sting32

Scottie, Keep in touch man. You been riding trials before this, I assume? too bad you are so far east, lol.

Thanks Zippy, like I said, if they're equal (too hurried to google) then they should be ok... more oil might be better for some, surely?

Problem is Shipdamite and others are saying (ML????) milli-liters. I'm quoting cc's I dont have any cross reference knowlege. PRO's Book says 400cc, most are aware, that have talked to anyone (for trials use) using a tiny bit less makes the clutch (maybe) drag less. I can't swear to you 400cc's makes THE CLUTCH DRAG ANY MORE than 375, since I have NEVER used 400cc's since I got the first PRO model in 2004... 370-375cc's, will put the oil at least right up close to the sight glass, you start the bike, or lean the bike over to the flywheel side, to help distribute oil to both halves of the engine (transmission and clutch area). you cannot hurry this process IMHO. Then, You check the sight glass, when bike is NOT on a center stand NOR on kickstand, but being held perfectly upright, (perpendicular to the level ground you are on) wheels on the ground! if you have half or more sightglass full of oil, you should be DONE. Heck, do it your way, if that ML, ml, or FLoz equals the same amount of cc's then your golden.

There is nothing wrong with lowering the compression. My father did that (as explained above) in KS, 1000ft Elevation or less, I'd have to guess 5% or less on power reduction, yeah I can feel it, my dad swears that he nor I can feel it (powdered butt syndrome there: if you dont know what that is, google it). It is easier to kick than my 2011 that he rode for a year before he got the 12 (talking 1 years worth of wear on engine for example). Flywheel weight probably doesn't soften the power delivery hardly at all, nor ease the kick-starting, or anything IMHO, but when it is idling (without ANY OTHER CHANGES) you can hear it seems quieter per "combustion" or as I say, less drastic 'pop' ring sounding per combustion, than without. It seems to smooth the bike out slightly. Especially because I "slip the clutch" all the time, I can't say it slows the "attack" except for maybe "slightly," Hard for me to really tell, since attacks are done with clutch 98.7% of the time by me... maybe a PRO can tell us, but us humans, I dunno. If you dont use the clutch, maybe you could tell more.... It would help those that haven't figured out, to ride the clutch/slipping the clutch all the time, IMHO smooths the bike a little bit. I can't argue strongly enough, I have had a 125cc 06 pro (my son's) that thing was hard to lift front wheels with my on it (220-250 lb riders), we put a 225 kit, that short stroke SOB would wind to the moon soo quick, I felt almost scared of it. I have always thought that the 280's (according to my Master Friends) rev quicker than 300's when both are STOCK. The 300 seems to have the nicest setup, with lots of bottom end torque, and taking some of the compression away seems to mellow the RAGA dad has, to just right. We're a little old school in the reguard, that everything we ever competed on, had 325cc's (sherpa-t) and I ABSOLUTELY hate it when a bike "stalls" because I was too out of shape to pull clutch or something, like the little pissy sized cc bikes always do. I have watched yet again, a guy get really hurt, riding along a hill in a section, because he thought the 200 (170cc) bike was the way to go... and it plunked and died instead of kept going when rear wheel hit a less than fist sized rock in the line he was riding... Nothing beats low end torque, IMHO.

GG Importer for USA suggested that we take that washer and bolt out of our 10, 11, or 12 Raga's. I think it was my 11, when he brought me the washer that go into the triple clamps, so you cannot overtighten them (it was an update). If I recall correctly he took it out of my bike at that time. FWIW, I have a friend that took the washer and bolt out of his 02 pro, the bike still runs great, last time we had clutch off, we still had to use 2 screwdrivers to "CAREFULLY" pry clutch basket out of there. your clutch dragging (I bet) is mis adjusted clutch lever "free play" when clutch lever is at rest, or dirty oil, thick oil, or too much oil. what happens to most everyone I have helped is, the clutch master cylinder cannot equalize while you aren't using the clutch (lots of times it gets some more fluid, so it can push the clutch apart more, especially happens when cold after adjusting when hot). you MUST have a little free play on lever. Snell has details about this in one of the chapters on youtube, I am half positive. most everyone is saying stay away from synthetic transmission fluids. I have

Mine was that the gastank rattles when "revs" are just right, I put more rubber door sealer around sides of tank (slightly more that is) make sure tank bolt it tight.... and make dang sure you don't have something else getting loose! like that bracket from Cylinder to Frame, shock bolts, kickstand bolts, fender mount (front). I don't know why it would have to be hot to hear it though. So mine post is an easy fix suggestions, you could try. Not sure about has to be warm, or you just notice it after riding a bit...

