joekarter

That's what I've noticed with the map switch as well. Something to keep in mind on long climbs. So far I like the extra bit of rev that it has over my Beta so that a turn in the middle of a slippery uphill isn't quite as dramatic.

I've got one installed and changed the gearing. Very much nicer than stock and far easier to ride.

Just for smoothing out the bottom. Many of our trials and my practice spot are round river rock. Anything that helps smooth out the power pulses is a good thing.

Looking for one, anyone got one sitting on the shelf?

Hey there. I'd like to upgrade the steel front axle in my 2020 to the aluminum one that's on the 21 and 22. Does anyone know if it's a direct fit? Thanks, Joe

About 18 years ago we had my grandson staying at the house with us. He was just learning to get around, and we had a glass patio door that had about an 8" step from inside the house to the back porch. Every day he'd just wander over and work at stepping inside and then back out....over and over again. The first bit he'd make it about one out of every ten times without wobbling around and falling on his butt, but by the end of the third week he had the thing mastered and moved on to bigger and crazier stuff around the house. What was funny, was how he'd be considerably better the next morning than he was just the evening before. It was almost as if his brain needed to think on it a bit before he could really process the necessary moter skills. It hit me that he was showing me something that we all pretty much forget as we grow older, and that's the way we learn how to do the most basic of tasks. While it may seem really simple, the best learning technique is just continual repetion until we master the skill. How does this apply to trials you ask? I'm not at all adverse to punching out of a section that I think is beyond my skill, but if I have to take the five out of fear of getting hurt I make a mental note of what the section looked like, and exactly what it was that had me scared to give it a go. Later while I'm out practicing, I try and find something similar that is just enough less intense that I feel comfortable and practice that until I'm confident I have the basic concept down. And then I go home and let my head process the technique. The next time I go out I try and use the same "section" but rework it to up the difficulty on the parts that gave me pause at the trials. Almost always, most of the fear is gone, and what seemed scary just a couple days before becomes managable. Hope this helps Joe

The museum at the Indianapolis speedway.....felt like I was in church

Husband’s Message (by mobile phone): Honey, a car hit me outside the office. Paula brought me to the Hospital. They have been doing tests and taking X-rays. The blow to my head doesn’t seem to have caused any serious injury, but I have three broken ribs, a compound fracture in my left leg, and they may have to amputate my right foot. Wife’s Response: Who's Paula?

The best Friday night video:

Here's another thing to consider. A lot of the aftermarket footpegs angle your body weight more toward the front of the bike. On many of them if you look at the surface where your foot rests you see that the back is higher in relation to the front. I had gone through several sets of pegs before I realized that for me, on a Beta, the best pegs are the ones that came with the bike. Yes, they're weaker than recycled soda cans, and yes they have um....marginal grip, but the angle and foot placement work better for me than anything else I've tried.

A man escapes from a prison where he’s been locked up for 15 years He breaks into a house and inside, he finds a young couple in bed. He ties him to a chair. While tying the wife to the bed, the convict gets on top of her, kisses her neck, then gets up and goes into the bathroom. While he’s in there, the husband whispers over to his wife, “Listen, this guy is an escaped convict. Look at his clothes! He’s probably spent a lot of time in jail and hasn't seen a woman in years. I saw how he kissed your neck. If he wants sex, don’t resist, don’t complain. Do whatever he tells you. Satisfy him no matter how much he nauseates you. This guy is obviously very dangerous. If he gets angry, he’ll kill us both. Be strong, honey. I love you!” She responds: “He wasn't kissing my neck. He was whispering in my ear. He told me that he’s gay, thinks you’re cute, and asked if we had any Vaseline. I told him it was in the bathroom. Be strong honey. I love you, too.”

It helps me if I use something about a foot or two high to practice on, but pretend that it's much farther up. The technique is really the same it just takes the fear factor out of it. The move is really not so much more than a hop into space. A very small amount of gas and a bit of an unload at the same time. Be ready to absorb the landing with your legs and use a small amount of throttle when you land.

There is also a vintage club near you: http://www.newyorkaircooledtrials.com/ You might want to see if they seem like a good fit. If you start out on something like a Yamaha TY175, you can generally find one for less than $1000, ride it for two years and sell it for around........ oh say $1000. Vintage/twin shock stuff is a good way to get your feet wet, and my reasoning for recommending a Yamaha specifically is that they sold a million of the things and there's lottsa support and parts available.

A brilliant book on the subject of working in Formula 1 is: http://www.amazon.co...a/dp/0752827839 Very inspirational, well written, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if the author gave you a thumbs up on the gearbox fix.

