stickinthemud

Nice graphs guys. Seems to me that there are only 11 Bantams OTF with 13 C15s and 19 B40s so Bantams don't rule - yet! Add to that 38 Cubs and 11 Triumph twins making up the Meriden split quota. Fingers crossed for good weather - surely can't be as bad as last year - can it???

Looks like you've been lucky so far Woody. I emailed both Shell and Murco back in 2011 as I'd heard that their fuels were ethanol free. This is the spec sheet they sent me for Shell V-Power with the following reply. VPower and Fuelsave Unleaded are blended with 5v% max ethanol. See atttached datasheets for your reference Regards, Chanda Technical Helpdesk It may that some refineries do not add ethanol yet as the Murco's reply pointed out As a company Murco do not have Ethanol in any of their products at this moment in time, however some of our garages are supplied from non-Murco terminals so in this case the Ethanol content would be 5%. I hope this is of some use to you. Regards Chris Blake When I rang Murco to follow this up they couldn't tell me which garages were ethanol free except that it was the ones in the Midlands. Many riders are now adding a drop of 2 stroke oil to 4 stroke fuel to put a film of oil on the carb slide etc. Ethanol has also ruined the tank on my 1999 Triumph Tiger 855. It became covered in blisters after the dampness in the garage last winter. The best precaution is to empty the tank when not in use and take care with the jet wash round the carb and filler cap! Good luck

I've heard that Aspen fuel, designed for horticultural machinery, chain saws, lawn mowers is ethanol free and can be left in the tank. http://www.aspenfuel.co.uk/news/huge-interest-in-aspen-for-classic-motorcycles/ Only drawback is the price. If this is not an option, you'll have to empty the tank when it's not in use.

No-one has mentioned the float height and fuel level. Try switching the fuel off and see if it revs ok after say 30 seconds or so. If it does, then your fuel level is too high. Here's what Burlen have to say - http://amalcarb.co.uk/optimising-mark-1-concentric-fuel-levels

Just taxed my rigid Matchless on-line. As Jack the Lad (lad? Who's he kidding?) says, just ticked yes it has an mot and it went through!

Most clubs including the Yorkshire Classic allow british bikes made up to and including 1970 so it depends what year it is. Edinburgh need frames of pre65 design for the Pre65 Scottish. Good luck - they showed some lateral thinking at the time.

Sorry guys. We tried. Unfortunately we have been unable to find a suitable alternative date. So both the NBBC West Riding Trial and the Ilkley Yorkshire Dales Sammy Miller round will be held on the 14th July with the starts less than 30 miles apart. We had hoped to move to the 7th July but the Scarborough 2 day is being held that weekend and the NBBC series organisers had already arranged to be at a joint event with the Midland Classic Club. All other dates around that time have problems so it's back to our original date. The Ilkley Club had already been moved twice to avoid the World round and the Richmond 3 day so don't wish to move. Hopefully next year we can let the involved clubs know earlier to avoid a repeat.

Hi Woody - we at the Yorkshire Classic are working on sorting the 14th July dates clash. The Ilkley trial was originally posted on the ACU web site as the 23rd June but shown on their web site as the 21st July. As we had already booked Cockhill Mines for our two day for 21st July and they pass through on their event, I contacted them only to find that they had finalised it for the 14th July the published date of our West Riding NBBC round! The NBBC rounds were published sometime ago so I can't think there's much more they could do. We'll try to sort out our round as both events' entries will suffer if not. As to why the number of Sammy Miller rounds have depleted, could it be something to do with the return of the Trials and Rallies Regulations from 1969? Originally run by the RAC, they caused chaos back then when we had to ride without numbers or road marking to get round the requirements. The law then seemed to be quietly forgotten. The MSA were handed the responsiblity when the RAC opted out not too long ago and it seems as though they decided that it should be resurected. This means every road going event should apply to the MSA for permision to use the route. If a car rally uses the same route within a 6 week period then the route cannot be used! Local publicity is required to warn residents. Riders names and addresses to be provided 10 days before etc - it's a nightmare! Maybe it's the £3 per rider the MSA will receive for giving permission. The ACU say the law must be followed. The AMCA's advise is to the contrary. All that extra work is sure to put people off - and that's if the route is approved as you can only apply a max of 6 months before the event. Oh and it is supposed to be first come first served. So if an important car rally clashes with a bike trial, who wins?

