tordijarres

Yes, "Steve"...but not Saunders....Colley! For why: 1. Nearer the sharp end of world competition 2. Professional approach (not that Saunders hasn't but I would suggest Colley's more experienced in the world of negotiating with promoters etc re: riding at indoor events etc) 3. The young uns will remember him (whereas most of them would still be at nursery when Saunders was doing his stuff) and so more likely to respect him, esp as current Brit Champ! 4. Has shown an interest (if only pecuniary) in teaching (videos) Agree?

With apologies to all the very talented riders in your list, the only "young" rider I have seen displaying "real class", is James Dabill. However time will tell whether or not he has the complete package. He does now have the "Spanish-Connection" that seems to be deemed necessary. Perhaps he could also do with a sports-psychologist too. Nigel Mansell was not the world's most gifted (and certainly not richest!) motor racing prospect in his early years. But even though (and maybe because) he is seemingly such an arrogant T?!T, with irrepresible self-belief, and undoubted determination, he went on to be world champion.

I have a "friend" who thinks he may want to buy some cow-hide pattern boots also..... I agree with Ishy, all sounds a bit fishy!

...or even "kosher"....

OK, I sense a conspiracy of silence.... Having "Googled" the place I now know it's in Elton and rumours are that only 100 members are allowed, and as I don't know ther Grand Lodge Master personally, I guess I'll have to wait until one of the 100 dies... Perhaps if I engratiate myself to one of them, they may remember me in their will and bequeath their Burrycliffe Pass (sounds like an anatomical euphemism....) Come on guys (or gals) lets have the low-down on this..it seems the Biketrial lot (and I am an ex-biketrial rider) go there at will, but I want to be kocher about it.

Please can someone help me with this one? I've heard you can buy a practice permit for

Well.....in all HONESTY, I did say to my brother alongside me that Fuji's bike sounded different to the other 2 Monts, and he agreed, and this was when they were doing the parading around bit at the start, so no conspiracy theory there. We have to ask ourselves why Doug seemed de-motivated, maybe it was because he is being given "The Spanish Archer", by Honda???

PS. Sound was fine from where I was standing Re the sound quality, you may have a point here; this year we were a bit late booking so were in block 213 row P which is pretty far back, other years we have been about half way up the rows. Although Cabestany rode brilliantly at times, he had too much Dabbillitis (sic) to take the win, and as a Beta rider, I couldn't help thinking how well he did considering he was on a Sherco (arf) Has anyone noticed that we Brits seem to have adopted Sherco as a surrogate British manufacturer? Certainly Cabestany got a great reception even before he started riding.Must be all the work Rathmell has done over the years and Grimbo contesting all the British events

Just got back from the Arena, here are some thoughts: a) The PA system seemed particularly poor this year- with about 10% of what was said perceivable Perhaps in part because of a) but also because of poor commentary "timing" the atmosphere wasn't as good as usual (even before Dougie bombed out) c) "Taddy" is a trick ferret d) Cabestany had arguably as much if not more talent at his disposal as Adam Raga, but chose more risky lines and was inconsistent, thus finished second e) Bring back the biketrial riders at half time (got to be better than "a word from our sponsor") f) Everyone moaned about Fuji not making a valid attempt at 2 of the sections, myself included, BUT if Dougie had run last and done the same, I guess nobody would moan.... g) Clearly the answer is "no they aren't" (as competitive as 2 strokes-at least in arena trials) h) It was still a great night's entertainment with well-judged sections as usual from Mart Agree/disagreee?

"Dougie lost 27-ish", and "It's set out for experts", suggest that the Bradford definition of "Expert" is in the same vein as the "Richmond Novice" category in the 80's, which was akin to expert status in the nearby North Eastern Centre....

Chris, whilst it wasn't my original post, if I could just hi-jack it, where do you get your tyres turned/changed (or do you DIY)? Given that you live in Dronfield I guess you'd be able to tell me of somewhere "local" (for "local people"-LOG) Thanks Scott

Well, yes you are missing something...the point was that although yes, you do have to have insurance in order to road-reg the bike, the majority (all?) of these insurance companies specifically exclude trials competitions from the cover. Hence if you have an accident whilst competing in a trial , which let's face it is the most likely time you will be on the road, then you won't be covered with potentially "Little Jimmy will never ride a horse again, your Honour"

Thanks for all the replies. However, when it is stated that the companies won't insure us for riding between sections (and that is the only time my bike will be on the road!) what is the point exactly? Would this contravene the requirements for being "road-legal"? How do people manage at the SSDT? What if you run into someone and they decide to sue you for injuries/never playing the piano again etc? Sounds really dodgy to me.

I want to insure my bike for 3rd party so I can road-register it. I thought I'd got a reasonable quote at

...how about slicks?....

Before you head off to that quarry: http://www.doncastertoday.co.uk/ViewArticl...rticleID=790625 (article re coppers "serving notices" on riders there...)