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Main Area => Odds n Ends => Topic started by: VTNewb on July 20, 2007, 05:22:56 PM

Title: Oh look what showed up in my garage
Post by: VTNewb on July 20, 2007, 05:22:56 PM
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/GFHewitt/Trials.jpg)


More pics tomorrow when it's light out and I mix up some gas.

It's 80:1 (!)
Title: Re: Oh look what showed up in my garage
Post by: scratch on July 20, 2007, 06:11:34 PM
Oh-ho!  Sweet!
Title: Re: Oh look what showed up in my garage
Post by: ohgood on July 20, 2007, 06:40:33 PM
Just look at all the play pretties !

One, two, three, FOUR wheeled devices of FUNction. Ya, a mower too.

Yikes, a UFO (aka kayak) from outerspace!

Cool fun machine you've spoiled yourself with there. Does it hop right up on a wall like those things on YouTube ?
:thumb:

Title: Re: Oh look what showed up in my garage
Post by: GeeP on July 20, 2007, 07:04:50 PM
Decided to give trials riding a try?  Let us know what you think about it, I've had the urge from time to time.   :thumb:
Title: Re: Oh look what showed up in my garage
Post by: jake42 on July 20, 2007, 07:56:19 PM
ooooh... I want one of those bad.  It's a Sherpa right?  It was kinda hard to see the lettering, but it's definitely not a Gas Gas.  Dr. Love who used to post on here a bit was into trials riding.  We want some action photos.

Jake
Title: Re: Oh look what showed up in my garage
Post by: CasiUSA on July 20, 2007, 08:13:50 PM
NIIICCCEEE!!!!

I rode biketrials with a Monty X-lite, and I've always wanted to have a go at moto trials. Let us know how it goes. Do you have experience on trials, or is this a learning thing for you?
Title: Re: Oh look what showed up in my garage
Post by: jdanna on July 20, 2007, 08:21:43 PM
where do you sit?
doesnt look very comfy :P
Title: Re: Oh look what showed up in my garage
Post by: yamahonkawazuki on July 20, 2007, 10:07:21 PM
afaik you DONT sit
Title: Re: Oh look what showed up in my garage
Post by: jdanna on July 20, 2007, 10:14:39 PM
Quote from: yamahonkawazuki on July 20, 2007, 10:07:21 PM
afaik you DONT sit

wierd. im not quite sure i get it
Title: Re: Oh look what showed up in my garage
Post by: Egaeus on July 20, 2007, 10:24:34 PM
Quote from: jdanna on July 20, 2007, 10:14:39 PM
Quote from: yamahonkawazuki on July 20, 2007, 10:07:21 PM
afaik you DONT sit

wierd. im not quite sure i get it
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorcycle_Trials
Title: Re: Oh look what showed up in my garage
Post by: VTNewb on July 21, 2007, 06:07:05 AM
This is new for me. I did local "thursday night dirt rides" with a bunch of folks, got "promoted" to the AAA group and eventually got bored. I wanted to get into enduro but no trailer.

I traded in the CR250 for this Scorpa SY250 because they have local AMA trials events.

tons of pics and full newbie write up tonight!
Title: Re: Oh look what showed up in my garage
Post by: jake42 on July 21, 2007, 10:40:27 AM
I want to see some awesome boulder scaling action.
Title: Re: Oh look what showed up in my garage
Post by: VTNewb on July 21, 2007, 01:21:15 PM
OK here it is.

Today I took my new trials bike to the trail, and viewed my $50 dollar instructional DVD and tried to teach myself some skills.

First things first:
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/GFHewitt/SideShot.jpg)

It's a 2001 Scorpa SY250. $2795
I had a choice between this and an 02 Beta 250 Rev 3. I took this because it was 10lbs lighter, had a flexier frame, and had a Yamaha YZ250 engine (parts). The Beta had a French Beta engine and a beam aluminum frame, it was less forgiving. They were both the same price.

