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[stinkwheel]

Must do it again sometime. The bike is gradually becoming lighter, taller and lower geared.

[Beezabryan]

Finest posting posting I've seen for a long long time
Thanks for sharing your adventure with us

[mart]

just wanted to clarify my previous post, just in case someone tried this based on my info. the swingarm will fit but the passenger footrest lugs will need trimming /removing. great post SW!

[Allanfox]

Thankyou, enjoyed reading that, look forward to the next one!

[KC1961]

As many others have said, great post.

[rattonshaw]

Stinkwheel, a great machine for long distance trials. I’m currently modifying a 2014 Electra 500 EFI, specifically for events organised by The Motor Cycling Club, HOME - The Motor Cycling Club.

I’ve replaced the rear standard 19 inch wheel with a C5, 18 inch rear wheel (from Hitchcocks) and fitted a Michelin Anakee Wild 120/80-18 tyre (the MCC now list additional tyres to the ubiquitous trials pattern). Front wheel is staying at the standard 19 inch for the moment, but has a Bridgestone AX41 F 90/100-19 tyre. The Electra EFI frame is different from the your frame so I’m fabricating 6 mm thick plates, bolted on, that will have fold-up trials pegs.

Gearing may need changing; at the moment with the standard 17T gearbox sprocket and 120/80-18 tyre, gearing, in theory, is just slightly under road gearing. As I intend to ride the bike to and from events (100 or 200 miles, or more, each way), I don’t want to go too low-geared that I can’t have a comfortable cruising speed of say 60 mph.

Longer shocks are to be fitted to increase the ground clearance and quicken the steering.

As for the front end, I’m toying with the idea of fitting progressive springs and trying to determine the weight and quantity of oil to use. The RE workshop manual for 2008-2016 EFI models states SAE 10W-30 oil and 265 cc in each leg; that’ll be for the road. Has anyone got some experience and practical advice for off-road use?

[stinkwheel]

Cool.

I would say, of all the things I've done to that bike, fitting longer shocks has been the most problematic. It caused all manner of issues with chain tension and chain to swingarm clearance. Also caused huge problems with the rear brake because it mucked up the angle the brake rod sits at in relation to the swingarm causing the brake to apply itslef harder as the suspension compressed.

Of course, I've gone for quite a lot over standard, if you're just going up 1/2 to 1" to redress the drop in ride height from the smaller rear wheel, you should be ok.

I'm not sure how the trial I did there compares to the MCC stages. My gearing was nowhere near low enough to get up some of the slopes on that Durham one, or to let me ride slowly enough for some of the nadgery bits. I get the impression that the MCC stages are more of the "Very rough road" variety whereas some of the Durham ones were along the lines of what you get on a classic observed trial. Kind of one steo down from rock-hopping. It's difficult to tell what stages are like from watching videos though. Of course you have a fair chunk more power and torque than I do.

I'd guess the fork oil volume/weight isn't going to make a massive difference to the actual observed stages. It'll alter the damping rate but the bike will be going pretty slowly anyway on those bits. You'd maybe want it a touch lighter. I've put halfords multigrade 5w-30 fork oil in my forks. This has them pretty much standard ie too soft and too bouncy and without enough travel, which is how they come out of the factory.

I've been modifying mine so it now has a 21" front wheel, a smaller trials tank (I'd be tempted to put the bigger one back on for an MCC trial though), longer shocks, trials gearbox (retains the 1:1 for top gear so it'll still do 50-ish on the road), cable rear brake, chain sliders/rollers, a lightweight rear subframe/mudguard and a WAY thicker sump plate.

I would say, riding to and from an MCC trial is a bold move. By all accounts, by the time most people have finished the trial, they are like the walking dead and go and kip in their car/van for a few hours before going home if they have don't have someone to drive them. I was pretty much done-in by the time I finished the Durham trial and it's half the distance of an MCC classic.

I need to practice riding on sluthery mud and wet grass a lot more before I do another trial. I had almost no grip on wet grass even with 6psi in those trials tyres. It seems to be weight that's the killer in that respect. The lighter you can make it, the better it will be.

[Wheaters]

Which of the three MCC trials are you going for? The next one is early January and fully booked. The one after that is the Lands End, at Easter. The Edinburgh is always the first weekend of October.

They are colloquially known as the cold one, the long one and the rough one!

I’ve been an MCC member for about 19 years. I mainly help marshal/observe but have competed on the Edinburgh a couple of times in a small open car and once on my 350 Bullet (the latter resulted in a rear wheel puncture early on, which I couldn’t fix and I didn't finish). Somewhere on here there’s a thread on the build up to the trial. There wasn’t much to say afterwards . I found what little I did on the bike quite hard but I’m in my 60s and took solace in that some of the modern bikes were 60kgs lighter than my Bullet with far better suspension and tyres.

I doubt you’d get far on standard gearing. I left the primary side standard but the rear chain drive was 16/46. This gave me a top speed of about 50mph. Bearing in mind that the timing is worked out on a road speed of 20mph that’s enough.

Many gave advice to fit the footrests further back. I’d say that’s very good advice. I’d go for a slightly smaller tank than standard, to lower the centre of gravity and give you more knee room. Two gallons should be adequate because the routes include dedicated refuel stops and there will be others that you could get to.

[Wheaters]

Oh yes, if you’re going to do the Edinburgh Trial, you’ll definitely need a good engine bash plate. Especially if you get as far as “Corkscrew”.

I used Heidenau K67, square block, knobbly tyres.

[rattonshaw]

Stinkwheel, thanks for your advice. Chain tension and clearance was a potential problem I’d envisaged after experiencing similar problems on a couple of previous projects. As you say, though, a small increase in shock length should be ok.

As for the front forks, these seem to vary from model to model and from year to year. My Electra EFI has the leading axle type fork legs, but I’m still not sure if I can drain the oil by removing the bottom bolt that holds the damper assembly, or I have to remove the complete fork leg. The same question for the springs. I suspect the legs have to be removed from the yokes, then dismantled. Adjusting preload could be a nightmare.

As for the rear brake, currently, the plan is to shorten the pedal, but that will decrease the leverage effect and still leaves the brake lever (at the backplate) pointing down. Your use of a cable conversion looks the way to go.

Wheaters, I’m also a member of the MCC; for about 25 years, plus for a period in the late 1960s. My thoughts were to enter the bike in Class 0, rather than Class A, and try the Edinburgh Trial. The bike and me should have an easier time in Class 0 and Derbyshire only involves a journey to and from the trial of about 100 miles each way. Class 0 might allow me to get away with road gearing, but time will tell. If the bike (and me) prove non-competitive, I’ll use it on the green lanes near my home; the area is pretty flat and muddy, no big rocks .

The Durham area trials sections look definitely trickier than the MCC sections. The marking is different too. Put a foot down anywhere on an MCC section and that’s a fail; game over .

The fuel tank is going to have to remain as standard for the moment since the fuel pump is installed in the tank and a compatible alloy, trials-type to fit works out at 500 GBP. I can’t justify that expenditure on a proof of concept and I’m not going to do a carburetter conversion in order to do away with the fuel pump.

I’ve got an entry in the Exeter Trial 2022 in January (on my Beta Alp 350) so may well see you on the event or at the evening meal.