grindrod

Hi, the tyre is clearing the rubber cover but there is only about 0.25" gap between tyre and S/A with the wheel fully forward which meant it clogged (sticky mud and dead leaves!), with the longer chain fitted and the wheel almost at the other end of its adjustment the gap is a good inch and no clogging problems, I called into BVM and spoke to Steve Saunders about it and have now got an extra link to fit to the new chain. It seems 101 links is the preferred length on the 200 with the standard 11:42 sprocket set. I would be interested to know what Beta supply them with brand new. Cheers, Martin

Hi, it has 42t on the rear which I understand is standard. I will check the chain lengths side by side to see just what the difference is, but certainly having the wheel fully forward is no good!!

Blame a loss of marbles having reached the O50 group!!! I will check tonight, is there a height difference between different makes of tubeless rear tyres because there is very little clearance between the tyre and S/A.

Hi gang, I have a 2006 Rev3 200cc and have just replaced the sprockets and chain, the front sprocket is 11t and the rear 53, I was given a 100 link chain. It all fitted OK with the chain tension just slightly on the tight side with the wheel fully forward (the gap between guide and swingarm was 2.3cm instead of 2cm as given in the manual). Problem was as soon as I rode it at the Trials Training Day on Saturday the back wheel clogged, fortunately I had taken the old chain that I quickly fitted during the lunch break, the old chain is 101 links (100 links plus a half link) and with it fitted the rear wheel is almost at the other end of it's adjustment, good gap between tyre and S/A and no clogging!!! Anyone else had this problem? I am not a fan of half links but I am guessing that actually the old chain may have started life as a 102 link but when it stretched the previous owner found there was no more adjustment and shortened the chain to 100 links and then added a half link. Trials Training day (Glos & Cotswold) was great by the way!

Ryan Youngs DVD covers all aspects including bike setup, it is worth getting a copy, I followed his setup guide and the bike felt completely different!!!

But make sure it's synthetic at 70:1 not the basic stuff!!

Having moved into the 'Over 50' class I have more than my fair share of physical failings! I have looked at a few sports injury sites and decided to try some 'compression clothing' this is basically bits of clothing that apply controlled pressure to various muscle groups, you can get long socks, shorts, vests, tee shirts, long sleeved shirts and, possibly of most interest, arm tubes. I have problems with my right shoulder (old racing injury) and am going to try a short sleeved top to see if it holds the crunchy mess together! Do a Google on Evolution Sports and look at the Sport Skins compression clothing. I will let you know if I find any benefit.

Mazda Bongo! Ignore the silly name, a Bongo Friendy as it is called is a perfect multi-purpose carrier, all the rear seats come out and leaves a low loading bay you could get 3 bikes in, 4 at a push. There are Bongo's with a lifting roof like a camper van and those with fixed rooves known as Bongalows!! You can leave some of the rear seats in and load a bike so you can have passengers as well as the bike in the back. They are all imports, usually they dont have a service history so make sure the cam belts been changed before you buy one. There is a dedicated website, try Google.

I found Ryan Youngs DVD to be excellent although as an old fart I haven't tried the advanced techniques, here is a link to one of his DVDs Ryan Young DVD clip this is different from the DVD I bought which covered everything from basic bike setup to Splatters etc. My biggest challenge at the moment is coordinating everything to climb up a step, I can lift the front wheel perfectly OK when not faced by the step but my timing isn't too good when faced by a real step!! Just need more practice!

Quite right! There is a bigger tendency for the chain to come off with larger 'dinner plate' rear sprockets so if you can get the correct gearing by dropping teeth off the front that would be better.

Repsol Synthetic is pretty well smoke free!! But if the plug and piston are very oily and there was very visible white smoke then it could be gearbox oil being sucked in past a worn crank seal on the primary drive side, is the gearbox oil level dropping? Have you definitely ruled out condensation due to very cold weather? Hope this helps! Martin