peterb

On my friend's 05 SY250, we fully advanced the ign as far as it would go (a bit too much for my liking but it does light up well) and some one had already reduced the flywheel weight to 2,650 gms by skimming off a step in the outer OD of the flywheel. Motor felt a lot sharper than standard. I think Birks recommends 2,800 gms as a good all round weight. Bye, PeterB.

If the bottom shock bush is worn, carefully remove the two shouldered washers on either side of the rose (spherical) bearing, use a couple of screw drivers to prise these off, do not try to twist these, some of the washers are serrated. The rode joint can be pressed out in a vice with suitable sockets to act as pusher and as a hollow unit to allow the joint to be pushed out. As Heath said, use a good water proof grease on assembly, as with all of the bearings in the linkage area, and head bearings. I use blue water proof grease called Mobil HP. Bye, PeterB.

The 07 Raga would not really be outdated, the next, 08 Raga wouldn't be out till later in 2008, if you look at it that way. I have the 06 Raga, would definately pick the Raga over a standard PRO, just for looks alone. The Raga has many extras over the standard model, magnesium alloy crank cases, clutch cover and swinging arm, Keihin carb, S3 Ti pipe, gold anodised t/clamps, billet footrests. Not sure if the 07 has the Ohlins shock fitted though. I had an 04 300 before the Raga, there is a big difference in power delivery between these two models. I ended up fitting a Hebo flywheel weight and a different needle (GJH), it has taken the sharp edge from the low end response and the bike feels lots easier to ride up rocky creeks. I really like the bike. It's bril. Bye, PeterB.

Bummer, I was just in Italy at the Italian GG importer and picked up a couple of the elbows for home. I did make one for a friend's bike from the vent elbow off a Kawasaki ZH250 carb, (Mikuni diaphragm carb I think), just needed to turn the diameter down a bit to fit the gasser and left a little blob piece on the end so that the vent wouldn't pop out. (That sounds terrible!) Anyway, hope you can get one. Ta ta, PeterB.

Hi mxmann, From what you have said, it's pretty likely that you have bent one or more gear selector forks, you'll have to split the cases. Use a new crankcase gasket when re-assembling. I haven't worked on a Beta so can only generalise from work on other motors. Usually, you can remove the selector forks and, after marking them so you know which is which, hold them together back to back and have a look to determine if the actual forks are parallel to each other. They should be parallel. Hopefully, if they are bent then you can buy new ones from stock. As a second thought, you may have just bent the gear change shaft, it's possible that the shaft may be able to be pulled out of the casings before the cases are split. Have a look at this first. I did know of one being bent on a 1995 Gasser many years ago. Bye, PeterB.

I agree with Nigel, go for a helmet that fits your head well, has a removable liner, has air vents, preferably a stainless steel buckle and strap rivets (hard to find but Shoei used to do one at a price), and is light weight. Usually a carbon fibre one from Hebo weighs approx 950 grams, polycarbonate helmets are approx 1150 grams. Bye, PeterB.

Hello kdub, shame that you had such a bad time with your 280, I guess you got a bad one. I've had stacks of Gas Gas over the past 15 years and have always finished the trial. I do work on my bike a bit and that may be the key to ensuring reliability. I did ride an 07 SY250 recently over 5 days at the Cinq Jour du Verdon trial in France. I thought it was a good, solid bike that rode a bit differently to what I am used to. A little slow to react in some tricky situations and the motor had a bit too much flywheel effect for me. I thought the power delivery and gearbox ratios were very good, an easy bike to get on with for many riders. I have not heard of any problems with these motors at all. Bye, PeterB.

Hi Martin, There are two shouldered washers or sleeves that are a tight fit into the swivel bush, they sometimes have a rough almost knurled type finish where they locate into the bush that prevents them from being rotated. They do come out ok using leverage with two screwdrivers, a bit at a time, don't try to twist them out. If you can't get started with a screwdriver, you can just see a gap inbetween the two sleeves that you can get at with a drift (small screwdriver) and start to tap the sleeve out with the housing supported across vice jaws. Bye, PeterB.

Hi Lewis, Do you mean the metal elbow? If so, this should be free to rotate but not to pop out. They are usually pretty loose. From memory, the gearbox hole for this is 5.0mm OD. The elbow has one end that has a type of flared end for the plastic pipe to fit onto. The gearbox end is plain. You could try araldite to lock this into position if it's popping out lots. Was thinking you might get at the end with a knurling tool but I don't think there is sufficient length. Bye, PeterB.

