dan williams

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.

Mine didn't come with a bar pad. Just a rubber dingus that fits over the bar clamps.

The Keihin carbs are notorious for getting water bubbles or dirt flecks in the exit hole of the pilot circuit just behind the slide at the bottom of the bore. The actual hole is tiny. You have to disassemble the carb and blow it out with compressed air. I usually have to do it two or three times a year. You can take the tower off with a T20 torx security bit. Be very careful not to damage the little O-ring type gasket on the front face.

I put one of the gold S3 chambers on my 2013 as I was having issues holding on (realized later it wasn't bike, was Lyme disease) anyway the lower compression head makes the bike easier to start. Not easy but easier. Still grunts up slow hills like a 300 and will still jump when the throttle is whacked but the hit is less violent. I didn't find it necessary to change jetting. It may help the Beta's appetite for race gas, I don't know because I use VP C-12 anyway. I think it's a good mod for anybody below expert. I also recommend carbon reeds as they allow the bike to pull smoother and cleaner off the bottom.

I was also thinking the lack of need for a clutch opens the possibility for putting the rear brake on the bars like the Clake setup.

There is a bit of a compromise between pull and slip. For most of us bunny riders the immediate clutch response needed by the experts is not to our benefit. I used to pull two spings but had spacers made up that do roughly the same thing reducing the spring pressure. I don't get significant slip but others have reported it.

Easy, put your finger on the bearing cup by the frame and rock the bike. If you can feel movement it's the bearings. Nut needs tightening. The older Beta's usually took a few re-torques for the head bearings to completely seat in the aluminum headstock. Put your finger on the top triple clamp and the stem and rock the bike. If you feel movement it's the top stem hole clearance and the teflon tape works well but must be redone once in a while depending on how much you ride. Dado's suggestion of shim metal should work too. I just had Teflon tape handy so that's what I used. I now have some Teflon sheets of various thicknesses I got from an on-line plastics shop for a few bucks I'll try next time. Actually bought them as optical diffusers but that's another story. Just to be safe make sure your brake caliper isn't moving. I've seen forks damaged by loose caliper mounts.

Aside from making the motor an integrel frame element to save weight I don't see there being much to improve on as electric motor development is pretty advanced. I think most future improvment is squarely in the battery energy density. Still looking forward to seeing this bike though. Actually I can see one other big advantage to an electric bike and that is in the area of transport. Not having to deal with gasoline or gear oils a bike that easily breaks into two or three major pieces that can be transported in a small car without too much hassle would be a major change in the way most of us do trials. Plug the battery into the lighter for a last bit of charge on the way to ride, get to the venue, a few minutes to assemble and off you go.

Very cool. Thanks for posting that.

I'm waiting most impatiently to see this bike. It's not a matter of if I buy an electric bike but when.

Yeah and while you're at it smack around the person responsible for the whole damping/dampening thing.

I just looked at two parts lists and found the impeller on both. What year is your bike?

That would have to be a Monday bike. After an open bar party. Assembled by the "new" guy". There's no way for us to assess any damage but if you haven't seized it and it still seems to have plenty of power you might have got away with it. There are several threads where a 4T owner reports a missing impeller. Sounds very weird. Some believe it broke apart and may be wedged in pieces somewhere in the cooling system. Might be worth dropping the hoses and back flushing the radiator and cylinder. I replaced the impeller on my 2T with the aluminum Jitsie but the website says it won't fit the 4T.

I have a '13 300 with Vforce Carbon reeds and an S3 low compression head. For crawling around on the slow stuff the bike is very smooth and controllable. It still jumps like a scalded cat with a handful of throttle. What I love about the displacement is the pure grunt the thing has. Slow steep hill climbs are almost too easy.

I absolutely love these videos. The voiceover is perfect. It sounds so professional until an off hand comment makes you chuckle.

I know of at least one guy around here who could and would buy the Ti version and squeeze every ounce of performance out of it. So if Vertigo could sell one to every regional champion that's enough to justify production. I've also seen one of those $20,000 Montesas. Very pretty but kinda pointless. The guy who bought it is a dealer that doesn't ride events anymore. Buy hey, it makes him happy so why not. Life is short. Buy the bike.

I have a couple clutch baskets gathering dust in the garage. Want one? They were going to be part of a plating experiment I never got to. I think I've got the rivets somewhere too.

Ah and maybe a GasGas/Torrot electric becomes a possibility for my next bike.

Awesome Jamie. Welcome to the sport. A couple years of trials under your belt will make you a faster rider than just hopping on an MX bike and when the terrain gets ugly you'll have all the more advantage.