Eventpost 41 - Northern Bike Championship Llangollen

Yesterday I went to llangollen for the round of the Northern Bike Championship..... What a good trial. The countryside in that area was superb and the route managed to take in scenic views of the valley as well as some excellent green lanes and single tracks to join up the various groups of sections. Plus the weather was good too after the recent rain. The only dowside was that the sections in the first half of the trial were possibly a bit on the easy side.

It was a bit of a long day in the seat though considering we started just after 10.30 and were the first to finish at around 5 pm. No idea how late some of the serious rock kickers would have taken to get round.

We were set off in alphabetical order so I was off near the front and as I didn't really fancy sitting about I knew it would be a day of trail blazing and scrubbing the moss and slime off the fresh sections that would undoubtedly have eased during the day. This didn't seem too bad for the first half of the trial because as mentioned before, the sections were not too difficult.

After about 6 sections we arrived at a quite large motorcycle show and the central show ground which was housing a trials demo and freestyle motocross show has an arena style section laid out (tyres, barrells, logs and a zig zag between some poles) and was also timed to decide any tie breaks on score. This slowed up proceedings a bit as we had to wait for almost an hour for our 'slot' in the show. Not too bad though, a free burger and a chance to take a look around and say hi to my old friend Jason Rennie who was performing a 150ft jump with his show that he takes round to this sort of event.

On with the trial and soon a few odd dabs slipped away on slippery rocks as we were now at the front of the field and first through the sections. I had a single dab out on the moorside on a loose and slippery slate climb which was certainly going to catch others for marks and another couple as the sections began to get more difficult just after half way. Still riding well and the bike performing like a dream I was on just 5 marks when I got to about section 22 (of 30).

We then came to some sections in Dodd's Wood that were not too difficult, just some rocks up a steep gully followed by a couple of sections on the banks in the wood, all normal stuff that we ride every week, yet I then just went through a bit of brain fade, I had been riding most of the sections all day in 1st gear and finding good grip but I guess I just needed more speed and a bit more agression rather than trying to finesse it and lost 3 on the first gully followed by 5, 5 and 3 on the next 3 sections on the banks. I think if I had just pulled 2nd gear I would have used the momentum to get up rather than losing grip on the steep parts of the climbs which resulted in failure. The extra 16 marks on the card resulted in a reasonable score that I was pleased with turning into a pretty average one!

Once the score had gone I started trying other approaches and used 2nd gear in the next couple of sections with dramatically different results and finished the trial for a loss of only 1 more mark for a total of 22 marks. I think this will be miles off the pace but I am actually quite pleased with the bike and how I am riding it and I guess you just have to put these things down to experience!

I will certainly try and ride this trial again though as it was a great event and a good day out! Will post results when I get them and the rather blurred picture was taken by one of the spectators at one of the last sections of the day.

Thanks to Steve Thompson for being the chauffeur for the day - especially the slow drive home! (Not every day you get to overtake a Ducati roadbike on the country roads in a van - eh Tommo!!!!)

Just found the results on the web - took some time to get them posted on their website.... anyway 8th in the Unit class and just as I thought, the disasterous run on sections 23-26 turned a pretty good ride into an average one, but a good learning experience! See the full results here

Beezerpost 14

A couple of slight enhancements done to the bike this week....

1. The location of the chain tensioner was a little dubious as it was mounted near the swinging arm and was located inside the chain quite close to the tyre. I was always a little concerned that in muddy trials this would be prone to being caught by mud on the tyre and potentially being dragged downwards. Mechanic Pete had the bike this week and changed the location of the mounting point to the inside of the frame where the footrests are located and this has allowed the chain tensioner to run outside the frame and cranked inwards. I have added an X Block tensioner pad and will give it a try this weekend in its current rough form to make sure that it works before tidying up the welds and painting it up.

2. The NJB rear shocks were OK but I found them a little dead in action and wanted something a little more adjustable and lively on the rebound. After taking a look around I decided to give the latest Betor pro shocks from Sammy Millers a try. The certainly look good and initial thoughts are that they have achieved what I was aiming for but proof will be in the riding so will update the BLOG tomorrow night - will let you known how they perform. Note - I was intending to give the 'Magicals' a try that Mick Andrews is doing with Alan Witton, but none are available at the moment and as you know if you regularly read my BLOG, I didn't have the patience to wait a month at least for them!

