sammyd173

I've noticed that Amazon has unicycles for sale for about $100 delivered. I'm wondering if learning to ride one of things would help with overall balance - think balancing on the rear wheel - or if it would actually teach some bad habits that would confuse your muscle-memory for trials? Anyone have any experience and care to comment?

As someone else pointed out here, with the front tire being new it doesn't make sense that the disk bushings are worn. I'm thinking you buddy felt the floating front disk move and attributed all of the clunk to the disk. My bet is that your steering stem needs tightening. Put the bike on a stand or crate with the front wheel in the air. Grab on to the very bottom of the front forks. Pull back and forth. If you feel any movement then this is the culprit. You'll need to remove the top triple clamp to tighten this up.

You don't have the gas/ petrol on. The fuel petcock is counter intuitive on these bikes unless they changed them for the evo. Turn the gas on so that if you were lying on your back looking up at the petcock it would be pointing to 3 o'clock. Or put the damn thing on reserve. Now put on the choke. Put your right hand on the bar pad so that you are not inadvertently twisting the throttle when you kick. Have the bike on a stand. When you start her. Don't slam your foot down like on a dirt bike. Get her to top dea center them push smartly through the stroke. She should start within 4 kicks. Good luck!

I think I found the solution to the popping today!! I have a '97 Beta Techno I have desperately been trying to quiet down so I can ride around my local mountain trails here in San Diego. I put in a new plug, gapped it as suggested, and re-packed the silencer 5 ways, no joy. Finally took someone's suggestion to lean out the bike with the pilot screw. The pilot is on the carb on the right side of the bike. It is to the left of the pilot air screw that adjusts the idle using your fingers. Backing the pilot screw (not the idle screw) out (counter-clockwise) lets in more AIR (not fuel, as I had supposed). More air makes the bike lean. When the bike is running rich (too much gas) it causes the popping. Here's how someone suggested you set it. Get the bike fully warm - actually go ride it around. Get off the bike with it idling. Turn the pilot screw - the one you have to use a screwdriver for - all the way in (clockwise). Next back the screw out somewhat slowly and listen to for the idle to speed up. I think mine backed out two or three turns from all the way in. More than this and you need a new pilot jet, apparently. When the idle speed is no longer increasing, that's where you are supposed to stop. Your bike may be idling a little faster now, so adjust accordingly with the idle control (you use your fingers on this one). Incredibly my bike no longer pops at idle (at least while hot - have not tested from cold start up). I'm thrilled. Even coming back down from half throttle - no pops. Another tip - if you really need to quiet the bike down to get to a riding spot past some houses, take an old grip (dirt bike, throttle side as it has a larger diameter). Cut a 1" slit in the grip from mid way back to the end of the grip. Start the bike up then put the grip on, the slit should point down to the ground. This will not cause any problems as far a keeping the bike in the lower revs to get to where you need to be. It has never over heated any of my bikes and I've done this on two and four strokes. Once you get to your spot, pull the grip off and stick it in your pocket. It makes a remarkable difference to exhaust volume. Sorry for the long post!

Thanks for confirming that there is indeed a difference. Rode a modern Gas Gas yesterday and I was able to hop the bike around no problem while the Beta is much harder. I was thinking too much rebound damping. I would like to get a more lively feel out of the suspension. The fork preload is all the way in and I was wondering if I should crank up the shock but not if it is already at it's limit. I weigh 180. I'm going to try servicing the forks myself but need help with the shock. Wondering if i should go with stiffer springs Don't want to put too much money I to the bike as I bought it for $1500 and have spent too much on it already and I should have probably just have bought a more modern bike, although she is a nice stable ride. If I can get the suspension right I'll keep her indefinitely.

Hello, I have a '97 Techno. I have the manual for the '99 which advises a spring length of 112 - 117mm for setting the preload. The preload rings are in the middle of the range and the spring length sits at 165 mm! Did the shock change from '97 to '99? It looks to be the same as in the manual. Help appreciated. Sam