rabie

cheers, something must be happening as our centre's team manager was on the blower to let us know

don't how different you SACU lads do it but doesn't a higher licence back cover you for anything cheaper (or same price) ie i have a mx licence which covers me for enduros and trials (and grass track if i had ticked the box) also we do do a scruitnering down here but that just varies across the country, club to club

sorry to bump an old post, i've just herd on the grape vine that the event is on again on the 1st weekend of December.bit of a blower as that the date of our big pre65 trial .... can anyone confirm this / give us some info - if its still at stoke that's 200 miles away so we won't lose more than 16/20 riders (20%) and maybe some observers

if your down on the south coast with them AMCA types ;) then you might want to join one of the various ACU clubs so you can get out and ride at the ACU events as well. you don't have to, jsut work out how far you want to travel and how often you want to ride (some people think kent is a long way from the south coast so can't be a***d so thats fair enough)

mugged our centre sec for them today at our sidecar trial - thanks anyway mate

sorry i'm assuming too much it varies around here; some bigger trials clubs run club trials for their own members (not sure if these club will sell day memberships or sell their membership on the day) then there are "groups" - the south east (kent, sussex and surrey) is subdivided into 5 regions ie group (Thames Valley, Star, East Kent, North Kent and South Coast) and on the second sunday of each month club in each group organise a trial for members of clubs in each group (ie there are 5 trials on the same day). the other weekends see centre trials (hardness is vaguely increasing with status of event) which run various classes - some won't have inters or experts (ie pre67, novice, etc) so they are best for beginers but depends on the club/venue really. up here in north / west kent we run a series called the "beginners and wobblers" - i was CofC for my clubs one (well put it this way i'm probably still a beginner!) and the easiest route was designed for LDTs (ie guys on enduro bikes!!!). some of the other ones locally (i've done a few OWLS ones) are tacked on the side of club trials (the easy route has 6 year old on 50cc bikes so .... ). an ACU licecene (officially "affiliation") is a tenner for a year and you can buy them on the day. there have to be what about 25 ish trials clubs in the south east. check out http://www.southeasttrialscombine.org.uk/ and look at the various links to clubs off that site. there are as above some AMCA clubs about and they are just the same (i've done a Brighton SCG trial and came last by a long way but it was a laugh!!!)

you could mean Northampton and Northamptonshire, which could mean we're all talking irrelevant stuff... but if you are in north Hampshire check out the SEC ACU trials site, and the links to some of the clubs mentioned - http://www.southeasttrialscombine.org.uk/

haven't herd of any official (ie legal) trials practice areas south of the river. there are lots of events about, including a wobbler trial this sunday over in kent (by Double Five - see http://www.doublefive.co.uk/ )

bikes wise - IMHO any of the five manufactures bikes are sensible. cc wise any 250 is good, although i wouldn't turn down a 290 if it came along, while a 125 or 200 wouldn't be really underpowered. in most cases the bikes are far better than the riders. if you look at the TMX classifieds you'll see what your price range will buy you, especially age wise i lets the scots on here tell you of local clubs, but goggle the SACU for their website and it should have a listing

that looks like a bloody good show!!! and what a mixed line up!!!

Any one actually got a copy of it, we've (Sidcup) had two emails (one from ACU, one from local centre) refering to a word file that's going around but i can't find a copy attached to any of the emails of buried on here or the ACU site. Thanks in advance - we're just trying to thrash out our 2008 dates edit : can't spell, won't spell

nice one to zippy for offering a fresh perspective on it, but i think woody has excellently put it in historical context. the only point i'll try and make is the typical press ganged and/or "old skool" observer has only ever had it explained to them that trials marking is about putting feet on the ground. the more subtle/obscure matters, such as; stopping and giving penalties/failures (as well as resting against rocks, trees, grounding out, etc have never really been explained to them that they feel confident enough to act in confidence when observing

there is a really good quote form Kurt Nichol (ex UK MX'er - current head of KTM North America) about David Knight after rd2 of the endurocross (the 3 rd indoor enduro US championship) something along the lines off, if KTM did a trials bike he win win quicker.

