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Yep, I had a similar problem on my 4RT, to begin with the back brake was fine, after a couple of months it was weak, plenty of pedal pressure but a weak brake. I bought new pads, took out the half worn ones and everything was fine, a powerful back brake. I assumed I'd contaminated the pads with WD40 or something. Then another couple of months and a weak back brake again. I took the pads out and on inspection they had worn wedge shaped, thinner close to the rear wheel spindle. Further checks suggested that the pads were binding on the locating bolt that goes through the caliper and pads. I cleaned the bolt up with emery tape and drilled the locating holes in the pads 1.0mm bigger than the bolt, then I lightly countersunk each side of the locating hole and filed the pads flat. Took about 20 mins at the next trial to bed the pads in (you can't file them really flat by hand - you'd need a surface grinder to do them properly) and they've been great ever since. Being tight I'd kept the old pads and they'll get the same treatment before re-installation when this set eventually wears out.

I don't see how the order would affect the clutch action, the ones with the higher co-efficient of friction will grip first wherever they are. As long as you intersperse friction plates with plain plates it should be fine. Terrific on my 4RT!!!

I'm also involved in the organising side of trials in the NE centre, my club uses numbers with a white background for the easy course, blue background for the middle course, and pink background for the hard course. The colour of the numbers is also printed in the observers clipboard. It probably helps a bit, but the 2 posts above show a mis-interpretation of the rules and the intended route. In the NE Centre, the clerk of the course and his helpers mark out 1 route, this is with 2 coloured flags, typically red and blue, (but some clubs red and yellow, OK 1 club). He will then mark out variations to the route using pairs of identically coloured flags, perhaps pairs of yellow for the hard variation and pairs of white for the easy variation (it is normally very obvious which is the hard variation and which is the easy variation) what riders often fail to appreciate is that they after following a variation, they must revert to the marked route - this failure is much more prevalent in riders following the easy variation- An example: A typical NE Centre section, perhaps 30-50 metres straight up a stream with 2 steps / waterfalls. The course will be marked with red and blue flags up the stream, at the 2 steps / waterfalls the red/blue flags will be gates at the easiest points still in in the stream. Pairs of yellow flags will restrict riders on the hard route to riding up the harder parts of the step/waterfall. Pairs of white flags will allow riders on the easy route to ride onto the stream bank and bypass each step/waterfall (they may be the full width, ie. including the hard and normal route as well as the variation, or they may force easy course riders onto a varied course.) Between each step/waterfall all riders will ride in the stream bed , easy course riders will not ride along the stream bank to the next pair of whites ('though it looks easy) at the next waterfall. all riders must ride the marked course between variations To clarify this I think that the Clerk of the course should ride ahead of the riders to make sure that each observer is confident of observing the intended route for each course. Since it takes 30-40 minutes before anyone attempts the first section this shouldn't be a problem, but I've never seen it happen. Riders who in the example above ride straight up the gully when they should be zig-zagging could then be quickly advised that they have mis-interpreted the section and be allowed a second attempt (easily justified on the grounds that they had not had a practise ride on the intended route)

This is something I asked on this forum before I bought the bike (new). I was reassured that this recommendation could be largely ignored and that it was most likely generated by the motocross version of the motor (New rings at 6 months new piston at 12 months is a minimum when racing) Unless you are riding at a very high level, trials bike motors are relatively unstressed and should not need this level of maintenance. I watch my oil, if it becomes contaminated quickly then the rings / piston are worn, if it doesn't, they aren't. The manual also suggests regular replacement of the spark plug and the cap. Again, I go on condition for the plug, but I do re-gap it every 8-10 trials. The plug cap question sits at the back of my mind, niggling away. (I have an occasional missfire, -actually it misses 1 or 2 revs then re-starts- that I can't track down, always at low rpm, not predictable or repeatable, never yet under load) I just can't imagine that he problem is in the plug cap

Neither are mine so I can't confirm that. I'd doubt it though as the one I was looking at a fortnight ago came from an 'official' UK dealer (i.e. one who supplies bikes imported by Sandifords). Also, and perhaps more pertinently it'd been on order for a couple of months when it eventually turned up. Parallel imports of all makes can usually be obtained in 7-10 days. Parallel import or UK Concessionaire bike, I don't see why the question is academic unless you have reason to believe UK spec bikes are different to those sourced elsewhere in the EU. I recall the first TY engined Scorpas were supposed to be a different spec to the continental ones, at least according to the then official importer they were.

A couple have appeared in the NE centre in the last few weeks, so why is the question academic?

Global manufacturers/suppliers don't call Britain "Treasure Island" for nothing y'know.

