dadof2

I have never used the phone for DVLA but have had no problems communicating with them by letter. As woody says the NOVA requirement can be satisfied in two ways. One is what is commonly called a certificate of newness (from the importers) which confirms the bike is new when imported and meets the taxation class type approval requirements. The other is an import certificate which confirms duty has been paid and the date of manufacture of the bike. Depending on the Y.O.M. and specification you may or not need an MOT. If you have bought the bike directly from the importer you should not need proof of purchase (that's not to say some twit at the DVLA will not ask for it). If you have bought the bike from someone other than the importer you will need proof of purchase and the more history / contact information you supply the better. Again an MOT may or may not be required. I have generally been lucky with the DVLA but I know some who have not been. A trick used by some importers is to declare the vehicle "not new at import" to reduce the duty paid. The first thing the unfortunate owner knows something is amiss is when he tries to tax or register his "new" bike a year later and finds it needs an MOT.

Remember I am in the UK where trials are now pretty well all no stop rules. The most important precise control in trials is throttle - why are cables used for that if they are so poor in comparison to hydraulics? Karting - braking is one of the most crucial aspects of Kart racing yet quite a few drivers prefer cable to hydraulics. MTB - I have limited personal experience of this but have found both hydraulic and cable disc brakes to be satisfactory and well up to the job. I know of quite a few MTB riders or dads of who find working on hydraulics intimidating whereas most can fix cable systems. I know of a group were on a MTB holiday in Skye and the western isles. The only one who had brake trouble was the rider with hydraulics. He lost 3 days of the weeks holiday and incurred quite a bit of expense travelling back to Oban to try to get his bike fixed. I reckon the price difference between hydraulic and cable systems is between 2 and 4:1.

Not sure of exact dates but some changes were. Frame colour changed from red to white Bracket added to frame to accommodate rear shock reservoir, earlier models had non reservoir shock rear suspension linkage may have been changed, suspension was much better on white framed models Several of my friends had red framed models of varying ages and I never noticed any differences in their frames, but I had not specifically looked for any Edit - Above applied to UK models. Other markets or grey imports may be different

I think it was Charles Coutard who used to drill the friction area of his Bultaco hubs so they looked a bit like a cheese grater and gave good braking wet or dry. What pschrauber says in #24 is very relevant. Shoe to drum alignment is vital for good performance. There is a design flaw in pretty well all trials bike drum brakes in that one end of the shoe pivots on a round pin and so cannot slide to find its most effective location on the drum. Car brakes are designed so the shoes slide to align with the drum.

Firstly I have not said I do not favour discs, I do favour discs. Nor have I said hydraulics do not work. Properly maintained and in good order hydraulic clutches and brakes do work fine. However hydraulics cannot be fixed easily, especially in the middle of a trial when they do go wrong. I know of quite a few riders over the past few seasons who have had to retire from events or struggle on with brakes or clutches not working properly. Problems ranged from necking off hoses in fall, necking off the clutch nipple in a fall and loosing the little couplings between the lever and the plunger. Also some have had clutches and brakes stop working for no apparent reason - look at the number of posts from puzzled owners on TC on these issues. Capital and replacement costs of hydraulics is much higher than mechanical systems. Of course you cannot just fit cables to a 2015 bike, the brake and clutch actuating mechanisms have to be designed to suit mechanical actuation. I point out that most MX bikes and cars have cable clutches and these prove highly reliable over many years. I think the reason trials bikes have hydraulics is because the components are easily available from sub contractors and trials bike manufacturers and dealers would rather supply more expensive more profitable components. There is no advantage to a manufacturer in supplying a low price highly reliable item, even if it was the most appropriate for the end user.

http://www.custgp.com/downloads.html

Consider stainless steel pipe. 304 or 316 or their L grades. The pipe, about 15mm wider than finished liner is tack welded to a fabricated face plate. The ID and OD are then turned on the lathe, alternating the final cuts between ID and OD to ensure they are concentric. Liner is then cut off face plate but with extra width left on. Hub is then heated, liner chilled and the two pressed together. Spare width is then machined off (can be done with cutting disc in angle grinder) Stainless steel has a coefficient of thermal expansion closer to aluminium than steel or cast iron. There is a bit more to the job than I have stated but anyone with the skills to do the job will know how to do what I have not covered.

The last 2 bikes I would think of buying are the 2 you named. Importer / manufacturer problems and potential lack of future spares supply would just rule them out for me no matter how good the bikes. Beta? Mont / Honda?

My overall preference is for cable, lower capital cost, easier to fix particularly in the field and more robust. Main advantage of hydraulics is that they are self adjusting but that tends to make people ignore maintenance and end up with difficult to sort problems. Problem with fitting bikes with cables is that people perceive hydraulics to be "better" even if a full analysis showed overall that cables were better. Things seen as out of fashion or old technology do not sell (guns maybe excepted)

I think on the older Gassers the O rings do go under the bolt (allen socket) head

WD40 or anything similar will swell and wreck the seals. If you force the pistons back in on the swollen seals the piston will cut the lips off the seal. Take the pistons and seals out again. Boil the seals in water with a touch of detergent added. Clean out the seal grooves. Damp the seals with brake fluid before refitting. Coat tye pistons with red rubber grease before refitting. Pistons should push in with light finger pressure.

