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I had two Beamish Suzuki, 325 sidecar outfits in the early 'eighties, and rode all the British Championship series on them for about five or six years. At the time it was an excellent machine, very reliable and in the hands of John Gaskell was a British Championship winner - the best I did was five national wins and third in the series. The problem now is that the machines are 20+ years old and spares for Suzukis are not easy to come by. Some bits are plentiful, others don't exist and if you are considering competing on one, remember everybody else is on modern, water-cooled, single shock machines which have progressed massively. The engines rattled like mad, but being typical Japanese, are pretty bulletproof. Pricing one is a bit difficult, but I wouldn't be inclined to lay out too much for one, simply because the return in usage is fairly low. I don't know for sure how many outfits were built, but probably 50 - 80 seems a likely number, no doubt somebody will know.

Andy, That is a superb article. I did think about writing something similar for my column this week, but ended up writing something far less contentious. I'm glad I chose not to because I simply couldn't beat what you have said.

Just bought a camera exactly for that purpose - and I'm a pro journalist. I went for the Sony DSC T100, which is very thin, has a 3inch screen and no protruding lens. It only has a sport programme but used it on Good Friday and at the Ian Pollock Trial and the pics are pretty good. Shutter delay exists but far better than they used to be. You can live with it - it's certainly faster than my Canon S50. It's 8.1 mega pixels and I'm totally happy with it. I also have a Nikon D 50, a Canon S50, a Nikon FM2, a Nikon F90, two old Pentaxes - any bids?

I've owned three 4RTs now and I don't think they stall any more frequently than a two stroke. However, there's no doubt you have to learn to ride a four stroke in a different way. First of all, you must make use of the clutch; if you can't use the clutch the 4RT will be away from you and may be more prone to stalling. However, I can't ride any bike without the clutch, so I don't consider this to make 4RTs any different. Equally, they must run with tickover but perhaps more importantly, always keep a fraction of throttle on at all times. Difficult? Maybe, but learn the technique and you'll eliminate most problems. I always run 10/43, but others stick to standard gearing (10/41) If you can handle it, OK, but I prefer the lower gearing. I think much of the "probelms" folk think about is all in the mind. Get into four stroke mode and you'll master it, but riding a 4RT which may need a slight change of technique is no different than changing technique as to how you drive a van in a different manner from a car. Not very well explained but stick with it and you'll surely enjoy the undoubted character that 4RTs have over all other bikes.

Nikon make good cameras, but if you can get one, go for a D50 rather than the D 40. The D 40 is a cheaper version and nowhere near as good - even a s/h D50 or even s/h D70 would be much better. An 18-55 lens is OK for trials, but a 18-70 is better. The 18-70 was standard on a D70

Got loads of pictures from trial, will try to get the disc to Brocky this week and he can put them on the website.

The Ossa importer of the era Roger Holden was playing about with one, but as to where you can get a picture, can't help.

Totally agree with you, if you can't get there, phone and let the organisers know, then they can contact the waiting list.

Brian Shuttleworth, lives in the Lythe Valley, Rob Shuttleworth's dad, but don't know contact details.

There is one very good reason for writing in English, correctly spelt. If they can read, everybody can understand it. And my column, which appears tomorrow, may not always be exactly correct, but you'll always understand it - which is more than I can say about some of the communications that appear here.

He means he has changed from a 10/41 to a 10/43, which lowers the gearing and is certainly my preferred choice - as you well know Perce!!

Not saying such things didn't happen in my day, but then ALL the staff were knowledgeable enthusiasts, now they are reduced in number, even so, surprised JD didn't spot it.

Excellent trial, well worth the journey down from north west Lancashire, just looking for results now!

Just renewed my fully comp insurance for my 4RT and Beta Alp, both on the same policy with Carole Nash for