Coops, The newer bikes have a great big snail cam chain tensioner, before 06 they were smaller, seems they only allowed you to adjust about half-3/4s of the slot in swingarm. when I radically changed front gears on son's bike I bought Jitsie snail cams for his bike, save us having to find half links for chain. Dad usually gears his front sprocket down (we have same bike) on his 300's. I hate that, to me makes the bike "spinout" easier. but to each thier own, dad now uses 2nd most of the time, but his class is hellish tight turns (Sr Amature). The trick to EVERYTHING about your speed and what gear, now days is: you slip the clutch. Your left finger become the manual control of power put to rear wheel, no matter how fast you throttle the engine. Plus this way the bike wont stall, and you control your speed with (rear mainly for me) brakes and slipping the clutch for your desired speed. You wont even notice this happening, but it is when you watch expereinced riders. I ride in 2nd 90% of the time, Master riders seem to ride as much in 3rd (bigger obstacles to jump up)... You will just have to practice this it becomes a non issue. FWIW, I can poke as slow as you guys can with 10 tooth front on 50 tooth rears sprokets plus slipping the clutch means I dont deal with every combustion pulse, and because I slip the clutch to maintain whatever speed I need... then I have my finger "right there" to pull clutch 100% of the time, to save an engine dying for most any reason, if you get me. that all above, is just a suggestion, it is not like I am a champ rider or anything, just been at this a while..

My 77 year old dad is using flywheel and low head insert, on his 12 raga 300. If you are intermediate (usa I guess) or below, flywheel weight IMHO is a great thing, but I know some master riders that like the weight too, so it is up to you and your wallet. I have taken the weight from the 2010 all the way up to the 2011 I have now. I got on the 2010, there is not much difference, but you can hear the bike sounds different, and IMHO it gives me .05 more seconds to get my clutch pulled, in trouble, and momentum, that I seem to need more of lately. Oh I would definitely go insert! That spacer kit means you have 4 orings to try to hold in place to seal head to cylinder, where as insert has the normal 2... There is a oring inside where insert fits into head, but it stays there once you get the insert in place you know... Once you go "weighted" you, you won't go back, IMHO. lol.

Hopes are: Not going to make anyone mad asking the obvious? there is a certain way the clutch parts MUST go together, I can assume you found that information and was able to follow it? Including that the bike must be laying on side (clutch side up) to assemble? I have heard people doing this on a stand, then you can't get the clutch fingers to be right when you put the case cover on... Milky oil stays milky when you shut bike off BTW, for a while... if it only foamy only when running, might be the oil you are using? Installing that seal in Water pump backwards (don't ask me why I know, that this is so easily done) lets water into transmission almost as if you don't have a seal in there...

All I can offer is 2 anecdotal incidents, on a not same bike... 1st (years ago) I had a montess (way back when) and the COIL, the part the plug wire connects to, was BAD, it would start and run for a while (longer than your describing, though) then die and not ever start, again until it cooled off. Yes I would pull plug, seem to have spark, still never start. Sold the bike for nothing, next owner changes coil, all is good, last I'd heard. 2nd: VERY RECENTLY, I bought a used 2007 250 Pro, long story short, brought it home (preparing for my buddy). It started... Throttle was routed funny, so I shut it off. It never would start again, that is until I seeminly found the problem... I started out and checked EVERY WIRE under the tank, looking for loose grounds mainly, this also lead me to removing kill switch.... Finally decided to check behind flywheel, thinking maybe moisture in there in past, and maybe my luck I disturbed enough to lose spark?" When I got the flywheel off, in there I found that the entire mounting plate that the lighting and ignition coils were on, had maybe vibrated loose. Anyhow, it was loose. Tightened the 3 allen-head screws tight, still runs like a champ today.

the image on the right is how the arm should look without floats, and NO you dont compress the spring. In fact because of my problem in the past, i would replace needle with new style without spring, but that is just me.

