section swept

If you are cerain that the coolant has not been diluted by just topping up with water then you should be perfectly ok to expose the bike to the elements by trailer trip. If you wanted to you could lag (wrap) the main body of the bike in a duvet suitable tied down. This woukd also protect your bike from road debri thrown up by your tow vehicle and other road users.??

The chemical properties that are a part of the anti-freeze formulation can dissipate very quickly. The anti- freeze component will last indefinately but its ability to prevent freezing of the coolant, in other words its strength will reduce. The other main additives are the lubricant for the water pump seals, corrosion inhibiters that prevent the anti-freeze or the water from attacking the different materials within the interior of the cooling system. There are some vehicle manufacturer specific anti-freezes that can last as long as 5 years before they deteriorate. When you consider the small capacity of coolant contained in the trials bike cooling system it would be advantageous to change it at least once a year. So by that I would suggest that the coolant is changed at the onset of winter so there is a fresh anti-freeze mix to protect the system.?

Reverse bleeding is the answer, you dont move the lever with this method. You’ll need a syringe, one the size of a regular tube of toothpaste. At least 3feet of clear plastic tubing. Ensure the bleed nipple is clear, snug it down just over finger tight, leave a ring spanner on the nipple, push the end of the clear tube onto the nipple ensure its tight and not going to let air in. Pull out the syringe plunger. Connect the other end of the clear tube to the syringe body. Cable tie or string the syringe body to the handlebar grip. With another syringe ( so you’ll need two the same size) and good quality brake fluid suck up some fluid and carefully inject it into the hanging syringe. Carefully insert the syringe plunger into its body now full of fluid, open the bleed nipple about a quarter turn and gently force the fluid into the slave cylinder nipple. This fluid will come up into the clutch master cylinder fluid reservoir, this is tiny so prepare for spillage. Thats it you now keep forcibg fluid through until no bipubbles are seen in the tube and the fluid in the reservoir is clean. Tighten the bleed nipple but not too much! The fluid will change colour as the seal degenerates by shedding tiny microscopic pieces of itself into the fluid. Note brake fluid is Hygroscopic ( yes that is spelt correctly) which means the fuid absorbs moisture from the atmosphere reducing the fluids life and operating potential. In the brake system this moisture will boil before the brake fluid causing steam vapour in the brake line and long lever/pedal travel. This is a main reason for fluid changes on a regular basis. If after all this you still have a poor feel to the clutch it may be a leaking seal allowing air in and fluid out. You also get the situation wherea seal does not leak but still allows air into the system.??Hope this helps you.

Changing your 200 into a 250 will possibly create issues when you want to sell it. Potential buyers would go for the unadulterated 250. As already mentioned there will be other parts needed and the cost ( unless you are minted in which case you wouldnt be asking this question) may well not be worth it, Getting more power from your 200 may be the better option, ensuring everything's spot on with the rolling stock, wheel bearings, seals, brakes, suspension and steering. Turning to the engine and transmission, ensure you have the optimum final drive ratio and chain and sprockets are all good. Potentially down sizing the chain to a few grades down ( lighter weight ) and sprockets to match if available. The engine obviously needs to be in excellent condition, crank and crank seals and all gaskets in servicable condition. Carb jetted correctly, going for a larger choke card may reduce the available torque. Exhaust clean inside and the correct tail pipe installed. Obviously a porting job done properly will release a little extra power, but care needs to be taken as having gobs of power is no replacement for torque ( pulling ability). Contact a proven trials engine tuner for advice. Using race fuel or octane booster will help in your quest. Fuel oil mix ratio is all important to help give that little bit extra. You’ll end up with a nice non threatening 200 with power approaching that of or slightly more than a 250, might be a bit more revvy though. ??

I guess nobody wants or needs a Hodoka. Strange how all of the fuel tanks look to be in quite good condition externally. No offence about location, why would there be? Craigslist equivalent in UK would be e-bay possibly. Someone will becalong with an alternative soon I expect.

Have a look through this site as there are some different methods employed to achieve the same ends. You will pay a bit for the seal installer set and probably not get to use it very often. Some members have been very resourceful and used other items such as water pipe and scaffold poles suitably cut and modified. An alternative would be to go to your local bike dealer and ask if they would insert the seals for you....less than the driver set.....they might even let you use the installer. Before you go and fit the seals make sure there are no burrs, scratches etc that might cause issues. Silicone grease or rubber lube needs to be applied to the lip seals to prevent them sticking or tearing on the fork tubes.

So here I am preparing an Aprilia Futura RST 1000 and I find that I need new clutch hydraulic seals for both the master cylinder and the slave cylinder, apparently this is a common problem although I never had issues on the Mille and Futura that I used to own. Searching the net I found that on the Aprilia Owners Club one fellow had some seals made, he was in the USA but the company was in UK. I got in contact with them and I now have winging their way in the post a complete set of seals for both cylinders....this is seals only no extras like springs, clips etc...and the price bearing in mind that an after market slave cylinder is in the region of £70 and a Brembo Clutch master cylinder is £260 ish and £27 for a repair if it will fit! The cost of my new seals including vat and p&p....£16.00?? Now the good bit, this company will make seals to either pattern or supplied old intact seals. I immediately thought of people repairing their own damper units and needing seals, then there are the suspension seals, water pump seals and so on including brake caliper and operating cylinder seals. The Company is: www.fpeseals.co.uk tel 01325 282732 This is an industrial based UK company catering for all types of hydraulic seal applications including manufactiring hydraulic rams and other components. If you need a seal and bear in mind they made my seals they will probably be able to help if you have all the necessary dimensions or photos with details. I have asked this companies permission to shiw their name on TC and I hope the moderators allow this info to be available to their members.? Hope this can be of use to you guys.

