dan williams

I've found after a number of years I've had to cut the opening on the end of the kickstart lever out a bit to get good dig on the splined shaft. Once I did that it stopped loosening up. A couple swipes with a hacksaw do the trick.

That shouldn't have damaged a solid state ignition but stranger things have happened. I agree though it's more likely connection related. One thing I've learned over the years is the more dramatic the failure mode the more obvious the problem. Make sure your kill switch is not messed up too. Be careful with sparks around gas. Trust me on this. Been there. Done that. Got the burned T-shirt.

If the bike needs to be "cleared out" it's not a plug issue. The plug is only indicating the conditions in the combustion chamber. Like a thermometer. If you feel cold and the thermometer in the room says it's too cold then changing to a thermometer with a different scale may say a different temperature but the room hasn't changed and you'll still feel cold. Fix the fundamental issue. Either change jetting, ignition timing or oil ratio if the engine is healthy or fix a problem. Just changing plug heat range is a false economy.

Thanks. Sitting here watching the financial news. I can see the price of my Beta going up minute by minute.

I don't know if it's typical for a Montesa but I know most of the modern bikes I've worked on seem to have looser front sprockets then the old Bultacos.

Yayyyy I helped fix a GasGas...Wait WHAT!!! Heh heh just kidding. Glad it worked.

I put an NGK plug cap on my '05 so I could use Delco platinum plugs which have the non-removable screw cap. Works fine.

Plugged pilot jet.

Would you care to share the info? I'm also getting an '08 and would like to know what the suggested setup is.

I used to wear NZI helmets and the first one I bought was a medium that fit perfectly. When that started to show it's age I bought another that was too big and had to go to a small. Now I have an ON/OFF medium and the fit drives me crazy because it constantly rotates down on my eyes. Unfortunately I had no choice but to get it because I went to put my NZI on to ride into the woods at an event and the straps ripped off the helmet in my hands. Gotta love those cheap rivets on the NZI. Oh well better they rip off in the parking lot then during a crash. $300 is a lot to spend on something that doesn't fit. I'd be interested in hearing from others their experience with the fit of various helmet brands. I'm also curious if YES still makes helmets.

If it's just suddenly shutting off I'd agree that it sounds electrical. A defective kill switch will do this.

Let me know if anything here interests you. I have much higher resolution versions if you need them. http://www.newenglandtrials.org/wallpaper.htm

Sorry I don't have any experience with the RTL but damn those were pretty bikes.

Careful of filing the basket. I'm not sure if it is surface treated in any way. If it's anodized you may file through the harder aluminum to softer aluminum below.

You're straining at gnats Tim. Don't worry about the topping out. Much more important to have the suspension working properly for the usual maneuvers. If it's keeping traction and allowing you to do the tricks you've been working so hard on then it's fine. Start making adjustments for non-issues like topping out and you'll screw up the important settings. Then again you can ride some big stuff with a very soft suspension. I've been watching Jareth ride 5' steps all summer and just a few weeks ago we swapped bikes for a day so he could get the feel of a Beta again since he's considering one. I could just slightly weight the pegs and the suspension on his Sherco went right to the stops. I still can't figure out how he rode the thing all year like that. I think I worried him when I went back to the truck, whipped out wrenches and readjusted his suspension. We went back out and he tried his bike on a log that he sometimes has trouble with and he just danced over it saying it was the easiest he's been able to ride it all year. Not surprised. Dan

I've found I usually get 3-4 seasons out of a Beta top end before I need rings and in that case it's more a matter of loss of bottom grunt and slightly harder starting. I've never had to replace a piston. Just out of curiosity did this noise start when the weather got colder? It might be a matter of bad fuel or a different fuel. In the US the fuel companies change their fuel mixtures for the winter. The other thing that happens is the colder winter air changes the jetting requirements and for many of us it's necessary to go up at least 1 pilot and main jet size to prevent detonation. With the water-cooled chrome bore engines the carb jetting is very lean compared to the old air-cooled engines. This makes them run very crisp but also makes them more susceptible to atmospheric changes. The fact that the noise gets better with a warm engine sort of points in that direction as a cold engine needs a richer mixture. If you do think it is piston slap have it measured. No point in spending money when it won't make a difference. Oh yeah one other thing to check is the top engine mount. Sometimes they loosen up and make a noise.

Hi Folks, There have been a few people asking about custom springs for Rev3s. A friend had a custom spring wound by Cannon Racecraft in Oklahoma for the rear of his 2005. He told them what bike and rider weight and is quite happy with the result. A heavier spring is not the same as cranking up the preload. With the preload cranked up there has to be more weight then the preload just to move the suspension. That means on small choppy stuff any suspension impacts that don't load the suspension above the preload weight don't compress the suspension so those small shocks are transferred directly to the frame. Not good for holding a line. Less preload on a heavier spring will compress on the small hits while still having the same response at high suspension load situations such as zaps. The website is here. http://cannonracecraft.com/catalog/default.php

You've never been to a band practice have you.

Hoaky smokes Bulwinkle! Sounds like somebody had the flywheel off before you and didn't torque it back on properly. Glad you found it though. There was some discussion on here a while back about tightening the flywheel nut and that it should be done with a proper holding tool or an air wrench. Trying to tighten it holding the back wheel won't hold for very long. There was a previous thread on the subject here. Curiously enough also on a 2004. Hmmm. http://www.trialscentral.com/forums/index....c=15982&hl=

Like the Sherco Cabestany replica for winning his indoor championship... Oh wait that was on a Beta.

