old trials fanatic

The winter weather in Britain nowadays is very changeable and unpredictable and on the Friday while Paul Beswick, the Clerk of the Course, and his two helpers Jim Wickstead and Tony Shaw endured freezing torrential rain and temperatures in minus figures whilst setting the course for Sundays trial who would have thought the sun would shine on Sunday for this the penultimate round of the Peak Classic Trials Clubs 2012/13 Championship. Sundays sunshine was almost eclipsed by the smiles on the riders faces as they attempted 4 laps of 10 sections laid out over the rocky outcrops and trees that abound at this classic venue which has featured in so many Trials videos and magazine articles. The land used to be Mick Andrews practice ground but has recently been taken over by local trials impresario Barry Burton of YMSA fame so now the future of this popular venue should be assured. The event was made even better because for the first time this year we managed to have all but two of the sections manned all day with the riders only having to observe each other on the remaining two sections. Thanks must therefore go out to our three regular observers Graham and Pat Chinnery and Peter Baxter who turn up in all weathers and an especially warm welcome and thank you to all the other observers and we hope to welcome you all again at our events next year. It’s so hard to attract observers so we really appreciate your participation. Right the results. The Expert British Bike class was won in fine style by David Dench making one of his rare appearances with a loss of just 9 marks. Second in class was Barry Burtons son Dan on 12 both riders Tiger Cub mounted. So with the four strokes ruling the roost third place was secured by Dan’s dad Barry on his James who lost a credible 29 to round off the top three. Young Robert Carson led the Expert Twinshock riders with a win on just 16 marks which was just one mark less than Dale Shaw on his Majesty on 17. A really close battle that could have gone either way right up to the last section of the day. Robert Mycock also had a good ride to third with a loss of 33 on his faithful Bultaco. Peter Carson really showed what a class act he is by winning the Classic Expert British Bike class on his rigid BSA Bantam losing just 2 marks on a tricky section 2 which combined slippery tree roots, tight turns and rocks and caught many riders out. Ian Bend on his Ossa took the honours in the Classic Expert Twinshock class with a win on 10 marks keeping Championship leader Anthony Sprinks in second on his Bultaco losing 14. A strong surge by Ian but sadly too late as Tony has already tied up the Championship in this class. The Intermediate British Bike class was a very close fought affair with the nod finally going to Neil Walker on his Francis Barnett from Colin Fray on his very original complete with leading link front forks Dot with both rider tying on 25 marks but Neil had more cleans so took the win. Two more excellent rides well worth mention were Cliff Bradley, Majesty, who won the Classic Intermediate Twinshock class with a miserly loss of just 4 marks and Jon Tye out on his beautiful little rigid BSA Bantam who had an excellent ride to win the Clubman British Bike category for a loss of only 5 marks made up of 3 on section 3 a long rocky climb and 2 on section 10 another long loose rocky climb. Well done the both of you fantastic effort. Well with just the one round left at Clifton on 20th January next year to finish off the Championship all that remains is to thank everybody who helped make 2012 such an enjoyable year and we hope to see you all again in 2013. Expert British Bike 1st David Dench Tiger Cub 9 marks 2nd Dan Burton Tiger Cub 12 marks 3rd Barry Burton James 29 marks Expert Twinshock 1st Robert Carson Yamaha 16 marks 2nd Dale Shaw Majesty 17 marks 3rd Robert Mycock Bultaco 33 marks Classic Expert British Bike 1st Peter Carson BSA Bantam rigid 2 marks Classic Expert Twinshock 1st Ian Bend Ossa 10 marks 2nd Anthony Sprinks Bultaco 14 marks 3rd Peter Kearsley Honda 25 marks Classic Expert Air Cooled Mono 1st Gary Martin Yamaha 28 marks Intermediate British Bike 1st Neil Walker Francis Barnett 25 marks 2nd Colin Fray Dot 25 marks Intermediate Twinshock 1st Nick Burton Fantic 27 marks 2nd Mark Kearsley Yamaha 30 marks 3rd Steve Blackburn Montesa 33 marks Classic Intermediate British Bike 1st Paul Beswick James 7 marks 2nd Rob Goodwin Francis Barnett 14 marks Classic Intermediate Twinshock 1st Cliff Bradley Majesty 4 marks 2nd John Morley Honda 12 marks 3rd Tony Shaw Bultaco 16 marks Clubman British Bike 1st Jon Tye BSA Bantam rigid 5 marks 2nd Henry Tindell BSA Bantam rigid 21 marks 3rd David Pickering Francis Barnett 24 marks Clubman Twinshock 1st Phillip Higgins Ossa 4 marks 2nd Martin Page Fantic 11 marks 3rd Stephen Baker Yamaha 24 marks Youth 1st Harry Lyons Beta 29 marks 2nd Shannon Butler Gas Gas 66 marks

Welcome to the asylum i can guarantee you'll get plenty of advice, cant vouch that all of it will be good but in the main we are a good natured bunch, and a fair amount off pi55 taking too. You didnt say where abouts in the country you are from? Always nice to know Merry Christmas.

