gbmoto

Hi All Getting my 349 frame powdercoated so will soon need new bush's. I know InMotion do the original ones but has anyone tried the nylon ones from France Trial Classic? http://www.francetri...arm-bushes.html

Hi Matt I've got a puller you can borrow that should fit, I'm in Horsham. Fitted my old 247 and my current 349.

I think it was the Motobecane, which is a shame as it looked a lot more original than many of the entry! According to the regs even the yokes should be of Pre65 manufacture...........hmmmmmmm if that had been enforced I recon half the entry would have been excluded!

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Hi All Just removed the old crusty mt43 from the back of my Techno only to find a tube in it. My rim is an Akront where the nipples are at the hub end with no spoke holes in the rim well. Do I still need a rim tape or just a tubeless valve??

Yup, looked like it was filled with plain water when I got it, I used the pink stuff from Halfords, what does everyone else use?? Anyone tried a Rev 3 head gasket in a Techno?? All looks the same, the Techno just has O-rings. Oh, also have a barrel and piston on the way, not too bad price either

I know what the problem is! The lower area is broken through and the upper one will follow soon! At least it was nothing I had done, but now looking for another techno barrel :-( .

Hi All Have just returned to trials after a long break on a 1995 Techno, first non twinshock I have owned. Did all the obvious before the first ride, chain, sprockets. brake pads etc etc, in fact a full bare frame rebuild. Left the engine as it seemed to run and start well, just a bit of carefull carb set up. Refilled the coolant and the problems seemed to start, very difficult to get any quantity it. Lampkins were really helpful and in the end got it filled ok. But every time I fired it up there were major bubbles in the overflow tank. Anyway first trial, bike seemed to run fine although there was a coolant leak, but i could not see where from, possible from around the headbolts. Only did 2 laps as the clutch master cylinder seals went and the bike was getting hot too. Dropped the oil and found most of the coolant mixed in there. After seeking advice I replaced the seals in the head, re-annealed the head bolt washers, replaced the water pump seal, and the clutch seals...what fun. Fired it up and all seemed good, next trial and the fan went on permanently, checked the thermostat and it had failed, so rode with the fan on after it had warmed up. No fluid leaks, heard coolant bubbling in the catch tank after first lap, by the end of the second lap bike does not sound good, pinging etc, so retire.......again. Drain the oil and it is contaminated again, This time i replaced the waterpump shaft, my shaft was one piece with the gear, but the new shaft was a single piece with separate gear, so bought those bits and have just put it all back together with a new thermostat. Still struggle to get coolant in, if I kick the bike over with the catch tank lid off it squirts coolant out, does this sound correct?? Have I connected the pipes wrong? cylinder head goes to the top right of the rad, catch tank to the top left, as you are sitting on the bike, I'm sure that's how it was when I took it apart. The bike started easily but sounds awful, a sort of scraping from the bowels of the engine, don't really want to run it for long. Any ideas? I am a pretty patient guy with reasonable mechanical ability (but not on water-cooled bikes!!) but i am rapidly getting disillusioned with this Beta.

On my Beta I have had to replace all the seals in the brakes and clutch, the seals in the head, all the linkage bearings ( had to get someone else to remove the originals ) steering head bearings water pump seal, fork seals, full rewire, as well as the usual brake pads, grips, chain, sprockets fuel pipe etc etc........I am a bit picky TBH and would probably have done a lot of this on any bike I purchased. But the mono is a lot more work than a twinshock, hassle clearing air from the cooling system and don't get me started on bleeding the clutch!! The first one I bought had a non Beta frame number, so was obviously dodgy as I can think of no innocent reason to do that. Hopefully now I have done all this it will be reliable and hassle free, I have to an extent enjoyed the challenges of working on something quiet different, but the novelty of spending longer bleeding a clutch than it has taken me to build a Honda Engine from scratch has removed some of the sparkle from the relationship!!