The Pinhard Prize was inaugurated by Fred Pinhard of the Sunbeam Club who considered it would be a good idea to have an award available to ANYONE from the world of motorcycle sport. As I recall, the actual wording "For the most meritorious performance by a person under the age of 21" I think I'm right about it being 21, I just can't remember. I was on the judging panel from around 1984 to when the new secretary kicked me off around 1999, since when publicity for the Pinhard has been virtually non-existant. There are so many famous names on there that it would be a tragedy if it were to be lost to the sport due to poor promotion, however, that's no longer down to me so we can only hope it continues. Good to see the full list, but the spelling, oh goodness, why can't it be done correctly? Everybody in the world likes to have their name spelt correctly. I'm unsure of the first names of a few of the earlier winners, but below are now the correct spellings and correct first names in order: ??Milner, ?? Hodgson, Maureen Towler, Bill Martin, John Surtees, Jeff Smith, Roy Peplow, Mike Hailwood, Dan Shorey, Brian Hutchinson, Scott Ellis, Malcolm Davis, Mick Andrews, Derek Adsett, Dave Baybutt, Gordon Farley, Tommy Milton, Malcolm Rathmell, ?? Dawes, Chris Pusey, Martin Lampkin, Chris Baybutt, Rob Shepherd, Clive Smith, Graham Noyce, Neil Hudson, John Reynolds, Gordon Philip, Michael Lee, ?? Padgett, John Lampkin, Dave Thorpe, Steve Patrickson, Steve Saunders, Kurt Nicoll, Ian McConnachie, Paul Edmondson, Wayne Braybrook, Jason Lawer, Jamie Dobb, Steve Colley, Jason Higgs, Dougie Lampkin, Paul Hurry, Martin ?? Baybutt, Graham Jarvis, Sam Connor, Carl Nunn, Martin Crossthwaite, Jonny Walker, Ben Wilson, Tom Sagar, Jamie Clarke, Donna Fox, Paul Chatham, Alexz Wigg. Not 100% sure of a few christian names, but we're getting there. Somebody keep this for posterity when it's accurate. Ta.

Lancs County are moving their round this year, both the date and venue have changed (from last year). You'll have seen that they are running on March 17th (Saturday) with a 11am start time. This is to make it possible for those who have to travel some distance to get there in the morning, and because Bootle is on Sunday, it makes for a very good weekend in the north. The new venue is Brookhouse Brickworks, actually only about 3 miles as the crow flies from the other venue, but much closer to the motorway, junction 34 M6. It's a venue that has been used for many years, but recently had a huge wind farm erected on the top moors which has changed the nature of the land and thoughtfully opened up new land for the club. Parking, being on hard gravel roads is excellent and access round the trial is generally pretty good. The sections used are rocky streams and muddy bankings, but probably better generally than Barkingate has been. It was last used on Good Friday 2005 and comfortably catered for 164 riders. If you are thinking seriously about either trial (Lancs County/Bootle) do them both, it should be one of those weekends definitely not to be missed. Two very good trials. Lancs County moved specifically to make it much easier for those that have to travel to give them a good weekend of sport, so support them and make the effort worthwhile. Can't speak for Bootle, but Lancs County will be having regs available in 2/3 weeks, or enter on an ACU form, cost is

Ferrett Flasher will probably answer this one properly, but the reason it will not start is probably because the throttle is open some way. The best check I have found is to adjust the throttle cable so that there is some slack, make absolutely sure, the throttle butterfly is not open, then kick it over gently. There is NO history of 4RTs not starting, the chances of it being a electrical problem is remote, so before you start replacing injectors, go back to basics. Remember, no throttle. Let us know what happens.

Nigel - not quite as good; as good; not been; better!

As already said, Kitch has Nikon stuff, as does Barry Robinson, and I've even seen Mike Rapley using Nikon for years. I'm told it's good kit, easy to get repaired when needed and pretty reliable in most weathers.

Gizza 5 dropped 654, finished 171st, rode a 156 Fantic, rode number 245, tripped over the 19th rock of the second sub at Camp Hill........ etc, the Schreiber pic was probably Eric's but could have been mine as the TMX pics were all bundled together in those days with no real separation.

Yeah, doing the paper programme took a lot of effort off the club, but it was never really the answer and was done as a means of TMX getting extra advertising revenue as much as helping out the club. The return to a proper programme had to happen and I'm glad it did. The current efforts are good as I know how hard it is to produce such a publication. Just thinking about the SSDT/Pre 65 as a whole, it has to be said it is a wonderful organisation at the moment in such difficult times, I only wish I was fit and able enough to ride the main trial, though the Pre 65 is still a steady enough two days without giving me much grief.

Was that a newspaper programme out of TMX or was it one of the last "proper" programmes. If it was the TMX newspaper programme, I produced that and loads afterwards - hated doing them it was so difficult to make them different year after year.

I expect Mr Eyre will be Ken Eyre - he's Toby's dad and will probably be at the Northern Experts on Saturday, if he is I'll tell him.

What a brilliant plug for the Scottish - pity my time has past!!