Just a reminder that this Sunday Peak Classic Trials Club hold round 11 of their Club Championship at Burycliffe Quarry near Elton Derbyshire. 4 laps of 10 sections laid out with Classic bikes in mind. Classes for British Bikes, Pre85 Twinshocks and Pre95 Air Cooled Monos Routes for Expert, Classic Expert, Intermediate, Classic Intermediate and Clubman. Start time is 11.00 entries close at start. Please do not park on the road as there are milk tankers and farm traffic that must have access and apart from the chance of damage to your vehicles parking on the road may result in the loss of this venue SO DONT DO IT ! there is plenty of parking within the venue so please just drive in up the drive and park in the car park at the top of the drive. Thank you. Hot drinks, bacon and sausage butties, mince pies etc will be available plus the PB Trialsport van will be there for all your spares and accessories. If you believe the mayans then this may be your last chance to ride your bike so make the most of it the 21st isnt that far away LOL

You really must mow that garden of yours LOL like the rockery though. Nice one Javier. Cant agree with you about the OSSA though. I love em Merry Christmas

Only real potential pitfall is eligability. Check with the clubs you intend to ride with if the resulting bike will be eligable for their events. The mono motor is shorter and lighter and is a quantum leap forward over the trail bike derived motor in the twinshock. Which might go some way towards explaining the eligability issue.

Did you encounter any probs getting a piston as i've heard they are unobtainable. Obviously untrue because you found one. I will be having mine rebuilt soon so will need one. Dont know what size yet untill the motor is stripped be just wondering about availability.

Do you think we are all taking this a bit too seriously? On reflection it is just supposed to be a bit of fun you know out on your bike having fun? Just a thought sorry must be the Christmas cheer

You should ask the wife LOLOK tried lengthening the swing arm by about 1" on the OSSA to be honest all it did was make the bike a pain on tight nadgery stuff. Didnt make any difference on climbs, see my previous comment, so i changed it back and put the old mark 1 swing arm in as i prefer the shorter wheelbase on the tight stuff. Not saying it wont make a difference but not as much as correct body positioning.

Thanks Woody

Being able to easily lift the front is not a bad thing and is very useful much better than a heavy front end. If you are having problems on climbs it's more about the riders weight distribution than the bike. Learn to bend your knees and keep the body perpendicular. In the same way that you put your bum as far back as possible on steep downhills the bars come right up to your chest on steep climbs. An extra inch or two on the swing arm will never compensate for poor body positioning. Sorry if thats not what you wanted to hear but it's a fact.

Gasgasjamie nicely put point based on experience which is nice to see as you have ridden it for a season not just at even the thought of it. From a personal view point and i dont ride the sort of terrain you ride, i just dont ride muddy trials and thankfully we dont get too many up here and theres always something else to do instead for me, so my viewpoint is based on the terrain here in Derbyshire which may or may not make a difference. I dont ride modern trials so have only ridden events that are non stop so i suppose i'm biased. I have regularly been docked 5 for stopping but accept that as it is a non stop trial after all. I dont really get why people are getting so upset as if the stop allowed rule was perfect which from reading many posts it wasnt. Stop for a 1 well watching a recent modern event many riders would have scored 6 or 7 if that rule was applied. To me the obvious problem was the inordinate amount of time spent bu66ering about so how about a more realistic time limit on sections. I would have thought 20 secs more than adequate unless you enjoy poncing around 1" this way then 1" back again wave your leg in the air rev the nuts off it dump the clutch blah blah blah. 20 secs sounds plenty to me and would get people moving. Who knows might even get some to learn to choose a line not just look 2mtrs ahead stop 2mtrs ahead stop etc. If non stop is so unworkable why are Twinshocks and P65 so popular? Just a Midlanders point of view

Well said

Agreed this would definately be the way to go. My comment was directed at the idea that anybody could buy the winning bike at the end of an event for the retail price which to me is a non starter.Like your idea a lot and it should improve reliability and durability. Penalties should be applied as in F1 if any components have been changed. Would need serious thought about how to apply and enforce it because the factories would obviously try to find ways to circumvent it but worth trying definately.

