dbell

On the spare bike I bought to fix up, 2004 280 pro. Nice to be able to slip the clutch to ride slowly and smoothly but this bike was stuttering when trying to ride in that mode. It seemed the clutch was grabbing then not grabbing in a fast stutter resulting in a jerky bike motion when trying to slip the clutch. Back to the garage. Open up to look at the clutch pack and I find bits of the clutch pad material are delaminating and floating around. Clean up and install a new clutch pack. The belville spring had some small gouges in areas were it is should not be contacting things. Sand out some of the imperfections in the spring, clean, reassemble and the clutch can now be slipped to produce smooth slow motion. Another belville spring arrived today in the mail and I may put that in later but the bike is running much smoother now.

Living in the heavily regulated Republik of Kalifornia, I can't ride my 2011 300 Raga for 5 months out of the year in public riding grounds. Too much pollution they tell me. But they will let me ride my 2003 280 Pro which has a "Green Sticker" allowing for year-round use on public lands. I want to upfix the older 2003 to ride more like the Raga so I can continue to practice on a comparable machine through the California summers. It is also nice to have the luxury of a second bike to ride while fixing the other. The 2003 280 pro is new to me so I am going through it fixing issues and finding things to upgrade. It seems to me that the older Sachs shock on the bike has no damping adjustment. So my first question, can anyone confirm this lack of damping adjustment or correct me? Even if I can adjust the shock, I think I would like to upgrade. Being an older guy, 58, with some money to burn, I have no issue thinking about getting a Reiger for this older bike as opposed to a less expensive Olle or TRP. I love the Reiger on the 2011 Raga. Looking on-line, at one of the UK advertisers on this site, I see a Reiger shock similar to my 2011 brand new, offered as custom built to your weight and riding style for $950 equivalent US dollars and the Factory version of the Reiger for $1255 US equivalent with 5-way adjustment with same custom build. (Recent drop of the Pound Sterling in favor of the US Dollar). If I wanted to go all out, I might buy the Factory unit to put on the 2011 Raga and move the Reiger currently on the Raga to the 2003, improving both bikes. Maybe get the older Reiger rebuild too. But there may be some small geometry issue for either bike using the newer Reiger. The same shop in the UK responded to my question, "Can I fit a Reiger shock to a 2003 Gasgas Pro 280?", with the following reply, "I think so, GasGas changed the linkage ratio in 2012 but I think the shock dimensions stayed the same, the rebound and compression damping might not be ideal due the linkage ratio change but the Reiger shock is very adjustable so I think you should be able to adjust it to suit your preference." Your comments on this proposed suspension upgrade are welcome. What do you experts and not so experts think? Any comments on the "linkage ratio change." If it makes any difference, Southern California is dry riding on bigger rocks and our local club competition still rides stop-and-hop rules. I think I can play with the folk oil and settings to get them to work as needed. Wheels already shod with Michelin X Lite tires - Dave

