First Ride

[whitehillbillies]

After 20 absent years, myself and my 24 TCS, competed in our first trial of the year.
The first 11 sections in the 36oC heat of our Australian summer went well.
Then a flat tyre put me out for the day.
If it had been a bit cooler I may have fixed it, and did a couple more laps.
The gearing of 12/55 worked well for the sections set, but I thinks I will go to 60 rear wheel, if I can find a 428/60 blank here in Australia somewhere.

whitehillbillies

[Dick F]

whitehillibillies

Sounds as though you will have to use water cooling for both of you,
over here we only have that problem for a few weeks each year, great to have a report from you. thanks mate Dicky

[whitehillbillies]

Thanks for your reply Dicky.
Pics of the Greeves and bike carrier, here at The Trials Australia website.

http://www.trials.com.au/forum/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=9739

whitehillbillies

[hoveactually]

whitehillbillies!!!

I too am a returnee to the fold after even more years layoff than you. At my 1st event (early Dec) I ran out of petrol and then had trouble restarting - whiskered plug, which took me a while to diagnose . Its along time since I've ridden 2 strokes! !
At my second event (end Dec) my gearbox got spooked at the starting gate of the 1st section and could only provide neutral, so a spectator I became. After rebuilding the GBox I'm now ready for my 3rd event (next Sun) and just hope my body will perform better than the bike has so far.
I'm running 13/62 gearing and find that really good in 1st & 2nd. My chain is quite close to the swingarm so yours must caressing it
Ready made sprockets are available here from http://villiersservices.co.uk/index....roducts_id=540
Lets have some more photos showing your nice weather as a backdrop - we're looking forward to a bleak 2-4C this weekend!
AndyB

[whitehillbillies]

Hi AndyB,
Thanks for the reply.
I ran my Greeves on the road for many years, here in Australia.
My gearing at the moment is 12/55.
The chain ran close to the swingarm, but I cut an old white chopping board, heated and shaped it to slide over the swingarm, held in place by the shape, silicone and a clip, of which I had forgotten about until you mentioned it.
I will have to look how it has worn. Its reversible, so when one side wears out, I will flip it over.
Has any one used the same material to make a primary chain tensioner, with an off set hole, to aid tension ????
With my 100kgs the chain runs clear until I go over something.
I am running the wide ratio box.
Most of the sections are set by modern bike riders.
I will try a couple more trials before changing, as it did seem to go ok.
Are the rear sprockets available from Villiers services.

whitehillbillies

[hoveactually]

whitehillbillies!!!!!

Yep - all sprockets (gearbox & rear) are available from Villiers Services - full details on their website.

I've added a photo of the primary chain tensioner that was already fitted to my bike - its shaped from a hard fibreous material (with slotted screw holes) but I'm sure hard nylon (or even a piece of your cutting board ) would do the job.

I also fitted a rear chain tensioner (from Villiers Services) so I could move the rear wheel back to increase the clearance between tyre and mud scraper bar thats part of my rear brake assembly. Allows me to run a slacker chain but without it rubbing on any part of the swingarm - see piccie.
AndyB

[whitehillbillies]

Andy,
I added a chain tensioner, when I first rebuilt the bike.
Thanks for the pics.

whitehillbillies

[aa will]

having a rear tensioner is great ,but i remember years ago fitting one the same as yours, only one problem on rocks and sometime on tree roots it would catch on the leading edge and slacken the chain which then fell off, the solution was to refit the tensioner so the pivot end was facing forward so if it hit somethin it tightened the chain , it cost a few fives until i sorted it and now always fit them the other way and no more problems will

[hoveactually]

Will - yea, I've been worrying about that and scratching my head as to how to re-locate the mounting.
AndyB

[aa will]

andy you can also fit the tensioner on to the rear of the footrest mount i have fitted them on some bikes like that you would think that it would cause problems,fitting on the bit that stays still but provided the spring is ok i hve not had any problems , i normally weld a bracket on the s/arm,to take the tensioner ,(before painting)but it will be a shame to mess up your beautiful paint work, also i think you should have a chain guide on the arm just in front of the sprocket , this keeps the chain in line . will

[hoveactually]

Wiil - thks for that. I think I'll have to bite the bullet and drill into my lovely (inherited) paintwork by the footrest mount. It'll certainly reduce the chance of the tensioner getting snagged. I can then refit the chain guard/guide. AndyB

[whitehillbillies]

Ordered a 60t 428, from Villiers services yesterday.
Will it fit using the lover chain guide, or will some mods be necessary ????
Thanks

whitehillbillies

[aa will]

i think that you may have to slightly alter the chain guard (with the angle grinder) to give a bit more clearance , i use a std primary set up with a 13 tooth gearbox and the std scottish (56) rear sprocket, this suits me fine but i ride a s/car outfit none of that slow posing, just pick a line up the section hit the power and hang on , it works for me will.

[whitehillbillies]

Well second ride of the year. ( DNF ) 3rd and 4th lap.
Had problems with no spark.
After a few plugs and points checked, discovered my KILL switch was working to well.
Cut away kill switch wire and problem solved.
Any way, with not enough time to finish, called it a day.
Bike ran good, until kill switch problems.
Gearing of 60T rear, 12T gearbox, was great.
No Spinning tyres, with the new 2.15 x2 rim locks ( old 1.85 to small )
Only Classic at the moment, of 57 riders for the day.
One guy said he had a James Commando K9, by the sound of it.
Also Another Ariel Colt Trials, somewhere in a shed.

whitehillbillies

[hoveactually]

whitehillbillies - It sounds like you're doing better than me.
My 1st trial ending prematurely after a) running out of fuel and then b) suffering a whiskered plug which took me too long to diagnose - 30+ yrs away from 2 strokes caused both of those events; so timed out!
2nd trial - didn't even start because after riding round the car park without problems, as soon as the bike saw the entry to the 1st section it decided only neutral was available - gearbox has since been reassembled properly!
3rd trial - well it was slightly better than the 2nd, but I ran out of sparks on the entry to the 4th section. A new LT coil one has solved that one.

So I've done a lot of unintentional spectating.

Anyway I've girded up my loins (if thats the right thing to say?) and am psyching up the bike so its ready for anything.

I thought I'd bought a fully restored bike, but once again all that glitters is not gold!!!

AndyB