bob

I haven't yet, and I'm not looking forward to them either, I rode terribly. I expect that they will be on Trials Central before you get them. There were alot of riders there so it may take abit longer than usual for all the results.

oooh, I well i suppose it depemds what youre into. EVERYONE has told me this so I just presumed it to be correct and I like my bike as it is, so it is gonna stay that way,plus I am very light so I probaby would get really stuck in the mud if I can't keep enough weight on the drive wheel to handle the extra zip. Is it worth the effort?

I know nobody has said this so I am probably wrong, but I tried using chain wax and WD40, chain wax was rubbish and made a mess, even the spray stuff, WD40 has no lubricating effect. I also tried dunking the chain in gearbox oil. All worked but not very well. I now use this really sticky spray on chain lube, it is industrial stuff which we actually got for out steam lorry drive chains. The thing is not to spray on too much or it will go everywhere but just spray enough on and it wil lget into your chain before it thickens and gets really sticky. But you need to make sure that your chain is reasonably clean or it will not get into the chain and that is when it starts to fling everywhere, you need to degrease your chain when you get mud sticking to it. I used this stuff on my sherco and the chain lasted over two years, although it was really knacked by that time. Often the cheapo sticky lube is the best stuff but it will go everywhere if you put too much on!

I don't know exactly where the flywheel weights are but I think you are right but you may not need a flywheel puller as they may just be bolted onto the outside. The point of weighting the flywheel is to make the engine more difficult to stall and have smoother accelleration. Some people take the weights off (especially on Betas) in order to get a faster revving engine for rock steps and stuff where that little bit more zip is needed. But In my opinion removing the flywheel weights is no advantage because it means that as soon as you hit the slippy stuff the engine accelerates too quickly and you lose grip much more easily . It is up to you and you can try it without the weights on, it will run fine, but you will probably just be bolting them back on as soon as you realise how it is crap on mud.

Dunno if this is still relevant but here is a pic of where I put the grease nipple on my beta. Hope the pic quality is ok, i had a right going on getting the file size down. Bob

thanks for your help, a little late now as I managed to get round it without taking the header pipe off. I used an impact driver to get the screws out. Wh yd they use them crappy screws everywhere, especially where they weil get rusty quickly?????? Screws on the coil were ok as they were kept dry. I took a picture but I went to a trial on sunday and despite a really good wash my bike still isn't clean which is why everything is dirty in the pic, but it isn't actually as dirty as it looks!

Yeah, my fault too, I used to use the public road to get to the rocks we have but now because of the police I have to go through a wood so my bike never gets a blast out!

I am not a Sherco rider, so I probably shouldn't be in this forum but I am interested in the four stroke. I was looking at some pics of cabestany on his 03 beta only this morning and noticed that most of the components were pretty much the same spec as my bike. Just thought I'd say so because someone said about his new bike is pretty standard. It makes everyone look rubbish though doesn't it when he is out there 2nd in the world riding pretty much the same bike as us lot whoare not. Bob

My muffler has obviously not been re-packed in a while despite the guy i bought it off saying it had been recently done. I was riding at the kay tropy trial today and there was quite a big gap between sections 4 and 5. I was having to push it abit to keep up with everyone because of the big que for section 1. Anyway, I mebbe went abit too fast because my muffler caught fire on the first lap, plenty of smoke everywhere, I was abit worried but it soon burnt itself out but i still looked like a right idiot with all that smoke pouring out and me twisted round keeping an eye on it. Another reason to re-pack your muffler regularly! bob

Are you seriously selling a spark plug on e-bay????? Plus i looked at your chain tensioner because mine broke, it won't fit a beta will it because the chain is on the correct side.

Ok, I will tell him to be prepared he lives in a one way street with no end so two vans would totally block any escape. Careful though he has got a couple of air rifles under his bed and a f****** powerful bb gun which is even more dangerous. Wiggy just said that Ouseburn was cancelled because Kieth had not been able to set up any sections! He probably was just trying to find an excuse not to ride there though. You can acrry on with yer carbon fibre chit chat now. Sorry to be so nosey. Bob

yep, he don't know noet about th bikes but he has it all in stock and he is a good bloke which is why I use him because if you show him what you want he usually wil give it to you and chuck something in with it (got a free bottle of motul oil last time i went there!) There are cheaper dealers but they are abit dodgy, i prefer to stay local and above the law as much as possible.

just reading through, someone said they don't wear a helmet when testing the bike. Personally if I make an adjustment starting the thing and riding it is pretty scary as I allways get stuff wrong and the bike often goes out of control becaue of sticking throttle or something like that, this is usually the time when I allways wear a helmet!!!

you sure about that feed wire?, it should work but there should be a specific kill switch wire which rins along side this wire from the beginning up to that annoying sopot at the top of the radiator. It is basically the same wire just forks out earlier.

get rid of the bike and the muc off before it starts to peel, that is what i did only i was abit too late as it had already begun to peel. Atleast you can remove your case, it was the whole outside of the engine on my sherco. Steer clear of that stuff, it even says on the bottle it does that if you read the small print! It seems ok on push bikes though?????? Good to see others have had this experience, I will give it to my mate to use on his TY, those bikes are made of sterner stuff than these modern precise machines.

