mil

To de-coke it was basically cylinder off and a good clean- I used a razor blade to get the worst of it off the piston head and then the mighty dremmel polished everything else up a treat. The piston rings were a pain until a realised they have a specific orientation and this allows them to be easily compressed and cylinder slides right over. Little bit of a jiggle as clearance is minimal but rotating the crank manually helps to slot it in. As I mentioned before it's well worth the effort as the bike feels like new... Mil

Ok, so this post might be slightly inspired as I couldn't bear the number one topic of discussion being about the orientation of front wheel spacers (!) but I was on the other week getting advice on de-coking the engine. First time back out on it today and couldn't believe the difference! It pulled so crisply! A couple of things really- First- if you haven't done this for a while, you're missing out on some horses, and secondly are there any other mods/ servicing I should be looking to do to unleash a few more ponies and make her run better and aid the smiles for miles factor?? Mil

Bilco, I've seen the new shape caddy's and they look ideal. Much more style than a tranny! How easily does the bike go in?? Also, what engine do you have- is it pokey??

Hi Tinez, If it was my bike I'd change the oil, drain the fuel and put some fresh stuff in, remove, clean and replace spark plug, check filter...and pray as I kicked!

I do alot of riding in the mountains on my Rev 3 but don;t understand the need for a seat like that?? I guess if you're on long flat road/ fireroad sections maybe? I carry fuel in some empty yop bottles in a snowboard back pack and you don;t know they're there and they will bail you out if needs be.

If you want a smallish van I'd look at Fiat Scudos (or Citroen dispatch and peugeot expert are the same basically). They're cheap, about the size of an espace but you'll easily get 2 trials bikes in the back and also sit in there to get changed. I looked at the transit connect but didn't think it was big enough to be worthwhile.

I used to have an old style vito and it was amazing...until things started going wrong and I was

Thanks for the help Brian. Got it all buttoned up today- the problem was that I hadn't located the rings with the split either side of the small 'notch' in the groove. This stopped them compressing completely. I only realised this when I took the rings off and cleaned the grooves out etc...!The only problem now is getting one of the manifold bolts in as you need a ball ended allen key as the header pipe runs right over the top of it! Keeps wanting to cross thread but I'll get there. Cheers fellas for the help. But snow for 3 days solid here means it'll stay in the garage for a while!!

Thanks for the reply- I did clen it all out but as I squeeze them together they want to spring back and hard to slide on. I will try BDC and take rings off to clean all crap out completely. I was thinking of a big fat zip tie around them. As you slide barrel down it would slide on and you could just nip the ties off?

Hi, thanks to the help of some of the guys on the forum I have placed a clunking in the engine to a need to de-coke it. I've stripped it all down and indeed it needed some work! All done now and ready to go back on. The problem is seating the cylinder over the 2 piston rings. I'm sure their is a tool for this to squeeze them in, but any tricks to make it easy??! Thanks Alan

Thanks for the replies everyone. I will strip it down and de-coke and hopefully that will sort the issue. Is it necessary to replace the head gasket when I strip it down? Or will it seal ok with the original back in? Cheers fot your help Mil

Hi, I've been riding alot of fire roads and trails recently and riding the bike in 5th gear at some speed. When I roll off the throttle there seems to be a knocking or clunking that I can;t place. The bike runs fine but don;t like random noises. Could this be the piston? It's an 04 model and I bought it 6 months ago. I don;t know if Piston/ ring hase been changed- would this be recommended? How easy is the job and cost of parts? Many thanks for your help. Mil

Thanks for the info and photo Betarev3. So I don;t need to adjust these jets, just clean them out. It's the needle in the top assembly attached to the throttle cable I am adjusting? I'm suprised you clean out your carb and jets after every ride. I haven't taken my apart for a month and it was all cystal clear and clean inside! Thanks Mil

