dan williams

Better safe than sorry. It's tough to explain to most doctors the benefit of the exercise that's fun is worth the risk. Hope you heal fast.

...and has been going downhill since.

I'm glad I wasn't the only one who felt that the engine braking was considerable on the Vertigo. Not bad but definitely more than on a carbureted bike. There's three power settings on the Vertigo so that may have been set different. Not to mention you are a multi-time national champ and my career peaked at fifth place Sr B.

Somebody's project bike. http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/870186-my-air-cooled-monoshock-trials-bike-project-pic-heavy/#

The one thing I wasn't thrilled with on the TRS is the Delorto. A couple times the demo bike was hard to start and it seemed a carb issue to me. Interesting Pol is using the Keihin.

I think the 5- speed in the TRS is worlds better than the Beta. Beta gearboxes are always notchy. That may have a lot to do with the flex of the aluminum shift lever on the Beta but the TRS box felt a lot more positive. The Vertigo mechanism felt tight and I didn't really get a chance to shift it in Stewie's yard. Too nervous.

Very similar. TRS doesn't grunt as low as my Beta because I have carbon reeds but the engine feels very similar. Clutch action is very smooth and progressive though the pull is a bit heavy for me. I only got to play for a short bit and the suspension hadn't loosened up yet.

Stewie's got new toys to play with, Got to try both. The Vertigo is more abrupt and handles in a way that I think will reward the more physical rider. It wants to go up big things and seems really quick to want to lay over and change direction once the decision is made. The TRS is stable as a concrete block. At any point I stopped and balanced it just patiently waited until I made up my mind. It also has a lovely soft grunt to it. For me the TRS would be the bike of choice. A friend who rides expert and likes BIG hits went up to try both. Intent on the TRS he ended up ordering the Vertigo. Both are pretty impressive first efforts though it's obvious the TRS takes a lot from the JotaGas

A bit tough to watch knowing what the family is going through.

You may also want to dress the steels with 600 grit Emory cloth. Make sure to clean the plates well after breaking up the surface glaze.

I used to see him on video yelling instructions to Dougie and wonder what he was really like. Then I got to meet him and he was a genuine nice guy. A true noble champion.

An optimally jetted engine of a specific compression ratio requires a certain octane fuel. You can jet rich to add additional cooling from fuel evaporation and reduce chamber pressure slowing the flame front from non-ideal stoichiometric ratio. You can also delay the ignition timing which reduces peak pressure and temperature. Both result in reduced power output. So yes a Rev 3 can be jetted to run on pump gas without knocking. But an optimally jetted Rev3 with stock compression near sea level will run best with a higher octane. There are many variables though as pump gas can vary widely. Carbon buildup can increase compression. Worn rings can lower compression. Variation in base gasket and head gasket thickness and machining tolerances change compression. Each engine is unique. But in thirty years of riding Betas I've seen many bikes pinging on pump gas.

Race gas has a couple of advantages over pump fuel. First is consistency. Pump gas, even from the same pump can be highly variable. Second is race gas usually has no alcohol in it. This means less water absorption which tends to displace the oil in premix but also no waxy build up in the fuel system as the alcohol breaks down. As for the octane needed to prevent pre-ignition that is solely dependent on the compression ratio. There will be an optimum mixture for a certain compression and ignition timing and bikes with similar compression ratios will have similar octane requirements. You can reduce that requirement with an accessory chamber from S3 as I did on my '13 EVO. I still run race gas though because I like the bike to run consistent a I'd prefer to disassemble and clean the carb less than I have to with pump gas. As for years of EVO I ride with guys that have an '11, '13, '14 factory and a '15 factory. They all have slight differences but are pretty similar in form and function. Biggest difference is in how the bikes have been treated. Beat bikes will have more issues than Sr ridden bikes.

I don't know about the other problems but coolant systems work under pressure to keep the coolant from boiling. The boiling point goes up under pressure. That's why a pinhole leak causes boil over. Is the any sign of a small coolant leak anywhere that might be depressurizing the system? Yeah making sure the fill cap is sealing is a good start.

Can we finally get the antigravity drives that Bou and Raga apparently have?

We're always looking to have more people come up to Berwick ME to ride.

Check out the clutch fix at the top of the Beta forum. It's helped some of the Sherco guys.

Ray you have stumbled into a Canadian civil war. And if anybody can have a "civil" war it's Canadians. There is a bit of bickering over who owns the Canadian national championships but for you, who just wants to go play it really doesn't matter. Check all the websites, find events you can get to and go play. My trips into Canada here above New England for ATAQ events have been wonderful. Friendly people, pretty girls, good sections, great organization. Did I mention the pretty girls, speaking french!

The Keihins are notoriously finicky about the pilot circuit and require cleaning by complete disassembly and blowing out with compressed air. That includes pulling the jet tower off. The other thing that can contribute to a wonky low end is damaged reed petals. Air leaks in the inlet tract or case leaks can also cause what you describe. Start with the carb and visual the reeds while the carb is off. Check for air leaks with a can of hot start. Just short bursts while the engine is idling. Around the intake manifold and case halves. If you have a leak the hot start will change the engine not if there's a leak. Again SHORT BURSTS. The stuff is dangerous in any significant quantity. Let us know how you get on. Knowledge shared is knowledge multiplied.

Here's the schedule for 2016

In the past Beta shocks had, I think, 31 stops out from fully bottomed. (Full clockwise) turn them out more and you ruined the shock. Start from full in and back out. As for wheelies it's just practice. Practice on a long uphill so you can recover by rolling off the throttle. Work your way to the flats. Of course I suck at wheelies so take my advice with a grain (ton) of salt. As for setting up the suspension try to balance the behavior of the front and rear. Most newbies get unnerved by how soft the suspension is and crank up the preload. This makes the suspension non-compliant on small bumps and ruins the tracking in a typical lumpy section as the bike will bounce around rather than absorb and hold a line. Damping is very much personal preference. The guys who trick ride like it bouncy to move the wheels around and sacrifice the stability us lazy old farts require. So ride, adjust, ride again, adjust... When it works for you you'll know but take it in small adjustments proved out by riding what you intend to ride.

I have a 2013 you can have.

Like most in the US I just take mine off and stick it in a box to be found years after selling the bike. There must be hundreds of them floating around. Let us know what year your bike is and I'm sure somebody will send you one.

That's the crank up the preload vs heavier spring argument. Get the next size up springs from Steve Saunders. That's what I have on my '13 EVO. When you chrank up the preload you lose some of the suspension compliance for the smaller stuff so the bike gets a bit skittish.

Possibly much earlier as well. '90 thru '95 Zeros also had inverted forks. Beta switched to the "right side up" forks in '96 and then back for one year on the 2000 Rev3 and back to RSU in 2001. Yeah the factory fork brace made a big difference.