Stuckagain

Recently acquired 2006 Sherco 290: is the choke on or off with the lever up? Starts, idles and runs choke lever up or down.

Yes, I know - there's other trails on here about plugs, but not quite specific enough for me. Not sure my bike is running as it should - 1993 Beta Zero Gara 260. It didn't have a standard spec plug in it when I got it. I put the recommended standard one in - B8ES - thinking I was doing the right thing, but it feels like it's running hot and/or weak, and idle eventually fades when I'm getting stuck in up at Inch Perfect. Riding it when I first got it it did idle no problem with a Champion RN7YCC in it, and didn't feel like it was getting hot - fan rarely kicked in. But is that plug much different from the B8ES? The Champion has a far bigger electrode. Should I change back from the NGK B8ES to that plug, or another plug? If so which one? And should I be running it on super-unleaded...? Plug is a teeny bit dark after running it around in sea-level Cheshire, and doesn't feel like it's running weak. Do I need to tweak the mixture screw and/or change the plug when I'm 1500 feet up in the Lancashire hills?

Or got any spokes...?

I need a couple of spokes for the 18" rear wheel on my 1993 Beta Zero Gara. The wheel is an Akront. The Beta specialist I've been in touch with has sent me spokes, but they're too long. Anybody got any suggestions?

My 1993 Beta is now getting nicely sorted after fitting a new CDI and stator. Mixture can still be a bit tricky to get right, though, sometimes requiring a little tweak after a couple of hours non-stop. Somebody suggested that it might not be running quite right because there's no packing in the silencer, silencer being subjective because it's definitely not silencing much. Any observations, anybody?

Much appreciated.

Just heard back from the chap fixing mine. It's the CDI. Now we're both trying to find one. Anybody got any ideas? '93 Beta Zero Gara.

Probably my dumbest question yet, but big-bore two-stroke Beta Zero with short left-hand-side kick-starter doesn't make for easy firing up. 1) Are there longer kick start levers available? 2) If so, does it make them easier to start? Or do i just carry around a folding step ladder?

Thanks guys. It seems I'm one of the few people on the planet who thinks Beta and then automatically thinks stator failure. Took it to my normal bike fixer and I didn't even get to the end of the sentence before he'd told me what it most likely was.

'93 Beta Zero Gara. Now, bear in mind I'm otherwise a Yamaha puller-apart-er, but a Beta novice. Completely unfamiliar with Betas, and new to trials riding. I'm planning to pay-and-play with mine. Was riding it round our field, running fine, stopped, left it for a few minutes and tried to re-start it. Nada. Checked and filled with fuel. Nope. Eventually skinned all my knuckles changing the plug. Kicked it over with plug resting on crankcase before putting it back: no spark. What could the problem be? Coil? If so, anybody got a part number or know where I can get one in the UK or Europe? Otherwise what else could it be? And can anybody recommend a Beta fettler in the North West of England just in case?

Still getting to know my 1993 Beta Gara... The fuel tap, carefully designed to be positioned as inaccessibly as possible, now horizontal is off, vertical is on, but slightly over centre...? Is that reserve...? Or just a broken fuel tap?

Hi, thanks for that: useful. I'm building an understanding from all this that simply doesn't seem to be available in one place online. After checking and air blasting the innards, then tightening up the fourth screw on the float bowl, there's no leakage at all. Not even if I leave it with the tap turned on. Seems to run the same now as before, but without the petrol smell. I'm not likely to give it a hard time: it's my first trials bike since the 1970s (a TL150) and I'll probably be doing mainly pay & play stuff. I'll be running it on super-unleaded, as I do with a couple of my other old (non-trials) bikes. No signs of overheating. I've been trundling it mainly around the far reaches of my garden. I've not noticed the fan kicking in at any point, but previous owner swears it works. Changed transmission fluid and the old stuff didn't look that old. Putoline Nano went in, and it hasn't so far dragged at any point, although the test will be when I get it fired up tomorrow after three days sitting in the garage. The bike, not me. I saved three days sitting in the garage for my 71 Honda 250. Input much appreciated. Cheers.