I used to ride in the late 70's and early 80's obviously on twinshocks, the last being a Fantic which iI loved, I then restarted 10 years ago again with a twinshock Honda and a Fantic, loved both, but then stopped again! But really wanted to start again so looked around, in the end went for cheap..........got a Beta Techno for under £500, doesn't seem to have done much work, but once I had it how i wanted it probably stands at just over a grand, so I could have bought a twinshock! My theory was being a rider over 50 of mediocre ability would need all the help they could get, the bike is marvelous but currently I find it very hard on the knees, great brakes, more power than I have ever had in a trials bike resulting in arm pump which i have never had before! Currently it is very maintenance intensive, but hopefully just teething issues, parts availability is brilliant, thankfully as it the advise from Lampkins. So I am looking at selling one of my Trail bikes and getting a nice twinshock........again! A twinshock will hold it's value, unlike the Beta which I will never recoup the money I have spent, you also have to be very careful of the provenance of older mono's too, there are a lot with a dodgy past. The result of these ramblings??? I wish i had got a twinshock, they have soul, the modernish mono is simply a (very good) tool to ride sections with.

All done, used this layout and started from scratch. I think it may have come from here actually. Fan works when the thermostat wires are shorted and when up to temperature, happy bunny. Very different to the Beta layout, but I can follow the logic of this one. BTW Lampkins have been really helpful with my various questions, not sure how many importers would be with an old bike. Also Haven Trialsport and Steve Goode have been very helpful with the rebuild.

Hi All Just finished tidying up a Techno for a return to trials, first watercooled mono with disc's I have owned! (well second after there was a potential issue with the first Techno I bought) Anyway, pleased with how it has come out, most consumables changed. But the fan doesn't work, I have a wiring diagram from Lampkins and it looks all OK. (I stripped the bike down to bare frame and the wiring had already been messed with.) I have tested the fan on a 12v battery and it is fine. With the engine running I shorted the thermostat wires and the fan made a small jerk, but no spinning. Pretty sure the rectifier wiring is OK but not sure about the regulator, currently I have a feed from stator to the AC and a feed to the thermostat/fan from the DC. Any ideas? Or does this indicate a failed electrical component?.

Hi All Have posted this in stolen bikes too...... Just returning to the fold. Decided to move away from twinshocks and go for something lighter with discs etc so bought the Techno. Asked plenty of questions, as I always want my bikes registered, so made sure all numbers were there. Checked on pick up, but when I checked with John Lampkin the number is not a Beta Number. So something sus has happened to it in the past. Here's the number All the plastic's have been resprayed red, but it was red front end, blue tank cover (all correct) and grey rear guard (probably from a 1996) It was purchased by the previous owner from West Sussex. Ring any bells with anyone? The guy I purchased it from is not replying to my e-mails, but I will get in touch with him someway! It could be stolen and recovered, but how do I find out??? But means I cannot register it, and as I live in West Sussex I might actually meet it's aggrieved past owner at a trial!!

Take the shocks apart, the seals will have a number on them. go to a seal and bearing supplier, I use Wyco, they will be supprisingly cheap too! done this with a number of shocks.

Lovely bike, how did you make the tank? it's one of the nicest I have seen.

sensational

A bit more progress, footrest done, I was going to use the originals but they caused more problems than they solved, also not very safe. I have used generic pegs and a Miller brake pedal welded to plates bolted to the rear subframe mount, but I may have to reinforce or remake from thicker metal. They probably could be a bit further back but this is a multi purpose bike and wanted a reasonable sitting position too. Side stand is now mostly Honda Elsinore, on reflection I could have sleeved this which would have been tidier, but the join is pretty well hidden. Kick start is Honda XL 250 with the splined bit cut lengthways and then welded to a cut off C15 cottered bit! It went OK and it was good to weld something I couldn't burn through!. Rear brake cable is a shortened Honda TL250 item, yes I have owned 250 Honda singles for years and have built up quite a spares stock!. I now have the rims and spokes and hopefully will get the rear sorted this weekend, the front rim arived with chrome flaking off so I am awaiting a replacement. Also have made a bash plate and chain guard, and mounted a chain tensioner from the rear bash plate mount. I have also done some cosmetics, replacing the levers, grips and polishing the gold anodising off the bars as a bit of a moral boost. Most of these bits I have bought fromTrialsbits whose service and prices are excellent. Still cannot get the silencer/pipe to fit, the silencer took a lot of work to even fit the pipe, then would not clear the shock, shortened the pipe slightly and now it fouls the tyre!. Any ideas on silencers for C15t's?? other than the Miller one which I don't like the look of. Also still cannot decide where to put the oil filter. Once wheels and silencer is done it will be time to dismantle for paint.

