dan williams

It's possible that the chain is knackered and the previous owner just pulled a link to make it tight. Grab a link in the middle of the chain run on the rear sprocket and pull it off the sprocket. If you can see more then 1/2 tooth then it's time for a new chain. Of course check the sprocket for wear while you're at it. Teeth should be symmetrical, er symmetric... they should look the same on both sides.

Digging around looking for information on the carb. Man it's like pulling teeth! Doesn't seem to be even a mention of what model carb it is let alone technical documantation.

Magnet probably picked it up off the bench during assembly and then did it's job keeping it in place. Some mechanic at the factory who'd been assembling mopeds the day before probably spent an hour going, "Where the hell did that bearing race go? It was right here. I swear it was." It looks like it didn't go wondering around in the engine. Way too pristine.

I've noticed this before on Rev3s. Some worse then others. Pretty much can only be two things, well three actually but only two that wouldn't indicate a problem. With the clutch out the entire primary side of the gear train is engaged including the input shaft of the transmission. Since we have to assume the clutch is happily clamped up tight from the pressure plate to the base of the basket I think that limits the rattle to gear clearance. Think of it this way, when the clutch is pulled, in gear, there is still some clutch drag that torques the primary gears into engagement but enough slip to keep the clutch pack from acting as a flywheel. With the clutch out and the transmission in neutral the clutch and half the gear train is freewheeling with much less drag. As the crank goes around it changes speed slowing as the piston compresses the mixture and accelerating again after the ignition fires. It may be the inertia stored in the clutch basket and gear train is enough to disengage the primary gears momentarily causing them to clack back and forth as the piston fires. Betas use straight cut gears. Does anybody know if other brands use helical gears which I think would lessen this considerably. The other possibility I can think of is the gears in the gearbox clacking around because even though it's not "in gear" some gears are still meshed. I think this is most unlikely though as there's not a lot of mass to clack them back and forth within the gearbox. Certainly not enough to make it loud like the rattle I'm familiar with. A rather deep cluckity cluckity sound. So that's my guess. Different tolerance in the matching of the primary gears.

Don't be picking on Boston you... you... Kessel thief!

Sorry, Gas cap. If the vent /hose thingy in the gas cap gets blocked then riding the engine under load, like on an uphill, can cause the bike to use enough fuel to cause a vacuum in the tank. Tends to interrupt fuel flow into the carb so the bike will run lean under load but seem perfectly normal when just idling or puttering around.

Don't worry, soon all will be made in China and we can get them at WalMart or your local equivalent. Any brand. Really all this angst. Two of my mates just received new GG racing models. One won't take it out of the house yet because it's winter but the other took it out last weekend and a mate with an 08 Raga who got to ride the new bike placed an order that night. Another with a Sherco said he would if he could afford it. I'm not a GasGas rider as anybody from the Beta forum can attest, just can't seem to get along with them, but I've seen the newer bikes take some awful beatings and survive quite well. I wouldn't accuse GasGas of being stupid. The best way to seize market share is to attack while the market is weak. This bike is clearly an aggressive stab at market share from the mid-level buyer. I would expect after the Raga comes out for the top end any leftover parts will end up in another economy model. Not every sale needs to be at the start of the season. GasGas is showing a keen understanding of market dynamics.

Agreed, sounds like the poor thing is starving for fuel. Check for the blocked breather hose on the cap. I believe there is a check valve in the cap to keep fuel from leaking after a crash. That valve could be stuck too. Should respond to a shot of carb cleaner. Perhaps a test run up a hill with the cap cracked open a bit will tell.

Thanks, I must be starting to get the writing bug again.

Be careful what you remove. On the Rev3s the fan still needs the regulator box even though the later models ran the lights unregulated directly off the stator. I would guess the EVO is the same. On the Zeros people would often remove the rectifier when they took the lights off and that would eventually fry the fan as well. Expensive little mistake that was.

Forget the tea sir? You cut me to the quick. I live on Earl Grey. I have even been to Bergamo! Oil of Bergamot is what makes Earl Grey, Earl Grey! I merely don't advocate a cuppa in the vicinity of dangerous chemicals. This is almost as insulting as when I was in Limerick and the locals kept asking if I wanted a Budweiser. Then they'd snicker. Oh the indignity! Missing from this pic is one of my other favorites. The Twinings Christmas Tea. Come to think of it this year's Italian world round is in Foppolo again just north of Bergamo.

I currently use the IPone because I won a raffle and got a bunch for free but I've used Bel-Ray MC1 and Spectro and Mobil 2T. Basically any good synthetic will be fine. Oil failures are pretty rare these days with water cooling and chrome/electrofusion cylinders. Even rarer in a trials bike.

Hmmm if mixture then it should be worse when air temp is cold. Could be ignition timing. Advance could be shifting when the stator heats up. Sounds like your engine is just on the edge of lean. Did you try raising the needle a notch. The problem with an engine that's this close to right is richer mixture/retarding the ignition timing/higher octane gas can all "cure" it even though they may not be the problem. Could even be something even dumber like a partially shorting kill switch or plug wire. There are days I really wish Betas had on-board diagnostic computers.

Ah the best way to learn is to do it. You're not as bad as you think. Unless the bike has sat for a considerable time there will be fuel still in the float bowl (that rounded squarish bit at the bottom of the carb) Here's the task broken down, What you need, Carb cleaner, Small flat blade screwdriver, #2 philips screwdriver, compressed air, WD-40, small adjustable or some good deep/skinny small sockets. FIRE EXTINGUISHER! Dude it

2.5 hours!!! I take about 8. Then again I'm working under a microscope and am a bit of a twit.

Heh heh We call it the "english" system of measurement but they don't use it in England. Pardon my forgetting.

The Rev3's LOVE high octane gas. If you're running pump gas they'll not work anywhere near their potential. Typically the Mikunis came from the factory with 30 pilot jets and I think 140 mains. Usually around here we knock the pilot down to a 27.5 and depending on weather the main to a 135. If you can't get good fuel you might be able to retard the ignition a bit but the engine will lose some of its "pop".

Should be similar to a Rev3 which is about a quart from empty. Just pour it in till it stops taking it. Squeeze the hoses to work out air bubbles in the system. Then run it a while and after it's run for a bit let it cool and check the fluid again. Fill and forget.

Coming off the stator up to the CDI module connector there will be a harness with four wires that go to the CDI connector and a yellow wire that splits off for the lights. The four wires to the connector are, Brown = System Ground, Red = CDI charge wire, White = (I think) CDI trigger microcontroller power wire, White with a black stripe = (again a guess) actual trigger. Coming off the stator side of the connector will be a wire that originates from the CDI box and doesn't go down to the stator. That is your kill switch wire. Wire one side of the kill switch to that wire and the other side to one of the screws that mounts the ignition coil.

Ethylene glycol is traditionally used in automotive systems. The real benefit of the premixed propylene glycol coolant, aside from non-toxicity, is it uses deionized water which significantly cuts down on the chemical reactions that are corrosion. Tap water is full of chlorine and fluoride and iron and metallic salts which will pass right through you but wreak havoc on your engine.

Could have blown the seal in the master cylinder on the handlebar. Easy fix if that's the case.

Just for safety's sake I'd recommend using a propylene glycol based coolant like Engine Ice or Silkolene Pro Cool. If the engine does have magnesium parts better to be safe then sorry.

Yeah it went to a wheel sensor. These things never worked well as they were made for bicycles and the sensor wires weren't shielded well enough to prevent the ignition from messing with the signal.

Probably be easier to justify this to the wife then most parts purchases.

and you need to make one of these.