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That's a good point about car tanks being plastic , but they are " out of sight, out of mind" I have a Peugeot 307 diesel (diesel now contains ethanol as well) This has a plastic tank Recently had to change the fuel gauge sender unit and the new part was a tight fit in the tank, so the tank could have changed shape due to ethanol

I had read somewhere that the Tesco Super Unleaded was the petrol with the highest Ethanol content as they had used Ethanol to increase the Octane Rating, if true then sounds best to avoid using this. Also has anyone tried the Ethanol Removal Kit sold by Ethanil . co.uk ? , there has been an article in Classic Bike magazine about using this kit and it seems a simple way to remove the Ethanol, this could be a good alternative to trying to find Ethanol free fuel

looking good, I am glad the engine fitted ok.

hello again, is the 2nd frame you have got made for the Black Engine ? If it is are you intending to fit the Silver Engine in to it ? I hope I am wrong but I have an idea the engine mounting points may be slightly different. might be worth checking before you dismantle everything

Hello, I am probably wrong but I think those fork clamps/yokes look like the type fitted to the Beamish sidecars. If so the geometry may be slightly different to suit a sidecar. Hope this is helpful

You may well have had a MAR when new { I don't see what difference that makes } , but I know from my own experience with my own MAR that starting was terrible with the Amal , but has been much improved with Mikuni fitted the last 5 years. I never found that tickler thing to be good for anything, apart from soaking the spark plug {and engine cases}. anyway some people love Amal carbs & have no problems with them, you must be one of those people and I am glad it worked ok for you.

On my own 1976 MAR it was always difficult to start until I replaced the Amal concentric carb with a VM 26 Mikuni. {these have a proper choke circuit instead of the silly Amal tickler idea which seems only good for washing the engine clean} starts with 1-2 kicks ever since . As other people have mentioned , could also be Crank seals or ignition playing up. hope this helps

JB weld is another product you could try, but use the slow hardening version rather than the fast hardening one. {it is more heat resistant etc.} In my experience the slow hardening Araldite is better as well, you just have to be patient and leave overnight to harden. Having said all this if you can get a Casing for a good price that would be the best idea. good luck anyway.

Sorry, I thought this was about an internal thread . So Helicoil wont work , unless someone makes something similar to go over external threads {never seen any, but they could exist} how about glueing an outlet pipe into what you have and then using an inline fuel tap ?

As you say,If there is enough metal then you could cut a new thread in the next size larger - metric or imperial thread size . This will only work if you can find another fuel tap with a matching thread pattern. Maybe you could try a Helicoil insert ? to repair the existing thread , this way you could still use the original fuel tap.

I don't know if this is useful but there is a scheme with the DVLA for voluntarily registering off-road vehicles like Diggers & other plant, Moto cross & Trials bikes etc. I think you get some kind of V5 logbook & details of bike are put on DVLA computer so can be checked by Police, Finance companies, HPI etc. I did make enquiries about this a while ago and this "off-road logbook" is simpler to apply for and cheaper than getting a logbook for road use, it could be handy to have when taking a trials bike abroad, if you are stopped by Police/Customs and they want to see some proof of ownership. for more details see - .www.gov.uk , leaflet INF85 dave

Maybe if there is no engine no. then perhaps if you just stamp the engine yourself with the same number as the Frame no./ VIN no. as this is often the same on a lot of older bikes { I dont know about modern bikes } I know this is sort of cheating but sometimes you have to do this sort of thing. hope this helps

the main advantage of a mikuni is that its made out of decent metal {unlike Amal} and wont wear out quickly. my only experience of Amal v Mikuni is with my own Ossa , this had an amal fitted - it was a pig to start and hard to get to run nicely, despite being reconditioned by an amal specialist {with new chrome slide,float, jets etc. } after lots of messing about I gave up with the Amal and fitted a VM26 Mikuni, it now starts easily and runs smoothly all through the rev range. this was 5 years ago and I havent had to touch the carb in that time. I am sure there are people who love Amal carbs and have no problems with them but from my own experience I would not have one fitted to a bike that I own. and yes plunger down is off for the choke..