I've never fiddles with the inside of the carb save for cleaning it and adjusting the 'tangs'. Went about trying to adjust needle height and isn;t clear to me how to do this. If you flip the carb over (from orientation on bike) and take off the chamber by undoing the four screws, you see 2 'towers' in the centre: the taller of which has a brass coloured 6mm nut on top (idle jet??) To the left of this is the brass forked 'tang' resting on a small spring, which in turn is on a larger 10mm brass coloured nut (main jet??). Can anyone guide me to what I do next?! Please forgive my virgin uselessness with regard to this. Mil

I was very interested to read your report of the improved performance by using the Boyesen reeds BetaRev3. I was on the phone to a shop to order some and they mentioned that Steve Saunders had used them and wasn't impressed with them and they didn't improve anything... If the reeds are old then replacing with even standard ones would improve things i'd guess. Were your standard reeds old on your bike Betarev3? Anyone had any back to back comparisons with new standard reeds and the Boyesens? Interesting to hear someone reckon they weren;t an improvement after the goods reports here!

One of the best guys in the UK for helmet painting is definately Rich Stevens of Rich Art Concepts. This guy paints for many of the British Superbike, World Superbike and Downhill guys and has done lids for Troy Bayliss etc. Think he did one for Colin McRae too. I've had one done by him and the quality is amazing. He does the designs etc for Shoei helmets too. He's based in Birmingham area and is a real good guy and will do a cracking job. www.richartconcepts.co.uk

Hi, Just to say I agree with Paul W; Back Bleeding is by far the best way to get fresh fluid in and air bubbles out. Just keep an eye on the caliper to make sure brake fluid doesn't seep out of nipple and onto the brake pads. Also if you're buying brake fluid, get the smallest bottle possible, open just before use, bleed both brakes and then chuck the rest. Old brake fluid absorbs water and doesn't work half as well as fresh stuff each time, so well worth using new stuff each time.

A friend has commented on the possibility of using a very lightweight oil in the gearbox to aid shifting. Has anyone any experience with this and how does it effect oil changing frequency? Cheers Mil

Hi, I don't have a techno, but a Rev 3. However I used to have exactly the same problem- was a complete pig to start. I was going nuts! The first thing my friend adjusted was the throttle cable that was too tight and then he adjusted the idle screw- it seemed to be flooding and trying to rev too much on idel. Then as mentioned you need to turn the fuel off when you park it and I always keep the front wheel on a piece of wood to slightly raise it when storing. The choke on next ride and it starts first or second kick.

Many thanks for the replies and clarifying for me. I'm going to approach a bearing supplier directly as I've had good success with getting high quality bearings very cheaply and they might last a bit longer with decent sealing. Cheers Mil

With the wheel bearings on my bike feeling almost indexed it seems time to change them. However I can't see any markings on them as to their spec. Can anyone tell me the model number of them please so I can order them from a bearing specialist? I don't want to bash them out to try and find it as I'm in France and will be a little while to get some sent over so may as well ride it until they arrive! Many thanks for your help. Mil

Please forgive my igornance...but what exactly is a Stator? Where is it found of the bike and how can I know if it might be going to cause me trouble? There seems alot of talk about Beta Stators and problems relating to them.

Thats the puppy- the photo is a spitting image of mine. Interestingly I tried Alradite to begin with but it never set...and I mixed it up properly too! I'll strip back again and try this. Many thanks for your help. Mil

Thanks for your reply- fortunately it's not as bad as that! Its chipping off in the corners and flaking, but I guess it would lead to that. I was thinking of using the dremel to smooth it back and then add some sealant aorund the outside to stop any further leaks? Would the metal flake off at all- as it could block the system I guess if it did? Do you know costings of a new casing? Many thanks Mil

Having noticed a small jet of water leaking out of the water pump cover I went about draining the fluid and removing the water pump cover. I was suprised to find that the cavity had damage to it- it looks like the effect of a porous casting. the rubber gasket isn;t able to seal it properly, and I am not sure how best to repair it! I have bodged it back together with another gasket fashioned from inner tube and it does hold water now, but the flaking inside will still occur. Has anyone experienced this before? Is there a suitbale sealant that would withstand this high temps? Many thanks Mil