Exeter Trial

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

Well, it's not going to happen for me this year after all...

Went out in the Dellow the day before yesterday and the big-end on No 3 cylinder cried enough.

The owner fitted his spare engine, and we went out today for a final shakedown...and the rear axle failed.

Ironically, the weather is set dry and as warm as you could expect this time of year.

Good luck to all who are competing...I may still be marshalling.

Hugo Wilson, the editor of Bike is competing on a 700 Yamaha...which could make an interesting story.

[SteveR]

Well, it's not going to happen for me this year after all...

Went out in the Dellow the day before yesterday and the big-end on No 3 cylinder cried enough.

The owner fitted his spare engine, and we went out today for a final shakedown...and the rear axle failed.

Ironically, the weather is set dry and as warm as you could expect this time of year.

Good luck to all who are competing...I may still be marshalling.

Hugo Wilson, the editor of Bike is competing on a 700 Yamaha...which could make an interesting story.

That's all a bit sad.... Sounds like a mechanical conspiracy to me...

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

Well, the owner fixed the back axle a 6pm on the night of the start of the trial, but unsurprisingly didn't feel like jumping in and setting off to drive through the night.
But we were up before dawn and off to marshal at Pepperdon Hill, which is one of the sections on the easier O and R routes. The weather was pretty good, and there's quite a lot of engine heat in the Dellow footwell.
The Dellow looks like Noddy's car, and has a Ford Pop engine and gearbox, but with one small modification...a supercharger!
The combination of a side-valve engine and a supercharger gives it a considerable amount of bottom-end grunt, but also gives the back axle a hard time.
Anyway, here's a picture of it...sorry for putting a car pic up on a bike forum

P1040182.JPG (118.41 KiB) Viewed 2081 times

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

A right mix of cars and bikes came up the section, which as a steep tarmac hill covered in slime with a nasty double bend part of the way up. Most made it OK...including a Triumph Trophy 500 and a BSA Victor. The riders/drivers had all been going for about six hours at this point.

When the last car driver to arrive at the section had declared it too tough and retired (a lowered Rover Mini on low-profile tyres was probably not the best choice of vehicle) we set off to Ilsington village hall, which is a control point for the trial, for a pasty and a cup of tea. Most of the bike entry was on the way out as we came in, and I saw Hugo from Bike on the Yam 700 heading in the opposite direction for the last three sections of the trial, so hopefully he finished.

We then walked to the infamous Simms Hill on the outskirts of the village, where there was a massive queue of cars and bikes waiting to tackle the toughest section of the trial.

Proceedings were delayed for a while because a small group of non-competitors on KTMs tried to ride up the hill. One fell off a lot and got laughed at. If it makes him feel any better, the hill was subsequently 'cleaned' by a Ford Anglia estate.

But every ascent of the hill seemed to make it a bit more slippery for those that followed.

The object you can see here in a cloud of steam, is another Dellow spinning to a halt.

P1040195.JPG (75.51 KiB) Viewed 2074 times

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

And that's pretty much it.

Hats off to everyone who had the bottle to enter, and congratulations to all those who finished.

[johnnyboxer]

A right mix of cars and bikes came up the section, which as a steep tarmac hill covered in slime with a nasty double bend part of the way up. Most made it OK...including a Triumph Trophy 500 and a BSA Victor. The riders/drivers had all been going for about six hours at this point.

When the last car driver to arrive at the section had declared it too tough and retired (a lowered Rover Mini on low-profile tyres was probably not the best choice of vehicle) we set off to Ilsington village hall, which is a control point for the trial, for a pasty and a cup of tea. Most of the bike entry was on the way out as we came in, and I saw Hugo from Bike on the Yam 700 heading in the opposite direction for the last three sections of the trial, so hopefully he finished.

We then walked to the infamous Simms Hill on the outskirts of the village, where there was a massive queue of cars and bikes waiting to tackle the toughest section of the trial.

Proceedings were delayed for a while because a small group of non-competitors on KTMs tried to ride up the hill. One fell off a lot and got laughed at. If it makes him feel any better, the hill was subsequently 'cleaned' by a Ford Anglia estate.

But every ascent of the hill seemed to make it a bit more slippery for those that followed.

The object you can see here in a cloud of steam, is another Dellow spinning to a halt.

P1040195.JPG

Simms is a bugger

The slate beds 'undulate' so It loads and unloads your suspension as you climb it

I did it last summer and only just made it up - as 'gunning' it just makes the bike undulate more, losing traction

[dodursley]

some videos
a BMW getting rather crossed up
Simms mostly cars some outfits

[Richard Simpson Mark II]

The last part of the hill is particularly cruel

[Sanqhar]

...help me out here.

Why do some cars stop at the bottom of the hill and some don't?

What is the significance of the yellow flag:

tom

[DgTrail]

Simms is a bugger

The slate beds 'undulate' so It loads and unloads your suspension as you climb it

I did it last summer and only just made it up - as 'gunning' it just makes the bike undulate more, losing traction

The hill has had some repairs since then to ease the step and fill in the dual ruts at the top. So much easier that a covering of soil was added to make it more challenging.