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1993 Gara: do they always do that...?


Stuckagain
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Just getting to know my 1993 Gara, my first trials bike. Doesn't seem to take much to provoke the carb to start weeing fuel. Seller said they all do that if left with fuel tap on ... or idling ... or just after it's switched off ... or just after I turn the fuel tap on ... or until I turn the fuel tap off...

Bike starts, idles and runs fine. This fuel dumping something I just get used to, or is it time for a carb service....?

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It probably won't fix your problem because of the age of the carb, you probably have a worn out fuel valve. But my new brand new mikuni vm 26 started permanently p****** fuel the other day. a little trick that found out trawling the Web  was to blast compressed air up the overflow pipe clearing out grit or silt stopping the fuel valve closing. I used a can of compressed air as I don't have an air line it worked and my carb has been fine since. 

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Right, it looks like the leak is from the joint between float bowl and carb body. Gasket I presume. Of course, I can't get hold of any parts people at this time on a Sunday, so does anybody know if the VM26-208 float bowl gasket is the same as other VM26 gaskets?

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5 hours ago, Stuckagain said:

Right, it looks like the leak is from the joint between float bowl and carb body. Gasket I presume. Of course, I can't get hold of any parts people at this time on a Sunday, so does anybody know if the VM26-208 float bowl gasket is the same as other VM26 gaskets?

Yes the -208 is just the OEM designation for jets and screws but the float bowl should be the same. As for Mikuni piddling fuel see the pinned thread at the top of the forum.

 

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OK, two big wins today. I'm only an occasional mechanic - and the Beta certainly doesn't have the sort of no-nonsense accessibility my old Yamahas have - but I now have a bike which doesn't have clutch drag from start up after I drained and refilled it with Putoline Nano tech transmission oil, and the carb is no longer leaking. After eventually wrestling the Mikuni out I discovered one of the float bowl screws was finger tight. There was a teeny bit of gunk in the bowl and around the carb which I blasted away with compressed air, but now it doesn't even leak after ten minutes standing with the fuel tap left off. 

All I need to do now is build up my left leg muscle: it's like trying to kick start a 1958 BSA.

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i started my relationship with Beta in 1991 with a Zero (which ended in 2016 with an Evo) and I loved the Zero, though they do have some flaws. I made some posts a while ago on the Zero/Gara but somehow lost my login.

As already stated, the carb and engine is quite fussy to fuel level in the carbs float bowl. This needs setting quite precisely otherwise it'll dribble out or flood the engine (too high) or lean the engine out (too low) especially when the bike is inclinded one way or the other.

Probably not worth it now but they run miles better on a Dellorto.

It's common practice to drain the float bowl after use as modern fuels tend to gum up if left in there for too long and Beta's tend to like the higher octane fuel (98), they can predetonate and make a racket on regular that some might confuse with serious engine trouble.

 

The clutch is typical Beta, though I seem to remember it being cable rather than hydraulic. They all tend to drag at some point even after years of Beta fiddling they still do it, it's all part of the charm!

 

There was a spate of owners back in the day that cooked their engines, trouble was with the drive to the waterpump. It picks up drive from one end of a shaft on one side of the engine, through a couple of small bearings and a load of small seals, right through all the cases and turns the pump on the other side of the engine. Once the seals go, coolant disappears into the cases pretty quickly.

 

Another weak point is the swinging arm. It can facture across the voids, where the bearings and bushes fit (to the frame).

I snapped one clean off and another cracked across the top of both bearings/bushes, the alloy appeared pretty brittle.

 

One final design flaw, the "nut cracker" tank/frame. Just thinking about some of the old hard come downs I had on that makes my eyes water!

 

There are still some parts about for these, though they are getting thin on the ground now.

I found a parts diagram a while ago here http://trialsport.com.au/beta/Parts/Zero 93.pdf

 

Edited by Goudrons2
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Hi, thanks for that: useful. I'm building an understanding from all this that simply doesn't seem to be available in one place online.

After checking and air blasting the innards, then tightening up the fourth screw on the float bowl, there's no leakage at all. Not even if I leave it with the tap turned on. Seems to run the same now as before, but without the petrol smell.

I'm not likely to give it a hard time: it's my first trials bike since the 1970s (a TL150) and I'll probably be doing mainly pay & play stuff. 

I'll be running it on super-unleaded, as I do with a couple of my other old (non-trials) bikes.

No signs of overheating. I've been trundling it mainly around the far reaches of my garden. I've not noticed the fan kicking in at any point, but previous owner swears it works.

Changed transmission fluid and the old stuff didn't look that old. Putoline Nano went in, and it hasn't so far dragged at any point, although the test will be when I get it fired up tomorrow after three days sitting in the garage. The bike, not me. I saved three days sitting in the garage for my 71 Honda 250.

Input much appreciated. Cheers.

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