I was told by an old mechanic. When looking to buy a car. Always look what its going to cost you to put right.
Rarely do you buy without fault or bodge
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!!
Looks like i am heading in the right direction then!
Well maybe
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.
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.
Enlighten me on the older mono issue.
Looked at 4 last night
One bit out of my price range but nice £1400
A 175cc with a Suzuki piston in!!!!!!!!!! Quite a nice bike but needed a tinkering with the carb
One a 125cc but wouldnt tickover and a bit tatty
The one i prefered was a mono, 212cc needed paint on the tank but rode nicely
Right, my initial thoughts were to hark back to my youth. Ty's Fantics Bultaco twinshocks.
I wentto see a guy who had 2 pre65's 4 fantics and a Montesa 315r.When looking at the price.I thought cripes betterto get something newer, farbetter value.
Went to a trial Sunday and saw the spangly bikes and power rangers lol. Saw fred on his twin swith jeans anda sweatshirt and thought. More like it.
Hopingto start with the dabbers.
Just hoping by getting some advice to stop me buying a dodgy bike
It seems some of the early Gg bike were inferior in the reliability stakes. What ywar did they start to get better. By what i can make out its around 99 - 2000. I now all these bike will have seen better days BUT every little helps
Parts Supply!
in Suzuki/Beamish
Posted
I have red that some parts are in short supply!
What parts are we looking at?