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A T-15 Torx will fit and you can re-install the buttonhead screw, but you'd be a lot better off converting the 10 screws to the newer style 7mm head 12-point screws that replaced them as an upgrade. You can also use a centerpunch towards the outside of the screw and work it around to back it out. If you are not using a new Allen wrench, the flutes are probably rounded off the end of the Allen due to use and you'll want to grind about 10mm off to keep it in good shape. Allen wrenches wear at the ends and it's a good idea to dress them now and then or you'll start stripping out screws. This is especially important on aluminum plugs like drain and clutch cover which will strip out when old wrenches are used on them (a T-45 Torx can be used to back them out). Jon

I also just got one of the new type rim straps, to keep in parts. They are "one piece" and have the valve stem as part of the strap itself, the GasGas part number is BT551502808 . Jon

Jonny, My first guess is that the two o-rings on the servo cylinder tower (down on the clutch sidecover) need replacing as they may have swollen. While you're down there, you may want to measure the clutch finger height (should be around 17-17.5mm) and they may be too low (thick clutch pack) which will also make the clutch "stiff". Jon

True, I probably should have expounded on my tip to add, that the old bearing should be beneath the axle nut so you can tap on the outside of the old bearing to drive in the new one and the axle is just used for alignment. Thanks. Jon

You also have a built-in tool to start the bearing straight into the hub. Use the axle as a guide by putting it through the hub with the bearings on each side and lightly tap around the bearings to start them in, the axle will keep them square to the hub and you can, in a pinch, use a block of wood on the axle nut to act as a driver. Jon

geordabroad, Just to make sure you don't misunderstand, I think that Jan meant to say between the top on the rubber chain guide on the tensioner and the underside of the swingarm is where the space would be to insert one's thumb. Jon

Tom, The "grinding" you hear is probably the gear selector mechanism (thick pins known as "dogs" and slots in the gear hubs and collars) and not the gear teeth as most motorcycle transmissions are known as "constant mesh", so in most cases the gears do not move from one set of teeth to another but power is transferred along the shafts by a set of collars with pins and slots in the gear hubs (over simplified, I know). I'd first adjust the centering spring under the clutch hub. The internal roller may not be moving the shift drum far enough for the detent wheel to drop down into the "slot" in the shift drum. Unless you've hit the shift lever hard on a rock lately I doubt there are internal injuries causing your problem. Jon

The measurement is taken from the hub of the basket to the top of the fingers and is an indication of installed clutch pack width and mechanical leverage/pressure. Check out: http://www.trialspartsusa.com/tech.html and most of your questions will be answered. I see Jim Snell has added some new videos and info for GasGas riders wanting to do their own work and you'll you'll find this is probably the best site for reference. Jon

Neat. If it's warm there at all, you'll really want to avoid the Red Bluff area. 36 will take you through the very small town of Mad River and if you like to fly fish, spend a little time on the Mad River below the Dam, great for Rainbow Trout and I've spend many hundreds of hours enjoying myself there. When I first went to Mad River on 36, it was a dirt logging road and you had to cross the creeks 17 times (hense the sign at the beginning, "17 DIPS", which I found out later what it meant) and dodge logging trucks all the way, but I imagine it's a lot better now. At Leggett, you can take Hwy 1 to the Coast and it's a really beautiful drive down the ocean, you'll take a lot of photos and there are great places to have lunch. Happy motoring! Jon

You might want to think about using the Type-F ATF, rather than the Dexron, as you have the thinner spring. I'd pull the clutch cover and check the height of the clutch fingers and I usually run mine about 17.5+-mm. One type of the new clutch pack has two fiber plates the same thickness and the third fiber is thicker (used to determine the assembled width of the pack) and should always go in first. Double check that you have some clearance where the adjustment screw on the clutch lever meets the plunger that goes into the master cylinder (where the rubber boot is). Jon

It would depend on the wear of the cylinder. The piston "Alpha sizes" usually vary .005mm or about .0002" from letter to letter. Your bore is Nikasil coated, which is silicon carbide particles in a nickel matrix, so in effect your bore is nickel coated, but the nickel is the "glue" that holds the ceramic particles to the bore wall (your piston is also infused with silicon carbide particles, usually 17-22%). I'd follow Peter's advice and do some measurements. If you're not sure how, take it to a good mechanic, who will use a "dial bore indicator" on it and get a direct measurement of taper and bore diameter. You have to keep in mind that the required piston/cylinder clearance will be at the "tightest" spots, which is usually the skirt of the new piston and towards the bottom of the bore, not the top. We're just making an educated guess according to your descriptions, so it might be a good idea for someone with some engine experience to take a good look at it as it might save you some money in the long run. Jon

Aaron, You'll also want to drain and flush out the tank and remove the petcock. Petcocks usually have a short and taller screen filter in the tank and you'll need to see if the petcock passes enough fuel as the rubber washer behind the lever may also have gunk in it. Jon

Neat! You look like you're having fun! I'm always interested in seeing riders from around the world. My wife's father is from what used to be called Heltau, in old Romania. Thanks for sharing that with the rest of us. Cheers. Jon

