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Ours are at: http://www.neott.com/standings.asp under club rules. Jon

I would tend to agree with Jan, I think there's something that's causing the lack of power. I built a GG 125 for one of the U.S. riders at the 05' U.S. World Round and it was not much off stock to work well. Danny Oliveras showed me the few parts that he brought with him from Spain to install on a stock bike and they were not anything unusual and he was world 125 Trials champion. I would start by doing a complete engine evaluation and adjustment to eliminate causal factors. What jetting are you using? Jon

I climbed around in it with my son and two grandaughters and then imagined 78 other crew members inside there with me, and then it felt reallllllllly cramped..... Jon

I'd check these things first: The fuel/premix oil mixture is fresh, absolutely fresh, as fuel will turn "stale" (loses it high-end aromatics that aid starting) when stored in a vented bike fuel tank (or a plastic fuel tank in the garage) for any length of time. The plug is new, not just "look good", and set to .020" (for the older GG's with MotoPlat) or .024" (for the newer Ducati or Kokusan ignitions). The flywheel Woodruff key has been checked and the flywheel fastener is torqued to about 32/34 ft lbs. When starting, flip the "choke" lever on the carb up and do not open the throttle when starting as opening the slide will defeat the enriching circuit function. The carb has been cleaned, jets blown out with compressed (from the end with the slot for the screwdriver as that's the narrow end of the "funnel shaped" jet and a piece of grit sometimes will only be removable from the "big end" of the jet hole). I'm guessing that it probably is a sheared key on the flywheel hub or clogged pilot jet, but when giving advice for "won't start", one has to make a bunch of assumptions as to the conditions of a lot of other components. I'd try these first and let us know if the engine makes good sounds. Jon

Mark, You'll have to stop by up here in Muskogee, Oklahoma and crawl around inside the WWII submarine, USS Batfish, we have in our military history park and museum. I've taken the kids through it many times and it still amazes me about the conditions the men faced in combat. I've never watched "Das Boot" again without slinking down in my chair, finding it hard to breathe..... One time, after a few beers, a bunch of us were gonna sail it up the Arkansas River and attack Tulsa, but we didn't have enough cash for diesel to get us there, but we could afford a few more beers.... Jon

I'm sure someone out there can give you the exact Beta spec.'s, they generally are around 30-32 ft lbs/40-42 Nm +-. If you need to hold the flywheel, take the plug out, get some, maybe, 3/8th inch cotton or plastic woven rope, move the piston up past the exhaust port (you can poke the rope in the plug hole to feel it come up) and stuff some rope into the combustion chamber and then lock the piston up against the rope inside, in the direction you need. It won't hurt anything as it's soft, and then just back the piston down a little afterwards and pull out the rope and throw it in your toolchest for the next use, it's easy to store and foolproof. Jon

Slightly off subject, you may want to re-check the torque of the flywheel fastener. It's standard practice for good mechanics to remove fasteners with an air wrench, but not for installing them on a motorcycle engine, especially one as critical as a heavy Trials flywheel nut/bolt, which is far different from a small, light MX flywheel. Final torque result will vary in a WIDE range according to pressure, wrench setting and how long wrench is operated. Inappropriate torque setting is one of the main reasons keys shear. Jon

I usually try to stop by the carwash on the way home, in spite of the fact it may feel like a pain-in-the-ars at the time and then blow dry it when I unload into the shop. If I'm setting up a Trial and will use it over several days together, and it's just dusty, I'll usually just check the filter, lube the chain and quickly spot lube pivot points and give it the once-over. With the pressure washer I only use the low pressure setting (and carefully around the radiator fins, fan and bearings) and only the "rinse", water only-no soap-which may corrode some parts and use WD40 on appropriate parts and pivot points, like the chain, before loading back into the trailer. As I have an 02' Pro, it's not good to leave the engine caked with mud as it's Magnesium (03' on up are aluminum, except for the Raga, which is anodized, not painted) and prone to corrosion if not properly cared for. Jon

I just checked on Ryan's website and each video is going for $49.95 here, which does not include shipping and handling, so the 33 pound price seems in the ballpark, considering they need to be shipped over the pond. It does seem kinda pricey, but it's a top-level Trials school you can refer to as many times as you want and if you're just starting out, my guess is that it will end up being a bargain due to all the parts you won't have to buy when you don't fall off..... Jon

Here's the jetting for a Keihin on a 300 Pro, and I'm guessing you should probably start with a 118/120 main on the 250: MAIN: 122 PILOT: 45 (48 OK) NEEDLE: JJH (CENTER OF FIVE POSITIONS) SLIDE: 3.5 AIRSCREW: 2.5 TURNS OUT FLOAT HEIGHT: ARMS IN LEVEL PLANE WITH FLOAT BOWL BASE (PARALLEL) Jon

Guys my age can remember the old master mechanics joke about sending a new apprentice to the parts store for a "piston return spring", but there really is such a thing. The return springs in the older clutch master cylinders were noted to sack out after a while, which caused the piston to not fully return back to the stop at the circlip and gradually cause the lever to have less and less effective throw (and make bleeding the system impossible). The new rebuild kits have a longer, stouter spring to avoid that problem. Jon

First, make sure that there is some clearance where the hand lever adjustment screw meets the plunger that goes through the rubber boot at the master cylinder (the M/C piston must come back completely to the circlip stop). If the piston does not retract back far enough, the hole between the reservoir and M/C bore wil not be open. You'll need to get some non-compressable fluid into the hose, otherwise the air will compress and expand when the lever is pulled in/out and no real vacuum will be created. Fill the master cylinder with fluid, loosen the bleed screw a little, pull the lever in, place a finger over the bleed nipple, release the lever, take finger off bleed nipple and repeat. This should start to draw fluid into the line. You may want to rotate the bars so that the M/C is up high and the loop in the line after it leaves the M/C faces down as an air bubble often gets trapped there. Jon

