bikerpet

That's a good thought - I haven't looked inside the Beta MC before. EDIT: Just looked at the Beta MC exploded view and it appears there's no internal return spring. I did shorten the pedal return spring a little today to give the pedal/rod some free play, so I'll see if that makes any difference. If not I'll dig into the cylinder.

Sounds like I might need to do some mods to the rear brake setup. I've backed the pedal stop bolt right in, so there's plenty of free play at the pedal, but the return spring doesn't lift the pedal off the push rod/piston despite being fully collapsed and apparently undamaged. I'll try adjusting the push rod until I get some free play, but I feel like I'm going to end up with the pedal well below where I want it at rest and at bite. Seems like the solution might be a slightly shorter spring. It just seems weird that it's been perfect since new in Sept. last year and now the adjustments are all out of whack. I checked the pads, there's plenty of life left in them (Obviously don't use them enough ). Not a big deal really, just something to work through. Front pads - just measured them. Bang on 2.0 mm at their thinnest point! Who'd of thought to take notice of an owners manual!

The SSDT prep sheet says to seal the airbox cover, so doing a neat and semi-permanent job doesn't seem to have much downside. Nipping a couple of cable ties and pulling out two nylon screws is insignificant compared to cleaning, oiling and refitting the filter anyway. Works for me. I haven't taped the front of my frame, as it comes in to winter I'll give it a try though. I bought some reticulated foam from ebay for cheap (fish tank filter) so I'll fit that too as the SSDT guide also suggests. The cover did help keep out the big debris for me - leaves and such. On my previous Sherco I fitted strong magnets to the rear guard - that worked a treat. When the guard got pulled off it simply re-attached itself automatically, half the time I never even really knew it had come off. I tried an industrial velcro on the Beta but that was a complete fail. I haven't worked out how to squeeze magnets into the Beta so I keep using cable ties. The other somewhat related mod I've done was to the rubbish front mudguard integral brace. Once it inevitably started to fail I cut the black plastic brace out and made an aluminium brace. I've drawings for that if it's of interest. I've got a basic press brake, but it could be bent in a vice easily enough.

Thanks. Hopefully it's as simple as the new pads I've fitted - haven't ridden it yet, but in the shed they definitely feel better. If not I'll look at the master cylinder kit.

I haven't looked at this issue yet, it just surfaced today so it could be an obvious fix. When I squeeze the front brake I find I squeeze a little and nothing really happens, then suddenly it goes "click" (no idea if it's audible, just what it feels like) and the brake comes on. From there on it's quite normal and works fine. Release the brake, squeeze again and same thing. Maybe sticky caliper pistons? Or master cylinder piston? Or in the pushrod or lever pivot maybe? Perhaps even the disk not floating properly? Anyone else experienced this and have any solutions before I start pulling things apart. On another note the back brake heated up on a long descent the other day and the fluid must have expanded and wasn't getting back past the M/C so the brake started to bind. Odd because it's never done so before and I've not changed anything. I loosened off the pedal stop, but it was barely hitting the stop so I'm not convinced that's the issue. The pedal return spring doesn't pull the pedal up any further now anyway, although the pedal is certainly free to move - spring is fully collapsed. Maybe tweaking the piston rod? Cheers. EDIT: I took a look this morning and decided the front pads were a bit thin so replaced them and that seems to have fixed it. The old ones weren't as thin as I used to let the pads on my GasGas get, but perhaps the Grimeca are more sensitive - or perhaps it's a built in indicator?

I'm another who buys M6 x 16 from ebay - they are rubbish screws but that's actually an advantage in this situation. 20mm might be better as the 16's often strip and pull out too easily - I'll buy them next time. For the airbox cover I just use a button head to hold the filter in place. I heated and pushed the bottom of the cover nipple (where the bolt usually seats) up a little so it sits down properly now there's a bolt under it. Then used Bear or Norton or somesuch Weather Proof clear tape to tape the airbox cover to the guard. At the back I use thin zip ties - just pre-bend the tip of the right hand one so it feeds through OK. I keep 4 spares tucked in the handlebar cables because they do break easily - sometimes I bust one just kicking the guard as I inelegantly mount or dismount, but I'd prefer that little nuisance than buying a new guard! I also trimmed the hook under the guard - probably could have just reduced it rather than trim it almost right back. Ended up sort of re-creating it with some good duct tape to keep a good seal. Now the whole guard and airbox cover come off as one piece. I've snapped innumerable zip ties and lost or broken perhaps 8 or so plastic bolts, but the guard is just like new. I also made a filter cover out of an old acetate binder cover - rough copy of one you can buy aftermarket for $$ - keeps some of the bigger debris and water out of the filter.

