Showing posts with label trials bikes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trials bikes. Show all posts

Tuesday, 21 September 2021

Trials Maths

Some more trials bike mathematical considerations on a Sunday night:



The madness of Ontario used off-road bike prices continues.  Here's a 20 year old bike that needs a lot of work:

2001 gasgas TXT 200 trials bike in good shape, runs good , needs fork seals and brake work.
$3200 obo

So, you drop over three grand on it and then have to buy parts and rebuild the suspension and brakes.  You're probably over four grand before you turn a wheel on this old, worn out thing.

or

A 2021 (as in brand new) Tanaci-Wong TWL200 Trials Bike:

Integrated electric start
Electronic fuel injection
Butter smooth hydraulic clutch
Ultra-progressive hydraulic brakes
Lightweight billet aluminum swing arm
Adjustable billet aluminum brake pedal
Billet aluminum triple clamps
High-quality flexible plastics
Transparent fuel tank means no more guessing
All chassis fasteners are high-grade stainless steel
Well protected exhaust system means no costly replacements

$3495 plus PDI/shipping/taxes


So, my option is to drop four grand on a 20 year old, broken bike, or spend the same amount on a brand new machine?  Someone's going to say, "yeah, but that's a Chinese bike."  Where do you think all the parts on the GasGas were made?  Bet it wasn't Spain.
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Wednesday, 27 January 2021

Trials And Tribulations: trying to find a trials bike in Ontario

I was just thinking this morning that our backyard is basically designed to be a trials bike playground (it's all hills, stairs and rocks), and after giving them a go last summer at SMART I'm still interested in developing those skills - it'd also turn my backyard into a gym!

One of the Bike Magazine writers set up a trials track in his tiny, British backyard to stave off the COVID madness.  I've got more yard than he does that's better suited to trials... so why not get one?


One just came up on Kijiji for under two-grand.  It needs clutch work.  I'm not sure what GasGases are like in terms of finding parts, especially for one that old (it's almost 30!).  GP Bikes in Whitby is a GasGas dealer, so there's at least one dealer in the province.

That'd be get fun to get muddy and sweaty on come spring, but it doesn't work and repairs are uncertain... and he still wants nearly two grand for it!  I've half talked myself into going for it.  The Tiger's almost done its winter maintenance and the 'Blade is ready to rock, so I even have the bike stand free to work on it.

Some GASGAS Research:

Links on where to find GasGas service and parts
GasGas parts!  
Another GasGas parts source
Trials Bike Buyers Guide
Canadian source for trials bike tires
Revco does Trials tires, it's about $400 for a new set of rubber.  I know I can install them myself now.

"the main nut that holds the clutch on the shaft let go, and trying to find that nut was a thorough nightmare. It's some bizarre thread that I could only find from a vespa shop in Italy."

That's worrying in a nearly 30 year old bike that I'd need to source parts for.

Good online chat there about old trials bikes.  1990s era bikes are $1k up to $1500US for a later 90s bike, and the ones they talk about work.  The 93 GasGas was a big step forward technically, so that '92 for sale on Kijiji is asking premium for a bike that doesn't work that isn't particularly desirable.

https://www.hagerty.com/apps/valuationtools/1992-gas_gas-contact_gt25  valued at $1600US ($2000CAD) in excellent condition.  Fair condition is $700US ($900CAD).  The one on Kijiji don't work right and needs major repairs.

An exciting thread from 11 years ago when he was selling his partially rebuilt but otherwise complete '92 gt25 for £500 ($870CAD).  At under $900 for a complete bike partially rebuilt I'd have already picked up that bike from Georgetown.  As it stands, I think I've talked myself out of it with a bit of research.

In the world of unlimited funds a fully electric trials bike would be an awesome thing to have, but the ones I'm seeing are north of ten grand, which seems like a lot to pay for a toy.  It'd be a lot even if I was competing on it.

Electric trials bike research:
... maybe one day.


I should watch this again, then I'd be going down to Georgetown to pick up that GasGas (I'd also be able to show up at SMART Adventures next year and wow Clinton Smout with my mad skillz!