I heard it, nice. The four-strokes are extremely picky when it comes to airbox design and I expect to see a few factory re-designs after the 4T's have been in use for a while. The critical area is around the carb/FI bell, not so much in front of it, as intuition would dictate. They depend a lot on a larger "still air" area than the two-strokes do (kinda like a 4T "big gulp" vs. 2T "constant sipping"), so things like a large radius in the junction of airbox/carb boot is one way to help them out a lot from what we saw on the dyno. The large radius not only shaped the air better into the boot but also increased the "immediate-availability air" inside the filter. I would imagine that the increased displacement would make the CV slide-spring choice less critical, so I wasn't surprized to hear that. I'm glad the pipe still retains a low sound profile, the Beta 4t stock is an extremely quiet four-stroke. Now, if we can just get Honda to retain the services of the Bose Audio Engineers to take some of that bark out of their bite.... Can't wait to try it out! Jon ps. Almost forgot to add that when I did the TC article on your bike, I think I mentioned the observation that it looked like the case/cylinder design appeared to be with the idea of a later displacement increase, so that I would imagine that the added cc's do not compromise the structural integrity or reliability.

The RR is a handfull and the new bikes are kinda neat but can sure be scarey too. I've ridden ones like a ZX14 drag bike and a Turbo Hyabusa and even a 1328cc alcohol Hilborn injected 1/4 mile monster (just for diagnosis purposes, I'm not anywhere near talented enough to put them through their paces at the level they require) but the bike that really startled me was essentially a stock ZX10 roadracer, felt like a little, light 600 and lulled me into a false sense of security until I rolled on the throttle coming out of the first turn. Yipes! Yea, I'm much happier on the rocks also..... Jon

A much better idea if all you need to do is drain the coolant. That tiny washer can drop down into the turbine blades inside the housing and you'll probably need to take the pump off to get it back out (happened to me a couple of weeks ago). Jon

I did a similar thing to what Mark did by taking a bolt the same thread as the swingarm and brazing it to a thin rod to use as a driver and installment tool, works great. You might try using the Allen bolt and backing it out a little so it still catches a few threads and then tap on it to move the swingarm rod out a little (enough to use a screwdriver to lever it out more), or enough to use a cresent wrench on the flat to rotate it which will make it easier to back out. The long bolt/bushing is aluminum so you need to treat it with care and sometimes some penetrating oil sprayed all around will help. Jon

Ron! Don't let Copie near that 300 till I have a chance to look at it, you know what he does to machinery. All kidding aside, how's the 300 working out, I bet it's sweet. Did you need to do any jetting changes to the CV carb? What type of slide spring seems to work best? Jon

The foam air filter is what's known as an "open cell" foam, in which all the individual cells are "open" to each other (you might say they have "posts" rather than walls between them). When you use filter oil, it coats the walls of all the little interconnected "caves" and the fine grit particles traveling through the open cells become stuck to the sides (larger dust/grit particles usually do not penetrate far into the foam). Filter oil, to be truely effective, should be sticky when at a thin coating, more so than regular motor oil and more like, say "STP" (which originally meant "S"cientifically "T"reated "P"etroleum when it came out in the, oh, 60's I think?). So, in my personal estimation, it does make a difference in what type of oil is used on a foam filter if you want the best performance. Filter oil is a combination of the actual filter oil and a solvent to thin it out and allow it to disperse through the foam and then dry off. From testing we did for our National MX bikes, we found that some filter oils are more "waterproof" than others, in that they don't allow as much water to penetrate the outer part of the foam (and we ran into some really crappy conditions, like when the AMA had to close off a portion of the Hangtown National GP when too many riders got knocked off their bikes by rushing water). A filter oil such as K&N gauze filter oil (they also make a foam filter oil, I think), will usually allow more water to pass through because it's made for another type filter (gauze rather than foam, which has a much more fibrous makeup and a thicker oil would tend to "clog" the air passages) and the matrix in which it operates is different and when used in a foam filter, has a tendency to allow more water through, which tends to "wash" some of the trapped grit (due to the oil not being "sticky" enough to hold it) to enter the carb. If, next time you have the filter box off, you look into the carb bell and see any kind of "dirt" in the throat, you might think about trying another kind of filter oil or maybe modifying your filter cleaning/oiling methods to avoid that condition. I would think that just about any type of oil will work to a certain degree and cleaning the filter often will make a big difference in engine longivity, so the bottom line is do what you feel most comfortable with. Jon

If you closely at the clamp, you'll see where you can use a very screwdriver to pop the clamp apart. Just put it in where the outer part of the band is and twist. To install, just take a pair of pliers and squeeze the clamp together and you'll hear a "click". Once you look closely at it, it hopefully, will be clear. They look kinda simple but work really well. Cheers. Jon

That is one VERY lucky rider! Jon

The early model uses a standard Allen wrench and the newer, improved drain/shaft bushing takes a "T-25" Torx bit. Jon

I also hope the Arnold's keep us up on their adventures. They will like Yosemite ( I used to do a fair amount of fly fishing in the Merced river there) and Lake Tahoe and be sure to see Emerald Bay at Tahoe (and maybe play a few slot machines for me at Stateline)..... Smoke signals? Heck, who do you think did all those cave paintings?..........well, I helped some........ Jon, older than Copey, and THATS old!

Thanks! I had a 96' and the problem had been solved by then. Jon

I agree. I like to clean everything with alcohol and use soapy water. I always pump my tires up to about 30 psi after a Trial, for storage, and I've never had any leakage problems on my 02' Pro. Jon