bob

I may be wrong but on the newer betas the flywheel weight is on the outside of the flywheel, so it looks like it has already been removed so you'll have no problems there. I think that the diagram on the beta website whould be about right for timing, it shows a stotor with six coils, so if youre has six coils aswell which I think all pre03 bikes had then set it to that. Would it be best to replace the little end bearing and or piston rings whilst the top end is easily accessible anybody? Looks like you've about got it sorted though. Bob

Hiya, Looks like a nice bike, You'll hopefully really enjoy it once you've got the hang of it, clubs are really helpful to beginners so don't be afraid to pop along; even just go along to watch a couple to get an idea of what you're up against. Another maintenance tip is to pop the plastic flywheel cover off after you've washed it to let any water evaporate out, it may save you the expense of a corroded stator. Enjoy it, Bob

You certainly didn't need to remove the engine to check the woodruff key, but whilst you've got it out I suppose you may be well advised to check the piston rings and bore for damage especially since you did run it without oil in the fuel. If the petals are new then there would be no harm in replacing the old ones, making sure that they fit closely together as I believe is shown in the manual. I'd have a good look at the woodruff key first. Good luck, Bob

So was anybody filming at Sheffield, even though it wasn't a world championship round? Bob

It is quite possible the engine is running in reverse, and this in fact supports the idea there is a timing issue, whip the flywheel off and have a look, check the woodruff key (semicircle shape, about 1cm in diameter) to see if that has sheared, if not then check the timing against the example on the beta UK website. You will need to mark the nut and flywheel before taking the off so you definitely tighten it correctly when you replace the flywheel unless you have a torque wrench, in which case tighten it back on to 140Nm, thats bloody tight. You'll also need to figure out how to hold the flywheel, wither make some sort of tool, or take it to your local bike shop where they may have an impact wrench if you haven't got one. You'll also need a flywheel puller. If you're stuck then I think JLI should have everything you will need. Bob

No, if it says up to 50:1 then 70:1 will be fine because this is a weaker mix. Perhaps you should take a little time to understand the workings of a simple 2 stroke engine, it is completely different to the engine you would have on a car, and understanding what is going on may help you to understand what you have done to the engine. As far as oils go, on your bike there is gearbox oil, which you put in the gearbox, rather than just topping up every now and then, this oil should be replaced every four months or so completely, the oil drain bolt is underneath the engine, accessible through a bole in the bach plate. About 500cc of fresh oil is places through a filler hole on the top left of the gearbox just in front of the clutch. Note that slightly less oil than reccomended in the manual should be used because some oil clings to the gears and hangs about between clutch plates. You also have fork oil which needs changing very rarely, it goes in the fork legs and provides damping. Finally you must mix oil in with your fuel, two stroke ENGINE OIL, this lubricates the engine itself, such as main bearings on the crank shaft, the big and little end bearings on either end of the push rod, aswell as the piston/rings. Don't forget to give the bike a shake before starting to mix the oil into the petrol, and never run the bike without oil in the fuel. If you run the bike without engine oil, then nothing lubricates the engine, things wear much more quickly and will get hot more quickly. If the engine has nipped up it is because things have got so hot that expansion has caused it to get too tight to run. In this case you wil be very lucky if the bore (cylinder) has not been scratched, and if the piston rings have also not been damaged. Bob

Perhaps Beta really did make the bike more stable by moving the centre of gravity higher? Bob

At first glance your signature suggests that betas drool, perhaps make the correction underneath a darker colour? Yeah, i reckon a little tinker with the air/fuel screw should sort it, go for what gives best throttle pickup, but no pinking. If the screw is towards the back of the carb, screwing it in will make it run richer since it cuts off the air, if it is towards the front of the carb, screwing it in will do the opposite since it cuts down the fuel. Bob