Well I was told to pack it as tight as I could, if you are right then it will make the job much easier, the blanket packing certianaly isn't loose. Coukd somebody verify this? Maybe it is different over there in America! I think that on a beta it is just a case of unscrewing the plaggy end of the muffler (it coud be the other end as mine was a sherco and I have not done my Beta yet) and pulling out all the stuff, throwing away the packing then shoving a load in around the holey pipe which should pull out easily and screwing it up(it can be very difficult to line up which is why the fluffy stuff is easiest, You can use wire to hold the packing tightly in place). There may be a bit of wire mesh arapped around the inner pipe. Please somebody correct me if i am wrong but this is just put on by the factory to make it easy to fit and you can chuck it away as t will be very oily. You can clean the inner pipe with fire. We are very lucky to know a guy who rents a shed from us who has a blacksmiths forge and a couple on mins in there ans it was very clean. Use an old wire bruse or summert if you can't get instant big fire. You can pick up packing from your local motorbike shop. It is used in all bikes not just off road bikes so it is reasonably easily avilable. hope ths helps.

Like jrsunt says the 125's may be just as capable as the 250's but they take more effort. Has anybody tried riding two full trials in the same sort of conditions with similar courses on a 125 and then on a 200 or 250? I have, I had my 125 for ages so it was not about being unfamiliar with the bike, I rode at loads of trials ad was absolutely knackered at the end and often could not even finish. I rode my 200 round soon after and it was a new bike to me, in my opinion making it even harder and by the end of the trial I was fine. I actually managed to get round more quickly aswell. What I am trying to say is that for a rider who just goes out for a laugh, does it matter if the bike does not develop his/her skill as quickly is he/she is enjoying it more? Shouldn't it be that prople can choose or will everybody just go for the bigger bikes?

What are you having made Mark? Are you riding at Ouseburn this weekend or has it been cancelled or venue changed because of the weather? Sorry to change the subject! Bob

BRILLIANT! I have fitted the new bushes and they went on a treat! It was abit of a push getting the radiator into the correct place but i mnaged it. It looks alot better too. I decided to replace the screw type bolts which were on it with ordinary hexagonal topped bolts which should not collect mud like alien bolts and are alot easier to udo than the origonal screwdriver bolts. Plus I now have a spare metalstick bush because I managed to glue one back together with superglue, so I hung on to that one. My dad went to my local dealer to get two bushes and the guy didn't know what he was on about when he used either name you suggested. He showed him the one off the bike and after much thinking said 'oh yeah, an exhust bobbin' (spelling mistake intentional) They know nowt at that place. Twice I have phoned up for advice and they have give totally incorrect advice which is why I started using this website. Thanks

I don't think that not repacking your muffler regularly will do any damage, but you must re-pack it occasionally. You should re-pack it whenever the engine begins gets noticably louder usually just above tickover (however some bikes are louder than others, Betas are quite alot louder) or when you can feel that it i losing power at the bottom end and it has less 'feel'. What happens is that the packing over time gets blown out of the exhaust or with trials engines they often soak up lots of oil. Re-packing the muffler gives the bike a little bit more bottom end power which makes the bike feel more 'pokey' and it will have a slightly a smoother feel. It will also quiten it down quite alot. i re-packed my muffler about every 6 months to keep it running nicely as it was getting to be abit underpowered for me as it was only a 125 and I am nearly sixteen. when you re-pack your muffler it should not be a very long job but it can be tricky. I would reccomend using fluffy packing rather than blanket packing if it is your first time as it is easier but it gets blown out more quickly.

I dunno as I have not done swingarm bearings on a beta before. If they are not sealed on both sides then you should push some grease in to them, you can sometimes carefully remove the plastic seal with a pin and push some grease in if they are sealed. I would put some grease on the shaft, infact grease almost everything! Plus when you bolt stuff back together, apparently it is good to use grease rather than copperslip on any places where steel is in coltact with aluminium. I will get you a pic tomorrow of the grease nipple i put on the headset

I use a hosepipe to clean my bike with a good variable attatchement on the end which allows easy rinsing or blasting etc. I tried using Muc off but it burns off your paint after 30 seconds and it leaves a waxy protective layer which is not good on disk brakes. I use pro clean to clean with, which is ok, but a good brush is a must important at this stage(toothbrushes are good but only single use really as they pick up grease), and pro care afterwards which is great and leaves a sparkling sheen on your engine and plastics. I got this from racespec.co.uk. If you are an ACU member then you should be able to get 10% off plus online you will get 5% off. But they don't do much other trials stuff. You can e-mail them and get a free catalogue if you quote your ACU number. I usually take my chain off and degrease it before leaving it in a bath of engine oil for a couple of days. What king of chain oil does not pick up too much dirt? I use castrol chain wax which gets in and then goes solid and doesn't pick up too much crud but may not be the best lube, but combined with engine oil it seems to work well.

Yep I decided to splash out, since I took the chain off and it had worn through the bolts on the rubber block and I had snapped my shark fin chain guard I thought a trip to 'Feet up' was in order. Please don't think am some guy who does not care for his bike though, I just don't like taking complicated stuff apart, especially since I have not had this bike long and most people who don't know much about trials bikes keep saying it musty have been thrashed because I keep taking stuff apart and fiding other problems which really irritate me! We managed to get it apart just by undoing the radiator bolts. Thanks for your advice!

I moved my bars back abit which helped with this, apparently the ideal spot is to have the curve of the bars about in line with the fork legs. But only put them where you feel comfortable.

Hi, go for the 250, you will probably find it is easier to get grip with slightly less power, but will still have plenty of go, like ian says the 250 is a general clubmans bike. I reckon that a smaller engine will also help you to develop your technique more comfortably and therefore become a better rider. Why not have a go on somebody elses bike and see what suis you.