Eventpost 33 - Hereford Classic Trial

On Sunday 28th Dec I rode the Scorpa at Hereford in a classic trial that allowed aircooled mono's. 

The trial was held in great conditions (cold and dry) on fantastic ground within a wooded area with traditional rocky streams and banks in the woodland. The sections were fairly challenging but sensible and all were cleanable.

I was clearly a little ring rusty after my shortish 5 month lay off and the little 4 stroke caught me out a couple of times, but overall I really enjoyed it and found that the bike would do everything I asked of it once I begain to understand how to ride it!

I let myself down on the overall score with 2 fives through stalling the bike (attempting to ride it like a 2 stroke rather then being a little softer on the throttle as the 4 stroke requires), 1 five for touching a marker and 1 five when I found neutral instead of 2nd gear as I was riding out of a section that I had cleaned. However I did manage to clean each section of the trial at some point during the day and with the exception of the four 'silly's' rode the remainder of the trial for about 10 or 11 marks which was not enough to win (I think Alan Nicklin won on about 4 marks) but was an acceptable performance. 

The bike went well and I need to get out and practice on it to understand what it will do and learn the intricacies of riding a 4 stroke. I was told that I was riding the sections too fast and I think that was down to a mixture of a lack of confidence in the clutch and not wanting to stall it again - both things that I need to sort out. 

I have added a slow action throttle this week to help reduce the speed that I open the throttle and possibly reduce the potential for stalling and will persevere with the clutch for now but may need to make some modifications on the clutch plates and the activation arm to smooth it's action out a little. 

The next job will be to get a tow bar back on the new car so that I can get to a few more events without relying on Dad taxi's - still that's what Dad's are for isn't it??

Picture is from section 9 at Hereford - good traditional rocky gully.