mr neutron

Hey, All!!! I've got kind of a weird question here. It involves my crummy attempts at riding along 8" wide railroad ties that I've used to make crude landscaping steps with. I decided to try riding up & down them this weekend. Having a tough time getting up the steps cleanly. Going down the steps seems to be a little better. It seems to be easier for me to focus on the end/"where I want to go" while riding down rather than up. As I begin to go up the steps, there's a point (you can see it in the video, at about the 5 second point in it....) where both tires are more or less climbing and getting bumped around at the same time, typically followed by a dab shortly after that, or uncontrolled riding off of the wood...... How's the best way to get up this silly thing? (And please ignore my feeble wheel hops. Like everything else involved with Trials, I seem to be perpetually learning and needing practice....) Thanks, Jimmie Added in EDIT: I also need to remember to turn my gas on before I take off also. That's why the vid ended so abruptly.....

Hi, Lee99780! You've been given some very good advice here. If I might add a little.... The "learning to relax" is very important. This simply comes by spending more time riding, either while practicing, or in sections. The relaxing will just come naturally after the nerves get accustomed to the riding. Smaller diameter grips helped me to beat arm pump when I rode mx. I had more problems with arm pump using the bigger diameter ones. But everyone is different in that respect. I could always do more pull ups (you folks call them "Press Ups", I think?) with a small diameter bar than I could with a bigger dia. one.... But the most important thing, to me, is that when my wrists hurt, it means my technique (if I actually have any) is wrong. Instead of keeping the majority of my weight on the pegs, where it should be, it means I've gotten tired/lazy/retarded, and am riding with a bunch of my weight being supported by my arms. And then the wrists ache a little..... It probably also lets me know that I need to spend more time working out, rather than on this computer typing, hee hee..... Since I consistently get a sore on the bottom knuckle of my right thumb (ride often w/o gloves) from my throttle, I'm going to try Zippy's suggestion, and narrow my bars by a very small amount, and see what that does......

Thanks, Jon! I looked for a place to buy the Silentsport packing. I found out after I'd already bought the FMF packing that the Silentsport packing is available from MSR here in the States. It might be available from other places, but I couldn't find any. So, I got the FMF, which was about half the price of the Silentsport. The FMF stuff seems to work, and definitely much better than the flat, mat type I tried (several times....). Jan, Sorry; I forgot about the new style end cap. Did it come apart simply by drilling out rivets, like the "old style" that I have? It seems like that end cap would be more difficult to re-pack effectively...... Jimmie

Hi, Jan!!! This is kinda "timely" in that I just did this job to my 2010, and then had to do it again...... The packing that came out of my 2010 was the flat, mat-type of packing that was wrapped around the core, and then had a few strips of masking tape around it. I thought I'd simply try to match the factory job, and that would be alright. But I never could get it right with that type of packing. I tried repacking it with this mat-type packing 3 times, and it was always noticeably louder than it was before I attempted to "fix it"..... I'm guessing some of the problem is the thin, oval cross section shape of the silencer? I then happened to stumble across a post from a rider here called "pumpkin trials" that helped a whole bunch: I bought a bag of the loose, shaggy type of packing from FMF. It took about 1/2 to 2/3 of the bag for my silencer. I packed it in with a piece of aluminum angle (structural L-shaped) I had laying around in the barn. I tried to get it along the sides well, and not too tight. It came out much better using this loose, stringy type of packing, and putting it in the way described by pumpkin trials. It's as quiet as it was when I bought the bike, which makes me happy.... FWIW, here's how Silentsport recommends packing a 2-stroke silencer with their packing (scroll down to the bottom of the page): http://www.silentspo...revpack_eng.pdf Jimmie

Section one, That "Swivl" deal is pretty cool! Does it sense motion & "follow" it somehow? Your practice area is Great! (nice riding, btw!) I'd like to have something similar, and maybe some skill to be able to use it..... Sting, you nailed it, lol. There's another episode where Mr. Neutron wants to run off with a cleaning lady that's pretty funny too..... Anyway, that's what my buddies tagged me with, and my wife (has her own screen printing biz) even prints it on my riding gear for me...... Jimmie

Is "Goddard" the dog-like thing in the Jimmie Neutron Show? I've actually never seen that show; my kids have seen it & told me enough about it so there was no need for me to see it..... Confession Time: My "Mr. Neutron" username comes from the old Monty Python bit with a character having that name. My real last name is "Newton" . Some of my mx riding buddies & I, back in the 70's, watched Monty Python regularly. When we saw the episode with Mr Neutron in it, they tagged me with that nickname. Not too much of a stretch to go from "Newton" to "Neutron", I guess.... It's stuck ever since...... Jimmie

