dan williams

As a friend of mine said, "Every direction looks the same when your nose is 4" off the ground." After it took him 4 hours to crawl out of the woods his wife made him give up riding. At least leave somebody information on where you are going to be and expected time home. Carrying a cell phone with a GPS is good also.

OK this is going to seem insane (like much of what I say) but I was wondering what would happen if you dropped a few drops of candle scent into your premix. You know to sort of... freshen up the line at the section start.

Did you measure the gap after stroking the damping rod a few times to make sure the cartridge is full of fluid? It's easy to be fooled into thinking the cartridge is properly full or empty for that matter. It got me on the last seal change. Filled the forks with the recommended amount of oil thinking I had pumped out the cartridge and had about 2" of fork travel on the first test ride. DUH! My guess is if you pull the cap off and remeasure you'll be low. If not then at least that's one possible thing out of the way.

ATF is quite thin so I can see a bit more whine in really hot weather. Of course if you're really worried then.... do I have to say it.

If the fuel is leaded it will contaminate the catalyst (Platinum) in a catalytic converter and render it inert. Doesn't take much either. Only throw it into a car if you know the fuel is unleaded. edit... Uh I see Jon beat me to it. Still worth the double warning though.

OK what year bike? Mikuni or Keihin carb? How long on set of rings? Stock jetting? Stock reeds? Type of fuel? (race gas, pump gas, av gas) Type of oil? Gotta have some specifics. In general it sounds like jetting. 60:1 is pretty rich for any synthetic in a trials engine. A broken reed will cause this kind of bog as will a plugged pilot jet. First step I would suggest is a disassemble and clean of the carb. Did this just start or has it been a long term problem?

Ah Pat, no problem. One of the things I tell the young 'uns here in New England when I see them looking way too serious at an event or see parents and coaches pushing too hard is it's just a game. If I see them ten years from now in a supermarket pushing a shopping cart with a couple of kids in it and they look healthy and happy I'm completely satisfied with their trials career. You have mad skills but at the same time trials is still a game and you must look out for Patrick first. One of the things I most respect about Geoff Aaron is he sacrificed a few championships to finish his education. Do what's best for yourself, the world will continue on just fine. Looking forward to seeing you in Rhode Island.

I prefer P.D.Q. Bach

I use Bibble when converting from RAW and Paint Shop for resizing. I'd be very surprised if you couldn't batch run a script in photoshop that would do what you want.

Oh HELL YES I need one of these in the tool box!

Test it like I tested my old Bultaco when it stuck wide open. Just pull off and hold the plug wire with wet gloves. You'll know whether the ignition is working. It's really disturbing to feel your heart stop. My nephew did the same trick when he borrowed that particular bike. He was afraid to tell me but later showed me a school paper he wrote on the experiance. One of the funniest things I've ever read. His friend said it was the loudest scream he ever heard. My nephew said he doesn't remember screaming and doubts he'd hear it anyway because of the buzzing in his head. Ah precious memories!

This works for the Beta, may work for yours. http://www.trialscentral.com/forums/index....=0&start=0#

Both my Beta Rev3s come in around 175PSI if that helps.

Or showing up with homemade beer. Couldn't get past all the stuff floating around in it though.

Yeah they're never fun but you might as well dig in and learn. I posted a procedure on here for a Beta disassemble and clean but it should be similar for the Scorpa. Dig through some of my old posts and you should be able to find it. It's long winded (like most things I write) but should get you through the procedure.

Heh heh even with the benefit of video which we've all watched several times there isn't agreement. How's the poor checker going to be certain seeing it one time from a bad angle. I've seen blatant bad calls before but this isn't one of them.

That's a pretty big thing to hide so everybody look out for a trailer with the sides freshly spraypainted over. Probably "hiding" in plain view somewhere.

You already know the answer. You're going to have to pull the carb and do a disassemble and check for clogged jets, sticky floats, dirty fuel valve seat. All the basic stuff. Might as well stop procrastinating and just get it done.

Yeah it's a bit short but I only notice when I get up on the bars pushing to get out of a jam and the bike winds up.

Ugh I wrote a nice long reply and Iexploder froze. I bought the carb from the US Beta importer. Beta used the same Mikuni VM26-208 from the '89 TR35 (I think) to the '94 Techno, changed to the DelOrto in '95 then back to the Mikuni from '96 until '07. I might be being too harsh on the DelOrto carb. The problem wasn't the DelOrto but the fact that you couldn't get jets for it. The carb used on the '95 was a new DelOrto with a two piece pilot jet and finding jets to tune it was near impossible. The jetting from the factory was just plain wrong. Too rich on the pilot circuit, too lean on the needle and again too rich on the main. The practical upshot being that as you approched an obstacle and rolled on the throttle it would bog until you started to get into the needle jet. All of a sudden the bike would get very interested in the proceedings. This made timing a hit a somewhat random process. Forget correcting on an off camber or climb. My buddy managed to get his hands on a "factory" bike that was going to be for a sponsored rider. The sponsored rider liked his '94 so much he just changed plastic and graphics and kept his old bike. Anyway the factory bike was an animal with the DelOrto. Man I seen some ugly crashes...UGLY!! After swapping out the carb on my bike it became smooth, controlled and wonderfully powerful. I talked my buddy into getting one too and his bike went from an unpredictable beast to the most amazing bike I've ever ridden. It would grunt like a hog in high gear but you could just roll on the throttle and the power would just build to a terrifying scream. I suppose I should get to the point. Jets for that DelOrto should be pretty easy to get at this point so it's worth trying to tune the carb you've got before you run out and spend big crinkies for a Mikuni. Still if you find one cheap it's a good mod. I think you're off to a good start opening up that carbon plugged exhaust. As an aside, from a purely aesthetic standpoint I think my '95 was the most pleasing bike to look at. Seriously, look at a, er, well proportioned woman lying on her side then look at the '95 and tell me what inspired the frame and rear fender of that bike. Pure Angelina Jolie.

Bou dabs twice. Since the minder was falling and grabbed on the side opposite the observer he probably didn't have a clear view so couldn't call it for sure. Not really sure if the minder helped or got in the way. That's one of those calls that no matter how good the observer it's damn near impossible to be certain and doubt goes to the rider.

If it is a '95 it's got that awful DelOrto with the two piece pilot jet. Best mod I did on mine was to swap it out with a mikuni. Worn rings will make the bike start harder. A new set really restores the spunk to the engine.

There is more chatter. Don't worry about it. After a few weeks you won't even notice. It will also diminish a bit as the plates wear into their new configuration.

Beta's have always been a bit notchy. I think it has much to do with the aluminum shifter flexing and the two shaft design of the transmission to save weight but yes the clutch mod helps.

First thing have a few new plugs ready. Unless you've got a bead blaster you can never really clean a plug. It sounds like you have the wrong heat range plug to start with. Even a perfectly carbureted and timed engine will foul the wrong plug. N7YCC Champion for your bike if I remember correctly or AC Delco #4 or whatever the equivalent. Also hard starting can be from a bunch of issues from sticky kill switches (common on Betas) to cracks in the high voltage wire out of the ignition coil to bad spark plug cap. If it isn't smoking up a storm as you'd get with a bad crank seal then there isn't much more that will gum up a plug. On a bike that old it could be time for a set of rings. But start out with the simple (cheap) stuff first and get a new plug. Let us know how it works out.