joostio

what I want? 4 hours on a sunday where I don't think about work, only focussing on me and my bike and rassing my friends when we ride together. A few moments where I amaze my self would be nice too.

I can hear my engine start to ping before it stalls out usually. Mine revs up before it dies too. I find it hard to start if I let it run completely out of fuel so as soon as I hear the pinging I shut her down and top her up.

you can't say gas gas with out saying "ass ass"

apperantly the other 280 here on vancouver island had had the trans replaced. I don't know why it was replaced but it was also missing a drain hole in the trans. Maybe a few of them are missing the drain hole as it seems this step may have been forgotten on the assembly line. The good news is that ossa stepped up and was good for the new trans quickly. I think the replaced trans had a broken shift lever if I remember correctly. as for being biased or unbiased: I'm just a guy who rides every sunday with my buds. I ride a Sherco, my friend who owns the Ossa is a gas gas dealer in our area. He was excited about a newly designed bike and he splurged to be one of the first owners of this fine looking bike. As for clout, I believe Mr. Fracy's brother bought the other bike in our area, maybe he will have some in put too. I gave factual info, my friend is a machinest by trade and he is very picky about his bikes. I gave both positive feedback and some criticism. I would love to see Ossa do well but either way my next bike will still likely be a new Sherco. We ride every sunday and put our bikes through the paces, I look forward to getting to try the 280 as soon as my friend puts the first couple of scratches on it.

A friend of mine has the new Ossa, it has been out on the trail a few times now. The bike has had the latest map installed and we hope the idle will be a bit better now. So far my friend likes the bike, the air filter looks like a real bugger to change. There was a problem with the new bike, after the bike was ridden around the yard for the first hour my buddy went to change the trans oil. He pulled the drain plug and only a few ml.s drained out. The bike was left over the drain pan over night with the drain plug removed but no more fluid came out. He then added 200ml more with the drain plug still removed and still nothing drained out! The bike then had the trans pulled (comes out fast and easy) and it was discovered that there was no hole in the bottom of the trans housing for the oil to pass through. Lots of oil on the trans side, not much on the other side other than what had splashed over. Since then my friend drilled a hole in the bottom of the trans and now it drains very nicely. there was a nice flat spot on the housing inline withe the drain hole but it looked as if the hole had been forgotten to be drilled at the factory. A few other little things with the bike, the throttle is a bit exposed and he is concerned that a stick could pull it wide open, he plans to make a small cover for it. The supension seems stiff right now but he thinks that the seals need to soften up before he judges that too much. He was impressed with the balance between the front and rear suspension, bang on from the factory. I swung a leg over the bike a tried it out in the parking lot. the bike seemed wider than I expected it to be, the rad sits inside the frame unlike the new gas gas. It sure starts nice with the FI and no choke is nice too. Thats all I know for now. hope it helps. we should all hear more soon.

I went the V mar route and am very happy I did. I broke 2 sets of stock bars at the clamps. Problem solved now. I also went with a Jitsie bar with some rise to it, loving the new setup. Thanks lewis sport.

hello Danster, I think I am the guy who told you about the 84 TY. The TY in question has seen some use and requires brake shoes and for seals, wider bars and a foot peg relocation and up grade. I rode that bike as a spare while my bike was out for repairs. It does get you on the trail but a higher budget of 2 to 3 grand will make your trail riding much more fun. We don't compete on the mid island as much as we trail ride and play on some tough areas on the mountains. Today was a nice ride to the snow line and the sun was great! Higher budget and a newer bike, my advice. Hydrolic clutch and disc brakes are a must around here.

I am not suggesting that the swing arm bolt loosens up due to the poor fit, just that it is poorly supported by the frame on the nutted side. With this poor support, every time the swing arm moves it could cause unessasary frame flex therefore causing the cracks. My welder/riding buddy came up with this theory, not to dumb for a Gas Gas guy.

stripping of the swing arm bolt was a few weeks ago, I was tightening everything up to eliminjate a noise. If the swing arm bolt is not properly seated in the frame there is a chance that the cracked frames are caused but it. If the swing arm and motor flex enough it could cause the cracking, that bolt should be supported properly by the frame. its only a theory but it sounds pretty solid to me.

my swing arm bolt that has been modified swing arm bolt too short, not supported by the frame, not all the way in the hole, look closely the fit after the head of the bolt was machined down, fits in all the way now.

here are some pics to try and exdplain what I meant by the swing arm bolt being too short and not being properly supported by the frame. I had and issue apart from all this cracked frame bussiness which resulted in me stripping the threads off of my swing arm bolt. I over tightened it trying to eliminate a noise. My swing arm bolt is now modified, the threaded section has been cut off and it has been drilled out and tapped. My swing arm bolt is held in place with a bolt as opposed to the original nut. This modified bolt aside I still think the factory messed up in my swing arm bolt very possibly causing my crack. here are some pics to show what I mean.I guess I have no clue as to how to post pics here, help anyone?trying again

on my 06 even if the swing arm bolt is tight it is not seated properly. the bolt came too short from the factory. on the end that is threaded it is stepped down in diameter, when tightened up the threaded part is in the frame ear as opposed to the shoulder of the bolt. I had my bolt machined so that the shoulder portion is 1.5 mm longer than original. I hope this is the fix I am looking for.

update: I ignored my cracked frame (cracked above rad) and I discovered more cracks on the down tubes. ignoring it was not a good idea. I tore the bike apart and took it too a buddy to have it welded. He came up with a theory as to the cause of the cracking. The bolt (none threaded portion) that goes through the motor case and the swing arm is about 1.5 mm too short. It was not long enough to go between the ears on the frame. The wide part of the bolt is the same size as the ears but on the threaded end it is stepped down for the threads, this side was not supported by the ears on the frame. This caused the swing arm to move and caused the motor to flex the frame further causing the cracks. my friend machined my bolt down a bit on the allen end so it sits farther in the hole and now the wide part of this bolt is supported by the ears on the frame. Check your swing arm bolts on the nut side to see if it is seated all the way in the frame ears and let us know what you find. its a theory, what do you guys think?

My 06 frame is also cracked above the rad. It has been like this for some time. So far I continue to ride it as is and have yet to notice any problems. Mine has a small gap, when I get it fixed I do not plan to squeez it back together, the frame seems to want the gap there. I also was thinking about bolting a plate across but after reading this post I suspect I won't. I am thinking about having a plate welded on the inside and creating a boxed frame section above the rad. Good post so far. Its going to kill me to take the bike apart for that long as I ride every weekend. Maybe a full sandblast and powder coating at the same time, spice up the colours.

I run out first, 2.5 to 3 hours per tank, I pack a spare liter and can go long enough.