I just resigned myself to stripping down my newly acquired Beta Gara and the first thing I found was this:

It's oily and sticky, bit like a soft mayo. I assume it's an orimulsion.

I fear the worst but the exhaust port is clear so I'm hoping someones accidentally poured two stroke oil into the water header tank. I initially assumed the second filler next to the petrol was for 2T oil. Maybe someone else was daft enough to try it...

Failing that, I guess it could be a gasket gone somewhere but I'd expect to see a right mess in the exhaust or at least on the piston which is in fact nice and clean.

Not stripped the motor yet, ran out of time, too much to do this evening. So can anyone tell me what to expect?

Screwd.

Got to be a gasket that, have you dropped the clutch oil yet? if so did it look like it had water in it

Edited September 17, 200619 yr by Betarev3

Hi,i did read somewhere on here that Garas had a magnesium casing that eventually was eaten through and almost impossible to repair,hope that is not the case with you.

Hi,i did read somewhere on here that Garas had a magnesium casing that eventually was eaten through and almost impossible to repair,hope that is not the case with you.

Yikes! That sounds very promising. Cases do look a bit dodgy. Not whipped off the clutch yet. I guess I now know what to expect...

So that would be oil from the gearbox/clutch mixing with the coolant somehow.

I'll rip it open and have a look.

Screwd.

How you getting on with the bike screwdriver? hope it aint bad mate

Hey screwdriver, hows it all going?

I have recently aquired a 92 Beta Synt 240 and have just done all the usual post purchase adjustments, cleaning and inspections etc. Fingers crossed but I haven't found any real nasties yet.

I read your post with interest as the Beta Zero is similar to the Synt (Zero had alloy frame, Synt had steel as I understand it). That crud that came out of your radiator may have been some sealer used to plug leaks in the radiator - i don't know but it is certainly not right!

I have read other posts on this forum indicating that these model bikes suffered from corrosion problems caused by the high magnesium content in the crankcase. I was keen to check if this was an issue in my bike. I pulled it apart and it seems fine. No contaminants in oil & coolant was clean and green!

This got me thinking. I wonder if the alleged corrosion problem occured due to poor maintenance on these bikes (ie no coolant in system) rather than being a manufacturing issue.

Anyway, let us know how you are going with your bike.

Edited September 27, 200619 yr by dortwilder

I had a simmilar problem with my 250 gas gas jt a few years bak it turned out that the water pump oil seal had worn a ring in the impeller shaft dont know how the gara works its cooling system but its worth a look might be a cheaper alternative to most things it could be check that first.