jse

It is a pretty silly sport. We seek out places to ride that every one else wants to avoid at all costs..... Send me a Personal Message and I'll make sure you get some good info on Trials. Jon

I use a standoff made from a ziptye and a short length of fuel line. Two standoffs on the lower leg keeps the hose straight and reduces friction in the cable guide. I got this idea when I needed to secure wiring on racing quads for stadium events. For the fork leg I use a short piece (say 8-10mm) of clear line. Simple and effective. The photo of the line/cable is just so you get the idea of how it works. Jon

Mark, of course, was there and almost won the event! I think he dropped one point that put him out of contention but he is riding as well as ever (and still one of the nicest guys you will ever meet). You need to come down and bring your son, I bet he'd really enjoy it. I'm also doing a set of DVDs for Mark on the events he rode (Nationals, WTC and TDN). Jon

Well, I thought I'd throw something up regarding the Ute Cup in Colorado last weekend. A wonderful event in the beautiful San Isabel Mountains and the RMTA people did a fantastic job, as usual. 20+ mile loops and 20 sections per loop (2 loops per day) and the weather was very cooperative. The sections were rideable by a good Intermediate (I would have ridden all the sections I saw with no problem) and several riders came in with clean cards. I checked sections with Ed Peacock each day and we saw many smiles on the riders faces who came through. Everybody had a good time and I'm really looking forward to the 2011 Ute Cup at Del Norte next year! The altitude was 8400 at the sign-up to a little over 11,000 ft at the top sections and we had several new riders show up from all over the U.S. MATT's Jason Carpenter won the overall based on a great ride and age-old guys rule, well at least in this case.... Jon ps. Myself and a lot of others sure miss Allen Guyot, it was tough not seeing his smiling face there this year.

I, for one, have not made that conversion and don't know anyone who has. I figured that you already had the answer when you called GGUK. You're welcome. Jon

I'm assuming the scratch is on the travel area of the seal which resulted in a leaking seal. For a non-cosmetic but possibly a functional fix in the meantime you could try filling in the scratch with superglue and the use a piece of 600 grit wet/dry sandpaper on a piece of bar stock (or any piece of smooth machined steel) to carefully sand the scratch smooth so it won't cut the seal lip. Don't sand just on the scratch in one area or you'll have a flat spot but sand in an around-the-tube motion. You won't have the pretty coating on the sanded area but you can turn the tube to move the spot around to the back. Don't over sand, just enough to smooth over the raised ridge on either side of the cut. Jon

It's not the "power" (as in horsepower) as much as the torque produced by the 300, which is actually just a few cc's larger in capacity than the 280 (294 vs 272 cc's). The 300 produces torque lower in the RPM range and is not as quick-reving to a degree than the 280 (heavier piston and other minor differences) which makes it a little easier to ride with less throttle input necessary to overcome obstacles. I had one of the few JTR370's imported into the US in 1996 and found, even with the PWK28 Keihin I put on it, easier to ride than the JTR270 in most instances. The 370 was a 338cc, high compression gentle giant that would grunt up sections that other riders had to spin their engines to get through. So, most of the time it was an easier bike to ride, for me anyway. Jon

Ambassador? We need this guy in our Congress......... Jon

"It has Yamaha's 125cc four-stroke engine which has been modified for the fitting of an electric starter for beginners and ladies. " I ride like a beginner lady, maybe they can fit an electric starter to my 280 Pro for me...... Jon

It is a pretty neat looking entry-level bike. A Yamaha 4T engine and electric start as I remember. Jon

Me too. That's the first stator for that model I've heard of going out so I don't think it's a common problem from my experience. Hopefully you won't need more than one Woodruff key. After you run the engine through a few rides, re-torque the flywheel bolt (and a little blue Loctite on the threads) and you shouldn't have any further problems. I like to check the stator area once a year and spray a little WD40 in that area before re-installing the flywheel. Jon

Just to add a couple of points to the discussion for the less experienced: A good way to check the headstock bearings is to put the bike up on the skidplate and grab the lower part of the upper frame tubes (just above the seals) and push/pull forward and backward. Any play will be easily felt. Some riders will lock the front brake and rock the bike forward/backward and mistake the clicking sound of the brake pads moving in the caliper and/or, in the case of a "floating" brake disc, the disc moving in the mounting washers as loose bearings. It's a good idea to replace the sealing o-rings in the headstock now and then, especially if the upper bearing has been loose, which will cause abnormal wear on the upper o-ring andf allow moisture and dirt coming over the headlight/numberplate to get into the bearing area. When setting the tension (adjusting the steering stem threaded collar on top of the upper bearing and then tightening down the nut on top of the upper fork clamp, also sometimes called a "triple tree" or "triple clamp") expect to spend a little time getting it right. You'll want a just barely felt drag when rotating the bars but no looseness when checking the bearings by moving the upper fork tubes. Jon