Really you had it nailed other than this.....We just learn to throw our bodies under the bike (don't want to muss the fine Italian craftsmanship)

It's gonna be a really tight squeeze and make a mess. Is there a hitch receiver on either car? if so, U-haul has some really small trailers that you can pick up in one spot and drop off in another. Also, will the guy just deliver it for you (since you're buying his bike and all). Love your spirit though Welcome to trials.....you're gonna fit right in

Here's a link for the oil amounts: http://www.beta-uk.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=80:1997-faq&catid=44:models The world's most spiffy on-line gas/oil calculator: http://www.csgnetwork.com/oilfuelcalc.html And as for what type of oil..........That may be the most divisive question ever asked. You'll get 100000000 opinions My personal favorite for a Beta is Dexron ATF. The better answer though is just change it a lot. Beta's HATE dirty used oil.

If you would've loaded up the bikes on Southwest airlines you'd have enough frequent flier miles to take mom on vacation to Paris

I'm almost with Chuck. My vote is to fix the cooling issues right after you make sure you have a working kill button. You'll find these little devils can take off on their own at the most surprising moments. A couple of other thoughts: Clean the carb before you go much further. If the bikes been pressure washed it's just about certain to be full of water. Change the oil and make sure it actually looks like oil and not some version of a frothy milkshake. Beta's have a thing for eating up the side case where the water impeller is and dumping coolent in the transmission.....not good. Since you bought the bike used, I'd make sure that the jetting is at least close to stock so you have some sort of a baseline to go by if it still seems too rich. If you didn't, start with some new gas at the correct mix ratio. It's WAY less oil than a regular dirt bike and who knows how long anything in there has been sitting around. If this stuff hasn't gone a good bit toward curing the smoke you might want to have a shop do a leakdown test to see if the crank seals are toast. Not inconcivable on a bike this old and while it's not a fun cure if that's the case, the service manual can guide you along. You can use gasket material you buy at the local auto parts store to make an exhaust gasket (enough to make 10 for the cost of the original) I bought a cheap press at the "we sell really cheap tools store" (Harbor Freight). I've straightened my skid plate about 10 thousand times, money well spent. The wheel bearing may be the cause of the cruddy brakes if it's wobbling enough to knock the shoes back in the caliper. As you have a couple of minutes pick something on the bike and lube it. These things tend to see some nasty terrain and you'll probably find more than a few things that will need some grease. Best advise though is to get it safe to ride, get out on it some, and enjoy the bike. I've owned a couple of bikes just like yours, and if you get all wrapped up in fixing everything at once it'll suck the fun right outta owning it. If you give yourself a bit of time to get things sorted it'll take some of the stress off. Have a good time and welcome to the bestest sport ever

I'm a member of the hosting club, checked both days, and hope everyone who came had as much fun riding as I had working the event. I walked most of the sections that I didn't check, and can honestly say they would have been a blast to ride. My thoughts: There's no doubt that the temperature listed on the web for Kingman that time of year had a lot to do with peoples initial opinions. The trials site is up in the mountains outside of town and has awesome weather, but just a casual internet search for Kingman would make it look like you'd be riding in 110 degrees. Perhaps it might have been better to advertise the event as “The Haulapai Mountains National” and then listed the site as near Kingman. The fire that went on for several weeks prior to the trials undoubtedly had an impact. I had numerous e-mails and calls from trials folks asking if it was going to be canceled. In the end it ended up being a non-factor, but at one point it looked like a major concern and perhaps better communication of the situation might have helped folks make a more positive decision on attending. The economy, and travel in particular, are without a doubt the biggest issue affecting ours and every other sport. A year ago I made the trip from where I live in north-central Arizona and rode the national in California. My pickup gets about 20 MPG, I ate cheap, stayed in “way less than great” hotels, and pretty much did things as inexpensively as possible. In the end, I spent right at $600. Did I have a blast? You bet, but that was pretty much all the play budget would allow...one national. I come originally from a karting background, and while there are plenty of regional and nationwide series you can go to, the national championships have historically been a one-site event spread over the course of several days. Perhaps until the economy picks up, it might be worth considering holding single weekend eastern and western regional events with some sort of final championship in the middle of the country. One of my biggest concerns involves the Pro class. I know it's become very unpopular to mention safety in this era of X-games sports, but my personal opinion is that the sections have gone beyond being extremely difficult and moved to something with the potential to seriously injure the participants. And in this guys opinion, it's just not needed. With an eye toward making the sections more technical, plenty of points can be taken from even the best riders without risking catastrophic injury. Is Pat still gonna win? At this point, most certainly. But, I honestly belive the Pro turnout would be higher if the risk was a 120 point trial rather than the potential for a helocopter ride to the nearest hospital.

Someday when I'm retired I'm going to get about 35 different oils and see which one actually makes a Beta gearbox shift less bad (getting one to shift well would certainly win me some sort of international award so I'm setting the bar a bit lower). I've used Maxima, Motul, Belray and my current favorite Dexron ATF. The truth (according to Joe anyway), is that it's WAY more important to keep it fresh than what's in the bottle. BTW, If you haven't done the clutch mod it makes a big difference.