OK, two big wins today. I'm only an occasional mechanic - and the Beta certainly doesn't have the sort of no-nonsense accessibility my old Yamahas have - but I now have a bike which doesn't have clutch drag from start up after I drained and refilled it with Putoline Nano tech transmission oil, and the carb is no longer leaking. After eventually wrestling the Mikuni out I discovered one of the float bowl screws was finger tight. There was a teeny bit of gunk in the bowl and around the carb which I blasted away with compressed air, but now it doesn't even leak after ten minutes standing with the fuel tap left off. All I need to do now is build up my left leg muscle: it's like trying to kick start a 1958 BSA.

Right, it looks like the leak is from the joint between float bowl and carb body. Gasket I presume. Of course, I can't get hold of any parts people at this time on a Sunday, so does anybody know if the VM26-208 float bowl gasket is the same as other VM26 gaskets?

I've cleaned a rebuilt the carb on my 1972 Yamaha DT250 about 500 times. I can't imagine the Gara carb can be any more complicated...? Or can it...?

Just getting to know my 1993 Gara, my first trials bike. Doesn't seem to take much to provoke the carb to start weeing fuel. Seller said they all do that if left with fuel tap on ... or idling ... or just after it's switched off ... or just after I turn the fuel tap on ... or until I turn the fuel tap off... Bike starts, idles and runs fine. This fuel dumping something I just get used to, or is it time for a carb service....?

OK, thanks for the sump drain plug confirmation. It wasn't immediately obvious because there seems to be some sort of plastic shield which seems to have moved and part-covered the hole. Getting the bash plate off looks to be the first job.... Meanwhile, clutch has stopped dragging. Yee-hah. Winning formula was to stick it on a stand running the revs up and holding them there for five minutes in a high gear, then kicking it over in high gear a few times, then some slow speed riding up my drive. It's now fully freed up. Thanks for the input, everyone. Saved me tearing into the seller or booking a repair slot. The benefits of experience. Next, more basic questions. If I'm going to go off for some instruction and some pay & play, what should I stick in the van beyond the obvious tools, tyre pump, couple of gallons of premixed fuel cans? I'll have the correct boots, and I have the rain jacket and pants, but I imagine from trail riding experience that it'll get sweaty. So, what about armour? I have the full under armour top and pants I wear under my leathers when road biking, but what alternative recommendations for maybe elbow, knee or hip protection? And what about stuff like slightly loosening the brake and clutch lever handlebar clamps for when I fall off? And the tyre pressure debate. Typical recommendation seems to be 7 psi front, 5 psi rear. Any other ideas? Anything else I've missed?

OK, thanks for the sump drain plug confirmation. It wasn't immediately obvious because there seems to be some sort of plastic shield which seems to have moved and part-covered the hole. Getting the bash plate off looks to be the first job....

It's been suggested that the clutch can be freed up by getting the bike into 4th and getting some speed up, the high rotation speed of the clutch doing the freeing up. Not as straightforward as that, of course, in the current environment, so I'm wondering if getting it revving in 4th with the back wheel off the ground might be as effective. Thoughts, anybody?

Hi, many thanks for that. To clarify, sump plug on underside of gearbox? Attached photo: top left filler...? Also, minor detail, but previous owner has wrapped tape around the kickstart horizontal "spike" for want of a better word. I assume this is out of some sort of personal choice rather than a rubber missing...? Makes it slippery.

I just had the most patronising of conversations with a trials riding bloke who answered all my questions with "well, what do you think...?" and a tone which didn't need to state "you idiot" at the end of every reply. Disappointing both as a fellow biker, and somebody getting back into trials riding. Anyway, I'm returning to riding a trials bike for the first time since the 1970s. I had a TL 150 back then. I've just bought a 1993 Beta Zero Gara. In between I've had road bikes and trail bikes of all descriptions, including sticky clutch jobbies. I'm sure if I spent a day trawling Google I'd find some answers, but I'm hoping here might be more productive, faster. So, those questions: 1. The clutch is stuck, or, more accurately, doesn't completely free when I pull the lever in. Reading up on here and other places, I gather Beta clutches stick when they've been left standing for a bit. It also seems to be that riding around for ten minutes will usually loosen them up, and kicking over in 3rd gear helps. It would seem replacing the transmission oil with Putoline Nano Tech helps enormously. Is that all pretty accurate? 2. Where is the drain plug? I can see a couple of candidates, but uncertain about which one it might be. 3. And where is the filler? As I alluded: these are easy questions if you know the answer. 4. Worth investing time and effort in pulling the clutch out and cleaning it? I've never touched a clutch before. Thanks