I was just pulling your leg, no offense intended. The standard housing is made to pull just one way and it would have to be designed to have the cam-stop on the opposite side. I wonder how many lefties would like this, maybe a lot. I know they have stores devoted to everything left handed, like sissors and can openers, why not a throttle housing? I agree, the rest of the controls should be easy to switch over. My youngest son is left-handed and rides bikes a lot, I'll ask him what he thinks. Jon

It's amazing how font size has an emotional effect on reading one's post. I would think you would need a new throttle housing to pull the opposite way, in addition to a new tube/cam assembly. Another possible advantage is that it would be difficult for somebody to ride off on your bike, thou it would be fun to watch them try.... Jon

Lower than standard finger height in the clutch can cause a harder pull, but you stated this was a recent change so I'm guessing it is more related to something like the o-rings swelling in the servo cylinder. I'm assuming that the trans oil was changed at regular intervals. If you are going to check the o-rings/seal in the servo cylinder, while you have the servo cylinder apart, you might consider flushing the system and converting to DOT-5 (Silicone), which has better lubricity and will give a smoother clutch action. Check the finger height first before taking anything else apart as that is the simple thing to start with and will eliminate that as a possible cause. Jon

Standard settings for the 05' Raga (sea level) are: MAIN: 122 PILOT: 45 (48 OK) NEEDLE: JJH (CENTER OF FIVE POSITIONS) SLIDE: 3.5 AIRSCREW: 2.5 TURNS OUT FLOAT HEIGHT: ARMS IN LEVEL PLANE WITH FLOAT BOWL BASE (PARALLEL) Other riders have found a slight change to these settings help fine-tune the bike to their riding area and skill level so you could do a TC search and get some additional data there. Usually pinking on initial throttle opening can be cured with raising the needle and/or a slightly richer pilot, then setting the air screw to get the best response when the throttle is quickly opened from idle (there is no universal, "perfect" air/fuel screw setting and each engine is a little different). Jon

Daz, Everything else being equal, a shorter headpipe tends to favor torque production in a higher RPM range than a longer headpipe. Jon

With an 2010 model, unless you've run into an unusual problem with oiling the packing, my guess is that it is not necessary at this time. On average, I would say once a year would be good and a lot sooner than most of us re-pack our silencers. It's a pretty straight forward job. I like to get the packing fairly tight if it's standard type but I usually use SilentSport packing as it's easier to use and actually it works better if not packed too tight. I use a little clear Silicone sealer on the rear cap and aluminum rivits rather than steel, which tend to elongate the holes. Wirebrush the perforated core to get the holes clear and try to remember where the end of the core meets the end cap so it's aligned when it's time to install the cap. Jon

I have an Expert-rated friend who has run a thumb throttle (old Kawasaki 220 four-wheeler type I think) as long as he has ridden Trials. He has one on his new Pro. I rode his bikes and it allows a good grip on the bars in the straightaway stuff, but I found it very uncomfortable when I had to move about in the tight stuff. My wrist was at a weird angle when leaning off and it was difficult to use the throttle smoothly. He has no problem with it, but that's all he's ever used since coming into Trials from quads. The racing four-wheeler Quads I've built for the Pro's has almost exclusively used twist throttles rather than thumb throttles as it makes it easier to move forward on full-lock in tight turns and modulate the throttle. I imagine it's personal preference but I doubt thumb throttles will catch on. Imagine the wrist angle a WTC rider would need to go up the front fender kissing walls they have to climb. As yet, the thumb throttle housings must be stationary so you can't re-position your grip needed from downhill drop/slide to straight up wall climb. Jon

I'm sure I don't really understand the cultural depth of the material you guys are discussing now, but for some reason I am very, very fearful of going to sleep tonight........ Jon

Wayne, It's personal preference but I imagine most of us are modulating the throttle so the engine is less likely to stall. Jon

What is the measurement of your clutch pack? Jon

Try them both, buy what feels best. If you're like the rest of us, you'll find that either bike is better than you are a rider. Jon

40-42 Nm is the factory recommendation. Jon