neonsurge

OK, I understand what you're saying about the problems with observing no stop rules at world level but if sections continue to get bigger and scarier and bikes lighter and more powerful, how long before we have a situation where every event includes sections where failure virtually guarantees serious injury?

I've just changed the oil on my Rev-3 and the old oil came out whiteish and milky. Water in the gearbox, right? I flushed it through with new oil a couple of times and refilled but after a couple of minutes running, it's starting to go the same way (from looking through the sight glass). I assume that the water pump seal has gone - could it be anything else? Can anyone recommend what parts I need to order? As always, many thanks for any advice!

From a totally non-authoritative perspective it occurs to me that simply running the outdoor WTC to no stop rules would go a long way to resolving the currently perceived "problems". No stopping would automatically preclude the use of most indoor style sections because they'd be simply impossible and it would encourage more creative section design.

Topfun sell AJP/Galfer universal 4-pot calipers - about 120 euros + shipping.

Once you've removed the wiring loom, connect the two yellow cables together to reconnect the fan (conveniently, they've both got the correct M/F block connectors so no soldering or splicing required.)

It totally exasperates me that they continue to hand out "sportsman of the year" type awards to fifty-grand-a-week football jessies who get stretchered off in "agony" if an opposing player so much as goes near them but real heroes like Doug go totally unmentioned by the popular media. Forget the fact that he's a trials rider, sheer bloddy-minded determination shuch as that shown by Dougie this weekend should be publicised far and wide as an example of real courage and what can be achieved in the face of adversity. I know I'm starting to sound like a bit of a fanboy and it's really cheesy but reading the press release on the front page reminded me of some spoken dialogue in a Steve Vai track (can't remember the title - no doubt someone will remind me): "I am fearless in my heart. They will always see that in my eyes. I am the passion. I am the warfare. I will never stop. Always constant, accurate, intense."

But the same's true of all the factory bikes, isn't it? Using factory machines a basis for comparing showroom models will never prove anything. HRC-Montesa had no choice but to develop the 4RT in competition. Since the different engine and subsequent handling characteristics of the 315 and 4RT require an adjustment of riding style it would be unreasonable (and slow the development process considerably) to have the factory riders on the 2-stroke in competitions and switch to testing the 4-stroke the next day. I think that there's a good reason why Cabestany and Jarvis aren't on the 3.2: Sherco know that it'd be no match for their own highly-developed 2.9 in world-level competition let alone GasGas, Beta and the others and aren't going to put their top factory riders onto it until the FIM tell them that they have to. Montesa had a completely different problem. Honda decided that they'd be stopping production of ALL 2-stroke engines, regardless of the application so the decision to drop the 315 and put all of their efforts into the 4RT was made for them.

Looks identical to the WR250F: See here vs. the Scorpa here.

I see Michael had an exceptional result today - 3rd in only his third world-level event. I'm sure that with a bit more experience and factory support he, along with James are Britain's best immediate prospects.

Gav, read the discussions that clarkp linked to earlier. It's a quick and easy mod that completely cures the dribbling carb problem.

Hmmm. I have a BBQ big enough to roast a zebra but I'm not sure we'd get it in a Ford Galaxy alongside 7 drunk Yorkshiremen, 2 tents and several crates of beer. I'll look into the logistics but I wouldn't want to commit...

I've just acquired an '04 Rev3 200 (full story in Beta forum...) that I'm in the process of properly fettling. I'm nearly there and one of the last jobs is to increase the preload on the rear suspension 'cos it's wound right down to the bottom of the shock. I left this until last because I assumed that it'd be a 5 minute job. Of course, assumption is the mother of all screwups... The locking ring loosens fine, but the adjuster ring simply won't move, even when attempting to tap it around using a blunt drift and hammer. I've never had this problem on any bike I've owned (on my DRZ it was possible to adjust the preload by simply loosening the lock ring and turning the spring by hand) and I'm starting to wonder if there's something I'm missing here. I'm assuming that the spring is attached to the adjuster ring? There's no locking mechanism at the top of the shock that's preventing rotation is there? Many thanks for any help!