I really can't comment on the EM with any authority as I've never ridden one and only seen one older one in the flesh. However I am in the midst of designing and building my own lightweight electric trials bike and have been learning a lot about electric bikes generally. The older EM's used a very common Kelly controller that should be pretty simple to alter settings to whatever you want. There's a limit to what these generic controllers can control, the big one in my mind being exactly what micm mentions - there's really no useful way to prevent the motor accelerating if the wheel loses grip with any throttle at all on. The contoller basically controls torque, so if load is less than torque, the motor spins up until load equals torque, or max rpm is reached. Not great in mud I expect. There's another controller mode, Speed mode, where the throttle signals a desired RPM, not a desired torque. These seem to be pretty brutal on a bike as they effectively give full power until the requested RPM is achieved, then back off to hold it there. The Kelly controllers (and a few others) do have a hybrid Torque/Speed mode where the throttle setting calls for a particular speed, but how far the throttle has been moved determines the torque that's delivered to get there. This might be a better mode in poor traction, but from what I've read it doesn't really feel natural or smooth for anyone coming off petrol bikes. A few people use it, but most seem to end up on torque mode. It might be worth a try for really slippery conditions. I don't know if the Kelly lets you change control modes on the fly, or just the settings within the current control mode. I can't recall which controller the Pure series use, I believe they changed to a different brand, but still pretty generic. It certainly can also be altered in a myriad of ways to get the response you want, within it's limits. Currently I don't believe there is a production controller available that can replicate what our flywheels do - particularly that you can get some momentum up, cut the throttle and let the flywheel carry the bike - the key with that, as we all know, is that the back wheel can't break loose and spin up, it's always slowing down so is much more likely to retain or recover grip. The Race with it's "real" clutch and adjustable flywheel has got to be a vastly different beast to the older ones with the pseudo clutch and less significant flywheel. Sadly they're well out of my budget so hi-ho it's DIY we go. My build is based around a dual suspension Fat Bike MTB with a KX65 clutch grafted onto the electric motor, and a flywheel fitted inside the motor housing. Lots to do before it sees the light of day! I'd really like to find out more about how the Race is constructed - is the clutch on the motor shaft or a jackshaft? Which controller do they use? How heavy and large is the flywheel? how heavy are the adjustment weights (I'm guessing they have weights as the advertising mentions adjutable flywheel or some such).

Well that all sounds like it'll still be feeling pretty good for more hours than I anticipated - touch wood. 25-30 events a year! I'm lucky to get to 2 or 3. But then I practice whenever I can, even if only for 15-20 minutes (I have a little park setup a couple of hundred meters from the house, and I certainly need the practice). I always use a lanyard switch - cheap assurance against jamming the throttle. The bike's had it's "lockdown service", now I'm deep into the tractor. Definitely prefer working on the bike! I'm also working away on putting together an electric Fat-E trials bike (dual suspension fat bike with electric drive) - it's turning into a more complex project than I'd anticipated due to shoe-horning a wet-plate clutch onto the motor!

