pete_scorpa3

SY250's are good all round bike to start on, take a carefull look at the wheel bearings, swing arm bushes, pads, chain and sprocket, fork seals, tyres, spokes and the silencer. You can soon spend

All credit to you for trying it

Check out the regs available in the back of T&MX News and find a club near to you, turn up and take a look at what goes on. You will soon get an idea of the level of ability required to get around the course and be able to compare that with yourself. Most clubs provide three routes, the easiest route (In our case the C) is pretty much suitable for anyone who can ride a motorcycle riding in their first event. The beauty of entering an event is that you will get to know other people of a similar ability and you will probably find out where they practice and which events are suitable, trials is a really sociable type of compettion and most people are really friendly. You don't say where you live, there may be regular practice areas near to you. I hope this helps. Pete

Even my youngest daughter want's to compete now there's a class for four year olds.... only two years to go!!!

As the Clerk of the Course for a number of club trials, I would accept and entry from a youth rider on an electric trials bike providing they hold the relevant trials registration. My five year old would enjoy filling in the entry form whith her best colouring crayons In fact, being a little more sensible for a moment, if a rider of this age (or their parent) contacts me prior to the event, I will be happy to set out a suitable route for them to ride. Now there's an offer Mum's & Dad's! Pete

Sorry, I was a bit slow there. I've found it now. TRIALS STANDING REGULATIONS TSR 1 now to read as follows -: Eligibility/Licensing All riders and passengers must hold a current ACU Trials Registration / Membership card or a SACU licence. Any rider or passenger from another FMN MUST produce a licence issued by their FMN together with start permission and proof of personal accident Insurance. Where the Trial includes the use of public highways, then this will be stated in the Supplementary Regulations. If public highways are used then it is the sole responsibility of the rider to ensure that their machine is roadworthy and that they and their machine comply with all legal requirements. RIDERS AGE a) Adult riders: A rider must be at least 16 years of age to participate as an Adult. Sidecar drivers and/or passengers under 16 years of age, but subject to a minimum age of 14, may be allowed to compete in Adult events subject to the discretion of the Trials and Enduro Committee. b) Youth Riders: A rider must be at least 4 years of age to participate on a restricted Electric powered machine and 6 years of age to participate in a trial using a combustion engine machine. They may continue to ride as a Youth until the end of the calendar year that he reaches 17 years of age. A rider who has reached 16 years but who is eligible as stated above to continue as a Youth may ride either as an Adult or as a Youth and alternate between them unless they choose to compete in the Adult British Solo Trials Championship. Class E Pre-Cadet Electric class -Minimum age 4 years at the date of the competition and born after 01.01.04 Class D Cadets born between 01.01.2001 and 31.12.03 Class C Juniors born between 01.01.98 and 31.12. 00 Class B Inters born between 01.01.95 and 31.12.97 Class A Seniors born between 01.01.93 and 31.12.94 ENGINE CAPACITY CLASSES: The maximum engine capacity permitted for machines used in the age groups set out in this Regulation are as follows: CLASS A 125cc CLASS B 125cc CLASS C 80cc class CLASS D** 50cc mono/80cc T/shock Electric up to 1000 watts CLASS E Electric powered machines up to 750 watts ** D Class Wheel sizes Small wheel - Max 50cc Mono or 80cc Twinshock (fitted as original equipment)/Electric up to 1000 watts Wheel size - Max 16" Front 14" Rear a) Medium wheel - Max 50cc Mono or 80cc Twinshock (fitted as original equipment)/Electric up to 1000 watts Wheel size - Max 19" Front 17" Rear Standard rebores are permitted subject to the resulting engine capacity not exceeding a tolerance of +3cc. NB. Any changes to the age groups and/or capacity classes will have at least 12 months notice and be effective from January of any year. Criteria for riders wishing to ride in any higher class:

Has the age for getting a competition licence now been lowered to four?