I think you have to make sure the cam "centering spring" adjustment it perfect, and it is easy to do, just need relatively quite and a couple of minutes. I had trouble shifting new bikes a couple times, we do that adjustment and all is good. Wont have to be a bent fork either, I wont say it couldn't be.... but the part in picture show in OP as parts 12,13,14 can get broken or bent, I have had that happen more than once on older bikes. Plus this diagram is for a newer bike, I think in 06 when they finally put the part (#11 referred to as a 'fuse' or fusible link?, or sacrificial part that breaks when too much pressure on shift lever) I had to fix that 1 times on my Son's bike, he clipped a stump trying to save a clean... His toe was more of a problem, lol Anywho, if the 12.13.14. assembly gets bent like I have seen it happen, which means the drum wont turn far enough, and the drum that moves the forks...

OP seems to be showing classic signs of stuck float needle, maybe fuel source issues to the bowl at least? and since he only took off bowl to "look in the bowl" (not really much you can see if there isnt a bunch of obvious "crap" in there...) plus if there was crap, it is stuck in the jets... I bet, the floats probably moving but needle is still closed or mostly closed because of gunk, causing not enough gas into carb, until it sits long enough to fill the bowl... THat is IMHO of course. Key on flywheel I guess I hadn't give that much thought, since the 2 times that I have seen that happen, the bike wont ever start (sheered that key and moved too far to spark anywhere near when it needed to. But yes, I see that could happen and barely be off, maybe, but really wierd that it wouldn't just keep running though badly, where as it sounds by description that it is starved for fuel, then dies... Just my 2nd 2 bits worth. Hope he figures it out and lets us all know, Fighting issues like this, can drive you bat skat crazy, don't ask me how I know that, lol. One more thing, I had a spring loaded needle, they used them back when I got my 04 pro,. Well the needle wore itself apart. you see the needle is built in 2 pieces with a spring, built in a way that the needle is exactly same lenght when not compressing the spring, as a solid needle... But mine must have vibrated enough that it was growing longer (because of spring and no stopper anymore to keep it a certain length... This was causing normal and even empty of fuel float level to close the gas off entering the carb. Ok what I am about to tell you is maybe TMI, but to me it was so weird I even posted a self drawn picture to what happened, on this very forum, lol. So what happened to me was, I was on 3rd loop of 2 day trials (day 1) and my bike started 'lean' and poping down the trail, the next section I couldn't ride it was as if I'd shut gas off and forgot to turn on when I entered the section. So off to camp to figure this out, cab off, bowl off, blow through everything, trying to not disturb float of course. Then it happened, on the 4th assembly, test and remove the pin holding the floats in place, fell out, floats fell out, and the little damn needle fell onto the pan I was working in the grass on, but in 3 pieces (spring, a tiny plunger, rest of needle). that is when I found the issue, but how to fix, nobody had a needle. I ended putting it back together and I could kind of feel where it tried to stop from doubling the lenght... so with 2 more hands, we just crimped hard on the needle to the little plunger, making it solid, rode the last loop and the whole next day without problem. got new needle in mail the following friday. I still have that needle in tool box it was sooooooo frustrating. it is a little traveling trophy so to speak.

Jandyb is right, here's how you could try to trouble shoot it... I think the 05 has sensor in radiator top tank. there are 2 wires, the sensor is a "switch" that connects the 2 wires, make the circuit when warm enough water is found. It is possible for the thermo switch to fail, so we partially Test that out by taking it away from one of the reasons fan not working. find a spot to connect the 2 wires together, sometime just a Pin through both wire's protective covering does the trick. Start bike, fan should run, if not, then you have 2 more things to check... #1 fan, it is possible since it has brushes, for it to not run when getting power and ground (complete circuit). Try taking a 12v battery source touch juice from battery (using spare wires) to the fan's power leads, if you get the leads and battery backwards only thing will happen is fan goes opposite direction BTW. Once we know fan works or not, we can move on. If fan wont run off battery, fan has the problem. if fan runs, then you aren't getting juice to the fan for a couple of probable reasons; OR a third, being that your not getting a ground to the fan. The thermo switch is in the grounding circuit BTW, not the hot side. check your grounds first for dirty or corrosion, or bad wire at crimp on terminal connector connected to frame under the tank, usually (I think) shares the bolt on the Voltage Regulator. Now would be a great time to have a circuit tester, that measures OHMs or resistance. Resistance should be low from thermo to ground when water is hot. There are specs on this forum or on gasgas.com's site I believe, for checking resistance on the Voltage regulator part, but if everything is good (fan, ground, thermo switch) you might be able to assume the Voltage regulator is bad, or is also missing ground. To test thermo switch you have to test for continuity, when cool, it should be very high resistance (open), then place it into 180 degree (F) water on the cooktop, when thermo feels 180 or so (I guess within 10%) the resistance should drop to near or nothing (closed). if it doesnt, then of course thermo is bad. I had to change thermo in my 06 I believe after 3 years, that is only bike I had thermo problem (factory part), it ran several years after that with replacement. I have Never had the VR problem, yes I'm knocking on wood as I type... that is simple testing without many tools, there are people that can give you more technical steps, with better tools, hope that this helps...

