dan williams

In general trials boots have, Tread pattern on soles Shorter calf sections No metal toe plate More flexible sole

I find a pair of BIG channel lock pliers and lots of swearing helps with the Rev3s.

Heartbroken, My friend Sonny and I have always jokingly referred to each other as Jordi and Diego. I call Sonny Jordi for his superb throttle control and he calls me Diego for my too liberal use of the loud grip. At one world round Sonny was on the other side of the section trying to get my attention and yelling Diego, diego, DIEGO!!! He didn't realize Diego Bosis was standing in front of me looking across the section to see who the madman was yelling at him. I remember watching Diego on the wall in Tweed Ontario smoking the tire on his Aprilia at the top. I think only he and Jordi made it up. I was fortunate to get to hang around at the '89 TdN in Belgium with the US team. After the event the Wickers found a little restaurant and made a group deal with the owner to feed the team. As we're all sitting there waiting to eat the Italian team wandered in and sat down with us. That had to be one of the greatest dinners ever. Through the TdN the Italian fans were honking air horns every time a rider went into a section. As we're sitting there in the restaurant suddenly the sound of an air horn blasts from just outside the restaurant. All the color drained out of the faces of the Italian riders. Renato Chiaberto held up one finger, "Uno momento" and left the table. A second later he reappears, produces the air horn and blows a prolonged blast at Ron Commo's head, puts the air horn down on the table and resumes eating without another word. I thought Diego, Donato and Davide were going to blow a gasket they laughed so hard. I'll never get used to finding out my heros are mortal. RIP Diego, next time I ride I'll hit something way too hard in your honor.

Welcome to the wonderful world of high compression. Although there can be other causes Betas are known to have the knock from using pump gas. A lot of us have just given in and run race gas. That gives you the crisp throttle response Senior B riders like me demand (and can't use). You can try raising the needle a notch or two to see if it helps but it will soften the power a bit. There really is no substitute for the good go juice.

I have an '05 which is down for main bearings at the moment. Too much sitting in storage after I got the '08. The shock mounts are called Heim joints over here. Wikipedia has a bit on the history. Wear will depend on use and conditions but just picking up the rear end and seeing if there's play will tell you more than any of us can. Yes the Mikuni piddles fuel. Take it off and set the float level, change pilot jet to a 27.5 if not done already and then reassemble and nipper a hole in the two vent tubes halfway up the carb body. Problem fixed. Do the clutch fix pinned at top of forum. The '05 has aluminum cases which were a lot less prone to corrosion but again you might want to pull off the case just to check. Use a good premixed coolant like Silkolene Pro-cool or Engine Ice and never fill with tap water. Every Beta with an aluminum frame I've owned has developed a front end clunk as the steering head bearings have seated. Usually tighening the triple clamp nut above the bearings eliminates it for the life of the bike. Do this carefully though as the aluminum threads can be stripped. Make sure the electrical system has a good solid frame ground. I usually hard ground to the frame at the ignition coil mounts. Betas can be a bit daft with their wiring. The stock kill switches are awful. If the original owner hasn't replaced his yet tell me how he lived this long. Everybody panics about "white oil". The truth is the case is not sealed and even if you don't go through puddles condensation will get into the gearbox and emulsify the oil. You will never get all the water out. Change the oil once in a while and don't worry about it. I highly recommend the full length fork guards. Welcome to the family.

They cut the headstock off it to prevent it from being used again. I've seen the pile of them at the former US importer. ...and that is going to be one tasty Beta you got there. Well done.

Thanks Liviob, good bit of info.

There were actually quite a few '09s that had the frames replaced under warranty. You might want to check with American Beta as to the policy on the older bikes. The EVO frames are made by Beta and not Verlicchi who made the Zero and Rev3 aluminum frames so it took about 6 months for them to get it right. Same as the original '00 Zero frame. If you have a newer frame, which I believe they beefed up the gusseting in the head area, then no problem.