Instructions on how to enter the 2013 SSDT are now on ssdt.org Entries will be via the website only and open on the 5th October and close on the 14th December To enter you must first register on the SSDT website although you can enter for your mates via your registration Good luck

Here it is Glen - hope the link works. http://www.ghhorbury...on_Kangaroo.htm . Easy to see why the name Kangaroo was adopted! Also shows the later Mk2 - bonnie little bike that never took off. Only know of 3 of these - and one is in California - unless anyone knows different!

As many readers of Old Bike Mart may have seen, there is a proposal from the EU to drop the need for MoT tests for vehicles registered prior to the 1st Jan 1960. The Federation of Historic Vehicle Clubs are one of the consultees and have a questionaire on line to see what people feel about the proposal. Visit the FBHVC website or the survey on this webpage to cast your vote before the 10th Jan. It will be one less job each year for riders of vehicles that qualify. Something good to come out of an EU Directive? That will make a change!

I'm out! The hard luck letter arrived today. Even a rare Tandon Kangaroo didn't help. Had a good run I guess. Could be something to do with being the same capacity as lots of Cubs. Still going though. Wouldn't miss our Highland Holiday.

Have you seen this web site? Nametab link Exploded diagrams of many villiers engines and gearboxes with full parts lists. Your gearbox is under 'E series 197cc' - and 7E4 gearbox. Also includes engine number ID look up. Same gearbox as my Tandon Kangaroo has now and if anyone has any advice on how to tune the gearbox to prevent jumping past 3rd to a false neutral, it would be appreciated.

Pre65 link on the page 1 article doesn't seem to work and nor does the SSDT twitter link for me but Highland Lassie's link above does. They are in the SSDT web site Downloads section as well.

I heard a rumour that Murco petrol does not contain Ethanol so I emailed the company and received this reply on the 18th August 2011:- Steve, As a company Murco do not have Ethanol in any of their products at this moment in time, however some of our garages are supplied from non-Murco terminals so in this case the Ethanol content would be 5%. I hope this is of some use to you. Regards Chris Blake Commercial Marketing Manager Murco Petroleum Ltd. Westerleigh Terminal, Oakley Green, Westerleigh, Bristol. BS37 8QE ( Extension: 280 ( Direct: +44 (0) 1179 576280 ( Mobile: +44 (0) 7773 909735 So ask at your local Murco fuel Station that you'll find using the finder on http://www.murco.co.uk/welcome.htm where they get their fuel from. They no doubt keep quiet about this as I suspect that they don't want to be seen as being environmentally unfriendly. I had previously had replies from both Shell and Total and all their fuels contain ethanol. Hope this helps prolong the life of those old tanks. A friend rode his restored Bultaco Sherpa with original glass fibre tank for the first time in years recently and the inside of the tank started to de-laminate after one trial. He is well aware of the dangers of ethanol in petrol and knew to keep the tank empty when not in use but this experience shows that older tanks desolve very quickly with the new fuels. Even new ones still suffer. Be warned and aware! Empty and vent your GRP/fibreglass tank after each use.

Almost Spottydog25! It starts at 9-30am. I was equally miffed when it disappeared off my planner list so I emailed them at ukcomms@eurosport.com This is their reply last Monday:- Hi, thank you for your email. The programme has been rescheduled for Sat 13 August at 9.30am on British Eurosport 2. It should appear on your on screen TV guide within the next 24 hours. Best regards, UK Communications British Eurosport E: ukcomms@eurosport.com T: 0845 672 1010 Follow us on Twitter! @EurosportUKTV It is on the schedules now but I should keep an eye on it!

