vonhazza

You are only as old as you feel the day after your last Trial. Steve,

I have mine on the clutch side so I can let go of the throttle side and just hold onto the clutch when stopped, IMO they are a good idea a mate of mine flipped his new to him GAS GAS on the 1st section of his 1st trial on the bike and blew the motor leading to a costly rebuild which included the 1st lanyard we had down this way, I got one myself soon afterwards and have been separated from my bike a couple of times and it has worked perfectly, I know some early lanyards were too long and too stretchy but the newer ones seem to have fixed those problems. I can flick mine off with my thumb and find it a minor inconvenience, anyway they are now mandatory to ride in competition here in Australia, Steve,

I agree Bultaco as the gear shaft comes out both side of the engine and as a plus the rear brake works better on the LHS as a direct pull, not totally sure but Italjet may be set up the same.

I had the 1979 349 and the 1983 also, I modified my air forks after I ended up up with a mouthful of fork oil when the valve exploded on a drop off, I used a couple of car valve springs to stiffen the std springs and modified the caps by removing the valve and using a bolt and a couple of washers with a small hole drilled into them 1 on to of the cap and 1 below, this allowed the forks to breathe but still hold some pressure, I was probably lucky but they worked very well. I have an article about Vesty's Montesa year and it talks about the factory bikes being much modified from standard in the frame forks and yokes to make them slimmer and to improve the steering the bike he won the SSDT on had slim yokes like the white model. Steve,

Looking at these pictures I would say its in the swing arm

I have an 09 250 Beta, the 09 frames were known for cracking but most would have be upgraded by now, if the fuel filler is in the centre of the frame it has been changed if it is on an angle to the left it has not, should not be an issue if it cracks as the frame should still be covered by warranty but worth a check with the local distributor. They do have a mapping switch but I tend to leave the 250 on number 2 the racing setting, it may be different on the 290, I have changed the suspension springs as I am a big guy but other than than the bike is standard with good power and handling and I am very happy with it, Steve,

Regarding clutch use, modern bikes tend to have little or no flywheel weight which tends to make them easy to stall if the clutch is not used, this does however allow them to accelerate much quicker than the older bikes, I think that riding style comes down to many factors like what bike you ride your build and whether you are an aggressive rider or you are a more calm precise type, Gears are something that your style should dictate what you use and more importantly when you use certain gears, I tend to mostly use 2nd gear for most sections leaving 1st for tight stuff and 3rd when some speed is required and will sometimes plan a gear change in a section in a neutral spot if it changes in the middle. Last weekend we were riding some rock steps and I was using 2nd gear but was advised to try 3rd and found that 3rd was much better an felt a lot smoother. Steve,

If its a 1978 model its a 348, 349 came out from 1980, do you have any pictures? Steve,

I have not seen them yet but a Club member has posted that they are available here and at a very good price compared to the Michelin, I believe the new Montesa Cota 260 (non factory) may have them fitted? My last Dunlop came with a new TY175 since then I have only had Pirelli and lately (this century certainly) Michelin tyres. I thought that the Dunlop 803's had been around since 2005 but perhaps the GP is a new tyre? Steve,

Hi there I am currently running Michelin X11 tyres and they seem to suit me better than the X-lite in terms of durability and grip, Everyone down this way is running Michelin's but their are currently good deals being offered on Dunlop 803 GP Trials tyres, so my question is how do the Dunlops compare to the Mitchelins, I have been looking for reviews of trials tyres but they all seem to be done by our Enduro cousins so not really helpful. The terrain here is generally dry and rocky so would like to know what works best in these conditions before purchasing a new tyre. Steve,

Go to http://www.beta-uk.com/index.php/downloads and download the manuals for your model, the frame and engine numbers will tell you what motor you have, Steve,

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Not recent but from my 1st State Championship ride back in 1979 [/url]">http:// Not the same bike but won the Twin shock class at the Aust Champs in 1991on this one, [/url]">http:// Steve,

I will recommend Novagars as well bought a 2nd pair on the weekend, Steve,

Check the throttle end of the cable to make sure the inner and outer cables are sitting where they should be they can get moved when they have no spring tension on them, Steve,

You could try Observing yourself for a day and see things from the other perspective that may take away your fear, In practice no one is really keeping score so their is less pressure than a Trial, so set practice sections that are hard to clean and if you can clean them 3 times in a row tighten them up or move to something new, if you are better than your friends help them get better, talking and thinking about techniques will help you think your way through a section plus while you are concentrating on riding you won't have time to worry about what the Observer and crowd are thinking, Steve,

This is a very good point Observers are a critical part of of sport and are usually the friends and family of us and fellow riders who are giving up their time for us, so say hello to them when you are looking at the section for the 1st time and always thank them on the last lap of the day for their efforts, Another plus to chatting with Observers is you sometimes get a tip on a better line through the section that you may have not considered, Steve,

Hair spray, the cheap stuff is the best as it seems to have more lacquer in it, goes on wet and slippery and sticks when dry, Steve,

The 2009 EVO was the 1st of that model and the original frame did have problems, mine has the upgraded frame and I am very happy with it and would get another EVO if and when I get another bike as they IMO have only made improvements each year to the model since then. Steve,

Back when they were new we were calling them I-TAL-JET or IT -TAL-JET you would probably need to ask an Italian to get the correct pronunciation.

I have an earlier model without excess cover so have to remove the mudguard to change the filter, I do have 2 filters so its quite quick only a few minuets to just remove the dirty one and drop the clean one in and bolt it back up again, then wash the dirty filter an hang up to dry for the next change, Steve,

I would also recommend the reticulated foam if you are having water problems plus a cover for the filter (http://www.sxsuk.com/EvoAirFilterTunnel4.aspx) I made my own out of a plastic folder and have had no water problems since, Steve,

Hi Rick, There are some tips here on preparing a Beta for the SSDT https://trialsguru.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/ssdt-help-sheet-2014-evo.pdf that have some waterproofing tips, I have not seen a 2014 Evo fuel hose but could the problem be that the hose is too long? would cutting the hose to make it shorter get rid of the kink. Steve,

The front is quite easy just undo the clutch side cap on the front leg, be careful when you get to the last few threads to keep some pressure on the cap so as not to damage the threads, then just remove the 2 nylon spacers and the spring and drop in the new one, again be careful when rethreading the cap especially as the new spring will be harder to push down, (tip back off the tension allen bolt before undoing the cap) I did change the rear spring on my EVO and I think it needs the threaded collar on the bottom of the shock spring to be removed so that the spring then slides off, some shocks also have a removable collar at the top with a slot in it, you then just need to loosen off the bottom collar enough allow the top one to be removed then the spring is removed from the top, Go to http://www.beta-uk.com/index.php/downloads and download the manuals if you don't have them useful when pulling things apart and does show the front suspension breakdown but not the rear shock. Steve,