trapezeartist

The carb on the Beta 4T seems to sprout tubes in all directions. Does anyone know what they do, what they should be connected to, and how long they should be? The one marked in yellow is fuel-in. That's the easy bit. The one marked blue is a large diameter tube that communicates with the underside of the diaphragm. In my case there is a plastic cap on it, but is that right? The green one has a short 2-3 inch tube that points downward. Possibly the float chamber breather? The red one on the left has a very short tube. The red one on the right has a long tube which is blocked off, so seems pretty pointless. They look as if they are possibly intended to connect together in a loop from left to right, but if so, why?

That's interesting, 2T4T. I was similarly thinking of making an infill for the footwell. Now you've confirmed it works, I'll definitely do that in the next week or two. I hadn't thought of compressing the forks to aid loading and unloading. I'll try it next time. Thanks.

I'm guessing you won't have too big a problem with height. I carry my bike in a Citroen Berlingo car and it just squeezes in on height. If I lean the bike or turn the steering the handlebars did into the roof lining. Like-for-like a van with no headlining is going to give you a couple of inches extra headroom. In the Berlingo, the front passenger seat has to be pushed right forward do the front wheel can go down into the rear seat footwell. In a van with a fixed bulkhead you wouldn't be able to do that. Someone told me you can get two bikes into a Berlingo but I can't see how. Of course, all my thoughts are specific to the Berlingo, but you could probably get comparative dimensions for the two vehicles in order to see how relevant my comments are to your situation.

It won't stay white for long.

OK, you guys are convincing me. I'll get the carb out again (PITA) and wind it out another half-turn. See if that does it. If it does richen it, it might run a bit cooler as well. PS I run the fuel tap on the solenoid setting and only open it manually when I need to top up the carb before starting. I am slightly suspicious that it leaks a bit as the garage continually smells of petrol, but I need to do some more investigation there.

I'm afraid I do have to make a judgement. Riding illegal bikes on the road without tax, MOT or insurance is, well, illegal. It won't just bite the riders on the backside: it could knock on to the whole sport. It's "bringing the sport into disrepute". A note of common sense. Thank you. Nevertheless I still think it would help if there was some "marketing" of the sport. Kick Start and the televising of World Championship and Indoor trials did (does) that to some extent but it perhaps puts off as many people as it encourages. Some people will look at the sections and think that it is far too dangerous and way beyond their potential capabilities (probably rightly). Then they won't look any further and see what fun can be had wobbling up and down banks and around trees.

Without the AWD requirement, you have a huge choice. Insisting on AWD impacts in two ways: 1. Far fewer models to choose from. 2. The rear platform is likely to be higher in comparison to FWD, so it's a greater height to lift the bike and less headroom inside. If you're thinking of carrying a trials bike in a "good" car, you should also consider the dirt that gets carried into it and possibly the damage to the interior trim. (I carry my bike in a Citroen Berlingo and it is marginal on headroom. Hence I have put quite a lot of marks in the headlining with the handlebars. It's also got very muddy inside, but I'm not too concerned as it is only a knock-about car.)

According to this it's an air screw. And it was my understanding that this little table originates from Beta, but I may be wrong.

Unfortunately they didn't. I just googled it (because I'd never heard of it) and it is pig ugly.

Out! More air? Leaner?

Best to tell us where "local" is then.....

What did you do to get rid of the "dreaded backfire"?

Do you mean you couldn't shift the pipe, or couldn't shift the springs? To help remove the springs you can by a T-handle with a hook on the end. It's much better (and ultimately less painful) than struggling with a screwdriver or other bodge-tool. If the problem is removing the pipe, I'd suggest remove the springs and remove the silencer. Then the only thing holding the pipe to the cylinder head is the stiction, baked mud, exhaust sealant, or whatever. A good wiggling and thumping should get it clear.

Pad knock-off?

Does anyone have a contact number or e-mail for Golden Valley? There's nothing on their website and the contact page doesn't work.

I am on 127.5. I couldn't read the marking on the old jet, but the new one is definitely 127.5.

