neonsurge

May I be the first to say... ...you jammy sod

What Kinell says, plus: I'm pretty bike-agnostic, having ridden Gassers etc. in the past and I ride a Beta because it just works for me as a mediocre clubman-level rider. But it's hands-down the easiest bike to work on I've ever owned (including road and enduro bikes) and in every side-by-side comparison test I've ever seen, the Rev3 comes out on top. The bike HAS changed significantly since introduction but it's always been evolution, not revolution. The frame may look the same but the geometry's been altered and slimmed over the years. The engine is tweaked every year (porting, timing etc.) and the suspension has been significantly improved (my current 2006 is miles better than my old 2003 at the rear for example). As for your comment re. engines: You realise the Yamaha motor in the SY250F is an (at least) 8 year old design? And the TYZ250 engine is 20+ years old? I don't do the "your favourite bike sucks" stuff so don't start but you really didn't think your comments through, did you?

I always feel compelled to point out that other platforms aren't immune to viruses, spyware and malware either (it's probably an consequence of too many years reading Slashdot, a habit I'm happy I've managed to break). Both Macs and Linux are susceptible to some attack vectors and while I agree that the online world would be a better place if more people switched to Linux, some of us just don't have the option and for others it might turn out to be a huge mistake. I'm an ex-UNIX sysadmin and I DO run SuSe on one of my machines but my day job is .NET development and for that I need Visual Studio and Photoshop, neither of which are available on the Linux platform (nor are likely to be in the forseeable future). Add to that the problems with device drivers on Linux and to simply state that Linux is the solution to everyone's home PC woes is misleading. OK, I know the vast majority of reent hardware devices are supported "out of the box" on most Linux distros but there aren't many "average" home users who could cope with downloading, building and linking a device driver for an unsupported 3-year old graphics card and there's no reason why they should. I know things are changing in that respect but I still maintain that Linux just isn't ready for the desktop yet (servers are another matter). And for some people (like me), there simply isn't a choice. If everyone switched to Linux or Mac OSX overnight, all that would happen is that the virus writers would start targeting those platforms instead of Windows and within a year or so we'd be in the same situation with the roles reversed.

Dude, just phone Lampkin's for gawd's sake. You've probably spent more in bandwidth posting all these "how much?" messages than a quick phone call would've cost...

I'm baffled by this discussion. Unless I'm missing some important nuance (and I've read every post twice now, just to make sure), surely it makes complete sense to run the adult BTC series under whatever rules the FIM decide to enforce at world level (whether that's non-stop, stop allowed or hop-and-bop) and leave the clubs free to use 22a or b as they see fit? Just like 2006 in fact. Why put our top riders at a disadvantage (no matter how small that disadvantage might be) when competing in European and world level events? I really have no opinion on which rules encourage more skilful riding because at the level we're talking about there are few people on here who are able to make that judgement authoritatively - that's why the opinions of Alexz and a couple of others should be listened to most closely and that's why the ACU have invited all of the championship class riders (and the top experts I understand) to the forthcoming meeting at which a decision will be made. The argument that having different rules for different events will cause observing difficulties is weak. Really, the rules aren't THAT complex...

The spell checker is built into Firefox 2.0.0.1

I HATE sitting behind a 4RT in a queue at a section for that very reason. They're almost inaudible at tickover then the rider starts to blip the throttle and BLAAAAAAAART!!!!!! The problem with noise tests is that they only measure the volume at close distance and the real issue is that the lower-pitched exhaust note of a 4-stroke travels much further than 2-stroke engine noise due to the longer wavelength. The fact that the 4RT has passed all ACU noise tests means absolutely nothing and does not acknowlege or address the real problem of perceived noise levels when the listener is physically distant. The Beta 270 is considered to be a "loud" bike but put it next to a 4RT and rev both bikes' nuts off and although many people will say that the Beta is louder (which it may well be perceived to be due to the higher pitch cutting through the lower frequencies coming from the 4RT), it'll be the 4RT not the Beta that you'll hear from half a mile away. THAT'S the real problem. Ye cannae change the laws of physics.

See my sig for the club sites I manage and maintain! I've also just completed a web-based promotional presentation for Michael Brown which will hopefully be publicly accessible online in the very near future... announcement soon!

Would a front flip be physically possible on a motorbike? Surely additional mass and rotational weight of the flywheel etc. would make it impossible?

