well, after a few posts over the years, watching teh annual trial in the woods at the bottom of my garden, and a long time thinking about it and being curious, i pulled the plug and bought an old (2001) beta rev3 270.

i grew up riding schoolboy trials, tl125, bultaco 250 etc, and in truth was utterly useless. my last bike was a twin shock armstrong 240 and i can’t remember my last ride but it has to be nearly 30 years ago.

the beta is now in my garage, i’m going to give it a service, and the chairman of the local club (the bike was his dads) has kindly arranged for me to ride the trial on sunday… though i think its so the marshalls have a comedy side show to entertain them.

so all in all, i’ve not ridden for 30 years, i’ve not ridden a mono shock, i’ve not ridden a modern trial, and all the trials i ever rode were on the soft rolling chalky slops of the south downs not super muddy, deep rocky gully, granite boulder filled streams of west cornwall.

anyone got any advice?

e-bay

Get somebody to video you and post it here?

Old skaters break more easily then new skaters.

Take video.

Rachel

Take video.

Quite. And you will have a guaranteed £250 to come from You’ve Been Framed too.

Do you even trackstand Bro? 😀

Funnily enough a 50-something mate is in the same boat as you. Bought a retro bike, rode that for a bit, swapped it for a recent Beta and had a ball this summer getting fit. Started competing again and loving it.

Walk the sections first. If you’re on a time limit, ask the observer to call the time every 30 seconds. Keep your feet up. Stay upright. SPDs?

Steer clear of any age based categories- ime, in all sports the older the agegroup category, the more competitive the category- usually covered with a thin veneer of ‘humour’ 😆

you might be surprised and not be the worst there (wait, it’ll get more supportive) Just go and enjoy yourself, they’ll be plenty there willing to give you tips.

Great to hear you got sorted with a bike Gav!
Myself…I don’t think I’d be doing a trial until I was fairly familiar with a new bike, especially a totally different type from what you rode years ago. There again if you just use the event as a practice ride you should be ok. Make with the legs & dab when you want, don’t try anything clever, you don’t want to break either you or the bike just yet.
If a section looks too hard don’t be afraid to mention to the observer that you haven’t ridden for 30 years & ask for a 5 if you like. (you might get some leeway!)
FWIW I was talking to a couple of lads lately who have been riding since I was (70’s-80’s) & they reckon that in real terms clubmans sections are easy compared to when I was riding, there was no easy or hard route, everyone rode the same & I must admit, when I’ve watched a club trial I’ve thought,’Jesus, we rode harder sections on twinshocks & a cable clutch’.

Oh, & get your entry in for next years Scott Trial. You’d enjoy that. 😆

Oh, & post some pictures!

Here’s me on my way to cleaning the top section of Meall Nam Each in the 2010 SSDT…

😉

That. Looks. Like. Fun.

😀

Good luck gavtheoldskater..!

(I had a MX bike as a kid, but never raced it – just bombed around the field at home. A friend had a trials bike – I tried it once and always fancied a bit of larking about in the ld railway cutting we owned a slice of.)

Is your health insurance up to date?

Woohoo, one of these OP ?

Fabulous.. we need to know how you get on with it..

thats the one bikebouy.

i’m entering the novice class, and yes using the entry as a chance to ride (legally) in the woods more than anything. i also know the woods like the back of my hand as its the bottom of my garden so its not completely unknown terrain.

started doing a service on the bike today so hoping i’ll have it ready for saturday, already wasted a 30mile round trip today by being sold the wrong air filter and have to go back again tomorrow to get the right one.

also discovered the front wheel bearings are way worse than i thought so got to change them as well. the bike has really not been looked after so everything is a bit harder to remove than if it was one of mine, but for what i paid its no biggie and what i expected.

I have a Beta Rev3 250. There are two lovely mods i can recommend….the first is a big flywheel weight that sits bolted onto the flywheel. It makes it v v hard to stall and lovely and soft on the power.

The second mod is a clutch plate mod on the friction plates that makes it much easier to control the drive…..

Google will be your friend for these mods, but if you cant find them i will try and explain further.

Did you ride yesterday Gav?

/me has new-found respect for Esselgruntfuttock 😯

Rachel

well thats weird, i replied to this earlier but now its gone…

yes i did ride, but not according to plan. the bike took way longer just to do the basics i wanted (wheel bearings, clean carb, filters etc) and all i managed on the bike, bearing in mind i last rode, i think, in 1990 but it may be ’89, was a few figure 8 on saturday afternoon in a flat field. and yes i was damn worried by how the beta felt.

sun morning, dressed in trials pants many sizes too big that i’ve had since i was 15 (i’m 51) and my 25 year old old enduro helmet (knackered lining, way too big too and long peak) i got the freshly fueld machine out and it wouldnt start.

finally got it going after a good 20mins, i suspsct that i turned the tap onto reserve not off the night before as there was a small fuel puddle in the garage, the very second a horse appeared in my lane and demanded i turn the bike off as it was scaring her horse.

got to the trial as it was starting, went to my first section, novice route, and nearly fell over in shock at how gnarly it was. i very seriously thought i had bitten off more than i could chew by going straight into a trial. but i gave it a go and was stoked to get round in a 3, so knowing it wasnt impossible really looked forward to my next section, another 3 figuring tactical dabs to complete a section rather than try to ride cleaner and risk a 5 were the best plan.

sadly though the bike started to play up and began to die. i could get it running after about 30secs kicking and it would run fine but then die again. tried another section but it stopped on me so called it a day.

i’m thinking that my cleaning the carb and then running the bike has dislodged some old dirt as it really feels like a fuel starvation issue based around the float bowl, so i’m going to order an ultrasonic cleaner and give it a good clean and maybe buy some new parts for the carb.

also want to go over all the electrics, replace the air filter tube (it was split and i’d done a bodge repair to allow me to ride) and pop on a new kill switch as i did read a post where a guy had the same issue and the kill switch was the fault so for 8quid worth trying.

good fun though, utter terror to being really happy, really enjoyed it and raring to go for the next one.. if i can sort the bike.

Great stuff! Did you clean the main jet out in the carb?
I was watching some sections in the middle of nowhere in the SSDT a couple of years ago & a guy was having trouble, his bike would tick over but not rev. Him & his mates were trying all sorts & because I’m shy (?) & knowing nowt about the carbs on modern bikes, said nowt but was thinking ‘main jet’.
They fannied about for ages before concluding it was that & off he sped!

/me has new-found respect for Esselgruntfuttock

Rachel

Why’s that?

Because that picture looks really hard! I was being nice!

Rachel

well done.

i did similar with a montessa 315 but havent entered a trial yet. biggest problem is finding places to ride it up here.

Because that picture looks really hard! I was being nice!

Rachel

Not me, I fibbed. 😳

It’s… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJxcu2ydg2c

My photo though!

This was me in about 1982…