rabie

we had a crew come up from Brighton & DMCC for both wobblers! re local (is southeastern centre), check out the dates on the local trials site - http://www.southeasttrialscombine.org.uk/ there is a centre modern and pre65 sidecar trials championship, plus the star group (every 2nd Sunday) run sidecars, so given all them events, plus the various British championships (Modern or Sammy Miller) out there the sidecar crews are busy.

he is still about, spoke to him at our trial in October. he has been doing a few enduros recently (his brother rides enduros), think he changed jobs (or something) so dosen't have as much time to do trials .....

we run mx, enduros and trials - in trials you just don't ge the injuries in the same number and type as mx. at mx we've got 200ish riders, but 3 or 4 ambulances and paramedics and a medical centre - if we had 2 or 3 broken bones (legs, collarbones, etc) that would be normal. but at our enduros the ambulance crews (we go OTT and have 2) sit about all day, dealing with the odd exhausted rider. trials we have no medical staff but no injuries. i think 15 to 20 years ago we had a bad one and they came out in the air ambulance (could have gone by road but they weren't doing anything). Now road race is really serious because when they fall off they really hurt themselves, and street road races (eg IOM) kill a few people each year ....

with what 21 centres including Scotland, one must presume there is a least one trial on in every centre every weekend. then add the club trials, centres running groups on a specific Sundays, the odd amca clubs out there, the channel islands, etc - i'ld have thought you'ld be looking around 30 to 40 at the height of season.

when the guys ride the natterejack BEC round (in the sand in Hampshire) they have to use trials tyres, most seam to go for the MT43, although i have herd that guy up north have used Dunlops in hard events, so maybe that's worth trying. most guys have been very dismissive/scare stories of using Michelin and IRC on enduro bikes. They actually get a mousses in them and sometimes pack them with old tubes too!

we at one point had a really pro active guy in our club who wanted to do lots of trials stuff (such as a hard trial for experts, a sidecar trial, and some evening trials) but this guy has moved on to other things, and we lack such a figure prepared to do so much work to put the event on. that and we we're really struggling a) for a date that fitted in for modern and pre65 sidecars and the buggers* wouldn't enter the meeting, but all turn up as late entries in the week before ..... * i can say that as we are a sidecar trials family!

check out http://www.southeasttrialscombine.org.uk/ depending upon how SE kent you are look for clubs like Ashford, Folkestone (http://www.fmcctrials.co.uk/), GEST Hastings (http://www.gest-club.co.uk/), Barham, Tenterden (http://www.tenterdenanddistrictmcc.co.uk/)

interesting to hear about the mitas, thanks

really late notice but if your willing to travel a bit we're running a beginners and wobblers trials at Canada Heights (just through the tunnel in Kent) with a really easy route (for LDT riders on enduro bikes) and an easy route (easier than a centre/group trial) - open to any ACU member with day membership available. Most of the trials clubs up here in Norht / West Kent run these sort of events, with about one a month - see nktc.org.uk

ahh but what a first post!

still part of the championship conditions, as we were mulling other running a round a few years back when we had a very pro active guy who liked sidecars (unfortunately not with the sport any more) but we'ld have to send guy out on real main roads/local rat runs to even get to another club's bit of land..... i can't really think of any (modern, mayben even pre65) trials down here in the wider south east area with road work, all we've got are the odd LDT (for enduro and trail bikes due to fuel stops)

just visted my old man's depot today and they are listed but they don't have one, could get one from michelin though if avaliable *** update *** jsut got them to ring Michelin UK and the trial light front (80x100x21) hasn't been issued yet for sale and they can't even back order them, and thus you are still using the trial comp front (2.75x21) sorry for the confusion

i'm pretty sure Watling Tyres at Swanley (01322 615060) have them.

we've got a wobbler trial at Canada Heights (J3 M25) on 15th November and the last one we had we had 3 chairs, so if you want to come for an easy play .....

the guys love the IRC rears down here in the south where its all mud (very few if any rocks). Michelin Comp seams pretty popular after that with Pirelli MT43 for enduro bike that have to have trials tyres and other stuff. not really herd of anyone using Dunlops down here at all (bit expensive with no track record ???). Michelin Light still rather new and you do get people using a Vee Rubber just because it's cheap. Not seen one of the Mitas trails tyres yet (also cheap) - think that covers everything (Bridgestone BW24 looks odd and is there a cheng shing ??? out there)

my team didn't have a good time but lack of riding (last time was Dec 2007) and really bad weather made even the classic easy(ish) sections (like hugry hill itself) impossible with just no grip in the wet sand. some really technically challenging sidecar sections and some real expert riding by team cameron, fishlock and the youngs. i'll try and get my act together and post a gallery (of mostly sidecars) up on either the sidcup website or some photosite.

it's not grey to me, but will all observers at a trial take a similar line, and that's something you can't guarantee.

whatever you decide this is the most important bit. as long as you implement the same interpretation of the rules to everyone (as it's one of the grey areas, open to interpretation by the observer) then everyone's on the same hymn sheet.

sounds about right for staffs ..... sorry went to keele

all my clan are going, my dad and cousin are riding my pre65 sidecar, so we'll all follow them round. always a great day out and some real exotica on display.

we ran our centre trial at the weekend and while it was nice to tell the observers there was a new set of rules that would be easier, which for most of our observers who i'ld say weren't 100% au fait with "stop with penalties". the section i did wasn't particularly bunny hoppy, so there was no excessive time wasting, but can see how you could get it, and thus the point above about a rider who cleans a section non stop, isn't rewarded as much as a rider who took a week to hop though. i don't profess to know the answer, but i guess this topic will rear it's head again in a few years .....

the editorial side of the site that having a column by rappers is one of my favourite aspects, and an area that if it could be expanded would be great. IMHO it the editorial stuff that i like to read the most and something which the opposition (from Morecombe) seams to ever short of. in the bad old days old man lawless would slag the ACU off, chris UK would write **** stirring letters, etc, but it gave us all something to talk about...

bonjour mon ami (je parle un *petite peu* francais....), we've a few expats in our club, including several French people. pleanty of trials events in england for you to ride

as far as i know there are no proper legal trials practice areas about in Kent (i await correction...) however there are many grey/private areas, as well as plenty of events and lots of clubs, many of which put on low level events (club trials, beginners & wobblers, group trials) where a complete novice can go and have some fun without any pressure check out some sites like http://www.southeasttrialscombine.org.uk/ and http://www.nktc.org.uk/ which will have links to the many clubs in kent

i've the 99 Beta Techno 250 manual off the net and the one that came with the paperwork when i brought the bike (they aren't the same, but about the same bike - i think - long time since i looked). my cousin is after a manual for a 95 Beta Techno 125. so i can really apreciate the usefulness of such a site, the http://www.manualz.info or just a page/thread linking to other sites (the legal cop out all those bit torrent severs use, with a "take down" email address too).