Thats bad news, Make sure you drain the gearbox oil straight away as the watery mixture can swell the clutch plates. Refill with 450 to 500 ml mineral oil 10 weight or an ATF rated to Dexron III. Do not use synthetic. Did you fit a new pump seal and shaft? Make sure the fan comes on not too long after start up from cold, approx 1 to 2 mins. The fan usually blows quite strong like a hair dryer (not that I use one, mind you). Sounds like you have had a duff thermostat, pity. When the motors start to overheat, the carbuation tends to run weak and you can hear this from the motor - just for the next time. Bye, PeterB.

The big guy's name who organises the event is Maya. He has a trials shop in Provence called Maya Motors. Apparantly it was touch and go that this years event ran, due to conservationists trying to put a stop to the land use for the trial. It finally went through court and Maya won the day, but it seems that he was a little upset at having to go through so much trouble to run the trial. Talk at the trial from those who could speak French was that the event may go ahead in a couple of years. The organising club has a site at www.boade.com only problem is that you need to be ok with French to read it, pictures are ok. You can get regs from this site. You need a Euro approved helmet (with sticker inside, E6 or E9 or similar), the one event licence is Euro 50 at the sign on, wish I'd have known this as I spent stacks to get a one event FIM licence, bike needs to have a protection pad on the bars, most had fat bars so needed the bar clamp pad, with the braced bar you probably need a pad there. Also, your lights must work as there is a little bit of road work to do and the police were checking this. Did you get an email from me? (Catching up from the WTC in Andorra) Bye, PeterB.

Hi Tim, I missed that one. Nothing to do with you falling off lots is it? It's probably 'cos you do the most section laying out. Bye, PeterB.

Ouch! Remember to get both gears! A friend of mine had a new 1995 250 Gasser that had a similar freak accident, landed upside down in a section and was wide open, until the piston nipped up - was a costly five. Bye, PeterB.

Hello Bruce, These brakes are usually excellent in the dry and don't take much to bed in, normally an hour or so up a stream would be fine. Maybe you have the front brake lever adjuster too far in and not allowing the master cylinder to return sufficiently. Same for the rear, the brake pedal might need the adjustment backing off a bit to release pressure on the master cylinder. If they are standard pads, then you shouldn't need to do anything to them at all. Hope this helps, PeterB.

Hello Bingo, There is a gearbox breather that exits from the LHS of the cases, just in front of the gearbox sprocket, the end of the plastic tube should rest somewhere on top of the airbox away from water ingress. This tube should always be allowed to vent. On the under side of the petrol tank, there are two flat areas on the outer perimiter, there should be strips of high density foam glued here, this stops the tank from vibrating on the frame tubes. Bye, PeterB.

I rode one of the first Sherco 4T models at a trial once, it was awful, soooo heavy and the motor reminded me of an old Royal Enfield Bullet (Which was a fine bike in the 50's). It certainly was no fun at all and was extremely difficult to start from warm. I think the latest model would certainly be an improvement, but not tried it out. I had a go on a 2007 Scorpa 4T and the motor wasn't so bad, only rather a heavy bike. The Mont felt good, light and more responsive. Again, this was an early model which didn't have so much get up and go but things have only got better for Montesa. Bye, PeterB.

You can easily make one up to suit using 6 x 30mm mild steel flat bar, cut out the flat bar to match the cylinder head inlet tract and another piece to match your carb, then join these two together in the correct plane with a piece of tube approx 25mm dia using brazing. This minimises the distortion. To further help with reducing distortion, clamp the flat bar solidly to a solid piece of steel while brazing. This worked well for me. Bye, PeterB.

I have used Hebo for many years, it lasts well. My Hebo trial Jacket is used often and is over 10 years old, still looks good for at least another 10 more years. Pro pants are ok and the Tech tops are best, least sweatiest. I agree about the gloves, they are a good fit but don't last as long as they used to. I just rode the 5 day trial in Verdon and used Rittrato gloves, these were the best I have ever used and lasted the event well, I was very impressed. Made in Italy too. I think Birkett may stock these - worth a try. Bye, PeterB.

I thought the front light looked pretty naff, but then I am old fashioned and really, it doesn't matter in the greater scheme of things. Bye, PeterB.

