jse

Hi-temp Silicone, be sure to let set overnight. When you put whole exhaust system together, don't tighten fasteners. When whole system installed, tighten from cylinder headpipe back to rear muffler. Jon

Drill out the lever threads and use a longer capscrew you can put a Nyloc nut on. This will get a better grip on the clamping part of the lever and not rely on the threads. I've seen some shift shafts that are worn away a little so that a stock lever will not grip correctly. Jon

Someone may have used it, for some reason, to pick up metal particles. Leave it out. I can't think of anyplace in the engine it goes. Jon

Seems quite a bit off, the VHST takes an even smaller main. Like I say, never assume a used bike you've bought has proper jetting (or has had any maintenance).... Jon

Jetting seems to be off: main should be probably a #118, pilot a #36 or #38 and try clip second groove from top. I don't remember any PHBL's with lower than a #35 pilot stock. May have been trying to compensate for the over rich main. I run a 116/38 combo in my 02' Pro but it has some mods. Jon

Lineway, Chris has a 2002 so the carb is undoubtedly a PHBL26. The VHST was only used on the 2003 Pro and is actually a pretty good carb (if you bought a new one) but I think they had a manufacturing defect/design in 03' that made them hard to tune. Hopefully he will post the jetting and we'll see if that's part of the problem. Cheers. Jon

Quite possibly. Another possibility is that the fuel screw (air screws usually don't do this due to their shape) has been bottomed out hard and formed a collar on the face of the taper and any accuracy in adjustment has been lost. This also happens a lot with tapered seat suspension adjusters (or they get snapped off). Jon

Chris, post what your jetting is so we can see if the problem lies there. Jon

Two things about the idle speed/fuel screw adjustment: Adjust the idle speed with the bike in gear and the clutch lever pulled back as you normally would ride (not back to the grip, but usually with one finger back to the knuckles). With the fuel screw, warm the engine up and in neutral, quickly blip the throttle from idle and adjust the fuel screw in/out to get the best response. It does not matter where the adjustment ends up, all engines are a little different under different weather conditions. Did you make a "jetting map" when you had the carb apart? That's all the jet sizes and needle clip adjustment. If your jetting is far off, you will never be able to compensate for it. Never assume a bike you bought has correct jetting. Jon

I run Boyesen's in all my bikes. I've found that it really makes power delivery smooth and easy to control under tough situations, like slippery off-cambers. I wanted to ask if you adjusted the fuel screw on your carb. It's not a static setting but for best results needs to be set for your carb and ambient conditions. Jon

To my knowledge, the 250 sidecase should fit. The 249, 270 and 321 all take the same cover according to the GasGas parts manual. Jon

The 10T will help. They did seem a little high geared and I run an 11/44 combo on mine. What jetting do you have in the carb? There are a lot of other things that may cause the symptoms, like old fuel, tattered reeds or worn rings etc. I also have a 2002 280 and it runs silky smooth. Jon

Jimmie, On fixing the fork tube "dings", I use superglue with good results. Just make sure the scrape is very clean and free of any oils. I have a short piece of 1/2" machined bar stock (very hard and very smooth and very level) that I wrap the 600 grit wet/dry around. Be sure to sand "around" the tube and not in one place so you don't get a flat spot. Jon