I ride trials with a one of the USA Lewisport staff, Bill Merritt, in Southern California. As a side benefit, I get to see and try out some of the new model trials bikes. Our riding crew got out for a morning ride on 15 acres of big rocks in Simi Valley CA this past Saturday. Bill had the new Vertigo Combat and he let us take the bike for a spin. I am a NASA engineer by trade but pretending I am a magazine reviewer for now, here goes. First impressions. As a stock machine, the bike looks great but I am partial to bright lime green in my sporting goods so I may be biased. The graphics are well done and the “Works” rim tape is a nice touch. As you walk around the bike and examine it you realize what a nice job the Vertigo engineers have done in tucking in and protecting bits that might get damaged during a fall. The shift lever is nicely tucked in. The rear break lever on the right is almost complete shielded with only the flexible tip exposed, as it must be for braking. The trellis frame protects the airbox, gas tank and other bits. Black down spar frame members on the front of the bike protect the sides of the radiator and connect the green trellis frame to a skid plate that is thicker than the one on my 2011-2012 Gasgas Raga. The silencer is tucked up under the rear fender with protection on either side running up to the height of the top of the rear wheel. Stepping on the bike it feels like any other modern trials bike in its ergonomics. The rear shock is the Reiger unit that was first introduced to trials on the 2011-2012 Gasgas Raga. The front forks are Tech units as one might expect on a high-end trials bike. This Vertigo Combat I tried had been ridden for 8 hours or less total. The feel of the front fork reminded me of the forks on my Raga when they were brand new, i.e., still a bit stiff. The Reiger rear shock felt like it was already broken in. Again this was very similar to the feel of the Reiger on my Raga when it was new. These Reiger shocks seem to be golden from day one. Starting up the bike was straightforward. You press the engine kill button. This starts up the fuel pump to prime the pressure for the fuel injection and you then have 20 seconds to kick over the bike. The bike starts right up with a kick from the top. The tick over at idle was very smooth. In terms of trials background, I am a 57-year-old Clubman rider with only about 7 years of trials riding experience but with decent balance and throttle control skills. I am quite comfortable on my 300cc Gasgas Raga. This is my point of comparison with the 300cc Combat Vertigo. I rode the Vertigo in the most aggressive stock map setting #1. Starting off in 1st gear I headed for a 3 foot bolder with a steep but slightly rounded face. A little throttle blip and I was up with the rear wheel never leaving the rock face on the first try. One more try with 1st gear and then two tries at the same rock in 2nd gear and then two tries at the same rock in 3rd gear. In all 3 gears the torque of the motor was very strong, very controlled and resulted in an uneventful ride up the rock. Just what you want in trials. The engine has all the power of my Raga but is smoother. Very, very impressive. You get used to riding your own bike with its unique handling characteristics and typically it is a challenging to hop on another bike and immediately have the same comfort level and riding performance. This is the first bike, that after having ridden for only a few minutes I could say, “I can ride better on this bike than on my own bike.” It was all about the Vertigo engine combination of amazing torque down low combined with silky smooth throttle and engine response. While my older Raga has smoother fork response than the new forks on the Vertigo, the smoother motor of the Vertigo made the Vertigo feel like an overall smoother ride. I seem to be saying smooth a lot here but that is the word that sums up my overall first impression of the Vertigo Combat. I look forward to getting more ride time on the Vertigo after the front forks have broken in. The slow speed control and turning of the bike were very good, as they should be. I am not a super proficient wheel hopper but I am good enough that it is a useful technique for me at our club trials events that still allow stop and hop. On the Vertigo, the stiffer new front forks made hopping the front wheel more difficult than on my Raga but still doable. I am guessing that this would change as the font forks loosen up. A rear wheel hop felt about the same as on my Raga and that agrees with my general impression that the Reiger shock was already breaking in nicely on the Vertigo. Balance on the Vertigo felt the same as on my Raga. I was immediately as proficient in ability to balance indefinitely with the front wheel turned left or right and was able to balance with the front wheel straight with the same level of corrective leg motions that I am used to on the Raga. This same level of balance combined with the smoother power delivery of the Vertigo made the Combat, for me, feel more stable going up rocks and pausing on top than my Raga. Again, considering this was my first time on the bike, this was impressive. I can only believe that if I owned a Vertigo Combat that my riding would improve relative to the Raga as I got a better feel for the Combat. That is an exciting thought. I did not try any of the other fuel injection/ignition maps but I imagine that they could be very useful in slippery conditions. Are there any downsides? The brakes on my Raga feel a bit better than the brakes on the Vertigo. That may be just newness of the Vertigo brakes or adjustment of levers to my own liking. The silencer is a sealed unit that can’t be disassembled and repacked like the unit on my Raga. Other trials bikes have this issue. After-market parts and spare parts are likely in short supply here in the states for now. I am sure that will change in the near future. Do you trust electronics vs. mechanics? Fuel pump and fuel injector vs. gravity fed fuel, carb and float bowl. Electrical water pump vs. mechanical water pump. I am a techie so I like electronic controls. Your preferences may differ. I expected the Vertigo Combat to be lighter and feel lighter in this “Works” model. But I guess “Works” does not equal “Factory” and the factory bits are still to come from Vertigo. A factory Ossa bike that Bill Merritt had is the lightest feeling bike I have ridden. My Raga feels a bit heavier than the factory Ossa. The Combat feels similar to the Raga in this regard. It may be just my personal preference but the lighter the bike feels to me, the better it feels for trials. I look forward to seeing how light the Combat can get with some of the soon to be available factory parts including the titanium chassis option. I don’t regret paying extra for the Raga factory model when I got it and I doubt that I would regret paying extra for some factory Vertigo parts to make it an even lighter bike. That titanium chassis must be pricey! It seems that Vertigo has produced an excellent trials machine in their first production run and I expect it will only improve going forward.

