My 06 270 has developed a recent problem where it will take many many kicks to get the engine to fire up. Prior to this problem, it has been a 1 to 2 kick starter always. It almost seems to light up a second AFTER you've kicked the bike through it's full stroke, which is sort of wierd, cuz you think you didn't start the bike after you kick, then KA-POP.. and it lights up.. very strange. Some technical details:

I have the lean jetting in place.

climate is unchanged (sea level)

Float height has been checked and appears to be the right height (7/16ths from the base)

Fuel type and mixture is unchanged (100:1 premix, 100% race fuel).

I didn't see any debris in the pilot jet.

Once the bike is started, it runs quite fine, although for me I've always found that it's easy to stall the bike. However that is unrelated to the starting problem.

Thanks in advance for any helpful suggestions!

cheers,

Rob

I would take a look at /replace the plug. This seemed to be the source of problems I had earlier this year with my 06 270. Changed to NGK BP5ES- now it's starting well again.

Check the kill switch - this new type can sometimes cause a problem. You should also check the vent tube in the gas tank ( the small grey one) Also if you change to an NGK be sure to use a 7 not a 5 - Beta recommend a cooler plug than other bikes . Champion plugs are the opposite to NGK in heatrange numbering - ie. NGK the higher the number the cooler the plug - Champion the higher the number the hotter the plug. - be sure to use a resister plug ( this is very important)

Dave, Beta are telling us to use bpr5es in the UK not 6 or seven and they do seem to run better with them.

bpr5es.... Beta uk recommended, and mine has run on the same one for 8 months now

Same as i`m using and has ran fine since I bought it back in march/april! Changed it for the sake of it the other day while servicing the bike tho and still runs sweet as

Feetup, I m amazed it starts at all with such a lean mix plus the race fuel, most of us run 65-70ml of oil in 5 litres of superunleaded, I had been using 100% Avgas but it was too much for it, only use 50-50 now or just Superunleaded. Try it with the standard pilot in again, I found mine was too lean with the 27.5 in, ran ok but you could tell it was loosing power due to lack of fuel

I did change the plug fairly recently to a Bosch Platinum 4218.. I'm not a spark plug expert, I was told this would run well in the bike, but i'm thinking this is a hotter plug than standard, it sounds like if anything I should be running a cooler plug... I will switch back to the stock plug and report if that helps things.

thank you all very much for your kind help.

p.s. I've been running 100:1 in rev-3's since 2004 per the recomendation from our importer with no problems. the bikes also run fine with 50/50 race fuel blended w/ pump fuel, but I run 100% race fuel to eliminate any variables due to seasonal mtbe additives in our pump fuel.

Rob ,

Only 100-1 with the Ipone oil .. if you have used that up you should use 1.5ozs per gallon... spark plug ngk bp7es or champion n7yc .. platinum plugs do not work that well in trials engines.. we have just started experimenting with RN series Champion plugs.. some engineers say they work better with digital ignitions..

be careful running 100% as the bike may need a much hotter plug as racefuel runs much cooler..

Ron Jr

Beta Usa

Everyone was correct, it was in fact the plug. I changed the bosch for a champion N7YCC, and it lights up 1st try as before, and runs super clean through the range. Thanks to everyone for the help.

Also Ron, thanks for the tips on the mixture. I have been using the ipone oil recently, although I'm almost out and will be using ELF going forward, per your recommendation of 1.5oz/gal. Thanks again. - rob