not to dissuade you form the wonders of the Bexleyheath crew but here are some other sites http://www.nktc.org.uk/ http://www.doublefive.co.uk/ http://www.kytc.co.uk/ http://www.owlsmotorclub.org.uk/ http://www.sidcupmotorcycleclub.co.uk/

i got a blank email from the ACU (someone forgot to attach the file) with provisional 2008 national dates in, thus i presume one could look at that if anyone's actually got it

yes MX bikes are bad / very bad. and the MX industry is slowly working on it. but in a world where half of MX sales are to the US (AMA sound level a lot higher than Europe/FIM and AFAIK they don't sound test) - thus we are led by Americans in these matters. that said we lowered the MX level about tow years ago (98 to 96) and are lowering it further (94 from Jan 1) and are working upon better testing (higher RPM levels, drive by, etc). But as you say, we are all lumped together as off road motorcyclists with the stolen "field bikes" which receive no maintenance (esp the silencer)

my pre 65 sidecar has two clutch settings, in or out - there is no clutch use really in sections just creeping round tight stuff then blast! but that's why pre65 is so good to watch technology is where it is, we can't hide from that i'm afraid

i haven't got that excuse (see my signature) - good post by the way

if i had to answer (gun to my head), TSR22B, but that's because I'm from a pre65 and sidecar background and am a lowly novice myself. my more general viewpoint is i disagree with offering ACU clubs jsut A or B (and needing special dispensation for "c"). It unnecessary top down interference in the sport at a local level (IMHO). if you (not John Collins, anyone) forced anyone to pick A or B, IMHO you'll see a number of clubs (could be an exodos) go AMCA, ORPA, etc (and we'll have shot ourselves more generally like in the foot like MX and Enduros). IMHO offer "C" in the handbook (and any other marking methods you want) for clarity. we should be an open church. that's just my humble opinion, and i'll shut up now

not my area of expertice but several guys in the club would know. as for speedo, most people just use a mountian bike one.

this is the most difficult and challenging issues out there for trials as a sport fundamentally, we're all not overrun with observers so lets all back them up. as the various examples above show, riders being rude, etc undermining observers who aren't always in the prime of life is deeply worrying. my club normally runs the first round of the centre championships (for like decades), but we've decided for 2008 not to put it down as a championship round because its so hard to get observers as does that would do it are confused by what TSR 22 A is. they are confused by the various rule changes over the years and its extremely challenging for us to explain to 18/20 observers exactly what TSR22A means. in some ways they are all happy with TSR22B as that what they've done for donkeys years (even when they should be doing TSR22A). I'm stupid enough to have an idea in my head exactly what i think TSR22A is and how that will apply in my section, and i tell the top experts what i expect before they go off bunny hopping and stopping to much. i really don't know what the answer is to this problem. there are two camps of riders both firmly committed to their set of rules (TSR22A and TSR22B) plus some advocating others (gate choice thingy, FIM, etc), but even then i really don't know how to convey to the typical observer the rules when normally at a trial the organiser hasn't really got the time to communicate with the observers at lenght

we ran a trial aimed at experts and youth a for while and had prize money for the experts, sourced by a resourcefull chap in the club getting sponsorship. in the end low entries, a really tight calander (on both our part and the trials world) and the loss of a key organsier meant we could no longer put on the event

apolgies on the spelling, i'm using firefox on this machine, so i can't use the spell checker i normally use (iespell) as it dosen't work in firefox (might have to go back to the darkside!)

having just completed a masters degree in Internatioanl Realtions, i could write war and peace on this one simply put i can understand the various reaosns behind why people are upset about british invovlement a) in iraq and in afghanistan to offer some sort of answer first i think we need to acept that we are not a superpower but a middle ranking power that for various reasons (some humaniterian) want to be involved in geopolitcal meddelings beyone the confines of our backyard - north west euope). then one need to look at afghanistan and iraq (and even iran) seperatly. that way i view it as a brutal realist, if regardless of the rights of wrongs of starting both wars (and i've got a long list of opionions on that too) we need to do a cost benifit analysis of our (UK and/or greater "western world") involvement. the worst case scenarios for iraq, iran and afghanistan are soo appallingly bad that it makes continuing with the current plan seam worthwhile IMHO. alhtough from a military standpoint tactcailly i don't see how it can be "won" in the traditional sense (but neither could northern ireland). the region is just so important that i think we need to gear outselves up for a 20+ year long counter insurgency war in the region ...... its a dark nasty world out there, that is extremly complex, popoulated with people who really don't understnad each other or want to come to an accmodation with each other, and even though we want "world peace" other don't and we've got to live in that world. i'll shut up now ...

sorry it was yesterday! there are only 3 local LDTs, everyone else travels rather a long way to do others (ie Deveon, Wales, etc)