Reminds me of Stanley Jordan (obviously) and Michael Manring's amazing playing. Cool-a-rama.

Sorry guys, I know I've banged on about this on the Beta forum a lot but the Beta 200 is a superb bike. Smooth a silk and more than enough for any club trial. Pulled my lardy a*** around with absolutely no problems and if I was totally focussed on competition, I'd probably have bought another last time round. I only bought the 250 because I enjoy my "play" riding too and I didn't enjoy revving the a*** off the 200 in those "bet you can't get up there you poof" situations. If you want to improve your skills and results, get a 200, no question.

Have you tried all the usual stuff? Specifically: Whip the carb off and give it a good clean making sure all the jets are clear. Also, make sure the air filter is in reasonable nick and not clogged (if possible, put a new one in). New plug. Might also be worth repacking the silencer.

Don't forget a certain Michael Brown who's looking particuarly handy for the junior championship.

Damn you all and your carefully thought-out, sensible suggestions. I'm araid that's just not how things are done around here - no job's finished until blood has been drawn and swears have been sworn. Maybe I just need a VBFH. Or I could just do the sensible thing and remove the swingarm. I'll see how I feel in the morning

Remove the swing arm to get the brake pedal out? Nope, no matter what it takes in terms of enthusiastic BFH deployment there's no way I'm gonna allow some cappucino-crazed Italian engineer to make me remove the swingarm to get at the freakin' brake pedal. Ain't gonna happen. Now it's personal. Watch this space.

Well is IS pretty easy but you have to take the header or silencer and mid pipe off unless you have double-jointed fingers. The filter on the tap is quite long and like Barry says, they can get surprisingly clogged. Even if the tap is fubar'd they're not too expensive - about

Thanks everyone. Fortunately, I own a selection of BFHs and I'm fully qualified in their use (it's true, my missus made me a certificate and everything - it's written in blood). The last thing I'm unclear about is the direction in which the controlled(!) force should be applied. I'm guessing forward/slightly downwards, right?

I've never had to remove the brake pedal on any of my Rev3s. Now I do and I'm struggling for some reason. I've removed the spring, plunger rod and pivot bolt. Now it's loose but won't come out, forwards or backwards. I thought it was snagging on the footpeg hanger so I removed that but it hasn't helped. Now it looks like I ought to be able to get it out if I remove the plastic chain guard on the swingarm but that means breaking the chain and/or removing the front sprocket and I'm pretty sure I shouldn't have to do that(?) What am I missing that's obvious? Feel free to use the words "dumbass" and "idjit" liberally in any reply. Many thanks!

Could be the stator but in my experience when that goes the bike is dead and won't run at all. I'd check the woodruff key - I sheared 2 on my previous bike (due to a worn main bearing) and the second time it happened the symptoms were identical to those described - OK until 1/2 - 1/3 throttle at which point the flywheel inertia caused it to turn on the shaft and misfire like a sonofabitch. Very easy to check/repair although you'll obviously need a flywheel puller.

Oh, and the iPod has iDoom of course!

I don't own a Zune nor have I played with one but I've spoken to a couple of people who have and they didn't have many nice things to say. Horrendous installation issues, host memory hogging, very limited WiFi connectivity, DRM'd to buggery and incompatible with Vista's Media Player (WTF??) as well as numerous other flaws. Even Andy Inhakto who's usually very pro-Microsoft was less than impressed to say the least: http://www.suntimes.com/technology/ihnatko...-Andy23.article Personally I'd stick with my iPod until the 2nd generation Zunes arrive (at least) by which time they'll hopefully have sorted out these issues (or maybe not considering the dodgy dealing going on between Microsoft and the music industry at the moment).

Gah, wish I'd seen this BEFORE the trial! Mind you, it would've taken bloody rocket fuel to get me up section 12.

Here we are again. Your favorite bike sucks.

The guy's been here 5 minutes and members of the TC cabal are already sharpening their knives. I agree that the original post was misdirected but everyone is entitled to an opinion and I don't think it deserved such a hostile reception. It's been getting very clique-y and unnecessarily snarky round here recently. And before someone else says it... I'll be careful not to let the door hit my a*** on the way out.

Saw several instances of this with a customer recently. Corrected it by clearing the hosts file and resetting the network connection properties. See here for more details.