NorthCust

ORIGINAL POST SOLVED! In case someone arrives here by searching - here's an update on the original post: when I got the bike I did a change of the engine oil and the (very brief) manual/pamphlet from gg said use "light gear oil". So I ended up with silkolene's "gear oil light". As it turns out they are not the same thing. It's only a while later I'm going to change the oil and happen to stumble across an old youtube clip from Jim Snell where he specifies that model needed needed 5w30 instead of 10w40 (which it turns out the "Gear Oil Light " is - AHA! got some 5w30, popped it in and now it still sticks a tiny bit initially but it's nothing like the grinding tyres on the driveway against the house antics I've had to do so far. Gear selection also seems a little better and the odds of finding some sort of neutral seem to have improved slightly (if the drivetrain is weighted just right). So I guess if your clutch is dragging, try a thinner oil perhaps. Hope that helps someone..

>> gg jtx270 contact 1997, ah I believe that's quite similar to mine but that's about where my know-how ends unfortunately. though werid behaviour/swelling of plates from either being stood for ages, or a change of oil does seem plausible given my recent experience. It's taken a surprisingly long time to clear whatever oil issues my box had but the actual gear selection seems to be freeing up too with use so perhaps there was also corrosion inside as a result of incorrect oil? idk. Again though, could speak towards "further-reaching odd behaviours" (other than just swollen plates) inside the gearbox. Hope you get it sorted

with more regular use, as I'd hoped the clutch seems to be getting less sticky. I still start it against the wall for the first time but it's less of an issue every time I go out. I think she just needed some <3. gearbox-wise, it seems like it's loosening up a bit. I wonder if whatever wrong oil was used gunked up other mechanisms, e.g. why it's so hard to find neutral when it's running. She's now got a full mot (not just daytime) and I'm out exploring regularly and trying to get to know the bike. I'm going to try and add another silencer because I'd be able to explore and practice in more places without annoying people if she wasn't quite so rowdy, and there's plenty of power so if it restricts it a bit then I can live with that. Just fitted the other back wheel I had with a heidenau K60 dualsport tyre and a 40 tooth sprocket (13t front) which I just tested in the wet and much to my surprise it felt really good, but also wild. Love this bike tho whatever it is, it's exactly what I wanted. Thanks for your help everyone

hmm ok well I might have to get in touch with gasgas and see what they make of it. they seemed to be quite good with pulling up inf based on a frame number. I don't really know much about trials bikes, I was looking for something small and light to do exploring & urban freeriding and the motox 125s i'd seen were too big for me. This looked spot on (and is spot on) but I can't really claim to be any kind of authority on the details yet, though obviously I'm interested in how it's not what it claimed to be. I had managed to establish that it's from the series which ran up till 2002, since it uses the sprockets from that series, but beyond that the info I have is what's in the (very brief) "service manual" and what's on the V5. Sounds like someone bodged the V5 info. I'll see what gasgas have to say, thanks for spotting it

on the V5 it says TXT PRO 280 so that's what I went by. i checked and the frame number matched too. What makes you say it's one or the other?

turns out what was needed was to put front wheel against a wall, engage rear brake and drop it into gear and just ride the clutch/grind the back tyre till it "unstuck". Then it seems to stay unstuck for a while but if left unridden for a week or so it might need unsticking again. I think it was just the old dodgy oil it had in and needs to work out of all the mating surfaces...so basically it just needs chasing round a field for a few hours and I'm sure it'll be fine. Fortunately as of tuesday it's now got a full MOT (not just daytime) and I'm out exploring on her so the clutch is gonna get bedded in pretty soon

fixed it \o/ thanks for all the help

ok so update on this - Thanks for the advice so far everyone I took the clutch apart the other day (laying the bike on its side so didn't lose the oil), the stack of disks was 26.3mm, the service manual says min is 25.5mm. Is that about where we need to be roughly? Whilst it was in bits I could operate the clutch lever and see the central pusher bit move and it looked to be moving a couple of mm or so, just I guess those few mm are slightly short of where we need it to be. It's like the pushrod moves ok but I could do with an adjustable starting position or something, but the "service manual" doesn't really go into any detail and the parts list doesn't seem to show the other end clutch actuator bit, and I've not tried taking that side apart yet so who knows. If there's adjustment we're gravy . However assuming no adjustment i guess it's probably a hydraulic issue, so I guess start with a seal rebuild on the clutch mc followed by seals on the other end, and then see where we're at. The clutch plates didn't seem excessively swollen or damaged, they seemed unused more than anything. There was also some greenish tinge around some of the clutch contact patches (looked like mould). I cleaned them up as best I could but tbh I think what it needs more than anything is a bit of a thash round a field and then the clutch might well be fine but I'm not able to move the bike easily yet (working on that). The oil which was in it was sorta pale and weird. idk. Either way I didn't think it looked too great so changed it out with light gear oil is per manual and suggestions here. I'm waiting on a reply for seals and whatnot from gg but I think I emailed just before christmas break so timing was a bit off. Thanks for the advice so far everyone. I keep thinking "oh just take it to the shop" but it was christmas, plus I'd kinda prefer to figure it out myself, however utterly *frustrating* it is that I can't ride my new bike in the mean time I'm waiting on parts for making her road legal for a little while anyway so I may as well try to fix it myself till I'm ready with the lights and whatnot.