It sounds to me like a Fuel issue for sure. several things to check. ..Is the tank vent working? I've seen people pinch vent hoses under the tank. ....is petcock (shut off valve) working and flowing freely? .._..Delorto has a fuel filter where the line meets the carb, very fine mesh, hopefully you cleaned it, but worth a second check of course, might be getting crap from tank . .......it is possible you have still overlooked a jet or another AIR or FUEL passageway. WIll it run right with choke on, or not right but better? Tips... Everyone says, Do not use wire to clean jets, I read all the time people making jets bigger with steel type wire by scraping the holes bigger in them, still right now that is not your problem... IMHO if you do push something out something is blocking the low to mid fuel circuit. +++The rule about cleaning the carb honestly is, clean it, if it runs your done, if it doesn't run, you clean it again, if it runs your done, if it don't, clean again. IF the carb is absolutely good, then you have to start hunting for leaks in the intake system, which is leaning the FUE/AIR mixture after the carb. 2 places known to hapen is the rubber boot from carb to crank case. if the bike will run on choke, this can be diagnosed with a short shot of ether around the intake boot. The crankcase seal behind the flywheel (which you have to split the cases to change) can leak, sometimes you can prove this by blocking the vent hose. Or you can carefully shot a little ether there too. Careful, I dont want you to burn your eyebrows off, make sure you have good ventalation, stand back, all that... Add a fuel filter to tank line

LOL Neutron, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n3TsWRpLrk

Hehehee. Usually, when this happens, if I had been there... I get to watching the action instead of filming... Then we have to approach the subject, and ask "would you mind doing that again for the camera, I didn't get it on 'film?'... ('memory stick' just doesn't sound right, yet).

The link is being Butchered by TC's forum engine. Copy this link to see the facebook page, if you have a facebook account... www.facebook.com/NATCMotoTrials http://mototrials.us/ is the USA's NATC website, (NATC is USA's FIM equivalent if I got that right) so and that link above, is the facebook page you can "like" if you do the facebook thing. if you dont do the facebook thing, (in other words sign into and like to use facebook, for what it is) then of course you might not be able to see the facebook pages...

GO phuckYOURSELF b40, just tell everyone to ignore the problem or tape over it.

I would think "yes' on that Easyste. Coil has to be grounded, might as well be REDUNDANT, as it is extremely important for it to be able "fire" the plug, you know... and will be sad/pain to trouble shoot when it isn't grounded perfectly good. IMHO. do just one if you want, I wouldn't, but that is just me...

+++ Sorry this post was assuming when you said "popping off" I thought engine just sputter and die at weird times, not just lead falling off Spark Plug boot/connector... +++ My bad for misreading. Any gasgas, honestly, you should inspect wires (and for any other lose fasteners of course) and especially ground wires, under the fuel tank once in a while. When you do, your are looking for corrosion or loose bolt to frame with probably 2 or 3 wires on it. On my 2010/11/12's, this bolt with grounds on it, also hold I believe is the rectifier, and it is really close to headstock where the ground bolt is... Sorry, I'm not recalling if same for just slightly older bikes, like yours. also I bought a 07, 250, and I believe the former owner is the reason, but behind the flywheel, the "windings" (aka Stator) that give electricity, the 3 bolts that held that in place were loose, which caused erratic, if any spark. Also if it has ever gotten wet but not dried out, inside where the flywheel is, you need to pull the flywheel, and you will want to clean rust off magnets with plastic scrubbing pad that kind of replaced steel wool, cant think of the name of that stuff, clean everything (except do NOT hurt the insulation on any wire in there, including the windings on the coils of the stator). I spray a coat of wd40 just before I replace the flyweel and gaskets on flywheel. Make sure the breather tube is breathing, and slight amount of silicone on the outside of the wire bundle into that flwheel area, helps keeps water out. Pressure washing without care, and if you aim at wires bundle, you will get water behind the flywheel occasionally, silicone stopped this mostly for me. also, I have dealt with bad (usually damaged by a flip or fall) kill switches. Kills switches are so cheap, ($15 us I think) why even fight that crap, replace if it is hit hard enough to damage it, or is missing the rubbers that seal out moisture and stuff.

Ben, Can I clarify and ask you what you plan to do (riding wise) on the 250? reason being is, for "trials use" only, you can play around with the oils, try different ones, and find out that the clutch "engagement" or how can I say, the "feel" of the clutch at the exact moment you start to make it make the bike "go" changes, some are slight, this is why people "like me" have put information up on this forum. The manuals state (in a Cover their ass way, you know) that you should use 10w/30 or 40, depending on the years of the information printed... I have used several different oils in the past several (more than 10) years I have ridden a gasgas. Hell, even out old Bultaco Sherpa-T's we used different oil in the clutch area, than what the books told us, because the oil worked better at what we were doing. New "formerly refered to as the *PRO* model, gasgas engine" only engine they sell on trials bikes now, other than the 4-stroke radoner? Is made so that the TRANSMISSION and CLUTCH oil, also lubes the 2 crank bearings on the "engine" itself. This is why we all (even JSE) says to change the inexpensive oil, whatever you use, instead of letting the filings and clutch materials build up in the oil, which lubes many bearings, but also the main crank bearings, which can be expensive (labor wise) if you take those out, and replace. Even if not expensive, it is a chore, so be warned we figure about 10/12 hours and the oil will be visually darkened by used clutch debris, if used as a trials bike, where we slip the clutch a lot, to ride... If you plan to enduro or race or just high speed this bike like a trail rider, then my all means use the recommended oil and KEEP IT FULL TO SPECs, given by the book... so the crank and other surfaces keep cooled and lubricated at speeds that "we don't except on honestly a "limited basis, subject our bikes too." The arguement is kind of "any good clean oil, is better than whatever dirty oil you wish to run" stands, for us at low engine as well as trail speeds, which are 80% true of any given day of riding, when used as a "trials" bike. I drive my bike 1/2 mile down a pasture/wheatfield, to ride many days. I don't go 50mph, I just trudge along in high gear 1/4 throttle max... I like my Yamalube. I AM NOT saying fill the cases up with STP, or WD40, I am saying within parameters of engine oil, or Automatic Transmission oil, which has been used by MANY top trials riders, and people that find out (like me), for many years, in most gasgas bikes... Hope the point I tried to make, helps you out.

Thanks JSE< I will edit the post so if they stop reading right there, they wont have wrong info.

SeeVoyage... you are getting the same information that thousands of "riders" have used, even myself for several years, on this and adv, and or ThumperTalk. JSE is a highly regarded technical expert when it comes to Gas Gas, goto Gas Gas.com click on the tech link, notice who you see giving us pointers on our bikes? Yep, mr JSE... The information flows much easier now than it did when your JT35 was new. Because we can look it up on the web. In the older days we'd have to ask dealers, parts places, and respected riders, "what you runnin in there?" Most everyone runs ATF, like JSE states. There are hundreds of posts and topics on all these forums, arguing the same thing. Seems to me we used 50cc less than the "book says to use" as well, which can help with clutch dragging. BUT if you are going to ride this thing, as a "dirt bike" instead of trials competition type, then by ALL MEANS use the thicker 10w/30 and use the FULL amount !!!! What worked good in my Gas Gas, "MAYBE" hasn't worked as well for Sherco/BETA/Montesa, so keep that in mind. I had a buddy that had left over oil that was great for his 2003 ish Sherco, that he tried in his Gas Gas "pro" model, and we thought (until he told me what he'd done that is) had a serious problem in the tranmission area (clutch). How we figured it out was, the week before we were riding, bike is just fine (new to him at the time) next weekend we're starting to ride, and he's all "crap! something is wrong" so I start trying to help figure it out. I finally said, "what did you do since last weekend"???? He said I changed the tranmission oil. I said what did you use? He said well I had that brand new quart of (oil he was given when he bought the sherco) which was not the ATF, nor any other 'weight or brand' I have used in a Gas Gas, and I've had a few... Changed it back to ATF, and the bike was fine.

If you have the delorto carb, there are 2 vents, one on each side of the carb... A neat and tidy "hosing trick" was used: where a single hose goes under the carb to both sides to these vents. BE AWARE, that the bottom is cut or opened, under the carb so it "vents." Without this cutting or opening under the carb, it is NOT vented. Dont ask me how we know... you could have used 2 separate hoses, but they don't at the factory either.