heffergm

So I made a bit of a mistake when changing my fork oil on the rebound/compression side. After measuring the fork oil with the leg collapsed and putting everything back together, I then proceeded to try and extend the fork leg without first unscrewing the bolt at the bottom of the leg. The end result was me awash in oil that escaped in a gush through the seal. Having learned my lesson, fixed things and bolted it all back together, but I'm curious if anyone's done this and had the seal go early. I'm hopeful it's ok, but I guess I'll find out after a few rides. On a related note, anyone know where I can get a seal driver?

Can anyone confirm for me that the four bushes that the swingarm rides on (the black bushings that fit into the swingarm, that the bearings ride on) are all identical? They look the same to me, but when I mount the swingarm back up, I have a pretty big gap visible between the bushing and the swingarm. I gather this is normal, but it seems like a pretty big gap for dirt to get into.

Never mind... problem solved!

It's probably time for me to dump the fork oil in my '13 Evo, and the manual is horribly unclear as to how to measure the level. I'm guessing it's spring in, fully compressed, then measure from the top of the tube to the oil, but was looking for confirmation.

Sono nato in Stati Uniti, ma mia famiglia sono da Avellino. Adesso vivo in Massachusetts. But I've lived in Florence, Perugia and Sepino for brief spells. I need an excuse to practice my horrible Italian

Che bella motocicletta Dove vivi in italia?

Anyone have a ballpark idea what I should be paying for a 2008 Beta 250, assuming good average condition?

So I'm adapting to the shifting on the '13 Beta, and for riding sections, it's perfectly fine. I don't really mind the quick release/fast take up. What does annoy me to no end is the big pause I need to make when shifting gears if I'm moving (e.g. when trying to get up to 5th for example). I more or less need to come to a stop between 1st/2nd without making a rather clunky shift. After that I have enough speed to get up through the rest of the gears, but I still need to pause dramatically between shifts in order to get anything approaching a smooth change. I'd also love to be able to reliably find neutral once the gearbox is warm, which right now is basically impossible. While I'd like to try Dan's clutch fix, I have two kids and not a whole lot of patience for jobs that take > 1hr, even if I had the free time. So in the interests of expediency, I'm curious if anyone has had any luck with the surflex clutch and race steels making any difference. Since I can pop them all in and be done with it in 20 minutes, it's somewhat appealing despite the price tag.

Worked for about 10 minutes of riding, now back to it's piggy self again.

Any RITC members on here? PM me.

Greased all the pads and pins, still squealing like a piggy.

Good call on the anti-squeal, I'd forgotten about that. I'll give some a try.

Both my front and rear brakes squeal like stuck pigs. I've pulled the pads, sanded them down a bit, scuffed up the rotors, but it comes back pretty quickly. Is there a brand of pads I can try that might alleviate this? I only really care because I practice near neighbors, and I'd like to keep the annoying noise to a minimum.

I am in the US, Massachusetts.

As a complete newb to the world of competition trials, I have to say I find the whole 'no stop' thing completely ridiculous, and all the arguments surrounding the rules just further my inclination to not bother keeping tabs on world events at all.

Haha... I eat my fair share believe it or not, but at 38 I think I'm pretty much all growed up.

So trials pants appear to be sized using S, M, L, etc. I haven't a clue where I fit in the range, since it's (presumably) all relative. And since I cannot try anything on (there isn't a place that sells trials clothing within multiple hours of me) I need some help on what size to order. Height: 5'10" / 1.8 meters Weight: 140lbs / 10 stone / 63 kilos Any suggestions?

Presumably these settings are able to be applied to the 290 as well? There are 5 settings, 3 of which Beta notes will cause the clutch to slip in 5th/6th (I ended up leaving my clutch pack standard and just flipped the tophats around... makes a world of difference for my achy fingers, and I haven't noticed any clutch slip. I'd swear the clutch also drags less and it's easier to shift gears and find neutral (which I had no prayer of doing with the stock setup)). http://www.betausa.com/sites/default/files/pdf/STT-2012-3-Evo%20300%20clutch%20set%20up.pdf

I don't really see that the analogy or the point is relevant. F1 cars are cars built to adhere to a given Formula, hence the name. They spend huge sums of money making the cars as fast as they can be within the boundaries of adherence to that formula. Whether or not they're faster or slower than they were 10 years ago is irrelevant.

How exactly did you manage to get into that position?

Yeah, I went ahead and put a bead of rtv in there. Seems better. You won't have any issues getting it apart.

I've crashed plenty so I won't rule it out, but the rubber mount you're referring to is just a bushing between the frame and the exhaust. It doesn't actually bolt on. On mine it's definitely pushed inwards a bit, but still contacting the frame.

So my Beta is behaving in typical Italian fashion... looking beautiful, but perhaps not quite Germanic in its assembly. The exhaust leaks where the muffler and the header join, basically right behind the carb. I pulled the muffler off and the rubber rings are in there, but when it's all joined up the fit isn't terribly positive. I can probably keep ignoring it, but if anyone has suggestions on sealing it up better I'm all ears. It's a '13 EVO 300 2t by the way.

My first time at a local trial I worked the event, checking a novice section, and a guy came through whom I believe was 72 or thereabouts. I was amazed, especially as he kept clearing the section. I hope I can still ride when I'm that age.

Maybe I read it wrong, but I don't think this is what he's getting at. At least for me, I find myself with my feet positioned incorrectly to be able to grab the rear brake when it would be useful to do so. So I'm trying to modify that behavior.