squid_on_a_300

Your light years ahead of me!...I would love to be able to do it badly..I managed to get the back wheel off the ground on a bunny hop today..

I have a few acres of woods at my house so I first set up quite a few log crossings of all sizes. Last week I got lucky and came across a construction site with a big pile of boulders on it. Talked to the foreman and he said if I could get them hauled out they were mine. Contacted a local trucking company and $200 US later they are now in my woods...Next the neighbor with his backhoe to move them around a little bit...My wife says they are decorative I say they will make a great practice area... Sometimes all you have to do is ask..

Too old??!!...Your just a youngster...I got my first trials bike last year for my 50th birthday...jump right in, it's fun..Joined a club and am having a great time learning and meeting some great people...

I was doing the same thing when I first got my 300. I was kicking it like it was one of my KTMs. You have to be very deliberate ( without mashing the kicker) to get it to fire. One quick deliberate kick all the way through from the very top of the motion. Took me a while to get my GG technique down. Now I can start it 2 kicks cold, 1 kick hot...Warning..if you have any lower back issues the Jim Snell "sit down" technique threw my back out for about 2 months!..Try taking the bike off the stand and leaning it against a wall instead. Having both wheels solidly on the ground may help you. That really helped me pick up the technique.

I just started to use the same oil in my bike...it does seem to get frothy...if it doesnt turn clear after it's shut off for a while and still looks milky you may have an issue...mine has a fresh topend and a rebuilt water pump and there is no coolant getting in the gearbox but looks kind of milky when running..so far it always clears up...I have gotten water in the gearbox before on my enduro bikes and the oil does not clear up once it's contaminated.

In my opinion... Buy it and ride it...Don’t make any changes until you ride it for a while. I read all the same things about the 300 before I bought mine and was concerned about having too much power.. So even before I got on the bike I was thinking slow throttle, head spacer, flywheel weight....I found I like the bike just the way it is without any mods. Tons of torque, power delivery is smooth. You’ll figure out how to kick it over (pretty fustrating at first) and once you get that technique down you may be happy with the bike just the way it is.

+1 on ridgrunr's suggestions... I use my wife's food vacuum sealer to pack bearings before installing them. Grease them up real good, put them in the bag and vacuum seal them. Removing the air gets the bearing totally packed with grease and is not as messy.

Welcome... I thought the same thing...I'll get a trials bike to hone some off road skills. That was in November...well I'm hooked...entering my first trial on Sunday...my poor KTMs have a layer of dust on them! I set up a small section (just some rocks and big logs) in the rear of the house. No packing up and driving 90+ miles...suiting up, riding, then driving 90+ miles home and cleaning the bike. Now it's put on gloves, helmet, and boots, spend 1 hour out back practicing. Park the bike and do it all over again any time I want...What took me so long??

Pull the plug , turn the bike upside down and pump the water out of the engine by putting it in gear and turning the rear wheel. Stand the bike up on the rear wheel to drain any water out of the exhaust system. Drain the float bowl to get any water out. If the water it was in was muddy you may have to tear the carb down for a thorough cleaning. Remove clean and reoil the filter, drain the oil and refill (you will have to do this several times to get the water out of the trnasmission). Put in a fresh plug fresh gas and give it a try....dont ask me how I know this routine...they call me Captain Nemo also...

I know you just upgraded the coil but that sounds like a coil issue. Coil gets hot and fails. Cools off and is fine until it gets hot and fails again.

I have tried a couple of gearbox/clutch oils in my 03 300 pro. Started out with Rotella, it was in the bike when I bought it...switched to Golden Spectro 80W (I use that in my KTM so I have a good bit available). Clutch nice and quiet and progressive but lots of drag, same with the Rotella. I switched to ATF (Dex III) very little drag, quick clutch engagement, which I liked but the clutch sounded like a bag of bolts in a blender. I have read on the forum that that is normal for the pros but I just don’t like it. Couldn’t find any 0-30 or 0-20 at the local bike shops so I mixed 50-50 the Dex III and the 80 W...I like what I feel and hear so far. Any issues with mixing the two?

I'm a squid but not that much of a squid!..I run Bel Ray H1R at 80:1...the bike got away from me and landed on it's right side with a pinned throttle..kill switch would not work at full revs..by the time I realized to plug the exhaust to slow it down the whole event was over (about 20 seconds)...

The concept behind the lanyard is that when you get seperated from your bike it kills the engine before it his the ground and revs out on it's side..looks like you have the same job ahead of you that i'm going through now...once you get the piston off check the rod for any up and down play from the big end or mains. I like the previous idea of the pull cord on the plug cap...i'm planning on riding with an exhaust plug in a pocket also...I dont want to make the same mistake twice and not be prepared.

I feel your pain...I did the same thing in the middle of my third ride. Piston and Jug were wasted...Received the parts on Friday and I am in mid rebuild now. Not sure about the UK but I found a shop in the States that did a cylinder exchange for me. I sent the old jug to him and received a replated cylinder with a new piston and rings fit to the new cylinder. The local shop I deal with recommended doing it this way...not inexpensive but I dont have to worry about fitting a piston to the new bore. On thing that was cheap is the magnetic kill switch lanyard I'm fitting to the bike..Got that from The Splat Shop

OK..In my true squid like fashion, I managed to sieze my 02 300 Pro on my third ride. Today I'm picking up a replated cylinder, top end kit, water pump seal and a kill switch lynard. With my KTMs I would just measure the old base gasket and replace it with a new one of the same thickness. However with the GG it's a different cylinder going on. How do I determine what gasket to use? I could not find the clearance demention for the piston to the top of the bore anywhere on the web. .What about break-in. I usually do three heat up cool down cycles..5, 7, and 10 minutes before taking a nice easy ride. Any thing special I should be aware of on the GG?. Thanks Squid.

Need some advice guys I am going to switch from oil to ATF on my 03 300. After draining the oil should I flush the gear box in any way (like a short ride with ATF and drain and refill) or just refill with ATF? thanks squid

Ever hear of the Durty Dabbers? (http://www.durtydabbers.com) pretty active trials/dualsport club up your way. I ride their dual sport every year...they put on a great event and are really active in District 6 trials.

I'm just north of Gettysburg...have been riding woods for the last 15 years and just picked up a trials bike...where in Central PA you from?

Disassembled the back end.... cleaned and regressed wheel, swing arm, and linkage bearings. All back together now...Front wheel and steering head gets done tomorrow

Not that I'm aware of...The only big production movie I know of is "Gettysburg" with Tom Berringer and Martin Sheen and Jeff Daniels http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107007/ This summer is the 150th Anniversary of the battle...it's going to be a sea of people there this summer....

laser1 has you on the right track, Has your coolant level dropped?

Greetings, I’m new (like yesterday) to the discipline of trials. I have been riding single track up and down the East Coast and Colorado and Idaho for the last 15 years. Friends introduced me to dual sporting a few years ago and that is a blast also. Now between both bikes I average 100+ hours of seat time a year. My wife had a 2 bike rule (I have a 2012 KTM 300 XCW for single track and an 07 KTM 400 XCW for dual sports) until my 50th B-day last month. My present was she broke the rule and ok’d the purchase of a trials bike. I found the newest looking 03 Gas Gas 300 on Craig’s List and now it’s sitting in my shop. Rode it yesterday for the first time and I have a lot to learn. I plan on using it to cross train and if I’m not a total squid, compete in my club’s Trials event this summer. You guys have a real good resource here with this site and I look forward to any advice you may throw my way from training, riding tips/technique, and bike maintenance/prep. Keep young by havin fun. Squid