Off Road Books 

Visit our Ebay shop

VAT Reg No:
GB 515276257

Adventure Motorbiking Handbook  New Edition only £12.99

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Motocross Skills with Ryan Hughes

The Ultimate How To Ride MX  DVD £19.99

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Some New Trials DVDs:

World Trials USA 2005 - Duluth world round sensational coverage, 2 discs £21.99

Balancing Act 4 £19.99

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Trials Training Techniques with Ryan Young undoubtedly the best training DVD ever! £33.99

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So this is Yorkshire! 1950s & 60s Scott Allan Jeffries trials etc £16.99

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Some Re-issues onto DVD:
Six from Scotland 1950s & 60s SSDT £16.99

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and while we on trials stuff - a few more of the classic book  Observed Trials (Schreiber)have arrived too

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NEW Clymer Manual CRF250/450 R/X £21.99

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NEW Freestyle Motocross II Air Sickness,More jump tricks from the Pros (Garth Milan) Chapters on Bike Prep, Rider Bios, Plus 14 free style jumps explained with many colour 
pics - such as the Indian Air Bar Hop with Ronnie Faisst , The Back Flip with Carey Hart 
& The Whipped Double Nac 
Nac (is that an ice cream?) 
with Mike Jones. 128 page 
full colour softback. Buy one & when the neighbours ask what you do with the bike every weekend - whip it out!   ........£13.99

NEW Clymer Honda CR80 & CR80RB 1996-02 £21.99

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NEW Clymer Honda CR2501997-2001 M437 £21.99

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NEW Honda CR125 1998-2002 M464 Clymer Manual £21.99

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New Clymer manual on Honda XR400R 1996-2000 £21.99

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New YZ400/426 & WR400/426 1998-2002 Clymer Manual £21.99

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Kawasaki KX250 1992-98 Clymer Manual £21.99

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NEW Kawasaki KX80-100 1989-2003
Covers: KX80 (1991-2000), KX85 (2001-2003), KX100 (1989-2003)
Clymer Manual  M448

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Kawasaki KX125, 1992-2000

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Covers: Kawasaki KX125 
 M472-2 £21.99

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Kawasaki KX250, 1992-1998
£21.99

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Covers: Kawasaki KX250
M473 £21.99

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NEW: Kawasaki KLR650 1987-2003 Clymer M474 £21.99

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YZ125 1994-99 Clymer manual £21.99

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NEW Suzuki RM125  1996-2000 Clymer Manual M400 £21.99

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Merlin Books more Motorcycle books

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Talon Wheels, & Hubs supplied,
Enduro or Supermoto

 

This site is 
© Mike Husband t/a Merlin Books & Merlin Motorcycles 1996 - 2006

Website design by 
Mike Husband

mike@merlinbooks.com

Welsh Two-day Enduro I last rode in 99 on a 640 KTM and had a minor ambition, this time, - to do better riding  the Mighty Pampera. A bike from the other end of the scale.......... It felt weird in the first test,. First I stopped the see if the rear brake lever had fallen off - it hadn't, but I've been riding other bikes & I couldn't find it straight off. Then , & it took me all day to work this one out, it felt loose & slippery on the front, so no confidence in the corners. Which was a shame, as usually it carves a good line. Next I binned it on one of those greasy roots. I just wasn't on the ball.  I guess it was odd going straight from the tarmac to off road against the clock  without any warm up. Same for everyone of course. Then on the first off-road stage I lost 3 mins - maybe this Pampera wasn't the best tool after all - more likely I was as unfit as usual... To make matters worse I then clock in on the tank top duct tape time - my original running times - and forget  to add my extra lost time! The awesome Strata Florida was next & I always struggle to keep speedy over those stones & rocks. I see only pain & punctures! Another minute is lost,  but thats no bother. Just pleased not to fall in the water - which wasn't that bad this time. This year there seemed to be more road work and lots more firebreak going - we ended up riding most of  a Hafren Rally stage , but with a few more off road diversions. The last off road stage was the best - varied riding and the grassy hillside motocross test  halfway round.  Again the bike felt flighty on the front, but this test was a bit more open, which oddly enough, was better for the bike.  After this was a rutted snotty climb which the Pamp was quietly purring up, dragging its tiring pilot along, when BANG- locked up transmission  &  no pressure on the clutch lever. The chain had slipped off , jammed up & taken the clutch slave cylinder with it. Oh the joys of a hydraulic clutch! It took a while (& some cussing) to free &  I then carried on with no clutch disengagement. The bike does change gear very nicely without that clutch, but  there's no engine braking on a two smoke. So it's take it easy time. Out on the road - I use the kill button to stop the bike and wheelie off the line when I snick it into first.  Bit of a pain at traffic lights........ Get back 12 mins late, but at least I'm not stuck out in the forest.  Of course finding a spare was impossible - Gas Gas only have enduro parts , as expected, and the Pamp is based on the trials bike. So I'm out. Thinking about this later - the O-ring chain was very close to that clutch slave anyway and there is no case saver fitted. Maybe I need to try a different sprocket combo to give more chain clearance. The odd handling was down to fork mods I'd just carried out. Tiger Cub valve springs gave a bit more support to the soft, short standard  fork springs. But I'd not stiffened the rear to match - so the whole bike was always compressing the rear too much. The forks felt a lot better - in isolation - but the rear is too soft to match. At least thats my theory! However the engine did run superbly smooth - particularly on the latter half of the course when the wind was with us.  And economic too - got to the fuel check beyond Strata Florida without using reserve. It must have been the most civilised two stroke out there - judging by the "bag of spanners" noises from following KTMs. And was it better than the 640 Katey for the Welsh?  Difficult to call - overall the big fourstroke was more fun on the fire roads(no, really!!) - but truly heavy if you bogged it.  The Pampera was definitely more nimble even with weird suspension, but ultimately lots slower flat out - I only clocked 63 mph once. I suppose a real Enduro bike is required - But I cant justify one for the few events I do. Mike H