paul

Yep Ive done that too and also on the collar under the top yoke as mine is new and tight on the frame so used to move with the old nut on. Since fitting the new nut my marks have stayed in line. But i will keep the marks on as a quick visual check.

Hi Bob, Try flushing the system out with a hose as there is probably some of the old coolant still in, that is if you have just used the small screw to drain it. This sounds likely if your new coolant is only slightly orange. As well as just flushing it through replace the screw and fill with the hose a couple of times and and then keep flushing while shaking the bike from side to side. I used distilled water for my last flush through and then just fill with coolant. Good Luck Paul

I hope this may help someone(if it hasn't been mentioned before) After replacing my steering head bearings on my 04 rev 3(as the top seal was faulty letting in water) I found that the top nut would come loose especially after droping off steps. This was only sometimes accompanied by a single click sound from the front end somewhere which i presumed was the mudguard slapping the tyre. The nut on inspection seemed to be fine and i could tighten it up very tight with no problem but it would still come loose. I also noticed at trials other bikes which had loose nuts(one was so loose i undid it with my fingers) Anyway a mechanic friend said that the nut probably had a crack in it but as ive said it looked fine under a magnifying glass and i could do it up very tight with no sign of it jumping a thread. The importers said that they had not heard of a nut failing like this but i purchased one anyway. Its now been fitted for four months and been ridden dozens of times and the nut has remained tight. So there must be a crack in it somewhere and infact the nut must have been jumping a thread.

Hi Guys, I drained the coolant system first as suggested by HondaRS. The coolant came out clean apart from the last few cc's which were light brown in colour. I then flushed the system through with a hose which removed more light brown muck and then refilled with coolant. I must admit i didn't have much hope as i check my water on a regular basis and this problem had occured after only two trials. Anyway i have now riden in one trial and had a couple of hard practices including road work and i'm very pleased to report that the coolant has remained clean. So thanks HondaRS and everyone else for your help. Paul

Thanks Guys, I'll try everything suggested and report back. Paul

Thanks Arun, I had thought of that but discounted it as there didn't seem to be excess pressure in the water system but i will keep this in mind. Paul

Thanks HondaRS, Good idea I'll try that first. The replacement seal from John Lampkin is the single lip type which I presume is fitted open side towards the water pressurized side (I've never taken the water pump cover off as yet so don't know which way around it's fitted) This allows the pressure to keep the seal lip against the shaft. Can anyone confirm this as its possible that it may be fitted the wrong way around (although this should result in water in the oil) Another thought is that the oil may leak in when there is no pressure in the system (when the engine is cold)? which may explain the one way leak. Thanks again

After riding the other day i noticed a small amount of grey froth in the clear tube that i have connected from the rad cap to under the engine. When i removed the cap same froth around rad tube but when i squeeze hose clear coolant can be seen with a little froth on top. I've checked the gearbox breather which is clear and the gearbox oil seen through the site glass is also clear. I cleaned the top of the rad tube and cap and rode for half an hour but same thing happens. Lampkins suggest the waterpump seal but say it's unusual for oil in the water and not water in the gearbox. I presume that there is only a small amount of oil in the water which as it floats is now all at the top. Without the tube fitted it may not be noticable so maybe this is the early stage of the seal failing and water in the oil is the next step. I've got a seal and gasket so will change the seal unless anyone can think of any other cause. Paul

I'm happy to send out copies by post so e-mail me through TC with address and i'll foreward them.

Hi Clark, No need to apologise. How could I be offended by a fellow trials rider. Especially one from the USA. Bernie Shreiber was my hero and I had the privilege of riding in a trial with him in 1979 over here in the UK. Guess what he won it on 3 marks lost where as i came 12th on 32 riding my 1972 Bultaco(which I still own & ride). It was winter and he was wearing five scarves , two pairs of gloves and the biggest coat you have ever seen. Was also magic watching him ride he even seemed to like the mud. The larger pipe and hole is a good idea i'll try it when I get the chance. Another mod that i've done is to fit a tube to the rad cap and run it down under the engine. I didn't fancy corrosive coolant all over the electrics and all the connectors situated around there(this is my first water cooled bike). Its suprising how much vapour and coolant is expelled after you have topped up to the recommended level. Takes a couple of rides before it finds its own level. Small amounts of vapour can still be seen in the tube two months after i last checked the level. I've seen a couple of new Betas which have had overheating problems resulting in coolant all over the place. Can't do it a lot of good hosing off the coolant from the electrics either. I think the bore of the tube is large enough not to cause a problem if the coolant needs to get out quickly. Clark i'm sure you'll tell me that this has also been mentioned before(Just Kidding) Paul