70 PSI is really low. That's gotta be far below operational pressure. I get a usual reading of 140 on my Betas when they're healthy. Could be blockage of the exhaust, broken baffle or such. Broken reed or something stuck in the intake as mentioned before. The mention of ether makes me nervous. In a four stroke where the oil doesn't work up to the crown it's no big deal. On a two stroke it can cause momentary dry spots in the cylinder/piston interface as it cleans off the residual oil. I'd limit the ether application to last resort. As for ring sticking it sometimes is carbon buildup in the grooves rather than piston scrapes.

Uh thanks. I damn near pooped twinkies whan I figured out how mine was wired. Bad bad bad design. I did notice a few years ago Beta was looking for an electrical engineer. Boy was I tempted.

My 08 was wired screwy. I fixed it before it caused problems. You may want to do the same once a new stator is obtained. Look here http://www.newenglandtrials.org/Beta_wiring.pdf

The beauty of trials, two buddys can play on a small rock all day and have a blast doing it. As you get better you will ride bigger and scarier stuff but it isn't any different. It's just play time. You get on the bike and suddenly you're 10 years old again.

Oooo must be secret!

I thought AJP had shut it's doors.

I don't think they come with Helicoils. Considering what a bear it is to get the plate to line up again I'm surprised any have threads at all. Can you use longer bolts and nut them?

I think the fact that everyone who's done the clutch mod has been really happy with the result confirms my theory. I'm glad you're putting in the effort to understand the finer points of oil but the mechanicals of the clutch plates as shipped from the factory make the oil argument moot as they simply can't work the way they are designed to work. A clutch designed to provide a controlled friction characteristic fiber to steel is just not going to behave with a significant glue to steel contact area. The same can be said of the tabs which are sliding bearings. Glue and rough surface finish are just not a good bearing.

Yeah the Beta is an old design that just wasn't prepped very well coming out of the factory. The GasGas is a whole different animal and I'm pretty sure the Beta fix is not applicable.

Thank you for posting this. It's quite moving to see so many of my heroes just out having a good time riding.

Well then enjoy your Xispa. Seriously the importers have a tiny profit margin if any at all. As for the factories, producing such complicated machines in such small numbers with the complicated regulations for motor vehicles and dealing with suppliers, some of whom are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy themselves (think AJP and remember the Marzocchi scare) and you really have to wonder why anybody makes or sells trials bikes in the first place.

This is a game changer. It addresses every stick we've been beat with to take away access except erosion and for trials erosion is nowhere near the issue it is for other forms of the sport. This is simply the best opportunity to differentiate trials in the mind of the general public away from the eco-nazi stereotyping that has lumped us in with every highway wheelying idiot and neighborhood midnight motocrosser that has been a curse on us since the Sierra Club and their ilk decided we were public enemy #1. Instead of worrying over no clutch lever we should be shouting from the rooftops. But I fear, like most opportunities for this sport, this too will be squandered in debates about

My response to this sort of thing is a disk with the current website on it and a piece of paper with the access codes to the server and a, "Here you go, enjoy running the website." This usually backs them off. If it doesn't the, "Oh yeah, they'll need a credit card number too", usually does the trick. I have to say that it is a really nice job Darlington do on their website. Very professional and obviously a lot of work.

Depends on what you're doing. If it's normal trials practice where the engine spends most of its time lugging near idle with the occasional full throttle blast 70~100:1 is common. If you and your buddies are ham fisted yahoos that are going to trailride a trials bike like a motocrosser all bets are off and I'd stick to the 50:1. Be warned trials bikes don't handle that kind of treatment at all well and you'll probably kill it in a year. Don't get me wrong I have my ham fisted yahoo days but not as many as when I owned my Maico. Personally if I'm out tooling around doing the trials practice thing I'll run 100:1 with good racing fuel. Betas really do like the high octane of VP C-12. A good quality synthetic oil will do nicely. Any brand really. There's a lot of good info on this site if you dig around. Have fun and welcome to the sport.

We've got a bunch of guys well into their 70's here in New England.

If you're running pump gas it's about the time of the shift over to "winter" gas. If you're getting four months on a plug it's not that severe. Oh just noticed location, perhaps a little rich due to altitude?

First water cooler was 89 for Jordi. Prototype for the '90 Zero. Aprilia already had water cooling and upside down forks on the '89 Climber. Ahhh I wish Dale would re-release those videos on DVD. Web search says '89 was Tennessee.