More extreme trials

After posting that video last night I thought that I'd better post up a couple of pics showing that I've actually had a wee bash at trials myself.

Once upon a time I owned the awesome beast below:

Trials awesomeness guarded by extreme viciousness

It was a Kawasaki (yes, my first Kwaka) KT250 and I think it was either a '74 or '78 so when I got it in 1990 it was pretty well run in and not quite the sharpest trials tool out there.  It featured a mighty 250cc two-stroke motor with plenty of flywheel so it pulled from idle in it's very low first gear.

As with all trials bikes the gear lever is positioned a fair way forward of the foot-peg so you have to take your foot off the peg to change gear.  This is so that you don't accidentally knock the gear-change while balancing on the pegs and clambering over stuff.

While it didn't feature modern advances like disc brakes, water-cooling, fuel in frame and parts made of unobtainium, it did have a built-in chain oiler.  You would fill the left hand side swing-arm with any old oil and then open a little tap to allow the oil to drip onto the chain - you just had to remember to turn it on and off...

I never got seriously into trials but a mate and I would often take the bike down to the local river and play around clambering up banks, over rocks, ride through big puddles and also give it a bit of a thrashing every now when pretending it was actually a motorcross bike.  It was pretty good at everything I mentioned except perhaps that last one.  At any rate for the piddling amount I paid for it, it gave me a bit of fun and never let me down either.

Check out the skills!