Hello again , if anyone was interested I have taken off the clutch cover , looked at the clutch plates, springs etc. could not see any damage or anything obvious so re-assembled everything and adjusted the cable and the noise has gone ! I have no idea what was wrong but I am relieved anyway as it was making a "£100 minimum" sort of noise , but now the clutch is back to its old self {you pull the clutch lever in and 10 minutes later the clutch disengages} regards dave

Hello everyone, after 3-4 years of being reliable my 250 MAR yesterday developed a new noise. what happens is when the clutch lever is pulled in with the engine running there is a sort of knocking/graunching noise all the time, which disappears again when the clutch is released. will strip down next weekend to have a look for anything obvious broken/damaged , but would welcome any ideas on what is causing the noise . thanks in advance for any help. dave

hello, the forks are just oil, not air/oil. thank you for the tip re. making spacers from handlebar. will try that out {when it stops snowing here} also if the the forks could be converted to air/oil that might improve things , thanks for the replies, dave

hello, thanks for the tip , will give that a go

Hello , I have a Beamish 250 {silver engine, aprox. 1976} .The Front forks are too soft , {a lot of sag & bottom out easy}. I am 82kg so may be bit heavier than average but i still dont think they are correct The fork springs are full length with no spacer under the cap , I have seen a parts book for a RL250 which shows a shorter spring with a spacer about 100-125mm long at the top under the cap. Does anybody know the correct lengths for the spring and spacer so that i can try and find the correct parts ? Alternatively could anybody recommend differant springs to use or a supplier to ask ? thanks dave

hello , had the same bike as you with a similiar problem when the bike was a few months old. fan working but only now and then , turned out to be part of the wiring loom was squashed . i cant remember exactly but something was bolted down onto the loom crushing a wire but not breaking it completely. poor assembly at the factory i expect. once the wire was repaired it was okay

hello , glad you liked the mortimer fun trial { i am the bloke with the petrol can } see you again in july. went to the old quarry again on sunday , good place, friendly owner.

thanks Stork , for that information, it will give me some more options to look for. i am not sure the exact year of this beamish , from what i have read about them they are not an easy bike to date . I think it could be between 74-78 thanks dave

hello, can anyone advise me where to get a con rod kit for a silver engine RL250 beamish . have tried one suzuki dealer with no luck, and four other suppliers of pattern parts. two of the suppliers had con rods but both turned out to be the wrong part when delivered (very annoying!) somewhere in the south east of england would be best so i can drive there and see if the part is correct before i pay .(and can avoid the messing about involved in returning parts) alternatively would any body know if the TS250 or TM250 from the early 1970`s (or any other models) use the same con rod ? this would give me another option to try when looking thanks in advance for any help dave

thanks to VMXSC for that info, so it looks like BOTH wheels are the wrong type .

hello, recently purchased a tatty but rideable beamish suzuki 250, have just removed the rear wheel to replace the rear sprocket and noticed that the cush drive part has been welded to the hub and also one of the wheel spacers is a piece of plastic pipe ! I am sure that the plastic spacer is a bodge but does anybody know if the welded up cush drive is a proper beamish modification or another bodge {the welding is good quality which is unusual for a lash up} Also the wrong front wheel is fitted {it has a 7 inch drum which would be great for road racing but is a bit heavy for trials} does anybody know if the correct wheel is the same as any other suzuki models {i was thinking maybe TS100 ,TS125 perhaps ? } thanks in advance for any answers dave

spark plug - ngk b8es petrol/oil mix - 30:1 {mineral 2 stroke oil} according to my old 1970's manual , but with modern synthetic oil people mix oil/petrol anything from 50:1 to 100:1, also there could be a better spark plug you could use these days hope this helps