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World Without Spokes


malcra
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What a great restoration job! Beautiful Bike. I love the handlebar mounts forward of the fork tubes. Must have handled a little on the busy side.

I dont ride this pup enough to worry about chopping my legs off. :biggrinsanta: This 1984 Merlin 350cc Gallach Replica has cast magnesium hubs with 6 cast alloy spokes per wheel.

I find these unusual Spanish manufacturers really interesting. The factories made them out of passion rather than JUST for profit and broke the predicable mould. Sure they went bust but Merlin still continues in Gasgas and Mecatecno left some georgous bikes behind.

Am working on a 1986 approx Mecatecno 326cc Dragonfly which is another bike with 3 spoke wheels , this time in flourescent orange with a matching frame. It should be a beut once done. Just rebuilt the engine and stripped the frame.

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Kramit, thanks for that .

Like most of us , weve all been through , either owned or ridden loads of different trials bikes over the years. This Merlin is one of the best handling twinshocks ive ridden.When i got this over to the UK and rode it , it was a bonus that id handled so well...as i would have bought it anyway.

The front end is so so light and great for flicking it about and picking it up without much effort over logs , roots or just changing direction. You have to watch this on sharp inclines. It grips very well as the pegs are so far back. Its also very easy to balance stationary. Ive moved the foot pegs down as far as i can get them , but ideally id like the pegs lower by another 1.5" - 2" . Failing that the bars may have to go higher. Im 6'1 - perhaps thats got something to do with it , ut it feels as though the pegs are slightly to high. Im just being fussy though

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Hi Guys

Heres another one for you. Merlin with six spokes parked at the bottom of laggan locks circa 1986

Sorry dont know who the rider was

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Bye for now

Cookie

I seem to recall Manuel Soler riding one but don't have access to my programmes to confirm. Over to you BJ?

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Kramit, thanks for that .

Like most of us , weve all been through , either owned or ridden loads of different trials bikes over the years. This Merlin is one of the best handling twinshocks ive ridden.When i got this over to the UK and rode it , it was a bonus that id handled so well...as i would have bought it anyway.

The front end is so so light and great for flicking it about and picking it up without much effort over logs , roots or just changing direction. You have to watch this on sharp inclines. It grips very well as the pegs are so far back. Its also very easy to balance stationary. Ive moved the foot pegs down as far as i can get them , but ideally id like the pegs lower by another 1.5" - 2" . Failing that the bars may have to go higher. Im 6'1 - perhaps thats got something to do with it , ut it feels as though the pegs are slightly to high. Im just being fussy though

We never saw this 6 spoke mag wheel model here in the states. The earlier model with normal spoke wheels was sold here but as a Cagiva. The 3 spoke wheel came later as a Merlin.

It seems to me that moving the footpegs "down and back" was the normal mods on the 80's bikes. The front end would feel lighter but steering wasn't quite the same. All that seemed to change for me when the Beta TR-34 was introduced ( although I never owned one ). I remember thinking how much further forward the pegs felt, but everything seemed to work good as a package (except wheely turns)

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Cookie , thank for that photo.BRILLIANT. I had no idea that twinshock model made it over here to the UK.

Interesting fact for 3 spoke wierdos -

1 - There is no footage onthe web of Skywalkers in action.

2- This is the only photo on the net of Skywalkers in action

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There must be more out there ?

John Reynolds rode the 320 JCM to 12th place in 1986,no sign of the unknown Merlin jockey in the results however,nice looking bike though,

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I think Ryan Young scored world points that day too, it was his backyard in Pennsylvania. I think Bosis won the event, does anyone remember.....

Steve

I was there! 1987 Bodines PA. From the angle of the video I was probably no more then 5 feet from Dale when he shot it. That section was pure evil. Nothing but broken slabs of shale piled on top of each other.

I have to admit to a love of the way the ground shook under the 350 Merlin. You could tell one went by just from feel. The Dragonfly is just a work of art. Ground breaking the way the new Ossa is. Hopefully the Ossa will survive longer.

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  • 1 month later...

Judging the Merlin by how many times Kip Webb had that bike upside down, the Merlin had the Best Handlebars for sure!!! Great footage, thanks for the memories.

Boy do I miss Trials Bikes with real seats. The FIM and National Org. should pass a rule that Trials Bikes need to have a minimum seat height for competition (somewhat higher than the current crop). Trials bikes have become too specialized for this reason alone in my opinion.

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