sixstringsteve
Well-Known Member
- Location
- UT
You guys are going to get a laugh out of this... I mixed up some gas last night, poured it in and kicked it a few times with nothing... then let it sit over night. The gas wasn't flowing into the carb, it has a clear filter between the tank and carb and I could see there was nothing in the filter. Fast forward to now... I sprayed a shot of starting fluid in the air box, gave it a kick and it fired right up! :freak: :wtf:
I rode it around, the idle hangs up pretty bad, it's leaking coolant somewhere and the muffler tip is totally missing so it's louder than hell. I aired up the crusty front tire and took it for a spin up and down the street! The engine does have a LOT of torque, the gearing is insane! The shifter is about 12" in front of the peg and not easy to shift. I realize it's a trials bike, but it's very different.
The previous owner was an idiot, apparently... he told me how he and his buddy kicked it for 4 hours once. Wonder if he had any gas in the tank!
I've got a lot of work to do, but at least it's rideable! I'll pull the carb off and clean it out real good, find & fix the coolant leaks and possibly adjust/play with the clutch. I need to check the motor oil too... hahaa!
AWESOME! For trials, you actually lift your foot off the footpeg to shift.
Also, most trials bikes run really lean premix, like 80:1,
You usually start from a stop in 1-3rd gear, depending on the obstacle. There's usually a big gap between 3rd and 4th. 4th and 5th will get scooting down the trail. i was in 4th and 5th most of the time I was on the trail. I rode in 2nd for almost every obstacle.
How does that super heavy flywheel feel? It's weird taking 3-5 seconds to fully rev up. Watch the trials guys, they sit in place and rev it for 3-5 seconds to get the flywheel spinning, then they dump the clutch at full throttle and launch up a 6' wall.
[video=youtube;nopt7J49_bA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nopt7J49_bA[/video]
I'll bet that motor is in fantastic shape. I'm more than a little jealous. Let me know if anyone else sees a cheap broken (or working) trials bike.
Two more trials tips:
1) learn to 1-finger clutch, and clutch often. Most trials guys don't ever leave the clutch out for more than 5 seconds. They're always pulling it in and feathering it. Don't use the throttle to control your speed, use your clutch. Also, trials riders never shift gears while moving (even though it doesn't hurt anything to do so). They pick a gear 1-3 for their obstacle, give it gas, then modulate the throttle to get up it. Once they're up, they pull in the clutch immediately.
2) Use your suspension and weighting/de-weighting to get up stuff. The whole secret to trials is weight transfer.
Ryan Young has some great trials training DVDs.
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