Yamahapost 5 - The rebuild begins

All the bits in place the rebuild can now begin...

Yamahapost 4 - ready to start rebuild

With the frame back from the coaters the rebuild could start.

The fork legs were stripped of the original blue paint and polished, the stickers put on the tank, seat and mudguard and the build completed...

Yamahapost 3 - new bits and bobs required

Once apart there were a few bits and bobs that were required but generally it was in a really good condition.

The main things that were needed were as follows;
Air filter
Fork seals
Rear Wheel bearings
Footrests and footrest hangers
Chainguard
Side stand
Tyres
....and some new decals to finish the job

The rest of the makeover was really just painting and polishing in order to restore it to its former glory;

Yamahapost 2 - the work starts

First things first, and the bike was stripped for a bit of work on the frame.

The Yamaha Mono always had the footrests too high in my opinion so additional webbing was welded below the original footrest mounts to lower the pegs by about an inch and pull them back about 1/2 inch.

The frame was then whipped off to the powder coaters whist the other work was started.

Yamahapost 1 - New project

A little while ago by Brother in Law said that he's like to have a go at trials and started to look at budget bikes to get him going.

I put the feelers out and thankfully Ian Baker contacted me to say that he had a Yamaha Pinky with a good engine that needed a bit of a tidy up.

Perfect project bike I thought and cosmetic makeovers are just the thing that my Dad likes to do. So the deal was done and the bike came home....

Eventpost 65 - Bewdley MCC Group Trial, Coney Green

On 12th Sep I decided to take a break from the local classic trials scene and ride a modern trial at Coney Green, a few miles from home.

As I have not really ridden modern trials locally for some time I knew that this group trial would be a little harder than we are used to and the hard route would certainly be out of the question so I opted for the easier route.

Coney Green is located near to Stourport on Severn and is a wooded hillside with quite sandy soil. Although the majority of the sections were pretty straightforward, the drops and climbs were set for the modern bikes and I didn't ride them particularly well to be honest.

I lost a couple of loose marks on the first lap, mainly due to my own confidence on the steep banks and not really expecting the BSA to get up the steps, however as the trial went on the confidence increased and I lost fewer marks.

With the exception of 2 sections, a tricky loose turn on a steep bank and a long steep climb over roots which I either lost 3 or 5 each lap, I managed to clean each of the remaining sections, however I did loose too many marks and finished well down the results.

Alan Nicklin proved that it wasn't too hard for classic bikes as he won the trial on the easy route on only 5 marks and of the other classic bikes, Steve Thompson turned the tables on me from the week before, losing 29 marks to my 36.

Pictures are of the 3 of us on classic bikes at the trial..

More from Stroud

I couldn't resist uploading this clip from today. Steve will tell you that he needs new tyres or the ground clearance on the Ariel is too low, or the main jet that he was experimenting with made the power too soft...... but we both know the truth.....he cocked this one up badly and here's the evidence!!! Enjoy!

Eventpost 64 - Stroud Valley MC Minchinhampton Cup Trial

Today there was little on for classic bikes so we decided to take a trip down to Stroud to the SVMC Trial at Eastcombe.

The trial was mainly for modern bikes but there was a pretty good contingent of pre65 and twinshock bikes in there too.

Not knowing what to expect, we entered on the A route even though the majority of pre65 bikes seemed to be riding the B route, however I think it was about right as the sections were challenging but not too difficult.

The sections were all within a wooded hillside with a mix of loose rocks, exposed roots and a few rocky gullies thrown in.

As the weather was forecast to change to rain we decided to get a move on and rode round at the front of the field (nothing new there for me anyway) which made the first lap challenging but in fact some of the roots became quire slippery and the sections got harder so it may have actually paid off for a change.

I rode the first lap for clean followed by 6 on the second lap which included a soft 2 on a slippery camber and a much needed 3 on the exit of a section at the top of a rocky gully where a left turn up a slippery root followed by a cambered turn caught me out. The 3rd lap was a little better for 4 or 5 marks (depending on the leniency of the observer).

I am pretty happy with how I rode today as I saw plenty of young riders on modern machinery losing marks where I was clean and the bike again went like a dream.

Steve Thompson was at the trial deciding which bike to take to the Isle of Man next weekend so he rode half of the trial on his Ariel and the other half on the BSA, however I don't think he's any closer to a decision yet but I would expect the Ariel to be in the van next week as he was still having carburation issues with the BSA today.

I will post results when I get them but the photos today are courtesy of Heath Brindley (check out his website - http://www.r2wtrials.co.uk/), there are a couple of Steve Thompson on his Ariel, some of me and one of Martyn Wilmore on his Yamaha.

Results just posted on the SVMC website - very efficient indeed (as was the running of the event)and of course I am very pleased with the result! The results were listed in finishing order rather than by specific class so I have listed the same way;

Results - Standard route

1. Tim Wheeler (250 Scorpa) 5
2. Dave Dawson (250 BSA) 11
3. Nathan Pekala (250 Beta) 11
4. Adrian Steele (300 Gas Gas) 13
5. Martyn Wilmore (250 Yamaha T/S) 19
6. Andy Ridley (300 gas gas) 20
7. Rob Faulkner (175 Yamaha T/S) 20
8. Paul Heron (300 Beta) 22
9. Dai Clothier (300 Beta) 27
10. Andy Perry (250 Beta) 28

32. Steve Thompson (Ariel/BSA) 65

A Family Affair

Colin Bullock sent us this photo of me and Dad sitting in the back of the new van at Stoneleigh - quite worrying that we are starting to look like each other but the old man is looking well considering he's 70 at Christmas!!

More from Stoneleigh

As mentioned in my event report, I had a bit of a problem on section 3 on my 3rd lap which left me on my arse in a muddy ditch. Well, thanks to Al Ussher here's proof of the event ...... Thanks Al, I hope I managed to cheer a few people in the crowd up!!!