3. The Sammy Miller footrests that I put on when it was built were used because, to be honest, they were the only ones I could get hold of at short notice when the original Hebo ones didn't work because I had ground the backs down to fit the old frame. They work OK but aleady have started to point downwards. This week I went to BVM in search of something new.... I was tempted to buy some Raptor's but at about £170 I found it had to justify the cost! After checking out all that was on offer I chose the S3 pegs that you see in the photo. They are very similar in size and shape to the Raptors but not made from titanium and at a reasonable £45 they look like a bargian if they hold up OK. They come with 2 red shims to allow a small amount of movement in the positioning on the mounting bracket which means that you can adjust the height by about 5-6mm depending on where you place the shims. I have them at the lowest position with just 1 shim being used on my mounting brackets.

Tomorrow (Sunday 2nd Aug) I am going to the Northen Bike Championship trial at Llangollen. First time on a road trial since the Sammy Miller trial last year on the Ariel. Hopefully the rain wont be too bad! Will update the BLOG tomorrow night....

Eventpost 40 - Gwent Classic MCC - Monmouth

Yesterday I travelled with Steve Thompson down to Monmouth for a Gwent Classic trial at Rockfield.

We had been told that the event was laid out for classic bikes but there would be a number of modern bikes that turn out for the ride around, so off we went expecting a good traditional classic trial.

The surroundings were very picturesque, set in the rolling countryside near Monmouth with rocky streams and banks along the edge of the farmland. Certainly a great part of the countryside and a farmer who is very pro trials as his son is apparently a useful rider himself.

The trial got underway at 11am with a format that was quite different to normal trials that we ride week in and week out. Essentially there was one route marked out for all riders (more about this later) and the entry was split into 4-5 groups of riders. Each rider was given a scorecard and each group was given a couple of hole punches and the idea was that each group of riders rode the trial together and observed themselves (similar concept to a round of golf I guess).

This meant that no observers were required and more sections could be laid out across the land available.

So far, so good - a great idea...... However in practice there were a few flaws to the plan.

Firstly - nowadays with such a variation in bikes and abilities I think it is amost impossible to hold a trial with a single route - the sections on the day were just too easy (for me and the majority of the group I roe with anyway). This is not necessarily wrong but I managed to complete the trial without losing any marks and others that did lose marks (going the wrong side of markers or the odd slip) had nowhere that they could recover the loss. I am sure that many enjoyed the trial as a fun day out and many will have lost marks and found it a good test but with such good land on offer slight variation on some of the sections to add a test for the more experienced riders would have made it more interesting and possibly attracted more riders to the event.

Secondly - the self scoring approach, although good in concept, just didn't feel like it worked. This may have been because the groups were a little too large but it never felt like I was riding a trial - more like a practice session with some other riders and a few markers dotted around for good measure. It always seems to add a little bit of pressure when an observer calls you into the section and you know you are being watched, this felt like I could go when I wanted, never sure who was actually observing (most of the time I think it was down to rider honesty) and there seemed to me no order to proceedings. We even had a couple of occasions where more than one rider was in the section at the same time.

Finally, it was all over in about 2 hours (2 laps of 15 sections with a £15 entry fee - perhaps not the greatest value for money?) and by the end we were just riding sections by ourselves and filling in the scorecard afterwards. I think the format needs some work, perhaps no more than groups of 4 riding together and nominated oberver from within the group observing each section on rotation?? Maybe I will give it more thought and try it at one of our trials in the future because it has the potential to work really well and be less reliant on helpers and volunteers to observe?

Anyway, as I said, I rode the trial without loss and it's not very often I have ever done that - even with pretty easy sections you still need to concentrate for the whole time to save any little slips. More importantly the bike ran really well and no bogging on opening the throttle - maybe because I was never in any real trouble and needing to snap the throttle open but I also conciously kept it running warm all day and it performed flawlessly.

It was a good day out in the sun and good to have my Dad riding for the first time in a while too! I am sure that Steve would have preferred to stay home and play golf though after a directional mishap and too much air in the rear tyre gave him 9 more marks that he ought to have dropped!

No pics or results but will add some if I get any..