The jet did arrive in the post on Saturday (thanks, Allens Performance) so I went out for a practice today (Sunday). As far as I can tell, everything is exactly to Beta recommendations (120 main jet, 27.5 slow jet, needle in position 3, 2 turns on air screw, no idea about the spacer because I don't know what it is). I had also fitted an Amal slow throttle since last time. The slow throttle was definitely a help, though I still find the power comes in very sharply when going from closed to just-a-tiny-bit. The idle speed is set very low so I'll try upping that a bit next time. I still have the popping on the overrun. I'm not sure that it's a problem but it would be nice if it didn't do it.

Your "phut phut" is probably my "popping". I've just had the carb in bits to make sure it was all to Beta recommendations, but it has made no difference. Perhaps it's a "feature" and not a "problem".

I don't think carb cleaner would have done much as the blockage was rock-hard. The attack with a drill was the final attempt before throwing it away so there was nothing left to lose. As it is, I now have to throw it away: the drill did nothing to the object causing the blockage but did start spitting out brass swarf. I tried eBay but couldn't find what I needed. Lampkins put me on to Allens Performance though so the part is now on order. They had 99 in stock! Interesting reading. For a wobbler who hardly cracks the throttle off idle, it clearly shows the bits I need to concentrate on, and the bits I hardly need to worry about. I'm hoping the jet might turn up in the post tomorrow, in which case I should get a run out on Sunday to test it all. I'm not holding my breath though.

I decided to remove and check the carb on my new-to-me Evo 300 4T. I wasn't totally happy with the way it ran on my first practice day so I went diving in to see if I could find anything wrong. Just understanding the thing is the main problem. I've got the table of settings and the factory parts list, but I'm struggling to understand which part is which in a few cases. First off, the tables gives the start jet as a 60 and the slow jet as 17.5 or 27.5. However the parts list calls the jets that are 17.5 - 30.0 the starter jet! I'm hoping that's a mis-translationas the Italian version calls it a getto minimo (as opposed to the main jet which is getto massimo). Anyway, the photo shows my carb viewed from underneath. The jet on the right appears to be the main jet. With a touch of optimism I think I can read it as 120, so that would be standard. I think the one to the left of it is the start jet (as described in the table) and I think it is a 60. Am I right so far? Between and above those two is a third jet so I assume that is the slow jet (according to the table). I can't make out any number on it but it has a small emulsion tube built in to it, which looks a bit like the starter jet (getto minimo) in the parts list. When I took it out and looked through it, the light at the end of the tunnel was not circular so I surmised that it was partially blocked. Blowing through wouldn't clear it so I tried poking it with a fine piece of copper wire. Instead of moving the dirt I appear to have jammed it in and now there is no light getting through at all. Eventually I gave up with the copper wire and decided to get brutal with a small drill bit. I twiddled it by hand from both ends. I can feel the obstruction but I can't clear it. Am I right in identifying this jet? And am I right that I should be able to see clear through it? If so, it seems like I'll have to get a new one. Finally, just to make sure I'm not doing something else wrong: is that screw on the far left the air screw (that should be 2 turns out from closed)? Thanks for your patience, and please be gentle with me.

As I understand it, there is no licence required to do AMCA trials, in which case licencing shouldn't be a problem. I imagine you will have to give it a try to find out if your vision impairment is a real problem or not. I could imagine you having to move your head around more than other people would, and perhaps you will end up with your head turned slightly to the right so that you do have some vision to the right of centre-line (at the expense of the extreme end of your leftward peripheral vision). You may find that having a "minder" with you would help. In some ways I think you might have to be more careful in using a practice area than when competing on an event. In a trial you know that you have the section to yourself. But in a practice area you have no idea whether someone else might suddenly pop out of the trees on your right. I really hope this works out for you. On the face of it, I think you have hit on the best chance you've got of continuing on two wheels. Good luck!

Girls! Please. This is so unbecoming!

Looks good. Be sure to report back to us when you get home.

Yes, that's off as well.