in there to stop any damp starting off any corrosion. It has worked well on my 250 for 4 years now,starting is usually first kick and never any misfire issues or poor pickup.I hate poor igniton on petrol engines as I see alot of Land Rover v8's with running/emissions problems - its a large part of my work.So to have something 30 years old still running well on points is a big plus.

I have a very smart air cooled RM500 in my workshop,I have been asked to make it road legal but its far too noisy for road use.Has anyone some ideas for shutting it up.It has a brand new DG full system on it which I have permission to chop up.Money is not an issue,time is so any bits that can be bought would be good,but not too worried if I have to spend a few hours with the Tig set.

Yep,getting that first section wrong really mucked me up,it wasnt till the second lap that I settled down.If you PM a phone number to me I'll give you a call,see if we can sort it out.Do you have a manual with all the settings/specs etc ?

Thats a shame - it was a good trial even though I fived the first section by going the wrong way..... i didnt realise you were in trouble with the bike,I live about 300 yds from there - we could have got it back to my workshop and scoped the ignition system.Dont give up on the Fantic,those Honda's arent all they are cracked up to be.

Where too ?

If its any help I'll stick a tape across my XT motor and one of my 250 frames.I've never bothered before as the 175 frame was totally stripped before I started.(It was a complete but totally worn out box of bits - the engine was absolutely totalled,so it was an ideal donor frame.) I only bought it originally to stop it from being scrapped,then the XT225 came along as a bad debt so it had to be done.Is the XT400 engine the same as the 4 valve XT350 ? If it is I dont think it would make a very good trials motor,I had one for several years as a green laner.I geared it right down,stripped everything off it for weight etc,but it was really not happy plodding - much better revving above 2-2500 rpm. I hoped the XT225/TY175 would be ready for the Dartmoor 2 day,but its still far from done.Excellent weekend of fun,met Mick Andrews - he kindly signed the tank on my 250. He made a really good impression at the trial,everyone commented on what a decent bloke he is. Woody,which book is it you are talking about ? Are there any copies around on Amazon etc ?

Be interesting to see what turns up at the Dartmoor 2 day this weekend,I didnt do it last year but I've even shone a torch at the breaker points on the TY this time.... Perhaps I'll moan loudly at any converted mono's whilst queueing for sections - never made any fuss before but I dont think its right.

Poor excuse - I reckon you went to Farleigh Castle to watch the scrambling like I did !

Please shoot at me if I'm completely wrong ,but I remember using CB125 friction plates in my 1986 TLR 250 when it was new which made a huge difference,ie the cluch actually worked properly - and I seem to remember the advice was the same for RTL's at the time.I do still have the RTL parts book if its any help.

Ok, I'll stick my neck out here and say I dont think its worth bothering on a TY 80,the points,condensors etc available from places like JK Hirst seem to be really good quality.The 80 I built for my son starts first kick, even when left for ages and it goes almost too well. Its a bit different on say a TY175 or 250 where more top end poke would help,(esp with a slightly porky rider like me ! ) which can come from the electronic advance in the modern systems. Making sure all the connections are good,new ponts,condensor and some attention to waterproofing should be good enough.

Yep,Emborough ponds -Aug 23rd at 11am. Signposted off the B3139 + A37. Hopefully I'll be there ,if I get back from Devon in time. It is the AMCA club too.

Which one Bo ? There are 2 Somerton clubs,Somerton Classic - which is AMCA. And Somerton DMCLCC which is ACU. Caught me out once as I normally ride Bath,GV,SWCTA and the Somerton Classic - I turned up at one of the other club's with no ACU licence - Oops....

Its coming on slowly Bo, a front sprocket arrived from BVM yesterday,but I've given up on the plan of riding it in the Dartmoor 2 Day.The trusty TY250 will be doing it again.Not given up on the Serow,I plan to ride it in the hard route at all the "difficult" venues,(Did I mention Golden Valley ? ) The rigid would be nice for the more gentle stuff like the Bath and Somerton Classic trials.Each one built and ridden is keeping it alive,and a big part of trials for me is seeing all the stuff going on besides riding myself.I reckon it would be a bit poor if it ended up with just trick Majesty's and Fantics - riding sections that really suit mono's.