It looks to me like you've got some pretty good riders in your group, Zippy! (my standards aren't super high anyway, but you guys ride much better than I do.... ) I envy ya gettin' to ride "inside" like that. I used to do that here, for mx, when I was sick of mud...... I've only been doing balancing & front wheel hop practice inside my barn. And maybe a little clutch squeezing now & then..... Jimmie

Agreed; that is a very nice video, peterschnecke!! You did a GREAT JOB of editing! I really liked the differing points of view, and all the short little clips all ran together. That must have taken some time to make, I'd think? Jimmie

Zippy, Your friend's skill is really good. but I'm betting the judges won't give him a very high score on that dive. The degree of difficulty was average, but he made a big splash on entry...... Sando994, I have an immense amount of respect for the unicycle crowd. But that just looks like it could flatten my nuts in a matter of seconds.....

I love that, Andrew!!! May I use that for an excuse as well?? Actually, I recently saw the guy I bought my bike from at a trial. I told him I loved the bike, but disliked him personally for having set the benchmark for "Clean" so high..... Nothing like Shyted's, however.... Congrats on your new ride, Jonwhitesw! May it work well for you for many years, Sir! Sadly, the only riding I can do over the next day or two will be on a riding lawnmower...... I think I'll sneak out to the barn & squeeze the clutch lever a few times..... Jimmie

What brands of bikes were those guys riding? I saw some Betas, I think, and heard many 4-strokes. I'll confess now that I watched it without my glasses, and had a tough time trying to figure out what the 4-stroke bikes were??? Jimmie

You know, I've watched this video about 12 times, I'd guess, and it makes me laugh & giggle every time I see it. It reminds me of things that used to happen to both myself & the guys I used to ride with years ago, before we had digital cameras..... Jimmie

Wow, you folks had a lot of riders turn out for that event! Approximately how many riders were there, and was that a fairly normal amount of riders for your local trial events? Jimmie

J13me, If the fluid, pads, & the rest of your front brake system are all sound, and if it apears to be free of bubbles in the line, try this: Ride around for about a minute with your front brake applied. Don't brake hard enough with it to send yourself into a skid, just use light, steaady pressure that kinda bogs the engine down. You want to get the disk good & hot. Ride right up to source of water, stop, and quickly spray the disc with water while it's hot. This will burn off & clean off any oils (maybe brake fluid?), and should make a good difference in braking power. May need to be done twice. Just get the disc hot by dragging the brake as you ride around for a short while, stop, and wet it down quickly while it's hot. It will steam & hiss as this is done. I had to do this to my bike. I had bled my rear brake until I was sick of bleeding brakes, It had a firm pedal, but still wouldn't stop for squat, made lots of noise, and all that. A friend told me to do this, and it worked really well. I had so much brake fluid on my pads & disc, it needed a better cleaning than it could get with the spray can brake cleaning products. Hope it helps you out..... Jimmie

Yeah, my old KTM 300 MXC was a good starter like you described too. My 2010 280 has pretty much been a "2 kick" starter when cold, and 1 when warmed up. But, I can't crack the throttle the least little bit. It has to be shut. And kinda like you described, I have to push on the kickstart lever until it just goes past tdc/compression slightly (which isn't always easy to do with the kicker), then "fall back" like Jim Snell show in his "How To Start A Trials Bike" video.... I just finished up installing my S3 Low Compression Insert in the bike's head, along with repacking my silencer. Object was to have an easier bike to start, and one that was slightly quieter. I succeeded only on the starting part. The reduced compression does indeed make it easier to push the starter lever around, and I haven't yet noticed any power loss. I have to "re-repack" my repacking job on my silencer, however, It's louder now than it was before I decided to "fix" it..... Glenn. I'd like to get ahold of ya and get a ride in there at HRC some day, if you don't mind. Just want my bike kinda dialed in before I do that, and I probably should let my knee heal up a little more before I go on any long rides. You plan on going to the trial at Washougal this Sunday? I might go watch that..... Jimmie

YES! Congrats, J13me! Way to go! I hope your life is going to get easier now! Way to stay with it! Jimmie P.S. Oh, yeah. Today, along with some of yesterday afternoon, I put my S3 Low-Compression head insert in my bike. That part went pretty well. It does indeed start a little easier, and no really noticeable loss of power. But I decided to repack the silencer on the bike while I was at it, and seem to have failed miserably at that chore..... It's louder than it was before I decided to "repair" it......