I'll keep clear of the "who's doing it best" discussion, or "what's appropriate activity". My main concern as it relates directly to trials is that with Italy and Spain being hit so hard what's going to happen to all the manufacturers? Dealers are obviously in the firing line too, but, ignoring the personal calamities that might occur, dealerships are far more agile than manufacturers. The names, faces and knowledge may change, but if there's a manufacturer then there will be someone ready to deal them. I've little doubt that new bike sales are going to take a hit. Probably used bikes too I'm guessing. That's not going to help the manufacturers get back on their feet. Could make for some good deals on NOS bikes though ? Torrot is a decent size company, so I expect Spain will help them stay afloat if needed, but GasGas trials can't be a huge money spinner or employer so could they be part of a paring down / cost cutting? Sherco / Scorpa - small manufacturer, who knows what support they might need or get. Beta - ?? no idea really. I'd guess they'd be in line for government support if needed, but that queue's going to be a long one. Electric Motion - again, no idea. Small company, maybe that's good, maybe it's bad. At least they are dominant in their own category. JGas - From the number I see around the place it amazes me they're still in business anyway. No clue what their situation is, perhaps e-bicycles will keep them afloat. If they do survive then perhaps they'll be in a good place to move into the E-Trials era I've no doubt is coming. Only time will tell, and undoubtedly each country will be doing it's best to try to retain any and all industries, and presumably export businesses will be particularly precious. I'm certainly not going out panic buying parts for my bike, but it does concern me which manufacturers are going to come out of this, at least in the shorter term. Perhaps we'll all be on Japanese built Honda and maybe Yamaha in a few years? No doubt they'll all be electric anyway. Perhaps that's the silver lining for trials, this shake up might accelerate the move to E-Trials.

Thanks all. Roughly how many hours is "4-5 years" in your picture Lineaway? I've been averaging just 12 hours a month since having this bike - got it in winter when skiing consumes our family, then bushfires put paid to most of January, thumb injury cancelled much of Feb/March, now Corona ... At this rate I'll get a very long time out of it!

I've got a 2017 Evo 300 that I've put around 80 hours on so far. So still "new" as far as I'm concerned. I'm definitely not a serious competitor, far from it. But I do enjoy having a bike that feels nice and crisp as this one presently does. Generally I've been fairly impressed with what I've seen of the Beta build - except the rubbish front mudguard design and perhaps marginal choice of rear guard plastic/design. They seem to have a reasonably sensible "it it's not broken, don't fix it" attitude. Atypical for most Italian manufacturers! Oil gets changed every 10 hours or so, forks get new oil regularly (on their third change), linkages serviced twice so far, impeller checked, coolant changed, steering bearings re-greased, wheel bearings replaced (rear) & greased (front).... in short I try to treat it well. My past couple of bikes have been through several owners before I got them, and were considerably older with unknown hours on them. I found that although it wasn't too bad, they did get to the point that I was having to do a fair bit of replacement and maintenance of non-regular service parts, and some things were just not feasible to replace (forks and rear shock being big ones). Other things became a PITA (GasGas gearbox jammed requiring full split to correct). So my question is: How many hours do people expect from a reasonably well serviced EVO before the service time and costs start to escalate or simply become uneconomic in order to keep the bike performing relatively "as-new"? I know it's a "how long's a piece of string" type question, but I'm guessing there are a number of people on here who've had several EVO's and have a bit of a feel for when they reckon it's time to move them on. I love the service chart saying it's new rings, piston & reeds at 80 hours. And con-rod and main bearings at 120. I might come at rings and a gander at the piston. Water pump parts every 80 hours - that's maybe a bit more likely. My gut feeling is that maybe 200-250 odd hours might be about the mark? Still plenty of life left, but maybe starting to get a bit tired in some of the expensive/big-job bits?

I'm wondering if anyone can tell me how the ePure (particularly the Race, but they look to share the same structure) clutch and primary reduction is laid out? From the pics I can find it looks as if the clutch is on the motor output shaft, before the reduction? Is it a wet clutch? If it's wet then it would be interesting to see how they've dealt with input and output from the clutch. Is the primary reduction still belt? And they talk about adjustable flywheel - do they have a flywheel in there somewhere now, or weights that go on the clutch or motor? They certainly look like they've stepped up a level with the Race.

