dan williams

Fans, and electric motors in general, have a very high starting current. If jumping across the temp switch makes the fan run every time then I think you’ve identified a bad switch. If you have an ohm meter handy you could let the bike heat up and disconnect the switch and throw the ohm meter across the switch terminals. It wouldn’t take more than a few ohms of resistance to limit the starting current to the point the fan won’t start running but would keep running once started. I did take a Beta fan into the lab once to measure the running current and it was about 0.5 amp but if I limited the supply to anything under 10 amps the fan would not start. I think you’re up for a new switch.

Machine wash warm/warm. Pretreat with stain stick according to instructions on the stick. Let the stain stick sit for a bit before washing to do its thing. Do NOT dry in dryer. The heat will set the stains. Also the heat will shrink the spandex. Air dry.

All on hold due to corona virus. Will update when the world starts spinning again.

New England Trials Association has cancelled all events until further notice. Pretty much everyone is in agreement that it is unfortunate but prudent.

Unfortunately they are not doing an event this year. At least not an NETA event.

I'm not dead yet. Still looking for another gig. Would you like cheese on that sir?

4/26 RITC Training School 5/3 KPTR Wrentham 5/17 Meriden MC 6/7 Springfield MC 6/21 Rhode Island TC 7/19 State Line Riders (NY) 9/27 Rhode Island TC 10/10 CATRA 10/11 CATRA ** Meriden MC are still scheduling 1 more even

I’ve had two of the 300s and my experience matches mcman56’s most closely. They can be made softer off the bottom with modifications. Proper jetting, gear down a bit, low compression head and carbon reeds on mine. Purrs like a kitten and grunts like a pig. But... it is still a 300 and will remind you of that fact if you get sloppy with the throttle. Lose focus and you better have a quick clutch finger. I haven’t tried super smooth but I have had Betas with added flywheel weight and I just don’t care for the run-on you get with a flywheel. I also like feeling for traction with a more responsive engine but to each their own.

Yeah but we buy them anyway?

I considered this.The problem is my bike was popping out of first and second into neutral. That it usually occurred when I bounced the bike (intentionally or unintentionally) started me toward the shifter but I came to realize it wasn't synchronous with just a bounce but a bounce that unloaded the transmission. I'm sure there are nuances that I'm missing. The other thing that pushed me away from the lever being the root cause is it takes (or should) a fairly decent amount of force to roll that bearing up the cam slope far enough to de-index the thing. More than is likely to be generated by that light weight shifter just bouncing on the pegs in my novice sections.Third was that my bike was the best shifting Beta I've owned until about six months in. Then it started getting funky. First the occasional pop into neutral and progressing to two-three times per event. Really rattled me. So far with the latest revision of the mod I have half a season of riding on the bike with the custom cam and reverse cam indexer and it is still working as it should. I know when I do a crappy shift and now I can hear and feel the gearbox snap into gear after a split second. Just using the indexer with the proper bearing stopped it from popping out but the slightly steeper cam with flats on top has just changed the feel to what is expected from a Japanese street bike. I'll tear it down in spring just to make sure it is not wearing abnormally or anything weird is happening like the pins backing out of the cam but to be honest it's so good right now I don't really want to mess with it any further. Without evidence to the contrary I'm still sticking with the crappy, oversized OEM bearing, under-sprung indexer as the root cause.

Congrats and welcome to the loony bin?

Not quite sure what that phrase means but... You might want to pull the primary drive and have a look to see if something is interfering with the clutch basket. Typically a loose muffler core won’r make the bike vibrate.

Looks like I’ll have more time to play with this stuff. Just got made redundant. Can’t complain though. It was a good 37 year run.

But? But the new Beta has bold new graphics! BOLD NEW GRAPHICS!!! How could you?!! ?

So where do I send the parts?

I wonder if Beta brake lines have more flex in them? I remember Ron Commo always had custom hydraulic lines made to improve braking power.

From Christy Williams-Richards via Facebook.

Yikes! Not my experience at all. Only sport I can think of where you can go to a banquet after and be served champagne by the world champion. Where you can call a factory and get the owner. Where you crash and your competitors pick you up, dust you off and offer advice. Where a novice can finally clean a section and have a national champ give a “whoop!” From the loop trail because they stopped to watch YOU ride.

This might be a dumb question but why bother? Are you trying to change engine characteristics? Is this a complete rebuild?

Partial to sesame oil myself but that’s a different application. Beta’s are notorious octane pigs. If you want it to run properly feed it the good stuff. You can also get a low compression head which reduces the octane requirement somewhat and makes the 300 a little less hyper though it will occasionally remember it’s still a 300 and surprise you if you’re not careful with the noisy grip.

Oh you are just evil!

Sorry to hear no success. Make sure to let us know when you do get it sorted. Knowledge shared is knowledge multiplied.

Typically a blocked main jet. Is it a Keihin or DelOrto? When you say you cleaned the carb are we talking full disassemble and blow out of all jets and holes? One thing that is common on the Keihin is putting the little brass needle guide/jet thingy in upside down. Done that before. The beveled edge goes up?. Will behave as described. If there is water in the CDI it may not be dry inside even if it looks dry outside. Might take a few days extra for the water to evaporate.

Perfect. That’s exactly what I need! I owe you?. OK just an update. The FOX buckle didn't pan out but S3 sent some replacement parts to Ryan Young and they're sending me one. Yay!

Ah, just looked at the S3 pants and the fastener looks the same but the marking on the back says ITV (or ITW tough to see because it’s stylized) Fastex. Could explain its early death.