Its amazing what History can teach us and potentially warn us about.

Wire wool? Thought you only used fibre glass wadding in the exhaust. Wire wool has a tendency to break up into smaller pieces and could get into the cylinder, not good.

Castrol R is not the best oil to use it may smell lovely but its a full on vegetable based oil and is intended for highly stressed engines at max revs most of the time, speedway engines, race engines and some scrsmbles-m/x engines.This oil produces a lot of hard carbon and gum and needs to be cleaned out really regularly, which usually meant a complete strip. Fully synthetic oil is fine for any older engine especially four strokes, with two strokes the petrol mix ratio is less oil and this can cock up the carb settings, jets etc. 40 years ago there was no fully synthetic oil for sale to the public, although it was formulated in the chemical industry around the Second World War. As with life there are certain provisos such as the old Jaguar straight six DOHC engines needed a 20/50 oil otherwise using (15/40) the lighter oils were dragged up into the combustion chamber weakening the fuel mix to the point where you holed pistons.

Those were the days, you made your own entertainment. In fact in my case you made your own bike as well...frame from the allotment heap, a wheel pulled out of the river, toothpaste to clean the rim up, Gripster tyre on the back and a chunky tread road tyre on the front. One I built even had suspension at the front, forks from a motorbike not sure what.

Surprised anyone has money available to spend so soon after Christmas unless of course you are the president of the EU on €32,000 per month!

Sounds like the previous ‘abuser’ had a soul....hence new fasteners.

Nice looking Sherpa and I like the Rebar quick lift stand.?

Would that be a 3D or 4D map?

By the time you have this bike completed it should look amazing and you should be proud of your efforts??

Its usual to just give the end of the spring compressor over the valve stem a light tap with a hammer, this frees the friction fit of the collets in the top hat.

Before you change from the all steel to Kevlar make sure the clutch pivot shaft is working smoothly in its housing. It only takes a few minutes to pull the shaft out and clean the shaft hole and the shaft of any burrs and corrrosion. I use a ceramic lubricant in this area and make a sealing cap for the top of the shaft housing. With careful routing of the cable, no tight bends or kinks and a well lubed cable inner and careful adjustment of the clutch pack...all springs exerting equal pressure and the operating arm set correctly so it pulls through 90 degrees and not starting at 90 degrees giving you full leverage. ATF or as I use Mercedes Benz Auto Fluid in the clutch casing you should have a clutch that works easily and disengages smoothly with out dragging like a lot of them which is usally due to set up. Enjoy which ever route you go.

Nothing wrong with that, in fact more and more people are using some rather tasty looking dressed up vans, alloy wheels, metallic paint, special interiors etc?

I do like my cars in preference to vanning it, although by the time my partners finished loading all the everyday must haves in, a van would probably be more suitable...I’d quite happily run a van but she who must be obeyed would object to that.

Think thats more to do with the adhesive on the stickers and the suitability of the plastic the tank is made from. Some plastic mudguards will not take stickers well, thats some not all. The plastic cutting boards that make good number boards and mud deflectors will not always accept stickers, you clean and prep the surface, apply the sticker and hey presto it starts to lift off after a few minutes...annoying. Duct tape seems to be the only material that grabs hold. When you look closely at the tanks that repel stickers there appears to be a slight blemished surface, whereas tanks that readily take stickers have an almost perfectly smooth surface a bit like polycarbonate helmets or workmans plastic head protectors.

Petrol vapour is lighter than air so naturally travels upwards. The underneath areas of a plastic tank are usually warmed by the heat from the engine thus encouraging the petrol vapour to rise more so. Certainly the suns rays can affect the plastic if exposed for long periods of time but it is mostly the staining from the petrol that discolours the plastic petrol tank. If anyone has an old red plastic fuel can by now it should be verging toward a pinkish discolouration. The green unleaded plastic fuel cans seem to be able to retain their ‘greeness’ for longer. Potentially if you filled a stained tank with a strong bleach mix (70% bleach 30% water) and left it for a few weeks you may find that some of the staining goes, but its not a definite cure.

Well not really if you want trials to flourish?

I have considered buying a van for sometime now but when you do the maths it doesn’t really add up. As I needed to collect a bike I elected to hire a van from an ‘enterprising’ company. There are companies offering small vans for £23 a day but by the time you add on all the extras it starts to become expensive, plus they are quite away from my location. Anyway I hired a van locally for £31 accident waiver fee was £32 and fuel used was £27. So thats a true cost of £63 the fuel would be used no matter what method of transport chosen. I arranged to hire a Vivaro but come the day of hire I was upgraded to a Transit at no extra and was offered free pick up and drop of and additionally told that I could keep the van overnight and return it at 09.00 in the morning. When all is considered this must be a cheaper bet than owning a van, tax, insurance, running costs and mots together with parking space (if not also a business tool). I learned that this hire company will lower the hire fee if they have vehicles on site otherwise the rate will change if they have to get vehicles from other sites brought in. A quick phone call to ask what vans they have available on site and how much for a weekend hire shoukd see you get a reasonable deal. If you have for example a £ 2500 van sitting about to be used only occasionally then that £2500 buys you quite a bit of van hire. I’m not on commission and I’m sure some of you that read this will have already tried the hire route. I like my driveway clear so its the hire route for me. You’re very lucky if you have a firms van and permission to use it for private use.

Looks as though a few things have been tickled and fettled but nothing really outstanding. Loud stickers, new exhaust...that had to happen. Have the Italians copied ‘that Chinese bike?’