Probably reduce the performance from a bit sluggish to very sluggish.

I will not go into the reasons here but a simple compression check on a 2T trials is pretty pointless. Take the head off and inspect. You can get a chemical reaction kit to test the coolant for combustion by products, but from you symptoms probably no point.

I have had the good fortune not to break a spoke since the Bultaco era and from what I see spoke breakages are pretty rare these days. So long as you tied the broken spoke in place it would probably not leak anyway. Yes it is a bodge, but it is cheap (around £5 for sealant) whereas a new rim tape is £25 and a weld and clean up probably similar. A weld could also cause distortion. I actually re use the valve from the old rim tape, just adding an O ring. I also protect the top of the sealant (in case of scuffing it when fitting tyre) by wrapping a couple of turns of PVC insulating tape onto it. I give the rim a decent clean with a power wire brush before applying sealant. Try it, you will find it as least as reliable as the original rim band. The Sikaflex grade to use is the one for fitting car windscreens. Its non corrosive and very strong, stronger than the roofers mate. Best fix is of course new DID rim and mid jointed spokes.

This does work, check the spokes are tight before applying sealant. You coat the whole well area including the spoke heads (everywhere the rim band covered) You can even adjust the spokes a little afterwards when sealant is dry, the heads turn under the sealant. I know of bikes treated in this way that have not leaked in over two years. If it does leak just put the rim in water to see where the leak is, scrape off the faulty area of old sealant and recoat. You can get a special liquid for this method of sealing (quite expensive) It is supplied by cycle shops for converting tube type rims to tubeless tyre use.

Don't take a chance. Strip the gearbox, 2007 Beta is easy engine to strip, and check and replace bearings. Far cheaper to do this than have a bearing go completely and trash the whole box or burst the cases. Magnesium case corrosion is a problem on these Betas. Use OAT antifreeze mixed at 50% and change it every six months. Mix with distilled water if you live in a hard water area. You can repair a lightly corroded case by cleaning the corrosion off thoroughly and putting on a coat of JB weld. Edit Simply Bearings good price and quick delivery for bearings and seals.

10W - 40 has a viscosity of about 11 to 15 when hot, ATF at the same temperature only about 5 or 6 so not really what Yamaha intended. Yamalube 10W - 40 or any good quality 10W - 40 semi synthetic is best. 75W light gear oil will lube the gearbox but may not be compatible with the clutch lining material. The EP additives in some gear oils attack the clutch friction material.

Agree with opening comments of imexian #7. Trials used to be tough but not generally dangerous. Because of what modern bikes can get up a fall on hard course obstacles now has a much higher potential for injury. I have even ridden clubman courses where a minder would have been desirable on 20 to 30% of the sections. C of Cs need to think of what can happen when a rider fails a section, not just lay out sections with the sole consideration of mark taking.

As far as I know all Hondas from the late 1960s on (possibly earlier) were designed and built to run on unleaded fuels) having hard valves and seats. In an engine with insufficiently high compression and combustion characteristics to properly "process" lead additives, the additives can do harm by fouling the spark plugs.

The Beta has a shade more bottom end but the difference is not that much particularly once they are worn a bit. If you are a heavier rider both need to be revved / clutched.

Best is to get rid of rim tape, fit a bolt in valve, then coat rim band area with 2 mm coat of Sikaflex or http://www.geocel.co.uk/catalogue/single-brand/trade-mate-range/trade-mate-lead-and-gutter-seal. Do not use acetoxy type silicone, it will cause corrosion

Sounds like you have lost compression. Possible cause bearing in mind that bike was revving hard on its side is piston has started to seize and nipped the rings preventing them sealing on barrel. Take piston and barrel off and post photos on here.

Bit of a chicken and egg situation this. Probably whole lot of interlinked factors. Its just the Miller Bultaco stands out as the most obvious sign that things were changing. By about 1972 there was hardly anything at trials except Spanish 2 strokes. As Laird mentioned there was quite a bit of specialised trials development well before Miler Bultaco and the fuel shortage and general decline in British motorcycling industry were major factors. Quite possibly without the decline in British motorcycles Miller would have never gone to Bultaco and Hailwood etc would not have been riding Jap or Italian bikes.

I can't see KTM having any interest in the OSSA as a motorcycle / going concern, but if they could get the brand name at a good price that may be a different matter.

Following is not answer to original question but I know a few who would advise along same lines. Don't fully restore it, just do enough to make it tidy, prevent further deterioration and make it a good sound runner with as many of the parts as possible still original.