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There is a techique to it I could start my 04 300 quite easily but all of my friends struggled, On my friends bike we fitted the head spacer which improved starting considerably. Ian

Wiki? new word or a fla? (four letter abrieviation)

But the chrome has a performance advantage...............The sun may reflect off the frame and dazzle the observer just as you dab saving you one whole mark!!!!

The Wainwright is another good trial, 2 laps all off road a fair bit harder clubman course than last sunday and a free bottle of Hope bike cleaner last year!!!

As R2 says "wrong clothes"!! I have never been so wet! ( It was sunny when we started) Many thanks to all Observers and helpers.

I have just found my spare off centre brake lever and drilled and tapped another hole in it centrally so now I have a spare for both clutch and brake in one!! All I need to do is move the threaded adjuster to the correct side. I can now fall off without any worries

For the 2006 Ohlins Kev at GasGas UK sez "I set all our bikes here like this, measure the length of the shock spring when the bike is on a stand & it should be 120mm (gold ohlins), then turn the black damper nut all the way in (up the shock) then back it off 20 clicks. With the front forks we just set the comp & rebound to there softest settings & leave them there...." I was asking about an 06 250 (with a gold ohlins) I am not sure exactly what the raga uses.

Lew, How did you get on with your forks???????????????

I allways cut 20mm off each end of my bars, coz Im not the biggest person in the world

I dont use the bolt at the bottom of the forks for draining the oil, this holds the cartridge in place and on some bikes it will not re tighten unless it is held from the inside, often using a special spanner. You are meant to take the forks out and drain from the top it only takes a few minutes any way. What you should do is ring Kev at GasGas UK and he will sort you out, we all think we know what we are doing he does know what he is doing, His numbers on the GasGas website. Its fun learning the hard way isnt it

What you need to do is after filling with 5 grade measure the level of the oil in each leg with the spring out and the leg fully compressed, it should be 160 mm from the top see the gasgas manual for detais (the 06 manual has a diagram for both the 06 ally legs and the 05 steel ones). The best way to measure is with a thin stiff tube attached to a syringe set a stop at 160mm then slightly overfiil the suck back to the required level. Its best to give the forks a good puming in and out then rechecking the level once any air has escaped. If they still feel too soft add a little extra oil to each leg, about 20cc this will only effect the last bit of travel as the air volume is reduced making them a bit harder to bottom out. On my 06 I had bother getting all of the air out of the rebound leg I had to take the cartidge out and fill it with oil separately , this may have been because I had to repair the adjusting rod as it was broken so the fork was completey emty of oil. Ian

Black is slow, another wayis to make the groove deeper for the first 10mm or so on the fast throttle so you have an initial slow bit of movement, use a hacksaw blade and small file (its cheaper too!!!)

It was full empty as I had removed the adjuster to get all of the oil out. But when I set it at the 180mm level there was no rebound damping!! After an hour or so messing about I stripped the rebound leg down taking the inner cartridge apart I then filled the catridge with oil and then reassemled and filled to a level of 180mm and everything is fine. The cartridge on a Marzzochi fork is sealed at the top and bottom with only small holes to let the oil in, I think it may fill itself after much bouncing up and down but then the level would need checking again!

You need one of these they replace the rubber donut PM me for details. Ian

How much fork oil in an 06 Pro? manual says 290 but this seems too much in the rebound side as when the leg is pushed right down (before I put the cap back on) it runs over!! And less than this came out !!! The manual gives a level value of 180mm is this with spring in, leg pushed in, damper rod up??? etc. Its the 250 with ally forks. Ian

So theres a que of 20 riders, every other riders fiving, its raining and cold, most observers would happily let you have a 5. Then they can go and get warm sooner!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Its easy to take apart lay the bike on its side (no need to drain oil), Remove kickstart take out the 3 water pump screws pull out the pump and tie back out of the way whith a bit of string (no need to drain water) remove the rest of the screws, remember where they go as they are different lengths. Lift off the casing trying not to damage the gasket wach out for the washer that goes on the kick start shaft and the clutch bearing as they will fall off!! To take out the plates remove the 10 screws with a good 7mm ring spanner then you can lift off the cover plate spring plate and pressure plate. Lift the fingers out note which way up they are so you can put them back in the same way up. Now you can lift out the plate pack. And as they say in the Haynes manuals reasembly is the reverse.... Just be careful to line up the water pump drive with the slot in the crank when you push the pump back in. The parts book from gasgasmotos.es shows some pictures and read the article on the news page on gasgasuk.com as well.

The 06 thermo is in the front of the radiator (top right hand side)its behind the frame so you cant see it. There are 2 wires from it one goes to earth the other to a regulator thingy see the attached wiring diagram. Its probably best to replace the thermostat with an 04 one, I wonder how much they are? Ian wiring_06.pdf

I have ridden 3 bikes lately my old 300 (2004) which has a clutch pack measurement of 9.65mm My current 06 250 that has a clutch pack measurement of 9.75mm and another 2004 300 that has done alot of work and my 06 250 has the lightest clutch followed by my old 300 then the otherer 300 thats done a bit more work. So its probably your clutch pack thats to thin it should be 9.75mm to 9.85mm for best results. You can get different sized steel plates to make up the difference but you would need a micrometer or a good digital verier to measure your clutch pack or maybe take it pack into your dealer to have it measured and he can then supply the correct plates for you. Ian

It would be Phillip Hodgson, PM me and I ll give you his phone number

GasGas have made an effort by Introducing the Raga and Racing models, which for not alot more money have quite a few "performance enhancing" extras.

Just what is this fascination with coloured wheels???? I only spend money when I have to or if it improves things!!!! And.... we have far too many rocks up here in streams, big ones, small ones, sharp ones, slippery ones, loose ones and ones coated in mud!!!

What rain? O yes it started just as I finnished I could see it through the pub window!!! Great Trial even on a 6 year old borrowed bike

Just got the 06 250 and havent ridden it for more than 10 mins yet! Had an 04 300 before so i may miss all that torque!!

Just got a 4 month old 2006 250 and I notice the rear spring is black not yellow. Is this standard???