Eventpost 39 - BMCA Trial Martley

Finally we managed to put on a trial on Steves farm next to our house, after 2 cancellations due to the weather the sun finally managed to stay out and it was on.

A pretty good entry of about 45 turned up and the sections rode well, however as the ground has been so dry for a few months the water that was dragged up the banks on the exits from the strem became quite slick and posed quite a challenge for some of the entry.

I started the trial at section 5 along with the rest of the Expert entry and straight away started losing marks that honestly messed up my head a little. A mistake on section 5 where I went to wide in the stream and nearly drowned the bike followed by a slack 2 on section 6 and I felt that any chance of a result had gone, however as the trial progressed and it became more slippery on the banks I had a word with myself and started to concentrate a bit more. After the first lap on the sections at their easiest I had dropped 9 marks, however on the worsening sections I managed laps of 5, 2 and 3 for a total of 19 marks.

The bike ran really well and only bogged on me once during the trial so either carburation is closer to where it needs to be or I am starting to understand how I need to ride it!

Results now in - Well done to Nathan as this was a great ride for only 9 marks and I am pleased with 2nd overall considering it is not very often that I manage to finish ahead of Steve Hay.

Results

2 Stroke

1. Jim Pickering 48

2. Steve Neale 66

Unit 4 Stroke

1. Nathan Jones 9

2. Dave Dawson 19

3. Steve Hay 21

4. Mick Chapman 35

5. Alan Borton 68

6. Dave Jones 71

7. Gary Hawkins 78

Pre Unit 4 Stroke

1. Pete Reed 67

Martley Trial - This weekend

Last night I went out on Dad's Scorpa and tried the sections that we will be using this weekend. Overall they are good and it looks like it will be a good trial as long as the weather stays fine.

If we get more than just a few showers we may have to ease off some of the routes and use some of the back up sections because the stream exits could get a bit tricky and we dont want to spoil the trial with riders stuck in the stream, but at the moment it all looks good for a great little trial!

Here is a short video of section 10. This will be the first time we have used this as it took some work with the chainsaw to clear the banks.

As you can see, the stream is nice and low so we will be able to use parts of the land that we have never used before which is always good as land seems to be over used in most areas.

Beezerpost 13 - Finished???? Are they ever?

I was asked to show a bit more detail of the bike so here are pictures of just about every angle - Hope that does the job Martin!. (click on any of the photos for larger pics)

This weekend we are running a trial on Steve's farm at the back of our house - I will do a report and pictures/videos of the trial on Sunday...

Beezerpost 12

As I mentioned in my last update, the bike has been to Steve Gagg for a new exhaust and some work on the bashplate.

Although it ran well, to be honest it was quite loud and I have never really liked the Sammy Miller type silencer as it seems a little vulnerable when you drop the bike on its right side, so I wanted something with some real silencing and also one that was tucked in out of harms way. As you can see, Steve has done a great job on this with a stainless front pipe and a large silencer that has the flow running 3 times its length inside to keep it nice and quiet.

The bashplate that came with the frame was quite wide and I felt that it really didn't need to be as flat and wide as that, so I asked Steve to keep it flat across the area of the oil pump but then re-work it so that the outer edges of the plate were higher and whilst still protecting the engine, give a little more clearance at the sides. As you can see from the pics, the end product improves things significantly.

Whilst I was adding these finishing touches I decided on a bit of personalisation with the neat little side points cover made from billet alloy with my initials engraved on it.

Beezerpost 11

We had planned to go to the Sammy Miller round at Rhayader but after torrential rain for 2 days before the trial and more on Sunday morning we decided to give it a miss.... fair weather rider - I know!!!

The bike has been away with Steve Gagg for the last week or so and has been fitted with a great new exhaust and silencer along with a modified bash plate - cane back yesterday and looks fantastic, however the PVL appears to have broken down as we have no sparks at all!

Will be trying out other PVL parts off Brads spare Cub next week to see what has failed so hopefully it will be ready to run next weekend.

For any readers that didn't know, the Retro Trial that my Dad runs in Welshpool has been cancelled due to a shortage of entries. We have therefore decided to run a trial on Steve's farm at Martley (Back of our house) on Sun 5th July. I know there are plently of other events on the same day but it should be a good event and if we get no more rain then the stream should be low enough to use some other sections that have not been used before.