I get the same problem as toofastim.

Thanks guys, it will be used but I will select events carefully! Hopefully Talmag etc and as it will be road legal some long distance trials.

It's been a while but have made a bit of progress with the Ex Eastwood c15. DVLA have sorted the reg doc and it is now registered under its original number with the help from BSA owners club. The engine has been rebored and top end cleaned up, electronic ignition, amal concentric. Have just finished chopping the subframe and sorting out a new front mount, I was worried about this as the bike is very original but once I put sensible shocks on I could hardly touch the ground!, anyway the works bikes had the same treatment. The big subframe mount has been removed and the seat has been modded at the front to nearly fill the gap to the tank. When I removed the original side stand I was amazed to see it was cast!, I weighs a ton ( slight exageration ) With the longer shocks and soon to be 21" front rim it is too short anyway so will be replaced with a nice light Elsinore one I have. Talking of wheels I am ordering rims and spokes this week from Wyldes and will be building them myself ( I hope! ) Again spoiling some of the originality by replacing the current 20" front rim. Picked up the alloy tank cheap but will have to get rid of the dent if I want to keep it as polished, but I might fill and paint. Forks seem fine but longer than most C15T's I've seen but has leveled out nicely with the longer shocks, when bought it had a bit of a chopper look with realy short shocks. Having problems with the Miller pipe which will not slide fully in to the head, which then leaves it too long and the silencer end, bit of hacksaw work soon I think. It has a really nice oil tank but it is a bit small so will be fitting a remote filter for a bit more capacity and cleanliness. My idea of keeping it original has gone out the window so the idea now is to get it looking like a bike used in the mid 60's, once it is running (soon hopefully) I will give it a tryout before dismantling it for cosmetic restoration. Hope you find this interesting, I have found a lot of helpful advice on this forum.

Use a wdB40/B25 spindle should work fine, but you may be dissapointed in the frame, the earlier frame was a much better trials frame, narrower and lighter, the differences between the <mention of this company is not permitted on Trials Central. Please delete this post> frames in 61 were pretty minor and stuff that would have been changed by now anyway like footrest position.

Thanks for the words of encouragement Big John.

Here is my next project once the C15t is sorted. Over the years I have built up a collection of spares for my TL250 and have ended up with virtually a whole bike except a frame. Thinking that a slightly smaller lighter frame would make a rather nice TL I bought an RS200 frame, but would have had to chop it a lot which seemed a shame, so sold it and have bought a TLR frame, strangely the engine fits pretty well ( unlike the RS ) and just needs the lower mounts moving and a little fiddling to get the chainline right. The forks are TL250, wheels are early Elsinore whilst the Tank is a custom alloy one, all the bits bought pretty cheaply (the wheels came with an Elsinore rolling chassis for

This my current project, was going to be for this years Talmag!! looks like it won't be ready for next years! It is an early and very original C15T, still has the 20" front wheel, standard rests, steel tank (not the one shown) and exhaust on the outside of the frame. Alas most if these will have to go if it is to be remotely useable now, together with cutting down the rear subframe, now I have put sensible length shocks on. These will be the only obvious mods, and once done should be a staight foward resto (famous last words!) as the engine seems OK bar a rebore and everything else seems to just need cosmetics. The second owner was Vic Eastwood who has confirmed his dad bought it for him.

Sorry to butt in, this is Tommys website http://www.tommysandham.name/ebooks.htm