sirdabalot

Sorry to hijack the topic but doesanyone know if there are any butane blow torches that will heat 1/4" mild steel to cherry red. Trying to avoid using seperate oxy/gas botles. Thanks in advance.

Agree with the above comments. Last time I registered a bike it cost £60 and I had to show that I was insured, the insurers would only issue cover for two weeks using the frame number, the local DVLA centre also needed the bikes certificate of newness. This may have changed, as they have closed most DVLA centres Bit of a carry on, but it is worth it.

I use one of her funnels from the cookery department. Though I usualy wait till she's gone out.

The worst examples ive had on the subject were in mx and enduro. Most events were muddy and it was wise to run the chain slack in anticipation of the mud embedding itself into the chain. I had a chain snap due to a stone doing as you describe, the stone was sitting between the gearbox sprocket/casing and had a witness mark on it from the chain/sprocket. Ive seen it at mx races too. Fitting chainguards may help, my enduro bike had one, but it didnt stop the stone on mine. I did try using dry graphite lubricant but it didnt seem any better than just running the chain dry or using wd40, normal chain oil turned the sand/mud into grinding paste, so not recommended. Hope this helps.

I liked my Betas but tried GG for 2013 + 2014. I saved a couple of hundred quid on mudguards compared to the glass ones fitted to Betas. Other than that both makes have been reliable in normal and road based trials

Or is it the rear brake fluid reservoir?

Got me guessing, cant think of any sight glasses on a Sherco. Is it an in line fuel filter?

Frim new I owned 09,10 + 11 Beta 250s. I then bought a new 12 200. It didnt lose much low end power against the 250s, but I felt lacked a bit of grunt, but the 250s all had the additional standard flywheel weights, so that could have been a factor. I added a 250 flywheel weight on the 200, but this made it a bit sleepy. On road sections with uphill gradients I needed to change down sometimes. Other than that the Beta200 is a good tool.

Not sure what your engine is, but the British singles and twins I owned had pressure fed rocker assemblies, using one feed pipe teed off to feed both rocker shafts (looked like that in your pic). Start it up and loosen one banjo nut, oil should come out, tighten it up and repeat on the other. If good. Look elswhere, eg loose tappet, broken valve spring, snapped rocker shaft, missing or broken rocker shaft sidethrust springs/shims.

Some enduros i have done would have you at an advantage on a trials bike. But generaly trials bikes react awfully at speed over rough ground. Some events would run a seperate class for trials bikes if they had above six entries. If you fancy it give it a go, but take it easy cos its better than not trying

I remember reading trials bhp test results a while back and was surprised to see the outputs were lower than I thought. 16-20bhp. Try some of the importers they might have a rough idea.

I did as lineway said last year and it worked fine.

Clear Silicone bathroom sealant worked ok for my 4 different years of beta 2009-2012. Dont worry too much though, as it wont be long till the mud guard self destructs anyway. Its possible to break one by looking at it.

The float shut off needle could be allowing fuel past due to dirt/wear which may explain the flooding issue when the bike was parked with the tap on, however, even with the tap off (make sure it's not on reserve position) it may still flood with fuel from a leaking tap. I had a problem on a 2004 GG, when the tap was turned the internal seal turned with the tap due to its locating peg being worn, this led to fuel starvation and engine cutting out briefly on long trails between sections, then when turning the tap off it effectively turned it on and would occasionaly flood when parked up. Hillarious.

Does the noise go quieter or stop when you pull the clutch lever, if so its the usual Gag Gas 'character' that goes hand in hand with the sensation of the engime falling out when changing gear from 4th to 5th.

Is your cylinder base gasket ok? Is your inlet gasket and inlet manifold ok? Is the spark plug in the correct heat range? Have you changed the pre-mix ratio?

