stu109

I have always had a desire to ride a trails outfit and, after many years of prevarication, I have finally taken the plunge and bought a chair. I am planing to attach it to my 1986 JCM 320cc. The bike has an air shock and I am hoping pumping it up to the max will make the rear stiff enough for the extra weight. There is plenty of information here about fitting but would welcome guidance on some specific points. I was going for a vertical bike/sidecar wheel. Should I be looking load the bike to allow for any sag in the suspension when in use? It is suggested that some tinkering to the mountings may me necessary to get the best ride. Do adjustable mounts work well, or is it best to weld directly to the mounts? Any other advice much appreciated.

Its tricky to get a good purchase on the cap due to its location. You could try using a screw driver against the ridges in the cap and tapping it gently with a hammer just to free it off.

I have a 2013 Evo and my black coating on the forks is worn. Doesn't seem to affect their operation and there are no leaks. Don't know how thick the black coating is but my bike has not had a hard life. If the bike you are looking at looks well maintained, and is at a good price, I would not be put off by the forks.

Finally managed to get everything back together. Engine runs sweetly and all gears engage - success! Lessons learnt: Beta manual is excellent and takes you through every stage. Only thing I struggled with was getting the chain off the camshaft. Best to remove the snap ring from the chain side bearing and slip the bearing off the shaft. With the water pump shaft removed, the cam drops just enough to get the chain off. Assembly is the reverse but you may need to jiggle the "hanging" water pump drive cog with a small screwdriver to get it in the correct position, for inserting the shaft. Water pump shaft can be unscrewed with an adjustable spanner, so no need for the special tool. The way its arranged I would think it is possible to replace the pump shaft without disturbing the engine. Crankcase splitting tool makes things much easier. Beta UK are excellent for parts put their prices are eye-watering. The parts manual has sizes for bearings and seals so cheaper to get these elsewhere. Case and cylinder gaskets are metal, and £40 each. I would consider reusing all but the head gasket if I was on a budget. Moisture had got in under the stator cover and rusted one of the screws of the water pump cover. Had to drill and use an extractor to remove. I will be keeping an eye on this and drying regularly in the future.

Got the puller and the flywheel is off. Came off with an alarming snap and I thought, for a few seconds, I had done some major damage. But all OK. Spoke to Beta about getting the cases apart. Asked about the special splitting tool, but they did not have one, and had never sold one. Suggested the cases could be split by severe bashing with a copper mallet. I didn't have the nerve for this, and, as a moderate bashing with a plastic mallet had no effect, fabricated a splitter from 5mm plate as per the picture in the manual. This worked fine but it still took considerable pressure to pull the cases apart. Still, now have a bespoke crankcase splitter for the 4T, which other TC members would be welcome to borrow. With the cases apart the cause of my problem was evident.; two broken dogs on the sliding 2nd/3rd gear on the mainshaft. Have ordered this from Beta along with a new water pump shaft. As everything else looks OK I am just going to replace all the gaskets and seals that have been disturbed. Then just go to get it all back together, but that should be the easy bit!

Have it all apart now except for the flywheel for which, inevitably, I needed to buy yet another puller. In anticipation of splitting the cases and identifying the damaged gear box components I am thinking what else I might replace whilst its in bits. So far the only worn items I have identified are the water pump shaft (which is scored where it runs against the seals), and the water pump seals. What else do folks think I should replace?

Thanks for the info. I have the rockers off now and can see the WP drive and how it will block removal of the barrel. I did contemplate removing the cam chain drive cog and lifting off the barrel with the chain still in place, but think I will now take out the WP shaft and replace the seals whilst it is all in bits. Did you remove the primary drive cog from the crank? Does it need a puller to get it off the shaft? I spoke to my local Beta dealer and they thought the cases would split without a puller, but I'll see how it goes and if not, like you, I will fabricate some sort of splitter. Will keep you posted on progress.

About to start the task of removing the engine and splitting the cases to get to the gearbox components. As it is a four stroke this seems a bit more daunting that splitting the cases on a 2 stroke, so any general advice would be welcomed. I have the excellent engine manual so if I follow that everything should go fine. So specific questions for those of you who have worked on the 4T: Can I leave the water pump in-situ in the barrel? Can I leave the oil pump in the case? Can I leave the kick start idler gear in place on its shaft? The manual suggests a special tool to split the cases is this necessary, or will them come apart with some gentle tapping? What is the best way to hold the crank still to remove the flywheel nut and the primary drive gear? Any other help much appreciated.

Had the clutch out this morning to check the kick start etc. on that side. Pleased (or it it disappointed) to report that everything is in fine order.

Its just one piece, about 5mm long, photographed from a number of different angles. I haven't started it since finding the object but I suspect its been there for some time. Started bike to heat up the oil prior to change and everything seemed fine. Have sent the bit to Beta UK to see want they think.

I changed the oil today on my Evo 300 4T. A small piece of metal was attached to the drain plug. Bike starts and runs fine. Anyone any ideas where it might have broken off from?

Have a word with DVLA first. I had a age confirmation letter from the relevant owners club but this turned out to be worthless as a inspection by SGS was still required to confirm the age.

I found my Sherco difficult to start because it was running a bit lean. Give the carb a clean with particular reference to the pilot circuit. Make sure the mixture screw is set OK and see if this helps. Can also run lean if the crank seal on the flywheel side is leaking. If you take the flywheel cover off there should be no up and down movement on the crank. If there is the bearings are shot and the seal will leak. If the bearings are OK it is possible to replace the seal without splitting the engine. I would try the carb first though.