I had a 40 year lay-off from trials bikes (all motorbikes actually) and was no great shakes back then either. I then got back into it 2 years ago. Now a few years off 60. Started on a '07 250 GasGas, then a '13 290 Sherco and now a '17 Beta 300. I ride C grade (one up from Clubman in Oz), thinking I might have a dabble at B grade and see if I can not embarrass myself too much. I suppose I'd describe myself as always willing to challenge my abilities, but with a solid aversion to hurting myself. Moving from the 250 to the 290 was noticeable but not much of a step. I found it easier to ride a lot of things because it lugged at low revs a bit better when I got it wrong. Moving to the 300 was way more noticeable. I was a bit nervous moving to a 300 and wondered if it was a sensible move, but as you say there's a lot of good deals to be found in that category. It feels like it's got almost the same acceleration from stall as it has when it's singing. Grabbing a handful of throttle close to stall and it would take off. I'm not sure I've used full throttle for more than a second or two in the past 60 hours on it, and that would have been on open fire-road climbs purely to see what it felt like! Definitely earned my respect! That said ... After say 10-20 hours on it I came to love that low down torque. It's just so forgiving of rolling off the throttle a bit early or being too cautious to hit something a bit harder, I can chug it along and when I twist the throttle it just picks up and responds, no fuss or bother. It's almost stall proof! I rarely use first gear, it's lower than either of the other two bikes - good for tight turny sections only - I can't imagine gearing it any lower! I know some people gear the Beta lower, then completely forget 1st and use 2nd and up. I find stock 2nd good for just about anything with a bit of clutch. Starting takes a definite jump on the lever (I'm 70kg), but my bike starts and idles first kick, no choke, no throttle every time so it's not a big deal. As was said, someone at my level doesn't need a 300, but I'd have to say that it feels a bit like cheating riding it, and I'm happy to rely on superior machinery to make up for inferior skills. So my thoughts are: It's definitely got a lot more "scare" bottled up inside than a smaller bike when things go bad. However if you're reasonably decent with the clutch then there's a pretty reliable get-out-of-gaol card. If you can get comfortable with the 300 then it actually makes riding easier I reckon - it feels to me that you need more skill to make a smaller bike really work. I also know (and can well understand it) that for some people the power of a 300 is simply a handicap - it can be scary how quick it accelerates, but for me once I got used to that and got some confidence that I could grab a handful of clutch and everything settled down, then that extra low down torque just makes everything easier. I've still got both the GasGas & the Sherco but when I hop on them now they feel harder to ride than the Beta. Everyone tends to suggest having a ride on one, but my experience is mixed about that - a 15 minute ride left me thinking, "Wow, that thing can bite", but after a some hours I became quite comfortable (it seemed too good a deal to pass up at the time, so I got it despite that first experience). If you can get a good deal I'd say go for it, but if it doesn't feel right after a good few hours on it, sell it on and get something else, I can't imagine really liking it with a heavy flywheel or a slow throttle.

The current disadvantage is that you have to ride wearing a P2 dust mask to keep out some of the smoke. Of course that's if you're not preparing for, defending from or running away from the fires themselves. Or been burnt out.

I have an Airoh TRR that I've used the past couple of years. The linings are easily removable and washable (I put mine in a mesh washing bag and throw it in the machine - maybe 4 machine washes and a couple of hand washes and no sign of damage) The vents work, although in our hot weather (Australia) it's still pretty warm. I can feel the air move when travelling at a bit of speed, but at section speeds I'm not sure I can notice it. I'm confident they do help in some way though. They come with clip on vent covers for wet/cold weather. I've not had any major crashes - a few minor bumps that would certainly have hurt without it. It does seem to be durable and decent quality. I measure 58cm and have an M 57-58 helmet. It's OK. Mine was a little tight new so I removed the ear pads for the first few weeks. Once it had settled in I could replace the pads and re-routed the chin strap to between the pad and the shell and all is well. I'm not sure if the next size up would feel a bit loose or not, possibly I think. Tricky decision. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them. Nice and light, fit my head shape quite well. They do seem to be a little on the small side on their sizing. If I could change anything it would be to add more vents like an MTB hemet, but I can't see any helmet passing the motorcycle helmet standards with that amount of venting. I am starting to wear a MTB helmet for practice at home in hot weather - much more pleasant. I suspect a full face MTB helmet would actually provide better protection for much of my trials riding than an open MC helmet, as well as being lighter & cooler. No idea if/what the difference between a TRR and TRR_S is.

