papa acquired a trials type motorcycle about a month back.

These bikes are best for going slowly over difficult terrain.

The bikes are ridden standing on the pegs.

Quite a challenge for an age-challenged biker.

Exercise and fun are the goals.

Been riding on the undeveloped parcel behind the condo.

Dumped piles of dirt and concrete provide the problems.

The bike, a 142cc 2T is working well, since set-up & sorted for my needs.

papa actually attended a FIM trials training camp in Chiangmai weeks ago.

Instructor was a 10-year veteran of world competition.

English-fluent Spanish hombre.

Papa was the onliest beginner.

The 20-odd other trainees were pretty skilled.

pap would be willing to post some anecdotes related to all this if reader interest is expressed.

Go for it

Here's some stuff papa learned @ the training and from YouTube vids, &c.:

1. You stand up. This takes some getting used to. Been starting to stand up when riding my cbr, Lifan, & Spark around. For practice of course.

2. Alway cover the clutch; operate it with the left index finger only.

papa had trouble with this; needed 2 fingers.

The clutch was stiff.

Way stiffer than my other bikes, including the KLR, and other trials bikes I checked...so

illegally rode bike the 600-meters to my fav shop.

Had the boys pop open the clutch housing.

Glad I did, as the oil was really nasty looking.

Got to inspect & shuffle the clutch disks ... all good.

This shop has a huge inventory of small-bike parts, so they were able to find some softer springs.

Adjusted & lubed cable, and bent lever closer to the bar, and rotated it downward a bit.

No prob with the single finger now.

0.7-liter Castol, gasket, springs, expert labor = 520baht, not bad.

They really liked test driving the bike behind the shop.

3. Bike uses pre-mix gas/oil. I had filled it with some 40:1.

This is what the seller recommended, and is what papa always used in his chain-saw.

Kinda smokey.

FIM instructor recommended 1.2% oil; or 80:1.

These bikes go full-power only intermittently, so sufficient.

He said 100:1 would be okay for the way papa rides.

On the pegs PAPA... grip it and rip it..

# Re the CM training camp, not only anecdotes, some pics would be good also.

# 80:1 is fully synthetic only, preferably in a water cooled bike. 100;1 definetely water cooled and with a chrome nikasil bore as per modern bikes. Mineral oil in an air cooled motor with looser clearances i would recommend not leaner than 50:1.

# My ty250 yams are running 50:1. I might up it to 60-70:1 IF i could locate a high quality brand name fully synthetic, which i can't.

# Bultacos and Montesas back in their heyday ran 40:1. Before the advent of semi and fully synthetic oils.

For 2T I would use

Shell Advance VSX 2T (Black Can)

Available at most if not all Shell stations and has good lubricity. It is semi synthetic which doesn't mean much as it is neither fish nor fowl but It is good and available.

Ratio? Your bike is air-cooled at although it won't be at max power for very long it also won't be getting much flowing air for cooling so I would stick with your 40:1 that way you can add 500ml to 20l of fuel in a 20l can. Easy!

If it smokes reduce to 50:1 by squeezing another 5l in the can or as much as you can.

Oh and don't forget to add a cap-full of Castor oil to the tank

Ive always had good results with Castrol "Power 1" Racing. Was called Castrol TTS. Fully synthetic. Even at 25:1 , very little to no smoke. If this isnt easily available , then fully synthetic Shell.

^ Never seen Castrol RS here or Shell Ultra. That's why I use VSX. Recommended to me by the guy who built my motor. As I said available most everywhere and a 500ml bottle will fit under my seat, just in case. Used to be sold at 7-eleven but...

That being said Papa will not be touring so if he can find something better locally...?

VN: "500ml to 20l of fuel in a 20l can. Easy!"

papa acquired a real nice 2-liter bleach bottle for T2 mix.

Not too keen on keeping 5 gallons of gasoline in my condo.

So far I've added 1.5-litre of benzine/oil to the small trials tank.

Capacity, dunno.