Nigel, The clutch plates are standard sherpa plates and not the thinner persang plates.It just has one extra centre plate which makes the whole basket thicker.The large plastic screw in the caseing has a few fibre washers under it to stop the adjusting nut fouling. The clutch springs seem to be the same strength as standard ones which I have plenty of. As far as I know the pursang/frontera plates are the same and are thinner than the sherpa ones but there are more of them. There are a number of works mods. In 1979 Reg May was featured in TMX news where he outlined all the works mods of the day. I have a copy if anyone is interested

Nigel, Yep i know most of it has been covered. But unless the clutch basket and centre hub (which i didn't think was mentioned) are new then there WILL be wear and even a small amount can stop the plates moving freely resulting in snatch. One of my sherpas a 1978 model has a very light clutch indeed (as light as the gas gas pro) When i took it apart to find out why i found that it had one extra plate fitted. The springs seem to be standardard and adjusted like my others and there is no slip at all so i'm puzzled as to why but i wont change it as it really is easy to use with one finger.

Clarkp, Thanks for your reply but I said that the fuel was leaking out of the float bowl spigot and not the side vents. I have looked at your links and I can only find one references to the float bowl spigot (unless I've missed something which is possible/probable as there is rather a lot on this subject). Which suggests connecting it to one of the vent spigots. I live in the south of England where in winter the bikes are subjected to vast amounts of mud and weekly wash downs. I fitted the pipe as I was concerned that it was vulnerable to ingress of dirt on wash down. Initially I presumed that the original one had just fallen off. It wasn't till I'd looked at a few dozen others that I realised that 04/05 didn't have them fitted. A friend of mine with an 03 has now removed his, fitted as standard tube, and cured his problem. My 04 carb float settings have not been adjusted since new but is very close to the adjustments shown in one of your links and not like the, parallel to carb body, setting shown in the handbook. Also with the tube fitted and the tap off when I used an air line to remove dust from around the carb area the carb emptied its entire contents out of this tube. Obviously due to the perfume spray effect and then the siphoning effect once the fuel had started to flow. I presume that with no tube connected the spigot does not hold enough fuel to create a siphoning effect. I'm sure Clarkp you will tell me that its all been said before but if it helps anyone at all then I think it's worth it.

re clutch snatch. If you look at the clutch basket where the clutch plate ears fit you will probably find that the slots have troughs where the cluch plate ears have been sitting. The same will apply to the hub where the plates will again have worn the surface. You can file both these areas smooth so that the plates can move easily (they only move a small amount). This will cure the snatching problem completely. If the clutch basket is aluminium then this problem occurs more frequently beause of the softer material. This process can only be carried out a few times because if you enlarge the slots too much clutch rattle will result. Also make sure the plates are the correct way around ie where they have been stamped out You can fit persang plates which can reduce the snatching as there are more plates and thse will sit in the basket at slightly different positions to the sherpa plates. Sae 30 oil was always recommended and i have had no problems with using this oil for 30 years. Clutch drag is much more of a problem especially if you have a longer clutch arm fitted but with careful balancing of the clutch via the spring retaining nuts you can reduce drag to a minimum.

I'm not sure if this has been mentioned before but on all of the 04 and 05 rev 3 i've seen so far the float bowl overflow pipe has no plastic pipe fitted to it. All previous models seem to have one fitted. When i purchased my 04 rev3 second hand the pipe was not fitted and the carb never leaked. So after a few months I fitted a short one of about 3'' and it started leaking. I ran the bike with it fitted for a few weeks and then fitted a longer one which terminated at the same point as the gearbox breather. The leaking became even worse so mid practice i removed it completely and now it does not leak at all. Seems to me that the pipe is causing a siphoning effect. I appologise if this has been mentioned before. Any comments.