The silly moulded plastic brace part of my '17 Beta front mudguard completely failed recently. Deciding it was faster to self-repair rather than get parts in, I designed a 3mm sheet aluminium brace to go into the existing Beta guard. It took 3 revisions to get it close enough to right, but seems good now. I neglected to take photos of the part before mounting it, so here are some mounted. I used a Dremel to cut out the remnants of the plastic brace (I was unimpressed how thin the plastic was at the joint to the white guard). Took a bit of adjustment of the design to get the angles correct so the back of the guard clears the exhaust/radiator correctly. I can upload a PDF of the flat pattern and bend angles if anyone is interested - it's on my other PC. If I did another I'd add a little metal to keep the brake hose a bit closer to the fork - minor but would be an improvement. I'd also use just two M4 bolts to mount the guard - the 3 x M5 was a hangover from my first version brace, still need to get some button head screws to improve appearances. All in all a very simple part to make.

I'm cautiously optimistic that my guards are loose enough that they would just rotate in that sort of crash, much as it sounds your levers did. I dropped the bike awkwardly yesterday and lever and guard both rotated way down with no damage. I suspect the guards did no good, but they did no harm either.

That's interesting. I went to a Sherco 290 from a GasGas 250 - I didn't find it a big step at all and certainly never considered trying to "tame" it. When I went to a Beta 300 from the Sherco the 300 definitely inspired considerable respect! A far bigger jump than 250 to 290. After a couple of weeks I came to terms with the 300, but certainly still give it a healthy level of respect!

I run full loop style bark busters (chinese copies off ebay) with all the extra plastic cut off so they are just a thin strip (nicely colour coordinated of course) ?. They don't look too bad IMHO. I tend to have a go at things I'm not sure I can achieve, so do throw the bike away a bit. After busting a couple of levers (well in on the bars and loose enough to rotate easily with one hand) I went to guards. Haven't broken or bent a lever since. Also haven't had a single instance of the throttle getting stuck open from the grip augering into the ground. Possibly there's an increased risk of broken wrists, but I spent a fair bit of time looking for actual reports of them before going down this path and there weren't that many in the scheme of things, and certainly many more of people with smashed fingers without guards. All these where from reasonably high speed crashes from what I could see. I've had a few tree impacts (riding trials, not trail riding or singletrack) where the guards have saved me from more pain. Wrists are definitely a significant consideration, but I'm not convinced it's any more likely than the potential injury from the end of a lever itself (I've taken a rider to hospital after the end of a lever (complete with ball end) pierced her thigh down to the femur - surgery and several days in hospital). The thought of bilateral fractured wrists is not a nice one, but I'm not convinced the guards actually present such a big increase to that compared to just launching yourself into the ground off a motorbike. Maybe I'll decide otherwise in future. To each their own assessment. I set my guards so they are fairly tight, but I can still rotate them with a good firm pull. They sit slightly below the level of the levers so they're as far out of the way as I can get whilst still protecting the levers. My theory is that in at least some situations they should rotate on the bars before my wrist breaks if it does go through the loop. Plenty of chance for that not to work, but it's a degree of safety. Certainly in the roughly 150 hours of riding I've done with them on I've never felt I've come close to getting caught in them. This includes plenty of loop-outs over the back, some pretty ugly over-the-bars and all the general offs in trials. I've snapped one guard in a crash - I'd be surprised if the lever would have survived the impact without it - I think that was a particularly poor quality chinese guard. Cost was similar for a new set of guards or a new lever. I've had numerous crashes where I was well convinced the guards had saved my levers. The other guards (we've currently got 3 trials bikes here with them on) are bent but not broken. I reckon I'm financially well ahead. Personally I can't tell the difference in the steering with or without, possibly just because I'm old, if not fat ?‍??