We're like that here in the U.S., if we think we've found a lady who rides an XJ900, heck, we're gonna propose fast before somebody else finds her! I think it's the pronounciation factor as "Jan" is usually a female name here in the States and pronounced like "Jann", but one of my Swedish friends say that "Jan" is pronounced more like "Yahn" in the Scandinavian countries and is kinda the equilivant to "John". He may be "putting me on" (trying to fool with my head) like my Scottish Grandfather who insisted that "Jon" is pronounced like "Ian" in Scotland. Jon

Chris and I have talked about this to some extent and I also kinda agree with him, but also be aware that his philosophy is to buy cheap chains and toss them when they show any wear. I agree with Chris that a moisture dispersant is a good idea after bike washing. I got a can of a chain lube I had not heard of to try from a friend that works in an industrial supply house and he wanted me to test it for him. This stuff is called "SLIP Plate" dry-film graphite chain and cable lubricant. It's a little messy at first application but dries quickly and I put a whole day's use on it yesterday setting up a Trial and the chain today still has good lubrication in the links and there was not one spot of it on the swingarm and sprocket or drooling down the back of the tensioner like with regular chain lube. I imagine that there are similar products available so you might want to check them out. So far, I'm quite impressed with this stuff's performance. Jon

It would appear that your problem is unrelated to the bleeding proceedure, i.e. "(it works quite good actually) But then after about a week my clutch looses its pressure and basically becomes useless". I'd probably put a rebuild kit in the master cylinder. Sometimes the first o-ring on the piston shaft will wear due to grit getting inside the rubber boot (I use DOT-5, which does not deteriorate the rubber) and any ingested dirt will slightly enlarge the first part of the bore (brake fluid+fine grit=grinding compound). The combination of slightly tapered bore and worn o-ring can allow air to get sucked into the M/C as the clutch is used a lot more than the brake and the throw is always longer. Oh, I'd also check the fittings just to be sure. Jon

As I understand it, rumor is that there will be about 20 prototypes distributed around January for evaluation and testing (if you REALLY want to test a child-proof cap, ya gotta give it to the kids to play with ) which is when it should possibly show up across the pond. Don't know for a fact, just heard some talk. Sparkplug type and placement on a sidevalve (or number of plugs, from my experience) is critical on a sidevalve due to the constraints of chamber design. There are a lot of ways to tweek the chamber, including pop-up pistons with a slope on the valve side, recessing the valve seats to lower the ceiling of the head etc. I'm sure they are trying a number of things to see what works best as it is a totally new design and there are, essentially, no similar engines out there to extrapolate data from, like the OHC/DOHC designs. Luckily, the chassis appears to be the same as the 2T (even the engine mounts look awfully alike) so the frame is undergoing field testing now. Jon

Me too. I feel Hapeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.............

Thanks, Jan! Just to point out to a lot of the U.S. readers who may not realize what the numbers mean, the metric seal: "38x48x10" means that the seal is for a "38"mm shaft (in this case, the upper fork tube), it sits in a "48"mm bore (the top of the lower fork leg) and is "10"mm thick, hence "38X48X10". Metric seals are a lot easier to figure out than the number and letter mumbo-jumbo the SAE stuff can be. Jon (not Jan)

A good penetrating oil to soak the mess is good to start. I've unbolted the cylinder, raised it up as far as it will go (hopefully it is stuck in the middle of the stroke) and slid some wood under the base so I can use a block of wood and a mallet to whomp on the piston crown without damaging the sealing surface of the cylinder base. You may need to add more wood under the cylinder as the piston travels down (hopefully). Be sure the crank pin is not at the bottom of the stroke, otherwise the piston has no where to go. Jon

The 38mm seals should work. The 125's kept the 38mm forks for a time after the larger models changed to 40's. 300cc's of 5 weight fork oil per leg should work to start with, or if you need a little more damping (on one side or the other) you can use Dexron ATF, which is about 7.5 weight and has appropriate additives, like a non-foaming additive. The GasGas forks can be set by oil volume, unlike the Marzocchi's, which must be set by oil level due to their cartridge design. Jon

Thanks! Jon

The plated cylinder, in conjunction with the liquid cooling, reduces cooling problems and local "hot spots" on the cylinder wall. When you think about it, it's amazing how well the old two-stroke cylinders worked as well as they did. Here you have an iron cylinder sleeve, pushed into an aluminum casing with fins, cut full of asymetrical holes and cooled on one side by incoming fuel/air mixture and heated on the other by hot exhaust gases, all the while having an aluminum slug (also hot on one side and cooler on the other) racing up and down inside it, first speeding up, then slowing down and stopping, reversing direction then speeding up and then slowing down and stopping, reversing direction etc. You can see how cooling problems lead to cylinder distortion, especially if you throw mud all over it. Yes, the Pro engine has the main crank bearings lubed by the transmission fluid, part of the reason the engine can be made so narrow. Jon

See: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=AP-v_c0g0mw . Cheers. Jon

Clark, In order to eliminate this as a possibility, I'd probably pull the headpipe off and check for carbon restriction (usually will be in the first 2-3" of the pipe and very rarely in the exhaust port, but it does happen) and then carefully inspect the whole system for any shift in the core that would cause an obstruction. Jon

Both are excellent! I don't compete anymore (my club doesn't have a Grouchy Old Phart class) but I have both of Ryan's DVDs as they have been very helpful for me in that I like to take the new riders out at our events and help them get started. Ryan is that rare combination of top level rider and good teacher that can analyze what he is doing and communicate it in an understandable manner. His teaching style is easy to relate to and he's fun to watch because he always looks like he's having fun. Jon