tonybroad

think of oils like alcoholic drinks - mineral oils are lager, semi-synthetics are a fine wine and fully-synthetics are a well aged whisky you get what you pay for - i use putolene fully synthetic MX5 thats what i reckon Tony

happened to me once a long time ago - someone reckoned any condensation in the engine can freeze particularly on the mains or where the rings touch the barrel and it doesn't take much to lock it up, a camping stove under the bash plate sorted it out eventually and it ran fine once freed

whoever organised it knew about Danny's injury weeks if not months before but decided not to announce it - although i was very satisfied with the competition ithought that was out of order tony

yes the 290 can be a handful but it's a joyous handful, a throttles like a volume control you don't have to have it on full blast, try to tame it ! or go 250 and be safe p.s. my broken collar bone is healing well Tony

my 290 has great compression and takes a good boot to start it, if it has nipped up it often traps the rings and compression goes so a quick compression test would reveal if compression has been affected if you can get the exhaust off at the barrel have a look up the exhaust port and you'll see any scoring on the piston as it's more likely to nip on the exhaust port side i think the bore is nicosil plated so it wouldn't be a rebore it would be a costly re-plating

it can be head gasket or whatever seals the head - gas leaks into the cooling system expanding and pressurising it until the cap can't take it and it starts to come out if you keep the cap on, fit a pipe to your overflow and then put it into a clear bottle with some water in you should see bubbles coming out of the pipe if it is the head blowing hope that helps tony

hi charlie snap - i returned after a 30 year gap and loving it, plenty of good used bikes out there (and bad ones) choose wisely tony

a rather open question - when i started trials it was montesa, bultaco, yamaha, ossa, honda, suzuki, and fantic - 25 years later - sherco, sherpa, beta - names i'd never heard of , there will always be different manufacturers appearing and disapearing - the good thing for us is it keeps the market competitive people vote with their wallets it's up to the manufacturers to remain innovative tony

and check your throttle slide needle is retained properly

check that whatever traps your carb needle is trapping it properly otherwise the needle can stay up even when you shut the throttle the joker who had my 290 sherco before me put the clip ABOVE the thing that retains it - every blue moon i'd snap back the throttle and it would stick wide open, i'd kill it then start it again and everything OK - funny looking back but not that funny at the time trying to cling onto the damn thing good luck tony

i've done the same as you about a year ago after a 25 year break and got a Sherco 290 - it'll pull your arms off if you're not ready for it but once you tame it you'll love it - 250 would be a little tamer but i've no regrets going for the bigger bike, in fact glad i did just my opinion Tony

it's all bling as far as trials is concerned but some people will always pay thinking it's better, the market would be very limited - pre preg bits would be very pricey but a cheap wet lay up carbon bit will have the same bling effect and as long as it's got the C factor it'll sell - just look at the rally market !

throw it away or stick it in a lawn mower, not worth a siezed engine - engines cost more to rebuild than a jerry can of fuel - if you over mix more thinking more oil is still OK you actually lean everything off (more oil = less fuel) do you feel lucky ? tony

i have a 1978 silver engined beamish, it's a bit 'ringy' at the top end but it picks up fine and runs OK if pushing the choke on improves running that suggests it's getting too much air from somewhere, i'd double check jets,needle, float level, filter etc. hope it works out Tony

once again a posting goes from a reasonable question into a slanging match off topic, what impression does this give new members wanting to post but wondering if their sensible question will become another 2t 4t argument besides Bou would win on whatever bike you put him on i was watching a little 6 year old on you tube on one of those electric trials bikes doing stuff i can't and doing wheelies longer than i've ever imagined, these are the new breed who master balance and control so much earlier than we ever did i saw Bou at the sheffield indoor and the one thing i noticed above others was his balance, he makes far less corrections than others everyone thought dougie would be unbeatable, dougie raised the bar and others knew that they had to respond, now Bou has raised the bar, it's for others to now step up to Bou's quality Tony

same as the other poster i'm lucky enough to have both and like to use them both, i was on my old beamish suzuki at the weekend and loved it, it was doing stuff people didn't expect it to, i'll take the sherco next time i'd recommend starting with a modern bike, easier to ride, balance, power on tap and instant response and the biggest factors in my opinion the suspension and brakes good luck with it tony

are you losing rad water ? - water pump seals are a likely culprit tony

i'm nearly 50 and got a Sherco AND a '78 Beamish returning to trials after a long absence - i should have done it years ago - great fun and a challenge tony

is the flywheel simply scraping the inside of the cover ? tony

snap ! just returned to trials after the same amount of time and been up to Cowm a few times now - and i'm still falling off but suprising myself getting up those big hills see you there sometime - i'll be on a Sherco 290 in a red audi A4 tony

a good tip would be to get one of the ryan young trials training DVD's and also asking other people, lots of clips on youtube as well, some in slowmo - i learned a lot from them well here's my tips for what they are worth 4ft obstacle 2nd gear i'd say 3rd if there's a run up to it, whatever feels good i.e not over revving or struggling front wheel hops keep both brakes on, bend your knees to shift your weight forwards to compress the forks a bit and then throw your body back, arms straight on the bars, and use your bodyweight shifting backwards to hop, don't yank on the bars, keep them straight use your bodyweight try doing endos on a slightly downhill bit with a small rock as a kicker first, let your front whell pass the kicker then as your rear wheel is about to hit it compress down throught the footpegs quickly then jump your weight upwards and forwards taking your weight off the footpegs but not leaving them, hitting the front brake at the same time keeping your arms stiff - as you get better try it on the flat with a kicker then without a kicker hope that helps - have fun tony

most ebay stickers are after market, the originals cost but i bought an original mudguard of ebay, - also you may have to get a later mudguard but they fit, the only difference are air vent holes tony

snap - did schoolboy and novice trials in the 80's with a TY175 and Beamish Suzuki 250 - got back into trials recently with a Sherco 290 and absolutley loving it and doing stuff i never tacked as a schoolie if you ever plan going to cowm quarry give me a shout tony

ask different people you'll get different answers, you'll always get carbon build up cos trials engines are pretty under stressed and well fuelled which is why we can get away with mixes down to 80:1, you may just be running rich so it wouldn't matter what oil you used speaking to a guy at work who is a lecturer in tribology, fully synthetics are generally superior to semi synthetics for burn and lubrication but then a good semi synthetic can match a poor fully synthetic, castor based oils burn worst and vary because they use a natural crop he compared fully synthetics to the best whisky, semis to best whisky with a splash of water and castor oils to some good ol' moonshine, they all do the job but are brewed slightly differently but that doesn't make any of them necessarily inferior, they all work i use putolene MX5 fully synthetic for my trials bike and also in a yamaha 250 race engine i've run for years and i see no reason to change just my opinion

a new british bike designed and built by british engineers in collaboration with a british university and it's students - let this be the start of a resurgence of british bikes, not old school retro bikes but new innovative specialist bikes good luck to them and lets all get behind them modernise the old Greeves logo though Tony