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Tuesday, 22 September 2020

SMART Adventures: What Trials Bikes Can Teach You About Motorcycle Control

I'm still thinking over our day this past July, 2020 at SMART Adventures Off-Road Training.  This was our third year taking off-road training with this fantastic program that runs out of Horseshoe Resort just north of Barrie in Ontario, Canada.  If you're interested in expanding your bike-craft, this program will do just that, and they're open during the summer of COVID with all appropriate safety in place (masks, social distancing, temperature testing of all people prior to starting, etc).

 Last year Clinton Smout, the owner and head instructor at SMART, had us all try balancing on a stationary trials bike, and that got me thinking about doing a session with them this time.  I'd watched Ross Noble take a run at the Scottish Six Days Trial on TV which was gruelling and battering to his ego and always wondered just how different trials bike are from dirt bikes, so here was my chance!

What is 90 minutes of trials riding like?  Very difficult.  Just to get going you have to give it a bit of gas and let out the clutch and then lift your foot up as you start moving.  Screw it up and you're hoping along on one foot trying to keep the bike upright as it tries to jump out from under you.  Starting to move on these bikes is harder than any other bike you're ridden, and that's just the beginning.

I was on a GasGas 250cc two stroke trials bike, and it was like trying to hang on to a wild horse (I presume, I've never tried to ride a wild horse because I'm not crazy).  It weighs about half what I do, has way too many horsepower and tries to squirt out from under you at every opportunity.  I got Clinton as an instructor this time and he made a point of highlighting just how mad these things are.  The brakes have thrown people over the handlebars and the acceleration has had people wheelie the machine on top of themselves, so if you're going to touch the gas or brakes expect it to respond way more suddenly than any other bike you've ridden.
How do you handle this madness?  The clutch!  A finger on the clutch and a finger on the front brake will reduce the arm pump you're going to experience (Clinton was right, I've gotten good at dirt bikes and can stay loose, but on this crazy thing my forearms were throbbing after an hour).  Without supreme clutch control you're going to launch yourself into the sky on a trials bike.  If you crack the throttle to make it go it'll try and throw you, if you hit the brakes too slow down it'll try and throw you.  You need to modulate the clutch to manage these inputs with any kind of finesse.

 I like to think I picked this up pretty quickly.  The GasGas never threw me and I handed it back in the same condition I got it.  Like everything else I've ridden my long body meant my back was what was taking the brunt as I had to bend over the machine.  If I were ever to get my own trials bike it'd have risers or modified handlebars so I can stand straight up on it.  Were I to go after trials riding (and a part of me is very trials-curious), I'd enjoy the violent focus it puts on your control inputs the most.  Once you catch up to what the bike expects, it raises your clutch control to god-like levels.

 In the afternoon I took out a Yamaha 250cc dirt bike and couldn't believe what that intensive morning on the GasGas had done to my clutch hand.  Instead of too much gear changing or braking I was modulating the clutch constantly to ride smoother than I ever had before.
It takes a trials bike to make dirt biking seem easy.

 Suddenly situations that might have made me stop and adjust my gearing didn't matter.  Between clutch and throttle I could manage deep sand, mud, 30° inclines (in deep sand) and axle deep puddles without hesitation.  I couldn't believe the difference.  When we stopped my son's ATV instructor said, "ok, you know what you're doing", which was a fantastic thing to hear.

 If you have access to SMART Adventures (you can get yourself to Ontario, Canada in the summer of COVID), go.  It'll improve your bike-craft even if you're a pavement focused rider.  After you've got the off-road basics down take a swing at trials riding.  It'll give you an appreciation of clutch control and drill you so aggressively in it that your left hand will come out of it with the twice the IQ it came in with.

 I even notice it while riding on the road.  I was out on the Honda Fireblade the other day and noticed that my clutch hand was modulating the bike in new and interesting ways.  In mid-corner as I'm winding out power my left hand is helping the bike deliver drive smoothly without me realizing it.

 I'm a strong advocate of life long learning and applying it to your bike-craft should be every motorcyclist's main purpose.  If you want to keep enjoying the thrills of riding you should be looking for ways to better understand the complexities of operating these machines.  A couple of hours working with trials bikes did that for me.  I wish I had the means to chase down an ongoing relationship with these visceral, demanding and ultimately enlightening machines.
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