I am trying to register a 1961 bike and it has been a nightmare so far. I initially completed form V55/5 and sent it to DVLA with a letter from the relevant owners club confirming age. This was rejected by DVLA the reason given being that I needed a NOVA certification. I duly completed the NOVA form which was returned by NOVA confirming I didn't need a NOVA registration. I returned the V55 and this confirmation letter from NOVA to DVLA but this was agan rejected on the basis I needed a NOVA registration. I reapplied to NOVA explaining the correspondence from DVLA and they registered the bike on their system and confirmed no VAT was due. I then resent the V55 and this second letter from NOVA to DVLA. This was again rejected and I was advised that I was required the have the vehicle inspected by SGS (another government agency). This was done today and they advised that their report would be returned to the DVLA. This should be sufficient to register the bike with a historic reg. number but I am not hopeful. The Personal Transport Unit of HMRC deal with NOVA registration. Their phone number is 0300 3227071. DVLA are on 01792 384253 they arranged my inspection by SGS. Good luck.

Managed to find a wiring diagram on line that showed a simple earth from the kill switch. Have rewired the lanyard button so that its goes to earth as suggested and this works fine. Thanks for all your help.

Mark I don't think the switch I had on originally made a earth. I simply cut the blue wire and fitted the switch wires to each end. I assumed the circuit would be complete with the switch on "run" and broken to cut the engine. I have seen switches that create a earth to the bars when pressed but this is not the arrangement I had. Might be better to go down this route.

Hi I have a JCM 323 that I use infrequently. At the weekend it started fine on the Saturday afternoon, but at the Sunday trial nothing (although there did appear to be a week spark). I suspected the kill switch and with this disconnected it works fine. The switch was connected to the blue wire on the Motoplat ignition coil and I think it just breaks the connection. Today I have fitted the lanyard type switch from my Beta (and it worked fine there). This still does not work, but again with the blue wires just connected it fires up every time. I have put a meter across the lanyard switch and this seems to show an open circuit with the cap on and about 59 Ohms with it off (which seems the wrong way round to me). Any advice on where I am going wrong and suggestions for an effective kill switch?

The mixture screw is located at the bottom of the carb near were it joins the inlet rubber. It is possible to adjust it with a small screw driver bit but it is very difficult to get to. I find it best to take off the rear exhaust and approach from that side. Generally the advice seems to be to go for richer carb settings for best running. The hot start button weakens the mixture to aid starting so not sure if richening the mixture will help with your hot starting problem. Is you issue just with the hot start? Does it run/start most of the time? Do you have a hot start issue all the time or just when it has been on the floor? There are already some other suggestions on this forum for hot starting, including I think no hot start and max open the throttle, but I have not tried this.

You say if the bike is brand new. If you bought from a dealer then the bike automatically comes with a six month warranty (even if bought from a dealer second hand). I would suggest that the dealer should be your first call before taking the thing apart.

I find with my 4T that hot starting is fine if I stop it with the kill switch but if it falls over it can be a real swine. I give it a couple of kicks with hot start on and no throttle. If that doesn't work then hot start closed, fuel tap to manual, and a touch of throttle. I use a firm steady push on the kick start. I think I read somewhere that the kick start gears are a little fragile and not really up to repeated sharp kicks.

Thanks for all your helpful comments. I can now see how my thinking on longer bolts was completely flawed. In summary my options look to be: Remove 2 springs. Replace one of the 4T's thicker plates with a thinner one from a 2T. Put small washers under the "top hat" washers. Fabricate new "top hat" washers with a deeper "hat". Fit lighter springs. Try different lever set up. I'm going to start with the washers under the top hats as this is simple and keeps all 6 springs. Will let you know the outcome. lineaway, at the risk of sounding dumb, when you say Gas Gas 160 springs, is this the weight of the springs or the springs off a GG 160?

I have the top hat type washers. They have the "hat brim" outwards so that the washers fit within the spring. Regarding clearance the current bolts, when tightened, fit flush with the clutch plate. There looked to be at least 5mm between the clutch plate and the casing. Also the OEM bolts have quite a deep head. Slightly longer bolts , particularly with a shallower head may well still clear the outer casing. The easier solution is to run on just four springs but not sure if this will result in slipping.

Looking to lighten the clutch on my Evo 300 4T. Was thinking of taking out two springs as suggested on this forum. Looking at the clutch the springs have a fair amount of pre-load. I was thinking that some slightly longer bolts (say 2-3 mm) would take some of the tension off and might produce the desired result. Has anyone tried this, or got any thoughts?

Have managed to fit the Jitsie mixture screw without taking of the carb. I took off the rear silencer and pulled the various breathers out of the way to get access. I unscrewed the OEM screw with a small screwdriver bit. It was very difficult to tell if the bit was engaged with the screw so, rather than screwing it in first to record the setting, I just had a go at unscrewing it. After a bit of fiddling the screw came out with the spring and O ring attached. Jitsie screw was relatively easy to get in. I set it at 3 turns open and it started fine. Will play about with the setting next time out to get the best result .

I have a 2013 300 4T and it does have the in-line filter you refer to. If it stalls or falls over in a section it is more difficult to start and I often resort to "manual" (lever down) on the fuel solenoid. Having said that once it starts up it runs fine. As your bike runs at low throttle it may be that its starved of fuel. Try running it with the fuel tap open (lever down) and the petrol cap removed, just to check the tank breather is not blocked. After that suspect you will need to remove and clean the carb.