rallymadsam

I also do a fair bit with rallying, and historic rallying is just the same as 'Pre 65's' from what I can see. A MK2 Escort from 1975 is now worth about £3000 as a rotten rolling shell, to build a truly competitive top end historic spec. Escort you are talking upwards of £80,000 and I've even heard up to £120,000 to have one built by the top firms. The shells are heavily modified (over and above what was done in period in some cases) extensively repaired and renewed, all new parts bolted on, and essentially brand new cars with old registrations are rolling out of workshops everyday. There's loads of bickering and arguments about proof of use in period, homologation, trick bits, suspension etc etc, these cars are far better than they ever were! But, if people can afford to do it, and scrutineering/rule making is so vague all the time, it won't stop, the evolution just continues and they keep getting better all the time.

Well, at the moment I have Putoline's Light Gear Oil - SAE 75W in there. Seem to have at least partially solved the clutch drag but now it does this, whereas it didn't before. Would oil quantity make much difference?

I've recently done a bit of work on by 96 Techno, replaced water pump seal and the case gaskets/seals etc, also filed down the edges of the tabs on the clutch plates and basket ever so slightly to take the notches/wear out, and obviously changed the oil. The clutch is now a fair bit better, and everything generally seems ok, all fine when riding, but when I come to a stop and want to change gear, or select neutral I'm having trouble to get anything, the lever feels quite stiff and if in bottom tends to jump to 2nd, missing neutral, no matter how delicate I try to be. Any ideas? Cheers, Sam

Mine were a little bit on the big size compared to normal shoe size in the foot, but I found the calves quite tight, certainly not much room for tucking trousers in. They came with liners, which I didn't like, they're too baggy around the calf, but I bought some sealskinz socks, and they make them fit really well.

Trials & Tribulations in Church Stretton, about my nearest trials shop, fair prices and Ian's a helpful bloke, postage is rapid too. For Beta bits Haven Trialsport seem to stock nearly every original part going, and good prices too.

I think most would recommend a Putoline or similar brand 'Light gear Oil' 75W. http://trialstribulations.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=1506

http://www.beta-uk.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=62:2006-faq&catid=44:models

Right, I recently replaced a fair few bits on my 96' Techno because the water pump seal had gone, that included the shaft as it was showing slight wear from the seal, and I did the bearings & impeller at the same time. The shaft now supplied is a 2 piece assembly with a nylon drive gear, not all steel as the original. It matched up ok, and seemed to go in fine though. However, upon reassembly and running it for a very (very) short time, there was a 'graunching'/grinding noise that I didn't like, so I stopped it quickly, and I've had the clutch out again tonight, only to find there are lots of little bits of white nylon in the bottom of the clutch case, and it would appear the grinding noise is the teeth being ground off the the drive gear for the water pump shaft. So what does anyone recommend I do now? I'm confident it all went back as it should, but maybe the new shaft/drive gear is just plain wrong or doesn't mesh properly? I'm contemplating putting the old one back in, but not sure if it is too worn, and there did appear to be some in/out play on it as the impeller was worn and inside of the water pump housing scored. Cheers, Sam

Just paint the one you've got!

Thanks for the above chaps, haven't got a torque wrench that goes that low, so did the spring bolts up with a socket by hand, and felt them bottom out, so that'll have to do.

Would be nice if you could get the torque spec. from anywhere! I guess it doesn't need to be that tight as there's a tab washer anyway, on a beta at least.

How tight do you generally do the springs? Is there a recommended torque setting or anything?

I didn't know if there was somewhere more suitable to put this, or if it's been raised before. But, on this forum only I have to press the 'back' button twice to actually go back, and only since the forum upgrade. All other forums and webpages are fine, and same in different browsers. Any ideas? Cheers, Sam

Worth taking them to a local bearing supplier. I got my headstock bearings at nearly half the price a trials dealer wanted.

My Techno stand is similar, bent to hell, foot doesn't sit parallell to the ground, and is too small, solution - bend it back (we'll see how long it stays that shape), cut the foot off and weld a bigger piece of round plate on in it's place, job done.

For techno bits & advice you should give Haven Trialsport a ring: http://haventrialspo...betatechno.aspx Parts diagram: http://haventrialspo.../Techno1995.pdf Ian @ trials & tribulations also stocks a lot of bits for them and seems to know what's interchangeable between models; http://trialstribulations.net/index.php?main_page=advanced_search_result&search_in_description=1&keyword=techno I use Silkolene Pro Cool, because it was what my local bike shop had.

Alright it's not that bad, but I like the idea of a mixing jug, it should be a cleaner, more accurate job.

Just ordered one as I find the syringe method a total pain in the a***, too fiddly. Thanks for the link, found a UK supplier eventually! £5 delivered.

Following on from a comment in a thread in the Beta section, and out of my own curiosity, what is the best technique for mixing 2 stroke accurately?

There have been a couple of Techno's being broken for bits on ebay lately.

Did my left scaphoid when I was about 19 playing indoor football - got barged towards the wall and stuck my hand out Admittedly it was a bad break, but I was in cast for over 8 weeks and it took a long time after for the pain to subside and to regain full strength. Although I didn't ride bikes much at the time, I'd say it was almost the exact position your wrist is in when you ride that gave the most pain, especially if you pushed down on it. I had next to no physio though as I live in rural Herefordshire and they didn't really give a ****, or have any regular local clinics for me to attend, the one time I did the woman obviously had no previous experience of scaphoid breaks and jsut gave me an internet print out. So my advice is take it very slow, and don't ride until you're completely happy with it day to day, even then maybe wear a brace for a while for riding. And, just to mention, I was driving after 2 weeks in cast, insurance and consultant said to ask the other. With the hand being cast in a claw shape I could change gear ok, but not sure how you'd come off if you did have an accident, not very well I'd suspect. Don't rush it

A mate of mine needed to get to his Gran's a couple of years ago in a sudden, heavy fall of snow and his Rover 214 wasn't very keen, so he found a roll of roofing felt in the shed, cut it down, wrapped it around the front tyres, tied it on with rope through the holes in the wheels and managed to drive over the big hill on the way there with ease, leaving all sorts of 4x4's stuck on the hill!

The towbars for the older focus model seems to be generally more expensive than the newer ones for some reason?! The towbar will only be used to tow this single bike trailer as I don't have a trailer license, therefore only upto 750kg allowed. I don't see how a cheap towbar can be that much worse than a really expensive one as a lump of metal, hardly much to go wrong besides it fiitting properly is there?

I've got a MK1 focus hatchback and need a towbar as I've just done a deal on a trailer. Ideally I'd like a removable swan neck type to it's not visible when I'm not using it, so any ideas on the best (cheapest) place to get one? Cheers, Sam

Haven trialsport seem to have about the best prices online.