I think my friends Raga is a real blast to play around on, it flattens big climbs and is real fabulous to practice trick riding, but in a trial with my limited riding ability, I would loose many more marks on it. Horses for courses.

I was riding my DRZ on the road a few years back when I sailed over the bonnet of Mr Sales Reps Speeding Vauxhall, taking his door mirror off with my helmet on the way down the other side. I could just have easily been on my Triumph Daytona and would probably have been killed if I had! The DRZ went over his bonnet, bounced off his windscreen and landed on the road in front of his bumper with little more than a smashed waterpump and a dented down pipe, but since that day the wheels have been out of line. Although we came together on my side of the road, it was deemed my fault for pulling out, so no pay out for my damage! I'd like to get it pulled back straight, does anyone know of a frame straightener not too far from the Midlands who may be able to help?

It may be too far to travel but Paxford Garage near Moreton-in-the-Marsh also know how to mot a trials bike, the owner Clive rides trials himself. BIG fully legal number plate is a good start

One of my mate's has a 2004 Raga 300 and he gets on with it really well but he is/was a good centre expert. I've ridden it and it feels light and powerful and encourages trick riding, but it get me into all sorts of bother. My brain/eyes/hand co-ordination is just not good enough to make use of the bike. I'm a lot better on my Scorpa with it's slow action throttle, that's not saying my bike is better, just that it's better for me. Taming the Raga down is a good piece or advice, start with the slow action throttle as that is cheap and easy to do, then go from there if it seems to help. In the muddy old Midlands, I think that an IRC takes some beating.

Welcome th TC Chris. You've got plenty of choice of clubs in your area, look out for the Malvern Club, Stourbridge, Bewdley, Dudley and others, there's virtually a local trial every weekend near you. Good to have you with us

Entries now up to 104 with the limit being 120, so it looks like being a full house for the 2010 Colmore cup. Get a move on if you are planning to ride

I bought a Beta Techno that had done just one event back in the mid 90's, awith new set of tyres and mudguards and it looked and felt like new, saved me over

All credit to you for doing a superb job, that Techno looks better than some 2008 bikes I've seen. I love the black wheel rims.

I ride in quite a few on my DRZ400, CLICK HERE to see my blog about the Wyegate LDT last year. Pete

I've been checking out the sections in Dovedale today, this is the type of going to expect.

Yes, there will always be a case for manual payment be that in advance or on the day, not issues with that what so ever. However, we run four trials per year that are large pre enter events where an entry list and even a programme is printed prior to the trial, so for this kind of competition an on line system such as TC uses would be a real help. How many people would use it do you think? 50%, more? With entries of 120, even this would be a significant saving in time for the secretary.

I know you only get what you pay for but HERE'S some at a bargain price!

I know that the WG&DF club have such a system and it worked well for a small trial but speaking to their sec one of the main issues is matching riders payments to their entries. Their solution was to issue a unique code to each rider once the entry form had been recieved, then this was sent with the Paypal payment as a reference. Although this worked well, it does make the whole process a lot longer and requires time and organisation, I'm sure that a fully automated system can be developed to enable us to enter and pay all in one go. The WG&DF club may even have this in place themselves now. Paying the TC membership just seemed so easy, I thought it was worth a mention in this context. Perhaps Andy can give us his thoughts on the subject. Is it easy to match payments to members? How much does it cost to use? Pete

Personally I have never had a single problem with Paypal despite completing many hundreds of transactions (mostly on ebay) however I do appreciate that people do have certain issues. I wonder if the main problem that is encountered is from buyers and sellers having disputes? If this is the case, then it is far less likely that a club/rider will have issues regarding a trials entry. It's not like buying a mobile phone from a dodgy seller in China for hundreds of pounds. Only my opinion as someone who has not had any issues.... fingers crossed

My annual Trials Central renewal of

Watch out if you are an employed, law abiding, indiginous, hetrosexual, white, west european, able bodied male..... give up now cus you've got no rights!