Still drawing from valve @ main;

not reserve yet.

papa will buy 2 litres when dat.

Already bought 500ml of some regular certified song tee.

Used half of it to refinish some wood cabinets on the balcony kitchen

that had dried out.

Two coats; they look great.

Oh, the red bike depicted in OP is not the bike referenced.

A troll bike, I guess.

Cool looking tho.

Standing up is useful on bad roads and off-road too. Helps identify surface problems early. I do it all the time when riding below 100. I've also found that if I use the rear pegs I can stand at up to 140. Applied with cation…

^ Never seen Castrol RS here or Shell Ultra. That's why I use VSX. Recommended to me by the guy who built my motor. As I said available most everywhere and a 500ml bottle will fit under my seat, just in case. Used to be sold at 7-eleven but...

That being said Papa will not be touring so if he can find something better locally...?

Got it.

B130/liter, not bad

Now you'll need one of these.

A proper "red" gas can should be OK if kept outside on the balcony. Although 2l of bleach attracts less attention in the elavator/Lift

50:1

1-liter: 20ml.

2-liter: 40ml.

Can siphon from other bike.

r

Old lady sells 95-benzene in wickey bottle, very convenient.

papa likes to support the local micro-economy,

& lazy.

Only stand up to relieve crap and to gasgas. Years ago had a 350 Aprilia trials bike, no seat at all, made one and changed the gearing to use on the dirt. Looking back it was so easy to ride standing up, no bike experience, but maybe I had natural talent then..or maybe not. But also looking back that was a really great bike, bucket loads of torque.

I am sold on dirt bikes, on road off-road, or on a building site....Duggy Lampkin rules, well he used to.

Dougie Lampkin trivia;

Just won this year's SSDT (Scottish Six Day Trials). Again.

He has now won the SSDT a record 10 times.

He is also the youngest and oldest winner. Now 40 y/o.

His father, Martin, died about a month before this year's Scottish. Martin was the world's first World Trials Champion in 1975.

To this day, Martin, and Dougie, are the only father and son to have won world trials championships.

There is a thread on the Trials Central forum running, "is DL the most complete trials rider of all time?"...

There's a good You Tube vid out there called the Lampkins or similar, excellent viewing as the whole family through several generations were very able off road sport motorcyclists.

Update on papa’s trials training:

Been going out to the MT lot around behind the buildings,

accessible by short soi ride.

About two years ago this area was all overgrown and had a lot go trash dumped there.

The owner sent in an excavator and truck and tractor and all the vegetation and trash

was scraped into holes dug by the excavator, and buried.

Extra dirt was dump-trucked at the north edge in maybe 30-40 mounds.

Green vegetation vines, trees , &c have overgrown it all again.

So been riding in, around, thru, and over this.

Started at the edge mounds; 1, 2, then 3 in succession.

Scouted thru weeds and established more lines.

Luckily no thorns or bad critters.

Anyway. first thing this morning ride,

spooled right thru the most challenging line,

clean,

like ringing da bell;

pat on back.

Next run fell on my face.

But starting to get it.

Stand on ball of feet,

crank her over,

knees bent,

weight on outside.

​Gopher it.

Very similar kinesthetically to telemark skiing.

Only stand up to relieve crap and to ...

better to squat or sit maybe

Been getting some rain here in patty.

Still too hot.

Usually try doing my crazy falling riding

[ha ha , i typed 'Farang' and auto edit put in 'falling']

in the undeveloped parcelabout 0730

before hotting up.

Also good comic relief for the Thais riding past

on their way to work, school, &c.

Rode in afternoon twice after rain showers.

The tires still grip well on the wet weedy dirt piles.

Recently purchased a gopro-copy type cam so possibly

will have something like that to post in the next 2 weeks.

This type riding is a lot of fun.

Starting to get it.

That Yamaha 142cc 2T is a great little plant.

Very crisp throttle response.

Smooth.

Don't have to use the clutch too much.

It will definitely lurch you onward @ full twist.

