sirdabsalot

You're absolutely right...you can learn alot from a sixteen year old. It's just 16 years and nine months too late! Seriously, that is a good explanation of the spark gap helping clean up a fouled plug. Thanks for that. Cheers, Richard

Make sure you look on the inside of the chain for a clip if you don't find it on the outside. I always put the clip on the inside so it can't get knocked off when I'm wedged in the rocks. Cheers, Richard

Looks like he uses the red car in the background to get on and off the uni. Richard

Stu-- You're starting to worry me. Put the screwdriver down and step away from the workbench. Good. Now get some help. Okay? Richard

Hey Aaron-- If that '05 is in your way you can store it at my place. I'll even cover the shipping. Cheers, Richard

Hey Johnny Is "M4RT" phonic for "Am Farty"? Cheers!! Richard

And what about all those pregnant cheerleaders who can only describe the truck the guy was in..."It had these, like, tire tracks, like, painted on the hood."

JTT and Stu-- There is a tool for removing the helicoils. You give it a tap with a hammer and turn the helicoil out while holding pressure. It's available at McMaster-Carr, on page 3061. Cheers, Richard

Hello Stu-- I've been through more than my share of messed up threads also, and have found Helicoils to be lifesavers. It is such an easy process that I now install them in any hole that is high use (such as the screws securing the air filter cover) or high stress (such as the disk mounting bolts). As JTT said, it just involves drilling and tapping, then inserting a coil spring (a simplification) into the tapped hole. The tap is not the next size up, though. It is a special size for the helicoil (because of thread pitch). Also, there are different types of installation tools, including the type already mentioned, as well as one the slides through the helicoil and has a groove in the end that the tang of the helicoil fits into. Once installed, the tang is broken off and you are left with clean, strong threads. Another point is to make sure you tap full threads to accept the entire length of the helicoil (which can be ordered in different lengths). If the bottom end of the helicoil gets into the portion of tapped threads that are tapering down (from the tapered end of the tap), you may not be able to fully insert the helicoil. If this happens, you either have to cut the remaining threads off or get a helicoil remover and tap the hole with a bottoming tap. If the helicoil does get into the taper, the screw will be difficult to install. More than you wanted to know? Cheers, Richard

Hi Stu-- Did you coat both sides of the gasket with a THIN film of silicone sealant? Also, have you checked that the bash plate hasn't deformed the cover so the mating surfaces don't match up? One more thing: if you tighten the screws too tight you can cause a bulge in the cover between the screws that will allow the gasket to slide out. Follow the torque recommendations for the screw size. Cheers, Richard

Andy-- If you want to meet Ringo at Duluth you better catch him early on. He doesn't seem to stick around long (but you can always tell he was there)! Hey Ringo-- Make sure I have my camera ready when you ride my section at Keyesville. I don't want to miss recording another ride like last year. Cheers, Sirdabsalot

I recently started using Mobil 1 Synthetic 5-30 in my Rev 3 and so far I'm very pleased with it. Richard

They leak when the float is out of adjustment or when there is dirt keeping the float needle from closing. When the floats are properly adjusted you should not have any leakage, and you should never have fuel come out the vents. Keep in mind, I'm referring to normal upright (at least somewhat upright) conditions. Cheers, Richard

Beta Boy--Yes, the one near the choke (which is a vent) and the one near the float bowl (overflow). Cheers, Richard

Come on guys. Don't you think Dougie's picked enough? I mean, picked ON enough?

Just saw him two weeks ago at a local event. He's still Ringo (if you know him, you know what I mean). Here's a write-up he posted Wednesday on our SoCal Trials email list: The Truth about the Trials Tire Most of us have heard the grandiose story about the guy who put a trials tire on his Yamaha dual purpose bike to test it. As the story goes, the rider was extremely pleased with the tires performance in every type of terrain from sand to street and got somewhere between 1000 and 1500 miles use out of it. Being a trials enthusiast for the past 8 years and knowing what incredible traction the trials tire gives a bike I decided to put a new one on the back of my KTM 520 to see if the hype was justified. Having ridden desert bikes since high school [now I

I just found my copy of torque settings that were posted awhile back. These are for a Rev 3, but I would think they are the same for the Techno. Cylinder to Crankcase = 20-23 NM (15-17 LbF) Cylinder head to Cylinder = 15-16 NM (11-12 LbF) Hope this helps, Richard

RonM-- That's great, I never knew about that vent screw. Do you know if it's on the Rev 3? As far as the first question, I always torque bolts down 'til they break, and then quickly back off 1/2 turn. (Sorry, but lately it seems like that's what I do. I've had a few broken screws.) Cheers, Richard

Within four doors of each other there are three trials riders on my street. I always make sure I have the same bike as one of the others so I can always find replacement parts. They sure seem to break alot of parts on their bikes, though. Unless you find a plug that threads in real easy, I would not mess with it. Just park it and cover the opening with a rag. If you need the part quickly, pay the extra postage and write it off to education expenses. A short term fix might be a rubber expansion plug from an automotive supply store. They have a nut on them that expands the rubber when you tighten it. It's good enough for the high pressure of a cooling system, so it would be good enough for the crankcase. Again, short term. Good luck, Richard

Tommi-- Best of luck in your future prospects. I had a great time learning from you and watching you in the demos. Hope you make it to el Trial de Espana in So Cal again. If you do, I'll see you there. Thanks for everything, Richard Hunt

I wish I could take credit for it, but I learned it on this forum when it was under a different name. Happy to pass along what I learn and works for me, though. Richard

When you have the spacer out, grind two slots on one end big enough for the business end of a drift punch to fit in. Then the next time you have to replace bearings, simply place the drift punch through from the side opposite the slots with the end of the drift in a slot and against the bearing and strike it with a hammer. Move the drift from slot to slot until the bearing comes out. Cheers, Richard

As Alan mentioned, you need to remove the ball from under the bleed screw in order to back-bleed. In addition, wrap the threads of the bleed screw with teflon tape to prevent leakage. Cheers, Richard

The wheel bearings in my '03 Rev 3 are standard 6004 bearings. Cheers, Richard

Clark-- You might think about asking Ron to install the kickstarter and gearshift bearings. Otherwise, you may be surprised when you get the cover. Of course, you'll have to pay for these. Or you can send him your cover first and ask him to put your bearings in the new cover. Richard