2stroke4stroke

Try using masking tape round the twistgrip barrel and then contact cleaner to lubricate the grip as you put it on. Once dried the grip won't move.

This can also happen just due to a build up of condensation. i have experiencec it over the years with no leaky pump casing.

No external leaks so I'll probably spend the next week trying to get the sumpguard back on

A Bobber? Let's hope the BSA Owners Club is more tolerant than the VOC http://www.champ.org.uk/bikes/images/vincentchop.jpg

It will do in the gearbox but totally unsuitable for the motor. Nip to the Tesco forecourt and get a litre of Castrol fully synthetic bike oil. Can't remember the full name, and can't get to the oil cupboard to check, but folk on here recommended it and for some strange reason Tesco are a fraction of the usual price. Just checked posts - think it was Power 1.

You may find the X ring wants to carve a groove in the crankcase. Trials bikes tend to run a close clearance round the sprocket.

Dealer weasel words do not deprive you of your statutory rights. You may wish to consult citizens advice if the dealer does not play ball. I've never heard of a Rev 3 with a cracked frame.

Or you could pay twice that for one currently falsely advertised on TC as a Pro.

Given that Montesa punt out the same bike worldwide (as far as I can tell) they obviously expect it to cope, are they just being silly or extremely silly?

Very easy. Way back when, modified Greeves Pathfinders were used for a couple of seasons of ice racing in Scottish ice rinks. Tyres were simply drilled and coach bolts put through (studs just pulled out). I’m sure a modern tyre would run with a tube under such circumstances though the polis might have something to say. As an aside, It was probably the best thing to do with Pathfinders, they aren’t overly popular in the twinshock class for some reason

Thanks JR. I don't know which seal as it's hard to tell from the preceding posts, which is where the lost link would have been handy. It has not been upside down and I recall a pipe near the radiator additional to the expansion which (without the bike in front of me now) I assume to be an engine breather but I saw no sign of oil from there. There's been too much mud about at recent events to see oil on the sumpguard but there was no trace in the water when washing though once I get the wheels back in it I intend to drop the guard and look at the casings. Top up to full and monitor was going to be my course of action if no leak found - no point tearing things apart until I am sure that needs to be done.

Can I resurrect this one? The link above to the seal no longer works. Where is the seal and how much stripping down is needed to get at it? I couldn't see anything obvious in the manual. Three trials after the first oil change I have done on the bike the level is down to the minimum. There's no obvious burning of oil. I have not yet had the chance to drain the gearbox to see if that is where it is going but the breather hose is clear to atmosphere so it should not be over pressurised to end up there. All advice gratefully received.

Actually it was the effect of the alcohol in Cleveland Discol on cafe racer tanks that led to the banning of non-metal tanks for motorcycles in Britain in the late Sixties or early Seventies, so it ain't a new problem.

Can you take two bikes when you go to look at one?

I use Snoseal which waterproofs without excessive softening.

I'm guessing you are attracted to the SYF because of your enduro experience and the performance of the Yamaha enduro models. Frankly it is best left there, it was never a good trials motor, being just a rehashed version of the motocross/enduro motor. Go for something with a proper trials motor in it. I normally recommend the Beta 200 but you would probably find almost any other 250 would suit you.

You want the wheels in line if possible (though many Bultos in the day were not once they had been used a bit☺), but all central is not always achievable, though one would hope that the front certainly was in line with the frame. With modern purpose made, slimmer, trials motors things are better but when using a road going motor compromise is necessary to get a chain line, as your friend has discovered. I recall an interview with Sammy Miller in the Sixties where this topic came up and he said that not having the wheels on a common centreline helped balance at very low speed. I'm not sure if I entirely agree with that but I certainly would not be bothered about a bit of "off centre" for trials use. No doubt someone with practical experience of adapting frames will be on soon with a view.

Perhaps Honda bought them all - I see the blurb claims that the Cota 300 RR is equipped with X11s.

Nice one, but if you turn up in Virginia looking for the Scott Trial you might be disappointed. Pick those lines carefully

Damping on the TY was never the best so don't have high expectations. I have played about with different oils but eventually just accepted that progress has been made since the Seventies and lived with it. No doubt they can be made better but it will involve engineering rather than juggling oils. I had thought about a set of yokes and forks off the 250 then fitting one of the cartridge adaptations now available. I cured the problem with a set of Betors (attached to an SWM

I suspect that a meaningful comparison test is something that would be, effectively, impossible. The bikes are designed to cope with the sort of section found in the world rounds. Anyone who has the ability to discover that one is better than another at getting up a twenty foot vertical rock face is already tied to one brand one way or another so won't be able to give an open and honest opinion, no matter how much they might like to. And how valuable would such an assessment be to a prospective purchaser anyway given the use to which he would be putting it? Testing at the level of the bulk of potential purchasers would (given that all the bikes are capable of performing well above that level) come down to the tester's personal opinion on how the bike did one thing or another and that would be influenced by his riding style which might not be that of the potential purchaser. Any "problems" of the sort we are all familiar with would not come to light on a short test anyway so could not be highlighted. All in all the opinion of your best mate is probably more relevant because you know how he rides and how accurately he can describe a bike's behaviour in your context. Which perhaps means that test days where riders can try several bikes should be more common but there's probably not enough money in it for this to be affordable. It's possible to try several mountain bikes before purchase but it usually costs fifty quid a time, refundable on purchase. How many trials riders would spend three hundred quid to make their mind up?

As you are obviously a newcomer to the trials scene I should reassure you that, while you won't be able to get a replacement stator, it should be possible to get the faulty components replaced, and with better than original. Bradford Ignitions replaced the trigger coils on an obsolete Beta stator for me.

In my experience (reading about what seems to wear out or break on other makes) I think you would be hard put to get a bike that requires fewer marque-specific parts than a Beta. I have run a Rev 3 since 2003 and leaving aside chains, sprockets, wheel bearings and brake pads, which can all be obtained as proprietary parts and can be viewed as consumables, the only things it has needed are two chain tensioners, one bottom bearing in the rear suspension unit (this year when slight play developed) and new swingarm bearings (again only this year). Both these items were available outwith the Beta parts book. Oh yes, I did fit a piston and get the barrel recoated after about a year because the previous owner had clearly allowed the bike to swallow water or somesuch but the cost of that seemed to be on a par with any other. If even a 4RT does that well I would be impressed and I doubt you would spend less on a Gas Gas or Sherco no matter what the relative parts prices are.

I can't comment on the relative cost of parts and only once had a brief shot on a four-stroke Beta but I would have thought that if the Beta was that much better you might actually see some of them about. They seem to be something of a rarity, whilst the 4RT is omnipresent, particularly since the 260 came out. That may show which bike the majority think is better?

No old Spanish Amals then?