One that came to me after a lot of very mediocre attempts and watching lots of video is the clutch timing for Zaps. I used to think the clutch came out as you started the "jump" movement up and forward, I never got much pop. It finally clicked that there are two parts to the "jump" movement - forward, then up in an L shape and that the clutch timing coincides with the up. Letting the clutch out later, as the "up" begins, made a huge difference to the lift I get. I now think of it as a four step process: pop front wheel up toward obstacle compress/drop down & back, and at the same time twist the throttle. Somewhere around 2 & 3 the front wheel contacts the obstacle. pull your hips/body forward to get yourself moving toward where the bike is shortly going to go. Hold the clutch in through this step. start jumping up, drop the clutch and close the throttle. I'm still working on getting myself to really extend up and let the bars come back to my hips, but I think that's the next step in the progression.

I had ridden my new (to me) 2017 Evo about half an hour before I put the first (very small) crack in the rear fender from a relatively minor off - and that was with my modifications which undoubtedly saved it from worse. So I'm not overly convinced they are quite onto the right plastic formulation/design. My long experience as a professional skier has also taught me that it's the intermediate level people who cause the most damage to equipment and self - they have the skills to get into trouble, but not the skills to do so gracefully! I suspect it's the same in trials. Someone like me is probably far more likely to "test" durability than someone like you @lineaway ? And I try to ride every day, with about 50% success rate I guess. I'll strive to do better!

I like the velcro concept. 3M do a "Dual Lock" velcro - both sides are mushroom top stiff fibres, it's a bit more positive than normal velcro. Sells as Scotch brand Extreme Fastener on hardware stores here in Oz. I might give that a try. VELCRO EDIT: I got hold of some Dual Lock and tried it on the guard - fail. Despite this stuff being much more secure than regular velcro it was still a long way from strong enough. There's a fair bit of leverage at the back of the guard, I could pop it off with one finger. I modified my duct tape mudguard "lip" yesterday after reading some of the comments here, made it a lot more of a hook like the original, with some tags to enable me to pull it over the back of the airbox. Looks like it should work pretty well to keep muck out, but also let the guard unclip easily. - although it seems the clear filter cover is doing it's job pretty well anyway, Now just waiting for some reticulated foam (aquarium filter foam was the cheapest I can find) to seal off the front end of the filter box as per the SSDT prep doc. Next in line will be a GasGas fork brace to replace the silly fractured integral plastic Beta one. Plastic is obviously a new and unfamiliar material in Italy!

I did a similar modification to @Sir Real Ed I found I could use the regular rear mounting holes for the cable ties if I trimmed a little of the sealing foam from below the RH hole, put a kink in the tip of the tie and it feeds through easily. It's a bit hard to see in Ed's photo if you've trimmed the whole hook section (pic below), or just the ends? It looked to me like the hook would hold on too tight, so I trimmed the hook section pretty much right off and put on a Gorilla tape flap to stop muck flicking past. I also made a rough copy of the Trick Bits clear airfilter cover out of an old folder cover to keep a bit more dirt out of the filter if/when it does get past. I did away with the airbox lid screw and just use clear tape to hold it on. I heated the bottom of the screw hole so I could form a dome in the plastic to fit over the bolt head below - if I ever want to use the original bolts again I can. Although this has saved the guard at least once already (fell sideways onto a log, broke both cable ties, sent the airbox lid flying, and twisted the guard way out of shape), I still think the front bolts are a bit too secure - I've ordered M6 x 12 pan head nylon screws through Ebay, hopefully if things go really pear shaped the entire guard will come off before it breaks. My next step is to work out how to make magnetic catches for it. I made some of these for my Sherco and they worked really well. When the guard gets pulled off it automatically reattaches itself as soon as the pressure is released, nothing breaks, nothing to carry or replace. It's nice not having a floppy guard, but I'd rather more flexibility and less fragility!

Thanks everyone. Sounds like I might just leave it for now, see how it all goes and maybe fit one if/when the plastic impeller fails. Although it seems getting rid of the plastic one wouldn't be such a bad idea - it would be a complete pain to have that fail far from home or in the middle of an event.

Thanks. What sort of temperature was it? I ride up to around 100F After that I reckon it's too hot to bother riding. I've read one report where the poster said removing the radiator guard and using mesh dropped water temp appreciably - maybe that's the simpler solution if it does become an issue, just pop the louvres off before any long hard climbs.