I seldom step in on conversations like this. They're already flammable enough without my adding more fuel & oxygen. But really...... Why do folks continue to glorify someone who has lied & cheated? I wonder what that says about us as a society? To me, it's almost the same as the way our young kids emulate the rap stars here in the states. How on earth could you view that whole "Gangsta" culture as something you'd want to be like? Same with a liar & cheater, whether it's Lance A., Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire,or whomever. I can see forgiving these guys. But they definitely don't deserve a place of honor for what they did...... Jimmie

Jon, I hope your search for a dog turd, or several of them, is a successful one! I normally only have to walk around in the fenced part of my yard to find a wide variety of specimens that my Blue Heeler has deposited for my joy & delight. I can also find more on the bottoms of my boots & shoes, when I'm really lucky..... Actually, this is kind of a timely subject. I need some for tire repair as well. Zippy, or anyone else who knows, where's the best places to get them here in the States? A tire shop, maybe? I bought a kit for repairing quad tires (from a local tire shop) that I carry in my pack. It has a few small rubber strips, a screwdriver-like tool to poke them in the puncture hole, some cylinders of compressed air, and the tool for cylinders to fit a valve stem. No glue, and nothing that will deal with larger rips, sidewall tears, or bigger holes is in this kit, however, and I've thought it might be good to get some..... Jimmie

Well, here goes an attempt to "embed" a video about vintage dirt bike plastic refinishing...... BTW, it looked like there were other vids on the same subject as well, & maybe they can be of help? Hope this helps some, but after I think about it a little, not sure how the heat gun will work with the fuel tank, Coop. That may be a "no-no"........ Unless you really dry the tank out, and get out every last speck of fumes....... Jimmie

I hate to come across as a bigger Dork than I already am, but I can't see the pics. When my wfe is logged in to her FB account (I don't have one), your link sends me straight to her page. When we log her off of FB, it routes me right to the login page. Can anyone shed any light on this, possibly? Thanks, Jimmie

Coop, That does look good indeed. You either need to ride it, and put some scratches in the new plastic, or polish the Dog Poop outta the tank..... Is the tank plastic? There's a good vid on polishing vintage bike plastic on youtube. I don't have the time to find it right this moment; if I can find it; I'll try to give a link later. The guy uses a razor to get the scratches out, and to "scuff" off old oxidized-looking plastic down to "newer" looking stuff. He then took a heat gun to it, and it actually came out looking really good after that. It could be further polished with 400 grit wet or dry sandpaper, going to 600 grit after that, using LOTS of water. I've actually had this work out pretty well, but it is a lot of work. Easier to just buy spare fenders/plasric (if you can get 'em), put the stuff away until you wanna sell the bike, and then ride with an ugly stuff on the bike...... It's a dirt bike, not a shrine, hee hee...... I will confess to spraying my bike with that Maxima's SC-1 "Keep it Shiny" stuff-in-a-rattle-can, however.... J13me, I hope you're making progress on your bike w/o pegging the frustration meter, or spending a lot of $$$. I've been following your build/repair progress, and am impressed with your tenacity...... Jimmie

Hmmm, well, it sounds like it could a be a bit richer for your idle circuit then, it the choke helped starting after the bike is warm. I've read that the manufacturers sometimes send them here jetted a little bit lean, but don't know that for certain. I know there's no way a manufacturer could possibly have them jetted perfect for all the places their bikes get shipped to..... I think you're on the right track; try adjusting the idle mixture fuel/air screw (what carb is on that bike?), and go from there. My bike seems jetted to perfection (previous owner got it dialed in that well), but the Dellorto carb it has DOES NOT LIKE to have the throttle cracked open the least bit when starting, until after it fires. Hot or Cold, it's like that.... So, yeah, try to get your mixture dialed in, learn the "routine" your bike wants for starts, and have fun on it! I envy ya being that close to that riding area, GlennP. I hope to make it out there for some practice in a month or so. I know riding in the rain & mud on this side of the hills will make a guy a good rider. But I've grown tired of the mud. It's nice to have some "dry fun" every now & then..... Are you planning on riding any of the COTA events? Are there some good trials areas at the HRC Forest trails, like maybe somewhere out of Post Flats, or any of the other staging areas? Jimmie

