Thanks LC, now I gotta take it apart and paint it. Traditionally the frame is painted a light green and the tank should be chrome like this picture found at www.vintagebike.co.uk I don't know if I can handle a green frame..
Too long, but DID read. That was fantastic! The Retro Trials dude is sure thorough. If Mick ever decides to declutter his house and shop, I'm buying a plane ticket. The photos and posters! Just a sampling: And my favorite one: Now that we're in the mood, how about a little Bilstain vid?: <IFRAME height=480 src="//www.youtube.com/embed/v07YK6WIFSU" frameBorder=0 width=640 allowfullscreen></IFRAME>
Great article. I met him at the Ormstown Off-road festival shown on the bathroom door poster here! Super nice guy and one of the times that meeting a hero lived up to expectations!
Ha, Bilstain, the backyard of Eddy Lejeune and my bacyard too http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XT0bMRpM3g&list=PL8VCryJVURlSirrcWdEypq0Ts9csm-nWE
That really was a great article about Mick. Thanks for posting!!. I met him at Ormstown as well. At one point during the Trials school he and I switched bikes. He rode mine for a while and I rode his. He is also a great motocrosser and was at Unadilla two years ago.
I think a classic trial should be like this youtube video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHHTj98Etl0&feature=youtu.be
After a muddy trial I have been doing some maintenance and that involves removing wheels and cleaning out brake drums and shoes. I also noticed a cut in the sidewall of the rear tire and was shocked when I removed the tire and found the insides coated with mud! How did it get in there and what to do now? No way do I have enough energy and time to remove the tires after every muddy ride let alone cleaning out the brakes. I changed the tire as it was old but the cut didn't go all the way through. What is everyone else doing for maintenance after a muddy trial?
I used to live in western WA and race MX. After every muddy race, which was most of them, I had to clean out the brakes and wheel bearings. I always hated doing it. I fixed the problem by moving to eastern WA, where it's much dryer. Eventually disc brakes came along and made life much easier. Now when I ride a muddy Trial I leave the vintage bike home and ride the modern bike. Vintage bikes need vintage maintenance. Lucky for you your Bul is old enough to have steel brake drums. The later models with the chrome lined aluminum drums not only didn't work when wet, but the mud quickly ground the chrome out of the drum.
Yep cleaning the drum brakes is very important after a muddy day, especial when the brakes touched water or you were lazy with the power washer, (never use a power washer or spill water on the hubs with drum brakes). I clean the drum brakes too very often, as inside they clog themselves up with brake pad debris leaving a glossy film on the pads. To the debris inside the tire, again power washing is one reason, this can too happen with modern bikes if the water "beam" hits the joint between tire and rim ... The tire himself is too moving a lot as we ride with very little tire pressure, the flexing of the tire can carry mud in the tire interior, (unfortunately). There is no help just putting some more air in the tires would reduce this.
Knowing that the motorcycle was already in need of serious maintenance I did in fact use a power washer to clean it. The brakes went away completely during the event so I knew they had to come apart. Mostly I am concerned about the mud entering the tire and I am not looking forward to removing the front tire to clean it. I have never heard of this happening and was curious if others had experienced the problem.
Great footage. Yikes...twenty years ago! Lots of pre-65 classics still running around over there then, and even today from what I understand. Unfortunately most of the classic British trials bikes (and their riders!) that used to come out to events in my parts are no longer seen.
I don't know what you mean with flanged, can be the very old Acront rims or the newer ones that are made for tubeless tires, if so you ain't gonna get a problem which is very good. The D803 is a tubeless tire, the bead of the tire doesn't match perfect to the old Acront rims mounted to twin shockers or vice a verse, or in other words they do not sit very good on the Acront T or TL rims (red or yellow Acront label), the other tubeless tires like Michelin, ... have the same issue. It can be solved by mounting a tubliss tube, this will hold the tire to the bead of the older rims.
They should of had at least a good cap on. I remember my Montesa Vinyl cap saved my head on several occasions. About the time I moved up to expert, was about the same time our helmet rule came along.
In the early "70s, when I was riding a "74 Sherpa T, some guys wore some kind of funny looking rubber trials boots. Kind of like rubber rain boots. And pants and jackets that looked like running suits, and very little (no) if any pads or helmet. I wore dirt bike boots and shin/Knee guards under my jeans and one of those stupid looking plastic ice hockey helmets. Most guys didn't but I came from enduros and had already been down hard a few times.
Dunlap boots were never my thing. I wore Norstars, with long red socks, jeans and jersy. I still have my Belstaff jacket, but I would need to be starved in half for it to fit.