I own that exact model as a spare bike to try to tempt others to ride trials. I picked it up a few years ago for $1200 U.S. Which was a pretty good price. It could have gone as high as $1500 then. Has the stickers but also some dents and dings. It's in same or better shape now since I have kept it up. I think it would sell around the same price today here in the U.S. Mine is not for sale either.

USA Ossa Importer brought the new 2014 Race Model out to a practice ride a few weeks ago. Carbon fiber exhaust and magnesium case as well as other components make the racing bike lighter than the standard model. 300cc stroke volume. I got a chance to ride it a bit. They really got the FI right on this model. Smoother power than my 2012 Raga. I was very impressed. Since it was brand new I just rode it over some smaller obstacles and stayed out of the power range. They were hoping to get a photo shoot later in the day, that did not happen. The suspension was all brand new so there is really no way to judge it without some break in time, but even with a brand new suspension the smoothness of the power roll-on made the bike very easy to adjust to quickly and ride smoothly over obstacles. Clutch feel was stiffer than on my Raga but part of that may have been that Bill likes his lever set up further out than I do. I have tried the 290 models each year and this new 2014, 300cc, impressed me as a real improvement from the previous years. You are going to like it. I am looking forward to trying it again after the suspension is broken in.

I here the FIM rules committee is extending their influence to other sports as well. For English football, fancy ball dribbling will be disallowed. More than 3 touches with out a pass and you forfeit possession. Bouncing the ball off your knees or head will be limited. Over acrobatic headers and scissor kicks may receive a yellow card. (Up to the referee's judgment of course). Bending the ball on a free kick.... again subject to review... if deemed there is too much curve on the trajectory, a possible yellow card as well. Goalies' gloves. Those are gone of course!!! Wearing a protective cup or any other body protective equipment will be considered unmanly and new school. They will not be allowed. They will of course change the points system value of a tie vs. a win and may include goal differences. To be reviewed and changed, perhaps every season. On the plus side, harsh tackles will be allowed and off sides will mostly be done away with. This should make for some more interesting play for the spectators and bring more people out. Of course, diving flops will still be allowed. We have to retain some of more recent innovations of the game.

I was thinking the same thing about wheel device Billy.... great minds and all.... Pretending I know what I am talking about and it makes a difference... What is wrong with just overall time limits on a section? Watching the Barcelona indoor video you could see the top pro's taking extra points for exceeding time limits. With an overall time limit you force the rider to choose his/her strategy of how they uses stops or not. If you make the time limit short enough you will have riders "racing" through the section afraid to stop for fear of losing a time point. Make the time limit low enough and the time penalty high enough and you end up with something like a time trial enduro cross where the fastest rider wins. Adjust allowed time and time penalties to meet whatever goals you are trying to achieve. You could even mix it up. Same event could have sections with different time limits to expose different types of riding. You could lower the time limits on each successive loop. The possibilities are many. Upside is you only have to watch for dabs and keep time of rider in the section. No guessing on did they stop or not. Hope to see you out with Bill M. and others out in Simi on Saturday or Sunday Billy.

Thanks for the reply Sting. Yes we agree on terminology. My synth oil addition to the ATF slows the clutch bite and allows a more progressive clutch feel, better traction control in tough situations and generaly more clutch lever motion to change the power level to the ground. I am bit picky on the clutch settings as well so I may have to invest in some of those on the fly clutch lever adjusters as multiple adjustments with the allen wrench and lock nut can get annoying.

Sting32 - I have the same bike as you, 2011 Raga 300. How would you compare the feel of the 0w/30 yamalube to straight ATF type F? I started with ATF type F on the Raga and the clutch action was very progressive when the bike was brand new, in fact too progressive for my liking. Over the first few months the clutch action got less progressive and settled into a much quicker bite. About 6 months ago I tested some Valvoline 0w20 synthetic. The first oil change returned about the half of the progressiveness of the new clutch and for me was just about perfect. The second oil change brought back all of the original progressiveness, perhaps even more than original. I was shocked by what a difference the oil made to the clutch action and that the change occurred over multiple oil changes. With a 50/50 mixture of the ATF and the 0w20 oil the clutch stayed very progressive. Still too much for me. I cut the percentage of 0w20 synthetic oil down to about 10% to 20% to get the clutch feel I like. What is interesting to me was that changing to a different oil caused a clutch feel change that evolved over time and over multiple oil changes. I am curious if others have experienced this type of evolving clutch feel when they switch oils. Edit: I just watched Jim's video above. Found it interesting that he said Synth Oils tended to make the clutch sticky and draggy. My synth oil experience was just the opposite as described allowed more slip and progression.