I'd originally planned to write a Thompson-esque quasi-gonzo report of last night's trial from start to finish but I've got about a million bugs to work out of this damn software before the end of the week so I'll limit my 200 vs. 270 comparison report to a description of how the bike performed in a couple of the sections and a summary. Section 1 was an easy off-camber traverse along the edge of a deep gulley then a hop over a large-ish rock followed immediately by a tight right hand turn and out. This is the kind of thing that the 270 would easily manage in 2nd or 3rd gear but I knew from my test ride that on the 200, any kind of rock-hopping was going to require a bit more throttle and body movement than I'd normally use. With this in mind, I started in 2nd and when I reached the rock, slipped the clutch slightly and gave it a handful. The Little Red Beast (as it shall be known as from hereon in) leaped forward and upwards and I was on the downward side of the rock before I got control back, managing to fluke a clean by simply pointing the front wheel at the end flags and hanging on. Lesson number 1: There's a lot of power in that 200cc engine, especially if you let the flywheel build up some intertia before popping the clutch. Most of the sections were of the nadgery type, but section 3 was a bit different, requiring a short blast up a dusty hill side, a tight off-camber turn around a tree then back to the bottom before another tight turn and a blast back up the hill with virtually no run-up. Once at the top, the section once again descended, this time crossing numerous roots and small rocks. I chose 2nd again and when I arrived at the bottom of the 2nd climb, simply opened the throttle and tried to balance traction with keeping the front end down by feathering the clutch. Unsurprisingly given the lack of run up and the weight that it was pulling, the smaller engine started to lose revs half way up and I was preparing for a quick downshift when it seemed to slip into that classic Beta "chug" mode and simply grunted to the top without the need for any more clutch. Lesson 2: It's "only" a 200, but it's still a Beta and that means acres of torque. I could almost hear the engine spitting out the words "I... will... not... stall...!" Impressive. Throughout the first lap I was deliberately riding it in the same way as a would the 270, letting the engine do most of the work and while the 200 was reasonably happy to work like that it was obvious that it liked to be revved a bit and I started to ride almost all of the sections in 1st. This was helped by the fact that it seems to be geared slightly higher than I'm used to and the almost complete absence of engine braking, something else that took some getting used to, especially on steep downhills. It "rides light" as well. While I'm sure that there's very little actual difference in overall weight between the 200 and 270, the fact that the bike's not constantly trying to lengthen your arms means that you have more time to plan you lines and after a while this starts to translate into more control and precision. Instead of just using the raw power of the 270 to jump a ditch and worrying about how to avoid the rapidly approaching gorse bush when I arrived, I found that I was able to trickle up to the ditch and bunny-hop across, landing at a more useful angle to make the turn. There are a couple of downsides although I completely expected these to be the case before I slung a leg across the 200 for the first time: There's very little power to be had at the top end and this can make long trailrides between sections a bit of a pain, especially if there's road involved. Where the 270 used to pull and pull all the way through to 6th gear, you've really got to work the 200's engine to make any kind of swift progress. It's a far better competition than play bike although like I said, this is what I expected (and had been told would be the case). I can't really draw many positive conclusions from this one trial riding the 200 since it's clear that I need to adjust (and significantly improve!) my riding style to suit the smaller bike. With the correct input it'll do anything that I used to do on the 270 with the bonus that I'm in more control throughout. It grunts though sections like any Beta and responds immediately to any throttle adjustment, no matter how small. All in all I'm impressed and sure that I made the right choice. Now I just need to get more time on the bike and I'm sure I'll finally start to drag my results out of the murkier depths of the clubman B class. Disclaimer: This is the opinion of an overweight, ham-fisted, talentless thirtysomething. Your mileage may vary.

If anyone's really interested in reading a Rev3 270 vs. 200 comparison written by an overweight, ham-fisted and talentless thirtysomething, then I'll do it. In fact, sod it, I'll do it anyway. The 200's debut will be at a club trial tomorrow night. It's probably not the best idea for my first proper ride on the bike to be in competition, but it's an easy/novice event and to be honest, I'd never be in contention for an award in any case

jj, do you ride a Sherco or GasGas by any chance? Gav, if you spend much time in the Beta forum you'll find that for any technical question, a Sherco or GasGas owner (usually Sherco to be fair) will jump in with a sarcasic comment. No idea why because it doesn't seem to happen anywhere else. Mr jjwhite, if you don't have anything constructive to say, please don't bother OK? Thanks. Like clarkp says, the fix is quick and easy. Yes it's a pain that it isn't sorted at the factory and it doesn't seem to affact all bikes (my old 270 dribbled like crazy at first, my new 200 doesn't at all) but there you go.