Hi Chris - still got the Tandon and it's still undergoing constant improvement and is getting better all the time. Much better now than it was in the Pre65 Scottish this year. Very interested to hear from other owners or the whereabouts of any more Tandon 'Kangaroos'! The only other Mk2 (conventional sprung rear) that I know of is in California! For your James, you should be aiming at between 35 and 38 to 1 overall ratios for bottom gear. So the next question is which gearbox are you using, 3 or 4 speed and are the ratios wide or standard or a mixture. If you are using the 23/51 teeth primary, I would recommend you get hold of an 18t engine sprocket from a 12D 125 engine to keep the rear wheel sprocket size down and the primary chain tensioned perfectly. You will have to put a step in the woodruff key as the 125 engine sprocket has a narrower key. A 20t from the 9E will also fit but the gearbox will need packing out to sort out the tension. 13t x 428 gearbox sprockets are available which will mean a rear wheel sprocket of somewhere between 54 and 60 t depending on the gearbox. So many questions. The various answers lie by putting the ratios on a spreadsheet if you can. I have one that covers all the above options if you fill in the missing blanks!

Hi Chris - Which engine are you using? Is it 6/8E or 9E/32A?

Hey B40RT - JB gears moved from Leeds to Unit 418, Birch Park, Street 7, Thorp Arch Trading Estate, Wetherby, West Yorkshire LS23 7FG a while ago. Phone 01937 845030. Anyone who knows the pattern and centres of a 50's 'British Hub' off the top of his head as he did deserves our support.

Very badly. Old fibreglass will desolve very quickly. You can try to line it or better still get an alloy one. Take a look at this and several previous topics.. Just search for ethanol. Is this one of the ones you bought? It was at the show last weekend.

Absolutely BJ. The start of the path alongside Loch Eilde Mor was certainly getting worse last year and in need of a rest. The main point of my post was to see if anyone knew what alternative had been decided. It would be a shame to increase the road mileage in exchange. As 2/4 says, the severity of tricky cross country sections does deter several less able riders from entering and if lost could increase the number of entries and make the committee's job even worse. It's always a privilege to ride over the moors and along Mamore Road bearing in mind the pressure from the environmental lobby to prevent such activity nationwide. I'm sure we will enjoy whatever route is decided.

So the message on the SSDT Pre65 webpages is that the trial will not be going over Blackwater in 2011 due to environmental considerations. That's a real shame. Nor will the route go over Callart Pass. Back to two way traffic on the Mamore Road. At least it's better than the ride back on the tarmac road although the 'new' sections on the roadside were good especially for spectators. Complaints have also been received from competitors about the severity of these two parts of the route. What does anyone think? To me cross country work like this is one of the best things about the event. Anyone know where the route will go instead of over Blackwater? Two way traffic on the track up to the Dam? That could be dangerous. Wonder which old sections are being brought back into use.

Sounds a bit tight. What cam are you using? 10 thou is recommended for the standard cam and 2 and 4 thou for the R cam. Run my standard cam on 8 thou each. Standard 199cc on Boyer Bransden - Keihin carb. Revs out a dream up to valve bounce without misfiring.

No one particularly worries how old he is - provided he isn't likely to win it! Wonder if Carl Batty tried to get a ride.

As it says on the Scottish Pre65 Regulations:- "The Organisers reserve the right to allocate a number of entries at their discretion. Should the event be over-subscribed all other entries will be selected by ballot." The events are sponsored by the tourist board so they want an entry to attract spectators. That's why well known riders and unusual machines get in. I understand that there were more entries on Cubs than ever. Visitors don't want to see a procession of these lightweights. The rest of us have to cross our fingers. 'Twas ever thus! I'm well down the reserve list so fingers crossed.