Hi Kev, Looks like a tidy bike, check if the rear tyre is rubbing on the silencer. Can't help you with getting it on the road. I've always run my Gassers on 50:1 fuel/oil using a good mineral 2T oil. When you drain the gearbox, re-fill with 450 to 500 ml 10 weight mineral oil, or an ATF rated to Dexron III. Do not use synthetic. I always run with a 10T g/box spkt and std 42T rear, the standard 11T is too high for my liking. Remove the gearbox to frame mounting bolt (Under the s/arm mount) and check if the frame lugs match up to the engine case holes. If these are out, it stresses the cases. Solution is to drill out with a 10mm drill and refit the bolt. Invest in an oversize rubber airbox flap, it fits over the top of the shock, Shirty may have these or you may have one already fitted. Bye, PeterB.

Hi Ross, I rode an 02 Scorpa some years back and thought the power severly lacking. Quite different to the 07 model I recently rode, that was half decent. You can move the stator plate to fully advanced, rotate clockwise to the stops! The magneto flywheel is very heavy, can't recall the exact weight but around 3,200 gms. I know that for the UK, the importers recommend a weight reduction to 2,850 gms for general riders. On an 04 bike here, the flywheel weight is down to 2,650 gms and this feels ok to me, it is still ok in the river sections with sufficient rolling power to be comfortable and has a decent amount of snap. You can reduce the weight by turning a step into the OD of the front of the flywheel. Bye, PeterB.

Hi Biff, I've never heard of this happening in my 15 years of riding/fixing GG. Only reason the gears would seize together is due to excess heat probably from lack of oil. In the older motors, I always ran with 700ml of Pennzoil 10 weight mineral, following dumping the original contents (when hot). You may also have a problem with the centre muffler (silencer) as sometimes these were sited quite close to the top of the clutch case, right where the kickstart shaft is, and may even be rubbing on the top of the case, heating it up. The gear shaft would likely be case hardened only, so perhaps when you had it turned down the machining may have gone through the case hardening layer, or and more likely, when the gear/shaft heated up and welded together, the heat would have destroyed the case hardening. I'd recommend a new shaft and both gears, yes, the number 11 too, they don't cost much and it may have also been damaged by the excess heat. I have seen these gears (number 11, trinquette) have their saw tooth gears rounded off as though the gear was not correctly hardened in the first instance - it was easily filed back into shape to last out till a replacement was available. Bye, PeterB.

Hi Mike, I tested the 08 280 in Italy last week over a few dry rock sections and cambers. It was set up for a top expert rider so had the bars well forward at a silly angle, as they do. Gear ratios did feel a little different though not so easy to tell. Footrests felt lower and slightly farther back. Power was typically GG, very responsive and strong, quite a torquey motor. It pulled strongly from low revs in the first 3 gears with a linear power delivery. Didn't have anywhere to try it out in higher gears. Gear selection was smoother than older models. The ride felt pretty much the same as my 06 Raga 300, very light bike that responds well to rider input and was precise. Fuel tank is a little larger and sits up higher at the front. I didn't like the front light plastic. The 280 is available in either red or blue. Bye, PeterB.

Hi TY and you too Biff, I run my Gassers on 50:1 with mineral 2T oil. When you come to change the gearbox oil, re-fill with 450 to 500 ml of a mineral 10 weight oil, or a good ATF rated to Dexron III. Do not use any synthetic oil in the gearbox. Also, watch for any "milkyness" in the oil sight glass as this usually indicates the water pump seal is passing, requiring a new seal kit - get the shaft and seal as the shaft tends to wear in a groove where the seal runs. The watery oil tends to swell the clutch fibres requiring a new plate set, or if not too financial, you can rub down the fibre plates on emery on a sheet of glass. Bye, PeterB.

Hi Mike, Peter here, those are good photos of the 5 day. I also have a few though none from the sections. It was a hard trial I thought. Sections in the blue route were fine and the going inbetween was sometimes more exhausting than the Scottish. Probably as the temps were hovering around 36C, really needed that 1.5 litres of water inbetween the stops. Great organisation, superb scenery, bril sections, particularly the last day (When it was cold) when we had that final, open river section, just like the Scottish - did you clean it? Glad I took the trouble to ride the event, it does sound like it will be the last time though rumour has it that maybe in another 2 years it will be on again. I didn't realise that in France and Italy, trials are not allowed in any of the rivers - bit of a shock. Could be why there aren't too many problems with bikes getting water in the airbox. I am writing a report on the event for a magazine back home, would you like a copy? Bye, PeterB.