unicronicus

Sorry, I just re-read what I posted and it makes no sense! Haha! Yeah, I think I have too much slack in my cable, it must move about 20 degrees before the throttle comes on. It's not that I think too much about the throttle, I feel like I am twisting it too much when tackling an obstacle which in turn puts my fingers too far away from the brake lever. But if I take that slack out I guess I will help eliminate this problem? That, and positioning my arms better?

Cheers for the informative reply, I'll try to use 2nd more often because 1st gear does seem to rev out far too easily! Also thanks for the link to that site, loads of decent info on there, especially about hopping the bike around. One last question though with regards to throttle and controls positioning. I always have the clutch covered with one finger but I have a hard time trying to regulate throttle control and having one finger covering the front brake lever at all times. So when I land after doing something, it takes longer than I hope to grab the front brake! Where should the throttle 'off' position be in relation to the bars, say looking from the right hand side! Maybe someone could draw a quick pic of how their bars are setup? I have a domino throttle by the way. And how much slack should there be in the cable before the throttle starts to open?

So I've been riding a trials bike for a short while now and some days I feel good on it and other days I feel like it's the first time I have ridden the damn thing! Recently I have been tackling a small section I built that entails getting on top of a felled tree trunk that is roughly 28inches high, and then turning immediately left to ride down two pallets and back onto the ground. Sometimes I can get on top of the log without putting my foot down, other times I can't get up at all! Now my question is ultimately what gear should I be using for most trials riding to tackle something like what I have set up, and how should I use the throttle and clutch to make it easier for me?

Cheers for the replies guys. I can actually wheelie for a long distance in 3rd hear and sitting on the rear mudguard, or just short of it, so I'll try your suggestions. How does this transition across to stand up wheelie turns though? Because ultimately this is where I want to be.

Has anyone got any tips on doing 360 wheelie turns on a trials bike? I can do a 180 by sticking my foot down and leaving the other one on the peg but I would like to do this with both feet on the pegs. What gear should I be using as well?

Hi, sorry I haven't replied in a while to my own topic! Splat shop, it was your shop I intended to buy this part from and yes I do need the 9.5mm diameter plunger, but I was unsure about the length. The front brake on the jtx works but when I was adjusting the lever the other day I noticed the plunger just kept coming out from the master cylinder and I could actually see one of the seals! My guess is that the circlip is missing or something so I may as well just get a complete service kit. This is where I got confused with the 20mm or 22mm plunger length, I didn't want to remove it to measure it without getting the part first. My ultimate goal was to get the lever closer to the throttle tube so I could easily use one finger to operate the brake, so I'm guessing 20mm will be better for me?

Does anyone know what the plunger size is for a 1997 gas gas jtx 250 to go inside the front brake master cylinder? A place that does them sells them in 20mm and 22mm variations.

Gotcha, will tackle that at the weekend, just need to find some suitable tubing. Thanks a lot bud!

Cheers for that, makes it a lot clearer! Is no4 on show on the underside of no5 then?

How do you remove the caps then? Is there a locking but under the big nut and adjuster on top of the fork? Sorry, I really need pics to grasps things like this, that or videos.

Can you elaborate on the point about not having to take everything apart please? Just don't want to buy oil again so soon is all if it involves draining it.

No pics I'm afraid. I have had them apart to change the fork oil seals and holders in each leg, I was hoping by sorting the leaky forks that the sag might be better but this is not the case. So can I not slide in a new 10mm spacer using the slit down one side method without draining the oil again? I thought I might be able to undo the top nut and compress the forks to reveal the spring...?

I have a problem with fork sag on my 1997 jtx 250, as in the static sag is way too excessive, somewhere in the region of an inch! I have heard that I can just make a longer preload spacer out of some 1" schedule 40 PVC pipe, but I have a concern... I don't think I will be able to remove the top damping adjuster of each fork leg to remove this spacer because the Allen bolts holding them in look rounded off. So, is it possible to make up a 10mm spacer out of this PVC pipe, make a slit down the side of it and put it on top of the original spacer that way? My reasoning is that once the forks are assembled again the fork tube will keep it from ever coming off. Sound feasible?

Also, how to I adjust fork preload on these? I hear I can make a spacer up, but what diameter do I need and length?

Quick question, on my forks does one side adjust compression damping and the other leg rebound?

I found the Jim snell videos but he didn't go into detail about assembling the floating seal unit, only that it comes undone, the rest seems straight forward. I'll follow lineaways recommendation of assembly when all my parts get here, luckily the floating units are only £26 each.

Yeah that makes perfect sense, thanks. Funny you should say that about the top nut, it was pretty hard to undo with a socket head ratchet even! Managed to get it all apart though without mashing anything up!

Ok, so I removed the floating seal holder and it was pretty mashed so ordered a couple of news ones. When I re-assemble the forks then do I put the fork tube into the fork leg first, and then slide the floating seal unit into place? Then install the rest, I.e. Damping unit, lower bolt, fill with oil (300cc's), pump a few times to bleed and then tighten the damping unit up?

I'm just about to change my leaky fork seals on my jtx250 but just wanted to know how straight forward it is before I start. I have changed fork oil seals with success on other bikes without damping control but never with! Is there anything else I should do or be aware of when doing this job? From what I can gather it is literally forks off, unscrew big nut from the top and pull out spring and damper unit as one, drain oil, undo bottom fork bolt, remove dust seal, remove top circlip, pull tubes apart, remove oil seal, install new oil seal with small amount of grease around the lips, assemble the reverse way, fill with 300ml of oil in each tube, reinstall damper and spring and refit. Sound about right? Or is there some sort of bleeding to do as well?

I might just try that then and re-position my foot on the pegs slightly. It's not as though I can't reach it at all, it's just not in the usual place where I expect a brake pedal to be. I guess they made it like this to prevent you from touching it accidentally when hopping up things?

Sorry to keep replying to my own thread! But the kind of lever I would prefer is like the one fitted to the txt models. Looking at other gas gas's around my year, all of them seem to have these tucked away rear brake pedals. I'm too used to my dirt bike type pedals I think...

Sorry, need a link don't you... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GasGas-JTX-250-Trails-Bike-/221288618569?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT&nma=true&si=xCbuEVgYNhiQlmppp4LUEuilRe0%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

In fact this is the bike I bought, you can see from the photos how tucked in it is.

Hi, thanks for the reply. Not sure if it's bent or not, it's definitely a little floppy, as in up and down play, but it just seems really close into the clutch cover... I'll have a closer look next time it's out.

Hi, first time trials bike owner and rider, just after some info really on my new purchase, a 97 gas gas jtx250. The bike is fantastic to ride but I am still getting used to it as there is a lot to learn! One thing I did notice about the jtx is the tiny rear brake pedal! Are there bigger brake pedals for this bike off other models by any chance? I just don't like how hidden away it is, even though I understand that it has to be tucked away some what. Any help is much appreciated! Dan