vmeldrew

Cleaning my carb the other day and noticed the fuel tap doesn't actually turn off. I have always grimaced at the noises the tap has made since new, as it it gives the feeling its going to come off in your hand. I am thinking the black tap is not actually doing anything to the valve. On any setting I get a trickle of fuel, but it doesn't seem like full flow. This could explain why the bike bogs down out of fuel on hill climbs. Has anybody actually disassembled the tap? How does the black lever come off, so at least I can try and turn the tap full on. Failing that I guess a new tap is the answer, but I don't relish the idea of trying to replace it without breaking the tank. Al

I did mine a few months back, swore never to touch the string stuff again, a complete pain for the non patient. The original packing was sheet and seems the logical replacement. Made hell of a difference though,.

Alpine stars offer great support but they are expensive and don't last a season, the soles wear out very quickly and they are pretty hard to keep clean - especially the white ones. I use Gaerne oiled now, lovely and comfortable but less support than the Alpine Stars. I have clouted my toes a few times and boy does that hurt. Al

Yep I've got one sitting in the garage, been used twice and that was enough, unless you carry a pump around with you. Always seems to go down after a jump or hitting an object quite hard. Funnily enough it was a right bitch to get off the rim though. How they can sell this rubbish I don't know. Has anybody tried to return one?

Isn't that just a cheeky one? Surely its only a five when you actually have to get off the bike and push it out of the section. Or am I missing something here?

When you get a second hand bike home, surely the first thing you do it strip it down and see exactly what you have bought? Check the fluid levels, bearings, breaks, bolts everything, Taking it for a thrash is tantamount to suicide in my book and as Jon says, Gassers don't just seize and blow up, you really have to hurt them to do that sort of damage. Even without any cooling fluid or a working pump any sensible person would realise a problem prior to the engine giving up like that. If I wanted to do that to a Gasser, I would fall off and jam the throttle wide open for a minute or two, that should do it.

I had to replace mine on a less than year old 2011, from memory the cover was around £100. Now I ensure that the bolts are always tight after every trial, fixing it with expoxy is probably not an option, the shaft uses the case as a bearing. Welding however may have a better outcome.

Turns out one of the gudgeon pin clips has made a bid for freedom and decided to exit the engine. The water was coolant and the piston and barrel are trashed. The rings are ok though!

Had to launch my TXT pro the last few metres up a hill yesterday, rather than have it land on top of me at the bottom. Unfortunately the throttle stuck open, but I managed to get to it and kill the engine within 4-5 seconds. Let it cool down a bit, but there was very little compression, probably about 50% or normal. No strange noises when turning it over. Anyway whipped the head off and there was water on the piston and a good 50cc of water in the exhaust header pipe. The two rubber head seals seemed to be in place and in good condition. I haven't taken the barrel off yet, but the rings seem to look and feel intact. Strangely though there were marks on the piston and head, like a small piece of metal had been bouncing around in there. There was no evidence of any loose buts of metal. The engine oil is not milky, so I don't think and water got down the cylinder. Spark plug looked ok too. Has anybody had any experience of the head seals just leaking (as he grabs a hand full of straws....). Al

Has anybody tried them. What the verdict?

Has anybody tried them? Whats the verdict.

Jon As ever, thank you. Cool lid by the way!

Does anybody happen to know if the TXT 2011 Headstock Bearings are standard parts? If so do you have an SKF order code? I would rather pay a little extra for some SKF's rather than the OEM ones which don't seem to last very long. Al

I'm 6 foot 2 and have been using them for about three months now. Although there does't seem to be much noticeable difference in the overall bar position they got rid of the terrible arm pump I was getting. Also turning is a lot less effort. I did have to spend a practice day playing with the settings as there is quite a bit of adjustment for and aft. Mine are now as far back as they will go in the clamp which moves the bar about a cm further back than standard, which is kind of illogical as you would have thought forward would be the way to go. Try a steep uphill, they adjust between the front always coming up and not. Although different settings don't feel that different, it makes a big difference to the handling.

Damm good boot....but You are lucky to get 12 months use out of them. (