From new Betas come with quality items, good chain sprockets and on mine the wheel bearings lasted all year and linkage bearings came with grease in (flippin heck that was a surprise), but I heard of others that didnt. Worst parts are mudguards that shatter if you look at them, I had 4 evos from new and got great support from importers when my 2010 shock blew, no arguments and replacement sent the same week. I am currently on Gas Gas which is great but would have no doubts about returning to a Beta (so long as they fit bendy plastics on ).

Hello and welcome Joe. Warden Law in Sunderland is a legitimate practice area, cheap enough for a good session to get familiar with your new steed and adapt to riding a trials bike if its all new to you. I started with a good used bike so I didnt waste dosh if I found out trials was not for me. After that enter a trial on the easy course, its the quickest way to learn with plenty help and encouragement from other riders who have all been in your position at one time. Bike choice, 2 or 4 stroke, 2 strokes seem more popular due to lower costs all round. No real bad manufacturers but none are perfect. Steer clear of big cc's till you get some confidence and if you find some of that, let me know where from, Ive been looking for mine since 1999

Too much oil in gearbox or has it been dropped on its side? If not I guess it will be a crank seal.

Trevor Newtons latest riding kit.

Owned most makes of modern trials bike, currently on Gas Gas. If you have to change bikes a Beta may suit you, I had a 200 and 250 Evo and preferred the 250 to the 200. My reasons for suggesting a Beta are because they have a very low first gear when fitted with standard sprockets. I found I could ride sections on the throttle with little clutch use, leave the flywheel weight on and the bike is very forgiving, trying to stall it was difficult. Don't forget to fit a slow action throttle.

Had one of the last air cooled monos. Loved and hated it. Left hand kick start is made of high grade steel for a reason. When it started it always seemed to foul a plug just as the nice lady turned the 5 second start board in MX. In enduro the engine hunted when on part throttle. Theyre only good when accelerating and the raw power is something i havent experienced since. When it ran i got sfome of my best results. Thats the bit i loved.

The way I see it Honda/Montesa created a 2 stroke backlash by attempting to dictate that only 4 stroke engines should be allowed by the international racing federations in all motorcycle disciplines. If we look at MX and Enduro bikes from all manufacturers we see that when the new generation 4 strokes appeared the price was about £1000 more than a 2 stroke, fair enough more parts to put in each motor, recently I notice the gap in the price between the two types has narrowed. Unfortunately the 2 strokes price seems to have gone up. Ever the cynic, I suspect the manufacturers had a toe in the water to see how much punters would pay for 4 strokes and as 2 strokes still sell, they are filling their boots by raising the price. Seen the price of Yamaha's YZ250/125? Don't get me started on the 4 stroke vs 2 stroke engine capacity that gave an unfair advantage in favour of the 4 stroke after certain manufacturers forced the door open. Warms my heart when I see 2 strokes in use, sticks 2 fingers up to forceful manufacturers.

A lot may depend on dealer support. We have a great dealer in NE England. They let me take a bike out to try around sections of a trial. It was nice to ride handled similar to gas gas, I deliberately stalled it to see how it started, no problem. Only sticking point for some, may be, price (new) and re-sale.

I had an ATK motocross bike in the late 1980's, the early one with an air cooled Rotax 500 4 stroke engine. This had a hydraulic disc brake system on the gearbox output shaft inboard of the gearbox sprocket. I remember the brake lacked progressiveness in operation, being either on or off, something I have also noticed on large plant vehicles equipped with transmission brakes. The brake disc wore quickly presumably as the disc was about 4" diameter so less metal meant more wear as it had less surface area to do the required work, this could also have been due to dirt being thrown onto it by the chain. I never had trouble with gearbox or chain oil contamination. One thing of note was when I went to register the bike for road use. The vehicle inspector at the local DVLA centre told me the wheels had to have a direct acting brake to be legitimate for road use, under construction and use regulations. The reason being, if the drive chain snapped, the rear brake would have no connection to the rear wheel. I got round it by fitting a conventional rear brake set up.