A new one? At any rate, old or new, Congratulations to you, Duffers! I hope it works well for you. I do like my '10 model 280 Pro..... I rode my bike for the first time in 2 months or so yesterday. It was the first dry & somewhat sunny day we've had in a while. The wife was gone shopping, so I decided to try out my repairs to the bike, as well as the new knee. I only rode it long enough to get the tranny oil warmed up, so I could change that oil. Rode a few tight corners, pulled a few wheelies, double blipped over a stump, and zapped over my log on my dirt here at home. It was the best 10-15 minutes of my life in recent times, I believe.... I'm almost as pumped as the clutch lever is on my bike...... Jimmie

This does sound like somewhat of a jetting issue to me. Does it start well with choke on, or possibly off? Does it run well otherwise? Have you fiddled with your low throttle mixture (or fuel screw) screw? The low speed mix circuit is a cheap (as in NO COST) area to work on. It'd be nice if it were simply something like an idle adjustment; that would make your life easier. Float level is another area that may possibly be worth looking into, but I kinda doubt if that will solve your "easy cold start/hard hot start" dilemma. Your reed petals' condition might be worth looking intos, as well..... If your carb on your 300 is a Keihin, screw your idle air mixture screw inwards (lightly) until it bottms out (lightly), then screw it out 1 turn. This is probably a good general starting point. Every Keihin carb I've ever had specified 1-2 turns out, and this has always worked for me, provided the pilot jet was correct. It's an air screw for the idle circuit, so screwing it in will give the bike less air at idle/very low throttle openings (makes the mixture richer), and screwing it out makes it get more air (makes it leaner) at those same throttle settings. If it's a Dellorto, I don't have as much experience with as I do Keihins. I do know that the what I call the idle mixture screw is actually a "Fuel Screw", and as far as turns in & out, it works the opposite of the Keihin. Screwing it in meters less fuel (leaner mixture), and screwing it out makes it richer, again, at idle/slightly above idle throttle openings. I guess it's typically around 3 & 1/2 turns out, again, if the jets are good. Here's a link to a video that deals with the Dellorto carb. He (Jim Snell) begins talking about the fuel screw at about the 19:00 minute point in the vid...... http://www.youtube.c...&v=1EbXacjIV78#! Hope this possibly helps. Please let us know how it works out. Oh yeah, did you possibly attend the trial at Dallesport, WA, a couple of weekends ago? It was put on by COTA, the local trials club. It was a dry, nice sunny day, but did have a little bit of wind... Anyway, there are a couple of guys in the club pretty sharp with Gas Gas bikes, and they can definitely give ya even more help than I'm able to.... Jimmie

Kev69, The advice about the tire pressure is spot on! Keep it low (2-3 lbs. or so, front & rear) at first. You will have "Good Days" & "Bad Days" while learning this; I'm certain everyone does/did. A couple of things I've learned about it: Keep your back brake locked. I keep my front one locked on also. Keeping the front wheel turned in your "favorite direction" at first helps. It seems like everyone has a bar direction that they prefer when balancing. Seems like most folks like it with the bars turned to the left. I've kinda learned to practice in both directions, but would have to say I think that I can balance longer with my bars turned to the left, for some reason..... Try to keep your weight on the footpegs, with very little of your weight on the handlebars (as when you ride....). For myself, it's easier to make "corrections" in which way I want the bike to lean with my legs. When I'm putting too much weight on my bars, even with the bars turned, I tend to fall to one side quicker. Finally, when I began this balance practice, I noticed it was much easier for me to balance in the grass, or my gravel driveway, than it is on the concrete floor of my barn. I practice mostly on that floor now, because it is harder for me, but mostly to get out of the endless rain we seem to get here in the northwestern corner of Oregon. I have a radio out in my barn, and I'll wait for a song to come on (I'm old, but like classic rock), pick my feet up on the pegs, and try to keep them up there the duration of the song, or even two, if I'm having a "Good Day".... I'm up to 4 lbs. of air in the back, and 5 in the front now. My next step will be stacking some blocks or lumber, and placing the front & rear wheel on those, to simulate being on a slope. I've been mixing my balance practice with engine off front wheel hopping, and have come to realize that I truly suck at it. If anyone has any hints for that, it'd be appreciated.... Nelly1, and others, just be patient. Figure out how to make it fun, be diligent & stick with it. Balancing will come to ya, but you do have put in a little time. I figure if an Old Goober like myself can learn it, anyone else on the planet should be able to..... Hope this helps some, Jimmie