peterb

Hi Brian, Just noticed this didn't get an answer. The LHS gear change was never in a brilliant spot on the Bultaco, too low to the ground and the chain would grind it's way through the gear lever mount. Stay with the RHS gear lever, Sammy Miller does have a LHS rear brake assy, fits straight on and has a brake rod that I think was just a little short, but still worked. Good bikes these. Bye, PeterB.

Hi elctb, I usually pop off the hose on the water pump to drain coolant. Behind the brass bolt is a small sst shim that is easily lost (fits between the pump shaft and the end of the brass plug), as well as a nylon washer up on the shoulder of the brass plug. Take care not to loose the sst shim. Bye, PeterB.

Hi tony, I'm sure some of the lads with Aprilia's will answer this for you, but here are a few ideas: Fuel/oil ratio 50:1 Gearbox oil, not sure but an ATF would be ok. I think the brakes would be Brembo, Galfer pads, same as fitted to early 90's Gas Gas will still be available. Strong pulling motor, heavy bike from memory. Bye, PeterB.

I agree with these guys, clean the area spotlessly and fit with lots of soapy water. Bye, PeterB.

Hi gas gas 1, If milky oil is dripping out of the gearbox breather, likely to have water in there, as Jon said. Also very likely the water pump seal and shaft have worn, usually the shaft wears a groove where the seal sits. Buy a w/pump seal kit, shaft, seal and circlip. Remove the clutch cover to do this, already covered in great detail somewhere earlier on this forum line. Dump the oil when hot, re-fill with 700ml ATF rated to Dexron III, or a mineral oil 10 weight. If up North (UK?) then try Derek Whites for all parts/service/bril help, in Darlington, south, try BVM Gloucester. Bye, PeterB.

Hi Erik, Just to make sure, the bearing I was referring to at the opposite end to the slave, is the single ball bearing that should be between the two clutch pushrods, not the end thrust needle roller. The fact that you tried shimming it out tends to indicate that there is insufficient travel - check for this single ball bearing aswell as the possible slave problem. Bye, PeterB.

Hi copemech, I just read your question - "The strobe check would be good. As I recall, they should fire somewhere around 20-25 degrees BTC and show some advance with revs. A noteable change from this, say at only 10 degree BTC would be a good indication of a problem there related to the ignition actually functioning on the slow side of what it is supposed to be doing." I haven't related the timing to degrees before, always in mm BTDC, say 2.8 or 3.0mm BTDC, mark the rotor for TDC and rotate motor backwards for marking the timing mark. The angular rotation is not a linear representation of the stroke so I can not relate the degree advance - well, I could do if I set up the marks and used one of the old "Castrol" degree discs in the shed. Anyway, this doesn't help HAM2 right now. Did you check to see if the needle area was all ok? Everything in it's right place. You may just have a faulty ign module, try a friends one. You mentioned emigrating - not coming over here by chance? Bye, PeterB.

Hi Erik, Sometimes on the older GG motors, the clutch slave piston can give a problem: inside this piston is a ball bearing for the clutch push-rod to depress against. Over time, the push-rod can push the ball bearing farther into the piston housing to such an extent, that when the clutch lever is actuated, the slave piston is travelling as physically far as it can go, that is into the side of the crank case - this prevents the clutch plates from separating sufficiently. Over the years I have replaced 3 or 4 of these slave pistons which gave clutch drag symptoms, this may be your problem. The other thing to look at is to ensure that the ball bearing (another one) is still in place at the opposite end of the push-rod, separating it from the short mushroom headed push rod. If not, make sure it is not somewhere in the motor - lots of damage. You can still obtain the slave piston kit, or even a complete slave unit. I have never seen GG plates wear on the older bikes, only some that have had the clutch fibre rings peel away from the steel backing plate, have a close look for this as it is not always so evident at first glance. Bye, PeterB.

If you are just starting off I'd say go for the Scorpa as it is an easy bike to ride and is stable up becks, the GG both 250 and 300 are more lively in comparison and for me, are a more exciting/rewarding bike to ride. Of the two Gassers, the 250 would be the easiest to get along with for a new rider. 2006 was a good GG year. Really, ride them all and settle for one that feels good to you, you may like the stability of the Scorpa rather than the instantaneous action/reaction of the GG but only you can tell. Bye, PeterB.

Hi Steve, Fine Gas Gas sole/soul here. I have a bracket ready to measure: Dist between holes, centre to centre = 65mm Width, to outside of bkt = 100mm Height approx 90mm (One side is higher than the other) These can bend a little to fit, but too much, and the brace distorts way out of shape as happened when I tried to make one fit a TY175. Very hard to get back into shape. Bye, PeterB.

Hi HAM2, Have a look to see if the throttle needle is all intact, with a clip in place and the cable support washer in, are the carb throttle body vents venting to atmosphere, not interconnected. If everything mechanicalis ok, then the problem may be the ign system, I have no experience with Leonelli so can't really help there. The system may have failed and provide a retarded ignition, check with a strobe and see if the system shows signs of advancing as the revs build up. Can't think of much more. Bye, PeterB.

Hi HAM2, Not a lot to go on really, did you re-build the motor? Nitrile seals are ok in the crank case for a time, say 6 months or so then the heat causes problems and they begin to leak. Not so much on the oiled side. From the overheating issue, I'd say the motor is drawing in air somewhere, are the seals in the right way around?(Spring in towards the crancase). Even if they are nitrile, they would still seal initially, for a while. Usually hi temp viton is used in the crank cases, or teflon. Are you sure the fan is giving a decent blast, not wimpy. After a rebuild, it is not usual to blast the motor to clear the exhaust, best to take it a bit easy so as not to load the motor and parts can bed in together. What was the rebuild? Did you fit the oil seals with gasket sealant around the outside? This is not a good idea as the seal can work loose. As a rule, I wouldn't use nitrile for crank case seals. No air leaks in the carb inlet manifold, exhaust pipe leaking. Can't think of much else. Good luck, PeterB.