Thanks for everyone's input. I went to test ride the bike this morning and was totally amazed how much power it has! Plus, it's so much smoother and more controllable (for me) than either the 250 or 270. What impressed me most of all was the fact that it's almost impossible to stall - 1st or 2nd gear, no throttle or clutch and it just trickles along along on tickover. Amazing It's now sitting in my garage However, after getting it home I noticed that the lower shock bearing is knackered and there's about 5mm vertical play in the rear suspension. I probably should have checked this before I bought it but y'know how it is... Anyway, is this bearing difficult to replace? It doesn't look too bad, just remove the lower mounting bolt/bush (that goes through the knackered bearing) and the swingarm drops, right? Or do I need to remove the shock completely? Bearings and me don't get on since I spent the best part of 3 entire evenings wrestling with the linkage bearings on an old 280 TXT so any advice anyone can provide would be gratefully received!

I currently ride a Rev3 270 and although it's fun having all that power for when you're fooling around with mates that same power frequently gets me into trouble, especially during trials. I've been looking around for a new (used) bike recently with the intention of buying a 250 but I've come across a nice clean '04 Rev3 200 and it's got me thinking. I'm aware of the conventional wisdom that says most clubman level riders are over-biked and a 200 (or even 125) will encourage the development of proper technique as opposed to relying on raw grunt to get through sections. The problem is, I'm (*ahem*) on the large side (17st) and a bit concerned that it'll occasionally struggle to drag me around. Are there any ample-proportioned 200 Beta owners out these who'd like to give me their opinion on whether they feel they made the right choice?

OK, I've cleaned the carb, blown out all vents and replaced the vent tubes (one was quite badly damaged and might have been partially blocked as a result), reset the float height and feeder valve, checked the fuel line (no problem), checked the reed block (looks OK) and replaced the air filter and plug. I haven't really had chance to properly test it yet (I don't think that the neighbours would appreciate full throttle runs up and down the street at 10pm!) but it sounds a lot cleaner on tickover. One quick question: Is it possible that an excessively lean fuel mixture (premix) could cause the high revs knocking?

It baffles me too. We have Youth A, B, C and D, Clubman A and B, Inter, Expert and Masters lines at club trials and while some of the classes double up on the flags and the colours are consistent it still makes for an occasionally confusing technicolour puzzle on the first lap!

When I first bought my '02 Rev3 (270) it was suffering quite badly with an knocking under hard acceleration which, after a lot of fiddling about, was cured by a larger pilot jet and has run fine for over a year. I've just got back from an evening practise session and the same problem's suddenly back, even worse than before. The odd thing is that I haven't done anything to the bike recently and it was running fine at the weekend. Most of the time it's fine but when using lots of revs it knocks like crazy. It's always been a bit on the smoky side (I know that the pipe needs a proper clean) but now it's clouds of blue smoke all the time as well. I'm going to do all the usual stuff, pull the carb, clean and check the reeds etc. tomorrow night but I'm baffled as to why the problem should suddenly return like this - any ideas?

Completely demoralised by my recent pathetic results, I decided not to ride a club championship trial last Sunday and for the first time since I got back into trials a couple of years ago, offered my services as an observer instead. So me and t'lad wandered down to section 1 and awaited the hoardes. You know what? I enjoyed the day far more than if I'd been riding and I think I actually learned a lot from watching the different lines that people chose. The decent weather helped I'm sure and despite being eaten alive by the midges even my 8-year old son (who, surprisingly, never got bored all day, stayed well out of the way when asked and helped out by pointing out the correct route to the D-class riders) was asking if we could observe again next week! If like me you're getting fustrated with your apparent lack of progress as a rider, my advice is to take a couple of events off and observe instead. I found it to be very educational and an excellent re-motivator.

I've been riding for a couple of years and I'm still stuck in the middle of Clubman B (out of Clubman A and B, Inter, Expert and Masters routes). I have modest ambitions as a trials rider: One day I hope to be able to ride Clubman A and not finish last! Judging by my recent (non-)performances, I think that day's a way off yet...

I found the fork seal replacement manual on Ryan Young's site very helpful. The Beta's fork internals are slightly different to the Sherco forks shown in the manual so play the disassembly and reassembly by ear but it's pretty straightforward and the actual seal replacement process is identical. If your bike has USD-ers then I'd assume that the process is the same, just... upside down(?) Click here then click on "Sherco Fork Seal Replacement Manual" (PDF).

It helps a lot of you put the new bearings in the freezer for a couple of hours before starting the job and once you've got the old bearings and spacer out, stuff a rag in the spindle hole and soak it with boiling water until the hub is good and hot. This makes the installation of the new bearings much easier.

Did you take the photos Heath? Very impressive, especially the one of Colley!