Trials for back pain

[Kombivan]

Hello I rode bikes in the Seventies now later in life I have serious back injuries from work and I got back into trials to help me maintain my back. I got 2 247 cota's in 2003 and restored them into original top condition bikes got some fun out of one and sold the other before I rode it it was built with NOS parts I started with a frame and a smashed engine the whole bike was built with new parts and it is floating around Newcastle Its a 1976 frame with a 1977 engine well the engine casing was 77 but the contents came from the original engine it simply had a broken engine casing so I had to replace it with one I got from the US. I recently sold all my excess 247 parts and 2 bikes in basket cases to Trevor in Qld and he tells me he has gotten the 1972 247 in prestine condition. In 2004 I purchased a 349 from the first owner it was a farm bike and lost compression I purchased many parts for the bike over the next 5 years and I have saved enough to get the motor rebuilt. Its a 1979 349 Cota black frame and red tank. I intend power coating the frame Black and I have a low white tank for it new replica I think. New Guards New exhaust, new undercarrage protector, new chain covers, new fork tubes, new shockies, I have a pair of pretty smart looking sliders, new barrel piston rings crank seals mains and strip and rebuild the box is the plan I also have a new side cover for the clutch and all the chrome bits and pieces will be chromed. I have been looking at parts prices recently and I am astonished at how much parts have risen in cost in the last 10 years. I only wish the australian Dollar was ten years ago what it is today. If you visited Forster in the mid 70's and saw a guy riding around on one wheel that was probably me but I am much older now and pull ligaments etc very easily. I am actually afraid of what I am going to do to myself when I get this bike going as I just can't help myself when I had my 247 going 10 years ago and I fronted up with the local kids one day they were amazed that an old fart could ride on one wheel now its 10 years later I've had a stroke since then and my balance isn't as good as I can't stand on my surfboard any more but I am one of those guys that loves life and loves being in it. No I am not a club guy as I can't wait for my turn I like to go for a ride no pressure and simply enjoy it. I know you think this is bullshit well if your a newy member ask Glenn about his mate Bill and ask him if I was Mad.

[Kombivan]

Looks like I let my ego get carried away like the rest of you guys.

[David Lahey]

sounds pretty normal to me Kombivan. Riding the old trials bikes sure does a good job keeping my old (1959 model) body moving. I have found that despite having the same trials bike as in 1976, I now find it harder now to do balance point wheelies than back then, but am now much better at turns and finding traction

[Kombivan]

Thats interesting about traction as I used to always seem to lack a bit of traction and I chatting with a friend that used to race and he told me how he used to get extra traction on the circuit and I am looking forward to trying what he told me. Back in 2010 my back got that bad that I lost the ability to walk and have had to teach my self to walk again to be looking at trials riding again will be great as I won't need my chiropractor once I get my bike going. I only have to ride for two hours and two days later I feel like a new man won't talk about the first day after.
A friend told me about bikes and bad backs in 1998 and I didn't believe him but in 2003 I was desperate so I got a Cota made such a difference to my quality of life.
Gladstone is a nice place We spent some time up there in 1990 in a red wisley's bus converted to a motorhome liked the people we met up there.
Could it be that Wheelstands were cool back in the 70's and now the concentration in trials is the balance factor. In 1975 I went past the balance point at 50mph in top gear on my 1973 cota S%it myself and refused to let go and backing the throttle off bought me all the way back over I went back as far as about 8 o'clock on a clock face and the slowing of the engine bought me back over the bike would have been 11 o'clock. Never pulled it up on the tar again.
This will be the first time I have ridden a 349 cota.
1st bike 1971 ct1 yamaha
2nd bike 1972 250 honda 4 stroke
3rd bike 1973 F11 Kawaski - best all round bike -
4th bike 1973 Montesa Cota purchased as a basket case and rebuilt it 1974-1975
5th bike 1974 Montesa King Scorpian Worst bike ever forks kept bending sold it with 172 kilometers on it.- if you want one of these put bultaco forks in it the scorpian forks are too weak.
6th bike 1974 DTI 175 yamaha
7th bike 1975? Bultaco Frontera Gold tank model nice bike
8th bike M9 Bultaco pursang red tank went like a rocket Had this bike in 1980 when I met the Mrs took her up the beach and couldn't throw her off wheelstands full slides she stuck like glue so I figured I better marry her.

9th bike was a very early blue tank sherpaT I know they were red in the early seventies but this one was blue and I painted it black.
10th bike 1980 honda xls 500 great bike on dirt roads but no good on tracks as the bike is too heavy and the rear bounces everywhere but on smooth dirt they are unreal.
11th bike 1972 cota
12th bike 1971 cota
13th bike 1975 cota alf Karlsom replica
14th bike 1976 cota
15th bike KTM 1978 250cc
16th bike 1979 cota
17th bike 1979 cota

[David Lahey]

349s have lots of grunt. The one you got, came new with a longer swingarm than the later model 349s had.

[nipper]

That's one big list of bikes Kombi. Maybe those old timers is whats given your back some grief. Have you had a ride on a later model mono trials, could be a more gentle transition back to a bit of fitness and enjoyment

[Kombivan]

I was loant a yz 250 Yamaha when I was out Brewarrina years and years ago and it was a nice smooth ride with the mono shock but I want to ride in the standing position bent over a bit as I can't bend over and do stuff, so on a M-cycle with the handle bars supporting me I want to build strength and re wear in my back and hopefully build my muscles up again, I have a hard time sitting in my boat and car the trials standing position will be perfect for me as I tried it a few years ago on the 247cc cota. Plus I love the old Cota's. I have 2 bulging disc and two torn disc and a tilt in my spine in the upper lumbar area and I also stuffed both my sacroiliac joints and my knees aren't the best and riding a Bike makes all that disappear. The rake of the Shockies on a 349 cota is not as steep as the 247 so it should be a nice ride.
David refresh my memory what was the benefit of the longer swing arms. I know the longer rake on the forks is better for high speed riding and the steep rake is better for trials riding. The longer swing arm meant you could slide the bike better but that is not what your thinking is it?

[Kombivan]

I am surprised that no one has commented on my liking the 1973 F11 Kawaski as a great all round bike because back then they were considered a joke in the trail bike world. You had to have one to appreaciate them I mostly used mine for trials riding in an old quarrie we used to ride in and it went anywhere a Montesa would go. All my mates at the time had Montesa's and Bultaco's and they never left me behind.

[Kombivan]

That's one big list of bikes Kombi. Maybe those old timers is whats given your back some grief. Have you had a ride on a later model mono trials, could be a more gentle transition back to a bit of fitness and enjoyment

I stuffed my back lifting a concrete beam at work not on the old twin shocks.

[David Lahey]

A friend of mine had no problems with his F11 until he accidentally rode it down a well. That F11 was also famous for the time he was doing a wheelie on it up his driveway, overran the length of the driveway with the wheelie, and centre-punched a police car that was driving along the street past his place at the same time
I thought the F11 was pretty nice overall, but a bit heavy on the front end (compared with my TS185K). I think it would have been heaps nicer with the lights and instruments removed.