The oil is mixed in with the fuel to stop the engine siezing, it lubricates the main bearings, big and little end and the piston. Hopefully your bike hasn't siezed, or done any permanent engine damage, how long did you run it for without any oil in the fuel? The fuel and oil should be mixed at around 70:1 or so, that being seventy parts fuel to one part oil, or 70cc of oil in 5 litres of petrol. The symptoms are charachteristic of a stator damaged by corrosion which causes erratic ignition patterns, or a sheared woodruff key. The woodruff key slots onto the end of the crankshaft to use as a guide when you place the flywheel, if this shears the the flywheel may slip round on the crankshaft and mess up the ignition timing, so it could be this also. With the beta it is a good idea, in fact you must remove that plastic flywheel cover after you've been riding the bike to let any condensation or water out. Bob

well, it is perhaps due to carbeuration problems, but probably only needs a slight adjustment on the pilot screw. It is likely that the soot is simply a build up of unburnt two stroke oil which is intended to burn at higer temperatures than the engine reaches just ticking over. Stop the bike if you are in a cue, and i suppose 'clean out your motor' as Ryan young says on his training vids before you come to an obstacle. When they rev the engines at Sheffield before getting to an obstacle they are just clearing the engine. Bob Edit: jack you need to make your signature clearer!

Thats almost certainaly just engine knocking caused by pre ignition of the fuel. It is a common problem, i sorted it on mine I believe by running the pilot jet slightly richer (although someone else will be able to confirm that) and by using shell V-power or BP Ultimate petrol only. Nothing really to worry about, I don't think that the occasional pinking causes noticable engine damage and won't shrten its life, athough if it was doing it often it is possible it might strain the little end more. Bob

It's completely up to you if you weld or replace it, either would do. As regards it not rubbing you can put a spacer in so that it is mounted a little further away from the wheel if you're having problems, or tweak the sub frame with a pair of mole grips 'slightly' since it is likely that this has bent slightly anyway causing the rubbing. When bleeding the back brake, make sure that the master cylinder is backer all the way off, even remove the little push rod completely (you'll have to do this to shorten it, might as well leave it out whilst bleeding, then bleed from the caliper back to the reservoir with a syringe, or this bleeding machine, which I guess is a pump. The thing is just to pump plenty of fluid round and round because air sits in the loop and in the calipers, and is often stubborn to move. Bob

If you're in Yorkshire, then it's either 105 or 106 Fm, I think there are two different radio stations on the two frequencies. By my reckoning Galaxy 105 is the best, but neither are really my kind of radio station really. I expect you'll be able to listen online if you're into that sort of thing. Bob

Ok, fair enough it was a reasonable thing to do , but this sort of thing happens on Galaxy all the time, they were playing 'Neil or no Neil' yesterday at about 5pm and the language was appaling so I'm told. it's a brilliant station. Bob

Yeah, I've thought about that for a while, we've no plans to pump sky around the house really, we've got plenty with the telly in one room, and we don't listen to enough radio to get one of those gnome things. Luckily I live in a village surrounded by old people who don't have computers, so power isn't a problem, and security really isn't a big issue, I just set it up so you can't see the network without knowing the SSID then leave it be. Any particular views on the netgear? Bob

Yeah, I've tried perhaps every possible configuration imaginable, including putting it on a heap of shoe boxes, so close to the window it is touching the glass and further away aswell. I think it must just be a cruddy router, BT aren't exactly the best in my book anyway. I think I have settled for this router clicky along with a matching greater range wireless laptop card. It seems like it will do the trick. I believe that it is wall mountable, but if not then I will construct a shelf, which would be an all together better setup. This router also has removeable antennae, so if I do have any problem then I should be able to whip them off and put them elsewhere on extension leads, or even repace for a more powerful one. The MIMO thing with three antannae also claims to be able to maintain a high speed connection whilst connected to a standard 'g' device. If I then wish to expand further then I expect that I could get one of those ethernet by power line kits and place the older router in a room where the broadband is going to be used regularly, the poor signal means it probably won't interfeere too much with other devices, but the other router gives way to other devices because it works over a broader frequency range. Cheers, Bob

Ebay seems a good spot for wheel bearings. Even the super high quality bearings will not last a long time, so you might as well replace them more regularly with bearings of slightly lower quality, which are about a tenth of the price. 6004 2RS is correct, although i think that sometimes the 2RS is missed off, this simply refers to the seal type I believe. Bob