In my younger,slimmer days!. ;-)

Not trials but along those lines, the other day I rode some quite technical off road trails forcing myself to stand up, rather than sitting or paddling

it was often slower, but great training, though I did have to dab quite a few times and gained "points against" in my mind.

At one point about 20 yrs ago I had 2 like these and a mate had the ubiquitous TL125, we'd plonk around his property.

Good fun

BTW papa imo you should have your finger/s on the clutch 100% of the time, and use it a lot.

Fingers on the clutch 100%....

Not neccessarily. There is old school and new skool.

Old school, is pre 65 and twin shocks, heavier bikes, more low down torque, heavier flywheels for more traction, less "trick" riding, no hopping etc.

New skool is the opposite, and yes you'll be using the clutch constantly.

Me - i'm too old a dog to learn new tricks. Plus a lot of that new stuff scares me.

The Bulto and Monty pictured in your post above - check out YouTube footage of that era. Once in a section, nobody has got fingers anywhere near a clutch lever. They did'nt need to.

Now go and watch something current of Tony Bou et al or even Dougie Lampkin from 15 years ago - it's constant one finger on the clutch action. They need to.

Fingers on the clutch 100%....

Not neccessarily. There is old school and new skool.

Old school, is pre 65 and twin shocks, heavier bikes, more low down torque, heavier flywheels for more traction, less "trick" riding, no hopping etc.

New skool is the opposite, and yes you'll be using the clutch constantly.

Me - i'm too old a dog to learn new tricks. Plus a lot of that new stuff scares me.

The Bulto and Monty pictured in your post above - check out YouTube footage of that era. Once in a section, nobody has got fingers anywhere near a clutch lever. They did'nt need to.

Now go and watch something current of Tony Bou et al or even Dougie Lampkin from 15 years ago - it's constant one finger on the clutch action. They need to.

Yes thats true, just its better to develop good habits instead of bad, very hard to change once they set in, as per my post, I know its better but I still have to force myself to stand up. but it would seem p a is not interested

the truth is out

Saw this on YouTube.:

Using single-finger clutching?

Why not use a short lever, just long enough for one!?

Reports much less effort n fatigue.

Where is my hack-saw?

All right.

Very happy w/ this air-cooled mono-shock trials-bike scenario.

Thinking maybe need one for

the time I'll spend in Colorado this summer.

Yamaha YT350 for example.

Develops maximum torque @ 2500rpm.

Seems about right.

I've got four of them (250) here.

The motors are fantastic.

The only thing i can't get my head (feet...) round is the ridiculously high old school footpeg position. Once the frames are stripped for painting and cutting off various street brackets and mods etc, the pegs will be lowered to just above the sump guard for a much better c of g, and at the same time, modern mounts welded on for modern, wider pegs.

Apart from that, you're good to go.

Unique to these bikes, i presume by the time patents ran out, everybody was using disc brakes anyway - 32 hole rims, 16 spokes, 32 nipples....

All right.

Very happy w/ this air-cooled mono-shock trials-bike scenario.

Thinking maybe need one for

the time I'll spend in Colorado this summer.

Yamaha YT350 for example.

Develops maximum torque @ 2500rpm.

1996 Yamaha TY350-.png

Seems about right.

bought this bike today.

hadn't been started in 15 years.

fuel and started after ~20-some kicks.

an hour later and cold it started after 1.

will clean the carb 2mor and give her a trial.

This bike is in amazing condition for an '86.

papa happy.

Congrats!

Welcome to the TY Family...

First day riding this bike papa met, another guy who has the exact same.

He has all the expertise and jets, etc and will help me tune to altitude.

What luck.

Turns out my new found biker buddy is a fanatic.

He has about a dozen ready-to-ride dirt bikes in his shed.

3 trials [1 new. 2 classic]

and a bunch of enduro types.

A lot of Husquevarnas 10-20 years old.

papa will try to ride up Mosquito pass today on the TY350.

Over 13,000 feet above the sea.