wrc Posted October 21, 2007 Report Share Posted October 21, 2007 (edited) Good afternoon, A friend of mine is think of buying a trials bike, either a Sherco, Gas Gas or Beta with an engine size 200cc. Say approximately a 2001 version up to a 2005 model, price hasnt been decided yet. Please could anyone reccomend which would be the bike to go for out of these 3, in terms of maintenance, with any advatages or disadvantages. Thanks in advance. WRC Edited October 21, 2007 by WRC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibdab Posted October 21, 2007 Report Share Posted October 21, 2007 (edited) Good afternoon,A friend of mine is think of buying a trials bike, either a Sherco, Gas Gas or Beta with an engine size 200cc. Say approximately a 2001 version up to a 2005 model, price hasnt been decided yet. Please could anyone reccomend which would be the bike to go for out of these 3, in terms of maintenance, with any advatages or disadvantages. Thanks in advance. WRC I can only speak from my own experience, being fairly new and late to trials [ about 5 years now] I bought an 03 290 Sherco and a mate of mine an 02 290. We ride quite often, 2 to 6 hours a week, and have had no problems with our bikes, we service them regularly which is a piece of cake and cheap enough to do. I bought an 06 290 Sherco last Feb, and that has also been fine. So, the Sherco is fine as far as I'm concerned. I still have the 03, if that's of any interest to your mate, it is a nice one and I would happily sell it now. For what it's worth, having ridden road race bikes for 20 years, and then road bikes and Supermoto, trials is brilliant, the best fun I have ever had on a bike. Edited October 21, 2007 by dibdab Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewis_gasgas Posted October 21, 2007 Report Share Posted October 21, 2007 Best advise ever ... is to not listen to anyone else and go ride them yourself , all bikes will/can break just depends how good you treat them and look after them really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjbiker Posted October 21, 2007 Report Share Posted October 21, 2007 Got to agree with Lewis, everyone has different taste and all the makes have their own 'feel'. What suits one rider might not suit another. Try before you buy if you can, just like everything else in life Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibdab Posted October 21, 2007 Report Share Posted October 21, 2007 Got to agree with Lewis, everyone has different taste and all the makes have their own 'feel'. What suits one rider might not suit another. Try before you buy if you can, just like everything else in life That is surely the best advice, in an ideal world though how long would it take you more experienced riders to dismiss [or not] a bike after a test ride? As a relative novice, I just wouldn't have the appreciation to make a decision like that in a short ride, more like I may have some idea after several long rides. I think that it is better to look at a few bikes and go for one that seems to be tidy and potentially reliable and hopefully it will turn out to be 'the' bike for you, but it will certainly give you a toe in the water and enable you to check out other bikes as you get the chance to do so in the future, so that the next time you face a similar decision you are better armed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smalley250 Posted October 21, 2007 Report Share Posted October 21, 2007 Well i have had Beta since 2001 and never had any real issues and done some decent trials scott and jackwood. I come home wash em and dump them in the garage. But i recently bought a Gas gas txt 300 07 and its a nightmare compared to the Beta. Handle bar clamps aren`t good chain its crap frame marks mono shock has play after 3 months in dry weather back wheel leaks air and today it broke down. I think it rides well but i would liken the build quality to an Indian pram at best. My 05 Beta was in better shape than me 3 month old Gasser. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewis_gasgas Posted October 21, 2007 Report Share Posted October 21, 2007 Aint that down to how well you look after your bike? My 07 fine ... *touch wood* And yea obviously make sure the bike you feel suited to is in decent condition and has been well looked after of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrc Posted October 22, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2007 Thanks for all your help. Been looking at some of the Shercos and there is a good range of workshop manuals on the web, as compared to some other manufacturers which dont have many detailed manuals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordonblackley Posted October 22, 2007 Report Share Posted October 22, 2007 Aint that down to how well you look after your bike?My 07 fine ... *touch wood* And yea obviously make sure the bike you feel suited to is in decent condition and has been well looked after of course. The thing is, whilst what you say is correct, likening it to other forms of the sport. If you ride a Ducati then you need to keep on top of the maintenance, whereas you don't need to do so as much with a jap bike. As in the enduro world with KTM's you need to keep on top of the maintanace, on a yamaha for example you don't need to keep on top of them so meticulously and can ride them, wash them and throw them in the garage with the minimum of baisic maintanance ready for the next time. With the KTM's and the Ducati's they have on average more problems, but better performance than the jap stuff. My point is that for us newbies it is probable that the bikes performance is largely irrelavant as as all the bikes are way better than us, it will be our lack of ability/experiance which will hold the bike back and the most likely way for the bike to hold us back is if it lets us down mechanicly due to the newbies simalar lack of experiance at looking after a trials bike. Being able to actually ride the bike rather than spend time maintaining or fixing it and therefore gain experience is in all motorsports worth more to the beginner than any performance difference. So if I were giving advice on road racing I would advise a reliable easy going jap 600, not a highly strung TZ250 or Ducati. So over to you experienced riders, what is the trials equivalant? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinell Posted October 22, 2007 Report Share Posted October 22, 2007 (edited) So over to you experienced riders, what is the trials equivalant? Beta or Montesa (either 2 or 4 stroke model) Edited October 22, 2007 by Kinell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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