[darmst6829]

Good luck with your event mate , ride smooth and if in doubt rev it out !

Just out of curiosity as I’m from New Zealand what’s a PST gate trial event involve from your part of the world?

Puget Sound Trialers club. Not sure on Gate trials. To be determined!

[Mr_84]

No worries mate , I’m sure you will report back on this Gate Trial business, I was just unfamiliar with the term , looking forward to what you have to say afterwards and remember,   rubber side down and shiny side up .

[darmst6829]

The gate trial format was simple. If you could ride the base section clean you would get a five. If you dabbed once it was a zero. You had options in each section to gain more points by riding challenge sections 1,2 or 3 within the section. So a clean base run with a clean on each challenge section would become 11 points total. I chose to ride only the base section's. My weak strategy paid off as the sections were set for modern trials. I cleaned 24 sections and failed 12 and in doing so I got 2nd in a class of 4. I am satisfied and glad I was able to participate as next month I am scheduled for knee replacement surgery.

[darmst6829]

I going to try and squeeze in another event. its a normal modern trial before my surgery.

https://www.pugetsoundtrialers.org/_files/ugd/93ff3b_144ace67d0c24da1a250b149594b3ecb.pdf

[Karl Childers]

I going to try and squeeze in another event. its a normal modern trial before my surgery.

https://www.pugetsoundtrialers.org/_files/ugd/93ff3b_144ace67d0c24da1a250b149594b3ecb.pdf

Best of luck with both!

[darmst6829]

So I rode today with the PST club. It was a fun event cut short by me as I was worried that I would hurt myself before the upcoming surgery. The bike also vapor locked several times and I will need to do something about that. It was warm with temperatures in the 80's The sections were all cleanable but with lots of log crossings and steep climbs and descents I didn't think I should continue. I did blow some minds by cleaning sections (that many couldn't) on my Enfield. my bike weighs twice what the modern bike's do.

[stinkwheel]

You do right. There is such a thing as walking away and living to fight another day, it's no fun if you finish up with you or the bike broken. I remember sitting at the start of a section on my first trial, looking at a near vertical 20 foot drop-off into an abandoned quarry  and thinking "It's pure luck if it's me or the bike that arrives at the bottom of that first. I've got work on Monday." I took the 6 points and moved on. After the trial, I noticed 6 other entrants had done exactly the same, most of whom were on drum-braked Brit-iron.

It constantly amazes me what my Bullet will drag itself up and across, especially if it is stony or gravelly. I find my main difficulty is on sections of deep mud or wet, soggy grass where I can find absolutely no traction. I've failed to even get moving off the line on a few sections like that. My last trial re-ran a couple of slithery, muddy woodland sections later in the day (after 60 bikes and 40 cars had been over them in the morning leaving it as about 6 inches of watery loose mud on top of slippery clay) and I simply couldn't get the bike moving, even after dropping the tyres to 5psi. In fact I struggled to walk it back off the section.

Any tips for riding a bullet in slithery mud? I think tyres don't help because I'm pretty much limited to 19 x 3.50 Heidenau K67s on the rear unless I want to fabricate a new swingarm. You can't really use super-sticky rubber on long distance trials because there's usually 80-150 miles of road navigation between sections. That said, a guy on a ridgid matchless 500 cleaned both the sections I never got off the line on so technique is definately the main factor.

The best thing about completing a trial on an Enfield bullet is even if you're last, you still win.

[darmst6829]

You do right. There is such a thing as walking away and living to fight another day, it's no fun if you finish up with you or the bike broken. I remember sitting at the start of a section on my first trial, looking at a near vertical 20 foot drop-off into an abandoned quarry  and thinking "It's pure luck if it's me or the bike that arrives at the bottom of that first. I've got work on Monday." I took the 6 points and moved on. After the trial, I noticed 6 other entrants had done exactly the same, most of whom were on drum-braked Brit-iron.

It constantly amazes me what my Bullet will drag itself up and across, especially if it is stony or gravelly. I find my main difficulty is on sections of deep mud or wet, soggy grass where I can find absolutely no traction. I've failed to even get moving off the line on a few sections like that. My last trial re-ran a couple of slithery, muddy woodland sections later in the day (after 60 bikes and 40 cars had been over them in the morning leaving it as about 6 inches of watery loose mud on top of slippery clay) and I simply couldn't get the bike moving, even after dropping the tyres to 5psi. In fact I struggled to walk it back off the section.

Any tips for riding a bullet in slithery mud? I think tyres don't help because I'm pretty much limited to 19 x 3.50 Heidenau K67s on the rear unless I want to fabricate a new swingarm. You can't really use super-sticky rubber on long distance trials because there's usually 80-150 miles of road navigation between sections. That said, a guy on a ridgid matchless 500 cleaned both the sections I never got off the line on so technique is definately the main factor.

The best thing about completing a trial on an Enfield bullet is even if you're last, you still win.

  I have no tips for slithery mud and you are correct tire (tyre) choice makes little difference. I would love to ride a long distance trial. We don't have anything like that here.

[darmst6829]

So I would like to delete the neutral finder. Can I just remove the lever or is there more to it?

[stinkwheel]

From memory, it does have a slight role in pushing down on the outer selector plate. Mr H sells a blanking kit for them which is effectively a trim cap with a bolt and a longer spring that goes under it. https://accessories.hitchcocksmotorcycles.com/19254?cont_page=4-speed

You'd probably want the trim on it anyway to stop dust and yak going into the outer gearbox compartment through the hole. The square end of the selector shaft does stick out through the casing slightly even with the lever removed. I suspect you might be able to use the original cap if you can find a longer spring the same diameter. Or potentially if you found a piece of alloy tube the correct diameter, you could file a notch in it and retain the gear indicator "arrow" without the lever.

[darmst6829]

Perfect, thank you.

[darmst6829]

My knee surgery went well today, surprisingly I can walk around and my wife (an RN) is impressed with how well I have been getting along. Tomorrow could be more challenging. The surgeon said I had a significant case of arthritis, a good sized tear and a worn out meniscus. With all new surfaces installed it is expected that I will make a complete recovery. Before surgery I cleaned the Enfield and did an inspection. No problems found, no loose spokes or bolts. However at the last event the bike suffered from vapor lock so I built a stainless steel heat shield and installed it to the exhaust. Apparently the pipe is to close to the carburator float bowl. Stainless steel is expensive but I found a small kitchen tray that I cut up to make the part for $6. A small sheet of stainless at our local hardware is $25. Screw that.

[darmst6829]

So without trying to bore or whatever I have found that after surgery Its extreamly easy to over due it up to and including having to take naps! I took a nap when i was about 5 years old and also coming home from Hannigan speed way after riding trials, TT and Scrambles the next day. So while my new bearing shells in my knee are not as intense as I thought it would be the PT sucks and walking more then 10 blocks will almost have you in tears like a little chica and all you want to do is get home and take a nap. All and all though things are good and I am really excited to be healthy again.

[stinkwheel]

Building/repairing muscle really takes it out of you so have a mind to nutrition. When athletes train, they are doing the same thing, breaking muscle fibres and rebuilding them stronger. One thing they do is have a protein snack ready for the end of training. While it seems like you are napping, what you are actually doing is building muscle. Give your body the materials to do it with.

[Karl Childers]

PT is tough but step by step you'll get there, glad to hear you're on the mend! Good advice by Stinkwheel, nutrition plays a big part in most anything we do including the healing process. Before you know it you'll be out there cleaning sections again.