Check the simple things first. Kill switch didn't get gronked. The Beta kill switch is notoriously bad any way. Should be replaced with a Yamaha switch. Carb didn't get knocked of the mounting. New plug. Throttle cable isn't pulled. Spark plug cap screwed on tight and on the plug correctly. Ignition wiring didn't get pinched in fall. Cylinder full of fuel. Seen it, done it , got the burned tee shirt. Note I wrote to self after Bultaco fire. Don't kick it over looking for spark with the plug out is you suspect there is fuel in the cylinder. Fortunately nephew had extinguisher handy. A fall shouldn't break the electrics unless wire is pinched or the flywheel key is sheared off in which case it was a crash you wouldn't be too anxious to ride after anyway.

Oh! The time and money I've wasted photographing motorcycles.

It may be a little less obvious then Beta vs Montesa. Don't get me wrong, I love my Beta Rev3 but I've a healthy respect for the Montesa chassis design. I've observed in the past there are a few things that seem like issues with a certain bike that are more setup problems then inherent in the design. If you find your bike is unable to hold a line you may want to take a good look at your suspension setup. An unbalanced suspension front/rear can make it difficult to ride in the choppy stuff. Depending on how you like to ride most trials suspensions will eat up about 1/3 to 1/2 their travel with the rider static on the bike. You'll probably see mechanics off the bike loading and unloading a foot peg to compress the suspension and watching how it reacts. They're looking for a couple of things. Besides the obvious of spring strength they're looking to see how fast the suspension rebounds as well as the balance of the suspension front/rear. Balance of this type is often overlooked by inexperienced tuners even though is of tremendous importance. Think about having a perfectly tuned front fork. Every hit of the front wheel is absorbed properly. The initial compression involves only the wheel mass and the chassis and rider weight are slowly integrated into the system as the spring releases the stored energy. As the same hit passes under the back wheel the rear suspension with way too much preload transmits rather then absorbs the impact. This causes the rear wheel to lift a much greater percentage of the weight of the rider and bike in a much shorter time span then if the rear suspension was tuned properly. With a step of decent size the fact that the rear suspension is too stiff can transfer considerable energy to the forks as a rotational torque. The abruptness of this can make the handling of any bike tough to control. The opposite situation can occur with a too soft rear suspension as the front wheel bounces off obstacles and by sheer compressive torque load and unload the rear suspension. With the front and rear suspensions balanced properly there is much less of the rocking horse effect that makes holding a line a full time job. Try the bounce on the peg test for yourself. If you push down on the peg with a foot and the front or back compresses noticeably more then the other you might want to spend a few minutes with the spanners to try to even them out. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. Do note the starting position of the adjustments before you start though so you can return to zero if you really over do it. Once they're balanced then you can tweak the preload to taste keeping an eye on the balance. The other thing I've noted is that when a bike is reputed to be too powerful it often isn't the power at all but the delivery that is an issue. As an example I had a '95 Beta Techno with the then "new" DelOrto carburetor. The way the bike came jetted from the factory the pilot jet was about two sizes too big and the main was about two sizes too small and the needle was just right. The bike ran OK and seemed to have plenty of power. In fact it seemed to have too much power and was always spitting me off. I found it was almost impossible to time an obstacle because the bike was bogging slightly off idle until it got to about 1/4 throttle. It would suddenly get very interested in the proceedings and make all kinds of power. This caused me to hit things way too hard as I was afraid to stall and subtle throttle corrections during a maneuver had no effect. At first I thought the bike just made too much power. Unfortunately it was impossible to get jets for that particular carb at the time so I replaced it with a Mikuni. Once jetted properly the bike was a different animal. The mid-range power was still impressive but the ramp up to it was butter smooth. It was possible to flow with the bike rather then hammer into obstacles and if I needed to feather the throttle halfway up a climb to regain traction it could be done without the inevitable wheelie and crash with the DelOrto. The same carb swap was done to a friends '95 with similar results. There's a lot of very good Montesa tuners on here who can help get your bike where it should be. Every bike and rider can benefit from a little custom tuning. Don't settle for less then a properly tuned machine when you don't have to. Once it's setup properly you may still consider switching brands but it won't be because your bike isn't a "good beginners bike" Note to all...some may not agree with these suspension and tuning beliefs but I'd rather try to help a fellow rider then get into a brand war even though I do appreciate the comments about my beloved Betas. Dan

True enough but the BRC has done nothing around here and that is the problem. We have been divided and are being conquered. The heart of the issue is all politics are local. An organization like BRC and AMA are only as effective as they can be at getting the people they represent to get off their duffs and make themselves heard. Unfortunately as a group off-road riders are notoriously independent and getting them to work together is like trying to herd cats. This has worked in the favor of those who want us gone all too well. Dan

I think this is a good move. AMA can't be promoter and service organization. It's almost impossible to be promoting the same sports you have to regulate. It's all too easy to start chasing the dollar. Now people usually sign up for the AMA because they need to for insurance coverage. The problem is that means a significant number of the non-racers don't sign up believing there's no reason to. If those people can be shown a real benefit to sign up such as a more active AMA political structure more will sign up and the clout of the AMA grows making it even more effective. Dan