According to the parts book they should be 22x28x16. Unless it was Friday and they ran out.......

Assuming the seals are in correctly, you may have hit upon one of the more challenging aspects of modern life. As companies try and protect proprietary formulas, they tend to use every legal means to limit access to exactly what's in all these wonderful concoctions. Take air fresheners for instance. If you look at the back of the can, most of the time it'll just list propellent (often propane) and "fragrance". Sounds plenty harmless huh? However when you look at the MSDS sheet for some of these products, the "fragrance" is a concotion of chemicals, often carcinogenic, and rarely something you'd willing spray in kid's bedroom if you actually knew what was in the damn stuff. Although WD40's website lists the product as being safe for use on rubber, it's been the experiance of many that it's really tough on neoprene and several other synthetics causing swelling and disintegration. Even though you need to use protective gloves, you'll probably find the best product for assembling brakes is the actual brake fluid recommended (in the case of a Beta DOT3).

I'm not completely sure, but I keep hearing zappy noises and evil giggles from the back room.

Last weekend I saw something at Larry's Pistol & Pawn Shop that sparked my interest. Mother's day is coming up and I was looking for a little something extra for my wife Julie. What I came across was a 100,000-volt, pocket/purse-sized Tazer. The effects of the Tazer were supposed to be short lived, with no long term adverse affect on your assailant, allowing her adequate time to retreat to safety...?? WAY TOO COOL! Long story short, I bought the device and brought it home... I loaded two AAA batteries in the darn thing and pushed the button. Nothing! I was disappointed. I learned, however, that if I pushed the button and pressed it against a metal surface at the same time, I'd get the blue arc of electricity darting back and forth between the prongs. AWESOME!!! Unfortunately, I have yet to explain to Julie what that burn spot is on the face of her microwave. Okay, so I was home alone with this new toy, thinking to myself that it couldn't be all that bad with only two AAA batteries, right? There I sat in my recliner, my cat Gracie looking on intently (trusting little soul) while I was reading the directions and thinking that I really needed to try this thing out on a flesh & blood moving target. I must admit I thought about zapping Gracie (for a fraction of a second) and then thought better of it. She is such a sweet cat. But, if I was going to give this thing to my wife to protect herself against a mugger, I did want some assurance that it would work as advertised. Am I wrong? So, there I sat in a pair of shorts and a tank top with my reading glasses perched delicately on the bridge of my nose, directions in one hand, and Tazer in another. The directions said that: a one-second burst would shock and disorient your assailant; a two-second burst was supposed to cause muscle spasms and a major loss of bodily control; and a three-second burst would purportedly make your assailant flop on the ground like a fish out of water. Any burst longer than three seconds would be wasting the batteries. All the while I'm looking at this little device measuring about 5" long, less than 3/4 inch in circumference (loaded with two itsy, bitsy AAA batteries); pretty cute really, and thinking to myself, 'no possible way!' What happened next is almost beyond description, but I'll do my best. I'm sitting there alone, Gracie looking on with her head cocked to one side so as to say, 'Don't do it stupid,' reasoning that a one second burst from such a tiny lil ole thing couldn't hurt all that bad.. I decided to give myself a one second burst just for heck of it. I touched the prongs to my naked thigh, pushed the button, and... HOLY MOTHER OF GOD. WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION. WHAT THE... !!! I'm pretty sure Hulk Hogan ran in through the side door, picked me up in the recliner, then body slammed us both on the carpet, over and over and over again. I vaguely recall waking up on my side in the fetal position, with tears in my eyes, body soaking wet, both nipples on fire, testicles nowhere to be found, with my left arm tucked under my body in the oddest position, and tingling in my legs! The cat was making meowing sounds I had never heard before, clinging to a picture frame hanging above the fireplace, obviously in an attempt to avoid getting slammed by my body flopping all over the living room. Note: If you ever feel compelled to 'mug' yourself with a Tazer, one note of caution: There is NO such thing as a one second burst when you zap yourself! You will not let go of that thing until it is dislodged from your hand by a violent thrashing about on the floor! A three second burst would be considered conservative! A minute or so later (I can't be sure, as time was a relative thing at that point), I collected my wits (what little I had left), sat up and surveyed the landscape. My bent reading glasses were on the mantel of the fireplace. The recliner was upside down and about 8 feet or so from where it originally was. My triceps, right thigh and both nipples were still twitching.. My face felt like it had been shot up with Novocain, and my bottom lip weighed 88 lbs. I had no control over the drooling. Apparently I had crapped in my shorts, but was too numb to know for sure, and my sense of smell was gone. I saw a faint smoke cloud above my head, which I believe came from my hair. I'm still looking for my testicles and I'm offering a significant reward for their safe return!