Plug for the guy that sold it: www.motoconnectionvt.com (http://www.motoconnectionvt.com)

Initially It felt weird with the foot pegs so far back. You can't use the shift lever with your foot on the peg. You have to remove your foot and bring it forward to shift. No shifting on the fly. It's remarkably comfortable standing up. You can sit but it's very very awkward.

The bike has loads of low end grunt. I don't think the bike is capable of stalling. It's amazing. It can chug uphill at idle with me (135lb) on it. First second and third gear all feel like first gear to me. You can barely tell the difference. 4th is for slow trail riding. 5th is much much taller than 4th, it's for hauling ass in trails. 6th is for cruisin' (if you can do that on this) It has a hydraulic clutch, one finger is all you need, and is recommended so you can hold on tight. The lever pull is very low pressure, half the force that the CR needed.

So what can you do with it. Answer:

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/GFHewitt/Wheelie-1.jpg)

It's amazing how easily it comes up. When I went trail riding I was able to hop over some nastier obstacles the CR couldn't The suspension is so flexy that you can actually hop back and forth on the bike. If I use 4th and go about 20, if I approach a small bump, I can compress the springs and launch off of it 4-5 feet in the air like I hit a real jump.
It stoppies just as easily, but I'm not comfortable enough with it to get over a foot off the ground.
It trail rides better than the CR250. It can go over ANYTHING. If you approach a big log, compress both front and rear, pop the front onto the log, you can pop up the rear and launch right over. The steering is laser sharp though, no forgiveness. Have to keep control. Turning is clearly super tight.

Anything you do on this bike is amazingly physically demanding. Stoppies especially. No seat means your arms and legs take all the brunt, it's all weight transfer so you're moving around a whole bunch on the thing.

Things I couldn't do right off:

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/GFHewitt/BotchedTurn.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/GFHewitt/Balance.jpg)

My video explained to me it would be beneficial to go up a steep hill, wheelie, then turn around in the wheelie to come back down. Nope. I've only done it once properly in 10 tries.

Balancing is very difficult. I've managed to hold it for 10 seconds a couple times. You have to keep your body and legs and weight transfer perfectly still, keep the bike slightly leaned with the steering at lock, then move the front wheel with your arms to stay up. This will be long term. 10 seconds is enough for me now.
Another option is to "front end bounce" which I can't do at all yet. Hammer on both brakes, then knees down and weight back to rock the front wheel as if you're going to wheelie, but without the power. It allows to you bounce back and forth instead of falling.

The only issue is the front tire doesn't like mud. I wiped when I was railing around a muddy corner. When I went today I often wheelie and jumped over things. I went out of my way to do it. It's amazingly versatile.

Tomorrow I'm going to practice turning while the front wheel is in the air ala my picture, as well as turning in a stoppie. I want to do a bunny hop as well. Wheelie and compress the rear, move all the weight forward and gun it at the same time to jump the bike in the air up to 2 feet(!)

I've found some giant rocks, but I'm pretty exhausted from stepping up and down off the bike 1000 times to attempt to balance, so tomorrow for action trail pictures.
Title: Re: Oh look what showed up in my garage
Post by: The Buddha on July 22, 2007, 11:49:42 AM
Ooooooo ... nice georgian ...
Trials ... yea ... OK cool ...
Cool.
Srinath.
Title: Re: Oh look what showed up in my garage
Post by: Jake D on July 23, 2007, 09:19:42 AM
I bet that has greater fuel capacity and range than my Super Hawk.

I bet that is a blast!!!  Makes me wish I still lived on a farm.
Title: Re: Oh look what showed up in my garage
Post by: Stephen072774 on July 23, 2007, 09:24:31 AM
nice bike, that looks fun :thumb:
Title: Re: Oh look what showed up in my garage
Post by: RVertigo on July 23, 2007, 10:48:40 AM
Boing!  That's freakin' sweet!  (Don't hurt yourself).   :thumb: :cheers: