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front or rear? Have you any experience with newer disc brake systems? (not a joke, the level of detail in the answer will depend on your answer). Jon

You might want to pull the springs and place them on a flat surface to see if one has "sacked". Since your bike is a 97', you may want to take the plates out of the clutch and inspect them as some of the fiber plates may have had the fiber detach from the steel plate. Nothing should fly out but you will want to mark the pressure plate next to one of the spring towers so you re-assemble it exactly as it came off. There is a mark on the pressure plate and one of the towers has a slot on the top of it as a standard marking. Most of do "snug" as to the torque setting, unless you have a wrench that reads very accurately in inch/pounds. The upward pressure of the spring against the bolt washer acts as a retaining device. Jon ps. If this is your first experience with hydraulic clutches, the major cause of drag is not allowing a little slack where the lever screw meets the plunger (where it goes through the boot) on the master cylinder. For riders familiar with cable clutches, it's counter intuitive to back off the plunger adjustment to get more throw of the M/C piston. They think that screwing the lever adjustment in more will give more throw to the piston, which it does not.

Well, crud. I bet some guy five bucks those were your nonsymmetric gravitational and scalar-tensor-vector gravity theories. I should have known....... Jon

Or, make yourself one of these like I did. It threads into the pivot shaft end to push it out or to pull it back in (the length makes it easy to align the end into the inside recess of the frame, which is where you are having trouble. The short one I carry in the trailer toolbox for emergency use in the field. The long one gets more use and is in the shop. Jon

Thats what I've found too. I've been quite surprized at how small a chip off the tooth face will produce the clicking sound described. My guess is that replacing th idler gear will solve the problem. I also think that slamming the kickstart will surface scrub the tooth face and narrows them over time. This will result in tooth clatter due to the speed-up, slow-down of the clutch assembly during normal, non-load operation (common to straight-cut gears). Jon

I'll have to agree with Wayne, this has been my 250/280/300 experience also. I ride a modified 280, but if I was going to buy a newer model, I'd opt for the 300. I like the 250 but would miss the extra oomph the 300 has in reserve for those special occassions when it comes in handy. I spend most of my time in the lower RPMs, where a well-tuned (that's the key) 300 is easy for me to handle and actually feels softer. Jon

I've seen Michael ride. No "de-tuning" necessary, the poor bike has enough trouble keeping up with him!...... Jon, needing all the de-tuning I can get...........

Undo the clip on the lowest hose and drain. It's tempting to take out the brass Torx bushing to drain the system but I would avoid that as there is a very thin thrust washer you will probably lose down into the impellor. Fill to the bottom of the radiator filler neck and if you overfill, don't worry, the system will dribble out some coolant from the overflow hose for a bit, just expect it. Use 50/50 mix of distilled water and "regular" auto anti-freeze (green, not the orange long-life newer type). Jon

Clutch on the left, brake on the right..... All kidding aside David, they sound like stock to me. I think some models had the Ti color and two notches forged into the lever near the ball end as a breakaway point. Jon

We are.............. Jon, not as old as the SSDT, but a lot older than the World Championship........

I took a look at the rear wheels on my Monos and could not see any off-set. The rim seems to be centered between the spoke lugs. The service manual does not specify any off-set that I could find. Jon

I heard that.........

I agree. Change it often for best results. Roller/needle bearings do not take kindly to dirty oil. A T-45 Torx bit will do the job with the drain plug. Cut about 5mm off the end of your Allen wrench, it's undoubtedly worn and will strip the new plug quickly. Jon

The 225 kit is also a good choice.

I'm guessing a 250 Pro would be a much better step. Jon

Iyengar is the type I'm in, my teacher uses it with other stretching exercises. Jon

Razorback, You've probably been on our website http://www.neott.com/ and we're on facebook also. The night Trial is a hoot and you'd have a lot of fun (the TV coverage link on the website gives an idea of what it's like and I'm the old geezer in the green Ute Cup shirt). Send me an e-mail stoodleyjon@gmail.com if you have any questions. If you go to the event, ask for Jon Stoodley and I'll get you set up and signed in. I help all the new riders and if they are first-timers, take them out personally the first few times and get then started on the right foot. We take good care of our riders... Concerning the medical issues, I'm 70 (and had spinal surgery) and still out riding whenever I can, in part because I've taken Yoga for 13 years (along with several other NEOTT members who are class champions), not the showy pretzel bending stuff taught by a triathelon-entering, 20-year old buff physical trainer that likes to "feel the burn", but a teacher that works on flexibility. It's the best activity I've found for Trials riding and although some riders will poo-poo the idea, it's kept me upright and on the pegs and still enjoying riding. Jon

Is the fork stuck at full extention or partially compressed? If partially compressed, the upper tube may be bent. If at extention, the bushings, or possibly the damper rod may be the problem. I'd try taking the base bolt out (it's at the bottom of the lower leg and then take the seal circlip out and use a little heat on the top of the lower leg to see if that eases it out. Jon

You can loosen all the fasteners on the exhaust system and then pull out on the tip of the final silences and tighten all fasteners. Sometimes using a couple of spacers (washers) to space the mid-muffler top tab out where it mounts to the upper shock bolt helps. Jon

Ben, 1) Measure the old gasket and add a little extra for material compression or use the thickest if not sure. 2) .6mm seems to work well, it's what I run with an NGK BPR5EIX. 3) 25 Nm. 4) Usually about 425cc's will do it. I like to keep the oil about 2/3rds up the window on the clutch sidecover. Change it often for best results. Jon

Yes it will. I'm currently in the process of putting 2011 wheels on my 2002 Pro, using the complete rear wheel (Ti color strapless rim and black turnbuckle spokes) and lacing the Ti colored front rim and black spokes to the early hub that fits the Gas Gas forks. Jon

Around 53cm (20.5in). The rear spindle is adjustable so the length will vary. Jon

Boyesen dual-stage reeds and race gas will also smooth out the low-rpm power delivery quite a bit. Jon

It sounds like you've covered the major things, I agree, you may have to go back and reverse engineer the assembly to see if theres a small issue somewhere. Those clutches were designed for the big-bore MX engine and they don't usually slip unless theres a problem. Good luck! Jon

T think there are alignment marks on the pressure plate and center hub, did you make sure they were together? Jon