Will post some pics of the bike when the ignition has been sorted

Bye for now!

Eventpost 38 - Zona 1 Trial, Birdlip Glos

Today I travelled south down the M5 to the Western Centre modern trial at Birdlip, Glos.

As we had not got an entry for the Reliance Trial (actually never got round to sending my entry in time), Steve Thompson and I decided that this was the nearest event to Worcester and would be a good run out before next weeks Sammy Miller National trial at Rhayader.

The trial was held in a quarry which looks like it is used for trials practice as there is plenty of evidence of previous sections and loads of scope for all levels of ability. The weather was bloody hot and the ground bone dry but that didnt stop the organisers actually finding the only bit of mud in Gloucestershire for one of the sections! The rest was run on the banks and rocks within the quarry and was actually a good little trial.

We rode the Clubman (alternative) route as the expert route had been marked for modern experts with a view to hopping and stopping so not really suited to pre65 bikes.

So to the event ..... To be honest I didn't really ride very well at all today. I just seemed to not be in control as much as I would like and the bike felt like it was getting away from me a little on some of the tight sections and far too many marks got away because I was just off line and not really where I should have been. I dont know whether it was just an off day, the heat was getting to my concentration levels or whether I am still getting used to the bike but what should have really been a low single figure score actually ended up closer to 20 marks - not terrible but not great all the same.

To make things worse I did actually clean every section at some point during the trial so my result was clearly more down to me than the severity of the event.

I did have chance to fettle the clutch on the bike though and after a bit of adjusting I finally got it working how I like it, which is good news. I am still suffering a little with the power not coming in clean when I open the throttle quickly, however it is very smooth off the bottom and I actually think it might be more down to me being a little heavy handed rather than some thing actually wrong - perhaps a bit of carb adjustment might help but so too would some practice to learn to ride it just as it is.

I will add the results when I get them but I think it might be a close thing between Steve Thompson (on my old Ariel) and myself yet both of us will probably be a bit down on Martyn Wilmore who was riding on his very modern looking B40 and didn't look to be losing many marks.

I am now looking forward to next week and a good road trial with some rocky streams in Mid Wales - will post an update next week.

Just found the results from Sunday and they were pretty much as expected - as Steve quite rightly said - he wins by virtue of the heavier bike with legal brakes!!!!

Pre 65 class (alt route)

1. M Wilmore 2

2. M Thornhill 11

3. D Dawson 18 (MC)

4. S Thompson 18

Eventpost 37 - Tardebigge BMCA

Today I rode the BSA at the BMCA summer trial at Tardebigge near Bromsgrove. The terrain was all in the woodland and consisted of a bit of mud (even thought the weather was fantastic) and climbs and turns amongst the trees and roots. 

All didn't start too well to be honest with a rather inconsistent throttle response on section one causing a loss of a couple of steadying dabs and then on section 3 as I entered the section and climbed a gentle bank the bike died as though I had left the petrol turned off. I am not sure what happened though as it fired up again 1st kick and ran OK for the rest of the section??

I lost another 2 on a cambered turn over roots on section 7 and a loose dab on section 9 when I lost the rear end just as I got to the ends markers. 

At the end of the first lap I decided to ditch the approach that I had tried and instead turned up the tickover and adjusted the clutch up to ride the bike a little more like a modern bike on the revs and slipping the clutch out of corners to ensure that the engine was running clean when I needed the power rathyer than feeling for the power on the throttle alone. 

This worked wonders as I did the second lap for 1 mark and cleaned laps 3 and 4 for a total of 11 for the trial. I felt that the result was very encouraging thought probably will not scare the head of the field as the 1st lap was a few marks too many. 

Overall the bike handled really well, it turned and stopped exactly as I had hoped and the suspension worked well. I made a few mods to the chain tensioner yesterday and that worked fine. 

Just got the results through - it seems that I lost 12 marks as the observer had me for a dab on section 10 on the first lap too.

Results

2 Stroke Class

1. Mick Parkes          7

2. Ray Collins           17

3. Graham Roberts  23

4. Steve Neale          25

Unit 4 Stroke Class

1. Steve Hay             5

2. Nathan Jones       8

3. Dave Dawson       12

4. Nick Wooley         16

Pre Unit Class

1. Andy Richardson   1

2. Pete Reed               27