Well, our house is a sort of U shape, the router is positioned about half way down one side of the U towards the middle, mounted on the inside of a window frame. Unforturnately my current router will not allow a change of antenna. The router is mounted sideways on a wall with everything sticking out horizontally. From most areas of the house where I want to use it then it can either be seen through a window, or if you go to the nearest window then the router can be seen, but signal is still weak, thereis generally little interfeerence, but weak signal. Unforturnately it will barely penetrate walls, at the moment in my room the signal has to pass through a single double glazed window which is a few inches away from the router, and a single wooden door which is only thin, but the signal is still very unreliable, move the computer a few inches either way and the signal goes completely, no matter how the router is orientated. The walls in my house are either two foot thick on the outside, or about ten inches for internal walls, but I reckon that many of them may have lumps of wire mesh wedged in when the building was reconditioned, furthermore any plasterboard walls have plasterboard backed with silver foil, not that there are many plasterboard walls. I think that linksys intend to release firmware updates in the near future for the router I was looking at. That linksys one may be better for me because i can relatively easily upgrade and tinker with antennae and it looks to have a big flat thingy in the middle which could be adjusted to point where I want it. Does anybody know if the linksys WRT300N can be wall mounted without buying extra bracketry and stuff? Cheers for your replies! Bob

Hiya, I'm after an upgrade for my wireless network at home. At the moment I have a BT Voyager 220V voice router which is giving an 'always on' internet connection. It's managing all the phones as well so I'd like to keep that. The internet connection goes out of a standard Ethernet cable to a BT Voyager 1500 Wireless router, which gives one computer wired internet, and is connected to two other computers wirelessly. The wired computer is acting as a printer server. My problem is that the range of the network is absolutely rubbish, and won't handle any corners or walls. I'm not sure whether this is because of the low power of the router or the other computers. One computer is a desktop relatively close by with a good signal all the time, the other is a laptop with a belkin wireless 'laptop card' plugged in. I'm using wireless G at the mo, but I've heard wireless N is better, and I'd definitely upgrade the laptop card to N if it was such a benefit, but I'm reluctant to upgrade the card in the desktop. I would like to upgrade the router to something with a bit more power, and if required a new laptop card with more power. Basically I need a wireless router which will accept the input internet from a modem via an Ethernet (RJ-45) cable. It needs to have a four port switch built in, and as much wireless range as possible. I think that this router clicky might be suitable, but it is only fitted with 2dBi antennae so probably wouldn't have very good range, although I may be able to improve this with other antennae. I'm not so fussed about network speed so long as it can handle the broadband which is only a relatively slow connection. I would also like it to be wall mountable somehow. Total budget for all upgrades is about 150 quid. I've thought about a stand alone range expander clicky, but the signal seems ridiculously weak at the moment. Suggestions please! Thank you lots! Bob

That was a little harsh wasn't it? He went a little too far. I can't deny I was laughing my off though. Bob

I remember those, they were mentioned on here, might be best to search here for the link. I believe they were called 'glide' plates, perhaps best for a light rider. Bob

Well, not all the other manufacturers use links, Scorpa seem to get on alright with a direct link. I think that not having a link just results in a different feel. I love the way my beta feels on the back end. One advantage of using a linkage system on a trials bike is that it frees up a lot of room since the shock can be mounted lower. If you look on a beta the shock couldn't be mounted much higher, and Betas have a relatively high 'seat'. As for springs getting stiffer the more you press them, this is the same with all springs. Having links does mean that it happens more quickly, but so does mounting the shock as far back as is possible so there is more travel overall. Also if you notice on the beta the shock is mounted slightly off vertical so to start with the spring is easier to compress, but when the swinging arm and spring are perpendicular there is a greater rate of compression. Have I ranted for ages about something I don't really know all that much about? Bob

That looks a bit messy, and you don't have any rise on the pressure tube on the side nearest the camera, so you're not saving any fuel as you would with the loop and T method. Bob Merry Christmas everybody

I think that the 'Billy T carb mod' should be enough really. I have found it to be fine on both my bikes. I think i read somewhere that the carb drilling mod which does stop the spillage can also cause flooding slightly more easily, and Lampkins now only recommend it if you are doing the scottish or such like where every drop of fuel counts. Just my experience, Bob

Does anybody know for sure that the engine casing covers will fit straight onto all models? I know that on the left hand side there have been a few changes made to the water pump for example. Cheers, Bob