mr neutron

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

Man, Oh Man, Zippy! It's like you have a "Zippy Cam" in the Neutron household! You called it pretty accurately, Mah Man! It's not quite to the point where I need to wear makeup to hide the bruising I get from the wife, but gettin' close, hee hee...... Actually, the Mrs. is pretty darn easy to get along with. She's a dirt bike rider. It is funny to watch her ride my Gas Gas, tho.... For some reason, taking off without a seat really confuses her..... Jimmie

Thanks, Andrew!!! Actually, I'm finding I can do more harm to myself by getting up to pee in the middle of the night, and then tripping over the dog, than most any other way..... Zippy, Good Luck on the linkage bearings. Are you using the caged needle bearings mentioned in another thread here that have the seals built into the ends of the unit? I wish I'd seen that before I'd already bought my bearings, bushings, & seals.... Congrats on locating spark in your snowmobile! I typically find all the sprk I need by scootin' across our carpet, and kissing the wife...... Jimmie

I spent the day repairing some damage I inflicted on the bike about 2 months ago. I managed to chip the kickstart pawl gear, and the idler gear it helixes out to & meshes with. When I did this, the bike made a noise almost exactly like a knocking rod sound. I replaced the Idler Gear with a new one. I smoothed out the chipped teeth on the k/s pawl gear with a Dremel hand grinder. Reassembled everything, and added some atf. It fired up and sounded just like it used to, and maybe even a bit quieter than it did before. It always used to have some "clutch rattle" when running before. A rattling sound that goes away as soon as you pull in the clutch lever, basically. For whatever reason, it didn't do that today. And speaking of "pulling in the clutch lever", I did it MANY TIMES. Afterwards, I spent some time balancing with the engine off on my shop floor, and practiced some really ugly front wheel hops. Actually, today was a sort of "milestone" for me. I had total knee replacement surgery 5 weeks ago, and managed to get my bike started today with the new knee! I am mucho happy-o about that! it was one of my biggest fears that I may not be able to start my bike, and hence, possibly not ride, after the operation. I've pretty much put that fear to rest now. I still have an S3 low compression head insert to put in, which will hopefully make starting even easier on me..... And Shyted, your bike is INCREDIBLE!!! I wish my 3 year old bike looked that good. I don't mean to sound like a jerk here or anything like that, but do ever ride that thing? It is so clean..... Jimmie

Nicely Done, Andrew!!! You did Nice Work on your bar risers! I'm curious; where did you come up with the air bleeders on your fork caps? Jimmie

Ben, I totally agree with members zerorev3rev4 & chylowen. I would certainly pull the clutch off and look at the back side of the kickstart idler gear. I am basically chasing the same demons as you; you described the exact same problem I'm having with my 2010 Pro 280: The clattering noise that gets faster in frequency as the revs go up, and then slows down in frequency as the revs drop. Also, the fact that this happened (as did mine) right after a poor statring technique (not being critical of you; this is more aimed at myself. You already know you don't try to start a bike when it's already running, I'm bettin'....) would steer me towards a problem with the k/s mechanism somewhere. FWIW, here's what the back of my bike's idler gear looks like: Basically, those 2-3 chipped teeeth are enough to make that noise, Ben. It's actually pretty easy to get to this to look at, Ben (I think you've already done some of this before, haven't you?). You pull the Kickstart lever, then the clutch cover, and then the clutch itself. This makes the idler gear visible, but you have to pull a circlip off for the gear (and a washer or two; watch out for those!) to come off, to be able to look at the back side. I suppose if that gear is seriously "grenaded", you may not have to pull it off to see the damage. Look at your kickstarter shaft's gear also, as well as the gear on the back of the clutch that the idler gear meshes with, for any chips, chunks, or other carnage. At any rate, doing this first is much easier and cheaper to check out than yarding the engine out, and then taking it to have it looked at & repaired. Hope this helps some! Jimmie

Hee hee, this reminds me of the First Rule Of Gun Safety: ALWAYS keep your weapon pointed in a Safe Direction. A friend of mine had a Beta that had a clutch that behaved as Da Lipper describes. It would do it every time it was started up when cold, as in the first start & take off of the day. He said it better be pointed in a safe direction when you put it in gear, because wherever the bike was pointed was where it took off towards. After the initial "White Knuckle & Big Eyes" take off of the day, the thing was fine..... Jimmie

My '10 model Pro 280 is still scattered all over my barn, waiting for parts, and for my knee to get totally mended. I have the clutch cover loose (no bolts in it) as I'm waiting for my new kickstart idler gear to arrive. With the clutch cover loose, I don't dare pump my clutch lever when I walk by the old War Horse. I fear I'm beginning to suffer from "Clutch Pump Withdrawl Syndrome"..... My wife's Honda XR100's clutch lever is beginning to look mighty good these days..... A side issue here: Can anyone possibly direct me to a thread about removal of the kickstart shaft on these later model Pro bikes? I've tried doing a "SEARCH", and have pretty much struck out. I've seen the trialspartsusa tech video of how to install it, which is helpful. From that I've wondered if you just simply pull the thing out, expecting it to sort of "spin", or "unwind", at a certain point? Sorry for the sidetrack here. Jimmie

I like that idea, Laser! But I guess I'm being a Goober here..... Do you mean above the radiator??? I've kind of accepted a small amount of water is going to get into my 2010's airbox. I've taken it apart, and put sealer in it, like Huski described above. I don't think the flap at the bottom of my bike's airbox is very efficient at letting water out. So I drilled a couple of small (3/16" diameter, or approximately 3.5 mm) holes in the corners of the airbox. So far, these have been enough to let the majority of the water out that makes it'w way inside there..... Jimmie

Good Job with the Pics, Andrew! And that's a VERY Nice Bike, Sir! Jimmie