When my boots are wet and muddy, I scrub them with soapy water, rinse off then hang them upside down on a rack till dry. When dry, about every 3 months I oil them with vegetable oil and a brush, it's worked well for over 20 years now (not the same pair of boots though) The paper idea is a good one too. Ta ta, PeterB.

The short pipe works best on the 250 if you want snappy power. Try out the long pipe with the ign in the sunny setting (guess you have done that already) - You can always advance the timing a bit with the long pipe on - or even put the old one back on! Bye, PeterB.

Hi Scorpa, The gearbox has a drain plug on the LHS at the bottom of the casing, sort of in-line with the gearbox spkt. I use 500ml SAE 90 there. The filler is a plastic screw plug at the top of the gearbox casing, under the carb more or less. The clutch has a drain on the clutch casing (RHS) I think your model has this as one of the cover screws. Best to use an ATF there, 300ml or a 10 weight mineral oil. The filler is at the top of the clutch case. Bye, PeterB.

Hi Jan, It is normal for the PRO fan to switch on soon after start up, and then on/off very frequently. I use 100% anti-freeze as the coolant which has a higher boiling point than 50/50 anti freeze/water mix. If the LHS (mag side) crank shaft inner oil seal has worn then it will definately draw in gearbox oil to the combustion chamber and there is a chance that slugs of air could also be drawn in via the gearbox - just guessing there as the oil usually finds its way to the LHS crank bearing by capillary action, now being exposed to a partial vacuum may draw in air. You really need new head O ring seals when you strip the motor, and a crankcase and clutch gasket. You can use either the older style main bearings (6205 C3 or C4 extra clearence) with separate seals, or the later combination bearings with integral seals. On the mag side, there are two oil seals, an internal one and a teflon outer seal. The motor's do not usually run very hot, if your fan is on all the time (more or less) then is the fan blowing strongly, a bit like a hair drier blast? If not then the fan may be faulty. The English word for pre-detonation is "pinking" - and I don't know why! Bye, PeterB.

Hi Steve, You have certainly got a difficult one to solve. You mentioned a few times that there seems to be a lot of oil in the top end. When the bike is going, does it smoke a lot? If this is the case and it is blue smoke, smelling not like 2T oil then either one or both of the crank seals may be passing. If so, the older PRO had separate seals but you can install the newer main bearings fitted to later PRO's that have integral seals. Also, there are O ring seals under a bush on either end of the crank that may have been nicked when fitted, have a look at a parts manual. Bye, PeterB.

GG used to make a 4.5L tank for the 1999 bikes, the factory may still have some old stock and they may fit the 270 - best to check with a newer bike first. Bye, PeterB.

I quite like that plug too, BP5ES. Could be a whole heap of things for hard to start. Check points condition, earth up under the head stock should be wired close to the HT coil and not on paint. HT cap not making good contact with the lead. check the black wire from the low tension coil is connected into the HT coil, not the yellow wire (I have seen two bikes with the yellow lighting wire conected together with the low tension black then connected to the HT coil). Is the timing correct, approx 2.6mm BTDC (Though I usually run these with more advance) Are all the passageways clean in the carb? Does the carb flood properly for cold starting? Points gap at 15 thou. Ta ta, PeterB.

Hi Andy from the West Island! If you have a look further in these forums, I think under the twin shock or air cooled mono shock sections, there was recently a few leads on where to get Hiro parts from Italy. Good luck, PeterB.

Hi matt, If the plug is sparking, and it is getting damp from fuel, and the motor was working previously, it is likely that the flywheel key may have sheared. It's worth a look though you'll need an extractor to break the taper on the flywheel. Bye, PeterB.

Hi Steve, I forgot about this posting! Your rings are fairly worn but not such a bad thing, .5mm is 20 thou, usually for a bore this size (250) 6 thou is the norm when new. I am not sure if you have L section Dykes rings or plain, if Dykes then 20 thou is still ok! Always fit new head O rings if you strip off the head. I have re-used base gaskets many times, always been ok but best policy is to fit new ones, on the 250 std size is 0.8mm thick - but best to check what was in there as sometimes the motors came out with other thicknesses. You should be able to keep the rad in situ when removing the barrel/head. You've probably got it going by now - is all ok? Ta ta, PeterB.

Hi Bartje, If your gear lever is in the usual 9 to 10 O'clock position at rest, then the travel upwards to select a gear should not be in the vertical position. Did you try adjusting the 10mm hex eccentric on the spring locator to obtain all of the gears as per Jon's info? It's never so easy to diagnose problems without actually "being there" but if it were me, I'd probably strip the motor at this stage and check out as detailed earlier. Bye, PeterB.

On the older GG motors, the clutch works best with either a mineral 10 weight, or an ATF rated to Dexron III, drain old oil when warm as any metallic particles are held in suspension and can exit the cases. Re-fill with 700ml. Finding neutral was never so easy on these bikes, but if you have excessive drag and it is not the oil, then you may have a problem with the clutch master, clutch slave or the clutch fibres have started to peel off the steel plates. The only adjustment you have is on the clutch lever. Bye, PeterB.

If it were me, and the crack is not in a stressed location (not around the kickstart area) then I'd probably clean the hairline crack up and araldite it with 24 hour cure, leaving the cover in the oven on low heat, about 80C for a few hours. If I lived up the north of England, I'd look up Derek Whites, 100% bril. South I'd use BVM. (Well, anything below Hull is South isn't it!) Ta ta, PeterB.