oh nice so is that just areas where I can muck about and learn by myself without worrying about getting chased off by ramblers? That would be very useful, thank you for the link. I don't use a car so I'll probably only be doing stuff I can ride to

I haven't messed with any of the fluids yet. sounds like I need to check the thickness of the plates or whatever and go from there...and it sounds like by lying the bike on its side I can continue to not mess with the fluids whilst doing so. I will check with gasgas what's supposed to be used where.

hmm ok - it felt/smelt a bit like dot 4 but wasn't sure so didn't mess with it. The caps are both red(ish) anodised alloy. The manual helpfully says nothing about which fluid to use.

aha that's a good idea re laying the bike down - will try that. I've just ordered the light gear oil and some mineral oil for the hydraulics. Thanks guys, I'll let you know how I get on

thanks for the quick reply - I've not added or changed any fluid in the clutch/master cylinder, may drain and refill just to be sure it's right. Is that the same for the brake cylinder too then? - there is a little free play on the clutch lever, made sure of that but forgot to mention it - looks like I'm taking the clutch plates off then Thanks for the advice

hi all, [edit: apparently it's a contact TXT not a Pro, also it's 2002] I realise this has sorta been asked before but none of the previous posts seemed to be quite the same thing. so I recently bought my bike, I do all the maintenance on my street bike (4 stroke) and I've got a couple of very modified scooter builds on the go so I don't mind getting my hands dirty, but this seems to be somewhat of a different animal so figured I'd check with people who might know before I start ripping things apart unnecessarily, esp as the the (paper) "service manual" ..er well.. doesn't exactly go into much detail, to put it mildly. I've downloaded the parts list pdf which seems to have a bit more detail but it's still a far cry from what I'm used with with my yamaha service manuals. Basically my clutch doesn't really want to disengage, so when I start it and drop it into gear, initially it wants to take off unless I hold it on the brake. Then after a bit it's like it "unsticks" and then the clutch disengages ok(ish), but not really enough to change to a different gear once I'm in a gear. I discovered today after (landing in the flower beds) that if I pump the clutch lever a couple of times then it'll let me change gear. previous posts on the subject made me think that it might be swollen clutch plates, but the pumping the lever thing makes me wonder whether it's more a worn hydraulic cylinder/seals thing, though it all feels pretty nice and tight otherwise. The bike is generally in very good shape which is why I bought it, but whilst the chap I bought it from demo'd it I didn't actually test ride it since it's not road legal yet and I wasn't wanting to launch myself thru his neighbour's garage. Naturally if he was aware of the problem he could have just pumped the lever a couple of times and I wouldn't have known to look out for that and all would have seemed to be fine. I'm not annoyed tbh, I expected some niggles to sort, I'm not on a deadline and I want to do it right. When I pull the clutch lever I can hear the clutch make a sort of "puck puck" noise so it seems like it's doing *something* in there - just not enough. Initially I thought perhaps it was low fluid in the lever/master cylinder but that seemed ok, tried bleeding the clutch end and although the bleed nozzle seems blocked, fluid came out of the side of the banjo bolt right away (rather than air) so I'm leaning towards that maybe the plates need sanding down a bit or replacing, but that pumping the lever a couple of times means it'll change gear made me wonder whether it was a master cylinder/seals thing rather than a plates thing. One other thing - I was looking for the oil level window and the only one I could find was on the right-hand side of the bike (is that the correct one for the clutch?) but the fluid in it appeared to be clear which confused me somewhat. It's still thick and gloopy so not water, but the ATF I use (for other things) have has always been red. Could this be some silicone-based malarkey? thoughts/opinions/advice? thanks in advance

hi all, just saying hi :) I've been riding & tuning street bikes for a couple of years now (all year round rider, no car) and recently got myself a lovely 2003 GasGas Contact TXT pro 280 since I've been feeling the mud calling. I don't know if I'll be doing actual observed trials though npton does seem to have a club so seems a shame not to give it a go. I got it more because I wanted something light and agile for a bit of offroad/greenlaning, some urban exploration and improving my stunting without wrecking my main bike (which really didn't appreciate me taking it greenlaning!). Normal crossers all seemed a bit tall and heavy and "on the pipe" for my liking but when I stood on my GasGas the weight and everything just felt *right*, and I prefer the way the power is delivered too, so here I am. I'm currently preparing all the bits to get her a full mot (not just a daytime one), and she's got one or two little issues I want to get sorted before the MOT too but then I plan to be out and about as much as possible. so excited \o/