Is it "normal" that my seal and the bushing for the lower tube stayed inside their counterbore in that lower tube? They didn't come out with the upper tube, as the video showed for the '07 & earlier forks. My upper tube simply pulled right out with only it's bushing; no "slide hammer" action needed to get the forks apart like was necessary on other forks I've worked on. Kinda like the old damper rod forks, ya know? Theoretically then, all that holds the upper & lower legs together would be the cartridge, essentially, by the allen bolt on the bottom by the axle, and the upper cartridge rod that screws into the fork cap? Added in EDIT: I can pull my upper tube out of the lower one with the seal, washer, clip. & even the dust seal intact. I read about this seal & bushing staying in the lower fork leg in another post/thread as well, so this isn't the only time this has come up. It doesn't seem right....... ***Not unusual. The pliable seal and dust cover will allow the tube bushing to slide through. I always use a little heat from a propane torch (a good heat gun will also work) on the upper part of the lower tube to break the bond the seal normally sets within the tube. It should come out easily. A propane torch is a regular tool of a good suspension tech. The compression-side cartridge is full of holes along its side, like most others I've seen are. This has also been another source of confusion for me, when combined with this post in that thread I linked to in my original post: Michael Martin, from 6/9/11: Remove cartridge from fork, disassemble cartridge, fill with fork fluid, reassemble cartridge, then put cartridge back in fork tube, then with fork and damping rod completely depressed set oil level 160mm from top of fork tube. Cycle damping rod to make sure no air is in cartridge and check oil level again. Pull up damping rod and insert spring and preload spacer, screw on fork cap. *** Mike's got it right (I know Mike and he knows his stuff). The problem with this design of Marzocchi forks is that, because of the internal valving, the cartridge does not completely bleed down so the oil must be set by level, not volume. It's a much more accurate measurement and a good suspension tuner will never use volume, only level. The trick is in the bleeding proceedure (it may take some time and make sure the cartridge below the oil level, which is why Mike says set oil level and then bleed cartridge of air) and remember, each cartridge will feel different: the "rebound" side will offer little resistance when the damper rod is pushed in and the compression damper rod will offer little resistance when the rod is pulled. I must not be understanding his intent. This would seem impossible to do, as fluid would leak out everywhere...... What worked best for me, in an "experiment" was to bolt the cartridge into the lower fork leg from the bottom (by the allen bolt/copper washer). Then, I filled the fork leg up with oil, and pumped/cycled the cartridge damper/"hydraulic" rod up & down a couple of inches, until the action smoothed out. Then, I slid the upper leg into the lower, and cycled both that upper leg & the cartridge/damper rod up & down separately & together. From there, a person would fill the thing up to the 160mm level, reassemble, and etc...... Is this "sound" logic? How do most of y'all do this? Is it necessary to pull the forks apart like this everytime you simply want to change oil? *** I always bleed the cartridge with the upper and lower tubes assembled and seals installed. You should bleed the oil covered cartridge full stroke, otherwise there will be trapped air in the upper part of the cartridge. Also, my owners manual shows my 160mm oil level dimension, with the fork tube compressed, and the damper rod "out". It also mentions to "Measure without the pier and the hydraulic rod extended", What's a "pier"?? The spring??? *** To my knowledge and experience, oil level is normally set with the upper tube collapsed into the lower tube and the damper rod pushed down into the cartridge. It would make a slight change in volume (over the rod pulled out) to compensate for the part of the rod that extends into the oil if the rod were pushed in. The problem may be in the Spanish-to-English translation as "Measure without the pier and the hydraulic rod extended" may also be taken as "without the pier and without the hydraulic rod extended" (I'm also guessing that "pier" is the spring). To confuse "pier" with "spring" brings up the possibility that sentence structure is also suspect. Jimmie, I think you have a Dirty Harry situation here, as in "how lucky do you feel?"....... Personally, I would collapse the rod down as the recommended oil level is really just a starting point for accurate tuning for weight and riding style. Incidentally, those cryptic directions are a recent addition to the bottom of the oil level chart, they are not in earlier Owner's Manuals. Jon

If you are going to work on forks a lot, you may consider making a bleeding tool. It's steel tubing with a nut welded on the end and a bleed hole drilled. It's threaded on the cartridge rod and allows you to easily pump the cartridge to work any air out. I made these tools that have various size nuts to fit a wide variety of forks. They also make assembly easy as you can pull the cartridge rod up after putting in the spring, washers and spacers. Jon

For the bearings (needs two)........MT280432039 Circlip spacer wire.........................MT280432139 Jon

I would think that the damage to the two strengthing ribs above clutch shaft in the case may have been caused by the wobbling clutch basket (caused by the loss of needles in the hub bearings). Jon

Yes, there are two caged needle bearings with a thin wire circlip separating them. When the bearings are excessively worn, the rollers will fall out. Perhaps several became detached when the clutch hub was installed and as they would fall underneath the clutch assembly, they would not be noticed. Jon

I look good falling down everywhere, Jimmie. I've done it so many times, I've developed it into an art form..... Jon

I was reportedly named after a relative, Jonathan Stoodley, born in Devonshire in 1738 and who later "crossed the pond". We apparently were a cranky bunch as another one, William, can be traced back to the original Tea Party in Boston (no, not the "Tea Party" we have here now). Jon

Family is from England and Steve Colley a favorite rider of mine. I know it's not the IOM symbol but close. The helmet was to match the JTR370 I was riding at the time. I can't ride for squat, but I look goooooood falling down...... Jon

Still riding the same 12-year old 280 Pro. It's still a better bike than I am a rider......... Jon

I'm assuming you had the bike laying on it's side? If not, you may have caught one or more of the "fingers" on the servo cylinder. Jon

When setting carbs, always use fresh premix in a drained/flushed tank. Just about all plastic gas cans are porous (why decals don't stay on them) and allow "high-end aromatics" to bleed off. Old fuel will mimic jetting problems so you want to eliminate that as a variable. Jon

You can use fine copper wire (like from an old extention cord) to carefully clean the jets as it's softer than brass and should not damage the orifice. Copper tubing is also good for scraping burned stuff off chrome exhaust pipes for the same reason. Jon