I have the 2011 Raga 300. I have been told to start the kick stroke up as high as possible to get the longest kick but this approach has not worked best for me. Over time I have found that a shorter kick stroke, started with the kick lever parallel to the ground or just a bit above parallel, has resulted in the most consistent quick starts especially after the engine has warmed up. In watching videos of Adam Raga, this appears to be his method of starting the bike but I could be seeing it wrong. My theory is that it is harder for my leg/foot to follow the fuller rotation motion of a kick with the lever started up higher. With the lever starting closer to parallel to the ground the intial kick speed is much faster, or can be much faster and stronger, and the result for me is a more effective start. For the 2012 Raga with shorter lever, I can only imagine that the same approach would reduce the chance of your foot slipping off since this method makes the kick motion just a bit more direct.

I don't think this news has made it to Trials Central yet. Check out the LewisportUSA site for the official announcement: http://www.lewisportusa.com/ I ride a lot with Lewisport Southern Cal Rep, Bill Merritt, about once a week and have gotten to try out the new bikes as they come out. They may yet tempt me off my Raga. Bill rides the OSSA as his daily practice and competition bike. I have nothing but the best to say about Bill's commitment to the bikes he has sold (Gas Gas, OSSA and Beta), to the buyers/riders and to both the practice and competition aspects of the sport. Based on my experience and interactions with Bill I expect that his closer involvement now with OSSA USA will produce some new and interesting OSSA related products and support for the US. Disclaimer: I have no financial, business or quid pro quo interest in LewisportUSA or OSSA. I just like riding and I am impressed with Bill Merritt's commitment to trials and his technical knowledge of the sport and the bikes.

I have a 2011 Raga 300. I used a couple different brands of ATF from the start. The clutch action was very progressive when new, in fact too progressive for my liking. Over the first few months the clutch action got less progressive and settled into a much quicker bite. About 2 months ago I tested some Valvoline 0w20 synthetic. The first oil change returned about the half of the progressiveness of the new clutch and for me was just about perfect. The second oil change brought back all of the original progressiveness, perhaps even more than original. I was shocked by what a difference the oil made to the clutch action and that the change occured over multiple oil changes. I actually messed around with a 50/50 mixture of the ATF and 0w20 oil but the clutch stayed very progressive. I went back to the ATF on this last oil change and some of the progressiveness is going away. It has actually been quite interesting and now I have another variable to tweak in my riding set up.

Corrosion????: Oxide of Aluminum, Magnesium or Zinc depending on what metals are in the carb body Ethanol in the fuel attracts water or water leaking or sucked in some other way. Fuel evaporates leaving water to do the corrosion work.

and to add to it all, I would round out each end of the gash since sharp cracks encourage propagation of a crack in just about any material but rounding out the ends of the crack will often stop a crack from spreading under futher stress. A narrow soldering iron tip or a small round file should do it.

I have been using Type F Tranny Fluid for 9 months in my 2011 Raga since the bike was new and that was great. I recently switched to some synthetic 0W20 oil just to see if there was a difference. Seems to work quite well with a little less initial bite than the Type F. Maybe more difference after the second oil change with more of the Type F worked out of the system. I generated up the table on a number of fluids which should show up in the post as: Fluid type: Viscosity at 40C, Viscosity at 100C. Viscosity in (csT). I guess the Hot 100C temp would apply to when the engine was warmed up. My newer 0W20 synthetic is a jut a bit heavier than the Type F tranny fluid. Also found some useful info at http://www.gasgasrid...evaluation.html but it is a bit specific to older gas gas bikes. Fluids in order of increasing viscosity at 100C Fluid Viscosity (cST) 40C, 100C 0w10 27.2, 5.2 Dexron 6 ATF 30, 6 Mobile ATF Type F 36, 7.2 Putoline nano trans 36.3, 7.3 Dexron III 37, 7.9 Putoline Dexron IID ATF 43, 8.25 Shell S1 ATF Type F 39, 8.4 0w20 44.8, 8.7 Valvoline 75w-80 Gear Oil 55.7, 8.9 - 9.5 0w30 57.3, 11 5w30 59.5, 11.7 10w40 94.3, 14.6 Mobil Synth 75w-90 Gear Oil 120, 15.9 Mobil Synth 80w-140 Gear Oil 310, 31.2