Miller always used to say 51.5" is the best compromise wheelbase. Seems to work for me too

The observers decision like any human judge / referee etc will always be subjective however if they judge everybody no matter who they are the same then on balance it works however if some people are given more "benifit of the doubt" than others due to their percieved status then that is when it all falls apart. Muddy wet trials will always be a difficult one. I wasnt there but as i said as long as the observer judges everybody the same then in my book thats ok. Nice to see the are out in force already. See you then

But would you expect the TY175 to do what you wouldnt think twice about on your Beta?

Have they sorted out the problem with modern fuels melting the gell do you know? I notice they still only do a cover for the TY mono not a full tank and seat so wondering if the problem has been sorted properly yet? Shedworks stuff looks nice sorry i forgot about them

Nice one all tickety boo what!

Nah no problem just fit it into an Otter faber frame eh Charlie

Firstly if it's a slimline Bultaco it should have a glass fibre one piece tank and seat unit and if my memory serves me right they were all red with a silver stripe. If yours has an alloy tank then that was off a later model and they were mostly blue with silver. Sounds like someone has fitted a later tank and seat. The genuine slimline tank and seat units "kit campione" are like rocking horse poo and fetch a fortune on flea bay on the rare occaision that one crops up which may also explain someone fitting a later tank and seat. then again i thought most slimline Bultacos were 1971 ? I'm sure Big John will be along in a bit and correct me if i'm wrong as he knows Bultacos better than most.

Or people would not enter. I know i wouldnt enter an event where some oik could claim my P&J at the end of it i'd ride elsewhere. It's one of those strange american ideas that thankfully has stayed one. Anyway Toni would still win on a std bike and it would only have to last one trial anyway so how exactly would that make the manufacturers make more durable production bikes ?

Trials tyres arent meant for that sort of riding you will be better off with any enduro or moto cross tyre. Trials tyres are made to give grip when perpendicular not leant over. As you are not trials riding dont use a trials tyre use one appropriate to the riding you are doing.

The oil pipe union is easy to solve just cat away the frame. Then again the top cubs have the bottom engine mount removed and a new one welded on the rear of the gearbox then the bottom tube can be removed. Problem is if you move the motor too far over the exhaust stub on the head fouls the front downtube.

Ha, you guys are funny. Thanks for the information though. I may have exagerated a little about hucking it, Im not exactly gonna be launching her by any means but I will see a lot of steep drops with harsh transitions and stuff of the sort. Not to mention endless fallen trees to bounce over. This things a goat though It been stormy here the last two days and I hit this gnarly hillclimb, I made it as far in the wet as I have on my 2008 crf 250 in the dry. I agree with the cat above my I think if I keep her well maintained shell handel whatever I through at her. I rode her for 2 days and got a feel for the bike and got her all dialed. New brake pads, fork oil levers got rid of the air box and auto lube system Just did a lot of basic stuff. Then earleyer today I pulled the cylinder off and found that the top need to be rebuilt, So... I stripped her to the frame and im gonna get every thing polished and painted get some new bolts here and there clean out all the vintage 1976 grease and sheel be good as new and looking sexy too. Can somebody let me know what to mix the fule at I was given an unsure answer of 32 to 1 from the original owner. - Peace Is this guy Bondy in disguise? Can somebody translate as i thought he was asking about a TY175 not a goat. Do we have an animal forum? and since when has a TY175 had disc brakes? and whats in heavens is a fork oil lever? Why would you want to remove the air box unless you wanted to trash the motor? I'm soooooo confused

OK i thought we were not supposed to be using text speak on TC then again total gibberish seems to be acceptable on the Bultaco forum for one poster at least so who knows To be honest when i first read the post i thought it was a wind up, after i had it translated that is , however giving the poster the benefit of the doubt what you have to remember is horses for courses. Bikes from the 70's were "designed" to cope with the sections we rode in the 70's. The sort of stuff the poster is talking about will destroy the poor old TY in seconds. If that sort of thing is what he wants to ride then get a bike capable of that sort of riding but that means a much more modern bike from 2000 onwards. Then again perhaps an Enduro bike would be more his thing? Re the spelling and grammar it's amazing how we seem to get many more understandable posts from countries whose first language is NOT English than we do from those whose language is "supposed" to be English with the exception of down under of course