Flat 4 Turbo diesel on the way - it was at the Geneva show. Probably for the Forester first. Hopefully a flat 6 around 3 litres will follow

I'd recommend buying one of the remaining 2005 bikes and spending a bit of the cash left over on a 315 Clutch M/C, Mitani bash plate & clutch plates, and a V-Mar sprocket guard. You'll spend a lot less that way and have as good a bike (IMHO). Personally I'm unable to tell the difference riding a 2005 to riding a 2006 though I'll admit I'm not known for my sensitivity. But, when you come to sell, even if its in a months time and the bike is still like new, it's a 2005 bike, not a 2007 bike.

Try JG Windows, They don't claim a performance increase but they say it'll stay in tune longer

Munch, Did you just change the metal plates or did you fit Mitani friction plates too? I'm thinking of fitting Mitanis on my 05 bike but if it's worth changing the metal plates I'd rather do it all at once. What metal plates did you fit?

Just go to the search facility on the front page of this website, type stator and press enter, It will call up an article by John Lampkin Imports on machine prep for the SSDT, in this article it is stated that there is a problem with stators on 2004-2005 bikes. I know several people who have had problems with Beta stators (we do a lot of waterwork in the NE Centre) all of them will tell you that John Lampkin Imports respond superbly to stator problems, replacing them immediately without question, unfortunately sometimes more than once, however, many no longer ride Beta, breakdowns on a trials bike don't always happen conveniently close to the car park and once you've pushed back a couple of times for the same reason, you can fancy another bike. I have heard of people taking the stator to local re-winders and paying to have them re-wound, reputedly that's the end of the problem.

Crikey, news travels south fast.

One failed to start the trial at Elsdon on Sunday, a blown head gasket was blamed.

I bought one over 10 years ago from Armitages, they used to advertise in the back of the comic. It's still as good as new, instead of electozinc plating and yellow passivating (very very thin), they used good old hot dip galvanising. Worth taking your rack to the local galvanisers? it's not as pretty electrozinc, but it lasts.

When you plug the standard headlamp loom into the main wiring loom multiplug it earths the green/white wire (from the ecu) in the main loom. This causes the bike to run on a restricted map (you should also replace the inlet restrictor at this point). To avoid this inconvenience, just remove this link to earth on the headlamp loom - it's obvious when you look at it. Also take a look at the 2 wiring diagrams in your hand book and have a read of my '4RT Restrictors' post last summer

Vin number to Rathmells would be your best bet. Plenty of year and a half Shercos too, they were not afraid to change things during production, lots of 2005 bikes with 1 piece frames, lots with 2 piece frames (like the 4T) also.

Neither are wrong, you can adjust the steering by moving the forks through the yokes, try it and see how you like the changes, from memory the Sherco forks have engraved marks every 5mm so you can return to a setting. Sliding the yokes down the forks 5mm makes the feel steering quicker but more inclined to 'tuck under' in tight turns

Toothed belts won't take dirty conditions, the muck quickly builds up on the pulleys increasing their diameter until either the belt snaps or a bearing fails. Renthal chains seem to be pretty tough, but best for me was always an O-ring chain. Fit it, adjust it once then leave it alone, just clean it with de-watering oil. Lasted 2-3 sets of sprockets. Doesn't seem to be enough room for them on the latest bikes though. Plus they absorb a little of the power that everyone seems to think they need. If you take an old chain apart, you will find that it has 'stretched' because each pin has worn visibly, closer inspection shows that each bush has also worn, it's the slackness in each joint that increases the length of the chain.

I'm not too keen on excessive maintenance, so, How often do you change your gearbox oil then? Tell me in terms of months and trials please.

Gary's right, If you're there, Rookhope will be a great run-in for your bike, good long course, but no where to go too fast, nice mix of sections, plodders & revvers, I'd change the engine oil & filter straight after that first trial just to pick any bits of swarf or dirt out of the motor, then go into your normal maintenance regime. On mine, I time it all by the fuel I put through. I use a 4.1/2 gall jerrycan for the petrol. I change the engine oil every 2 jerrycans, I change gearbox oil and the engine oil filter every other engine oil change. Some say that's not enough, others, if honest do it a lot less. I know several have never had the filter changed in 2 years. Adam Lynam has an engine hour meter on his bike (a clock triggered by the HT lead) he's averaging 3-3.1/2 hours running time per trial, this uses a bit less than a gallon of petrol, so we're changing the engine oil every 30 hours, filter and gearbox oil every 60 hours. Seems pretty frequent to me with modern oils. When I change the engine oil, it still looks clean, I use a high detergent oil (i.e. modern multigrade) When I change the filter I've never seen anything in its folds to concern me. When I change the (ELF) gearbox oil, it is dark - i guess it's contaminated with abraded clutch plate, this would affect the clutch more than the gears or bearings - but I never notice a difference afterwards. If you want case protectors or a chain guard for your new bike, I'll have some at the trial.

I've added Boyesons to Gas Gas TXT's and Shercos, makes them much harder to stall, more torque at really low revs, would recommend them on any bike.

Just go to the V-mar website and buy one from the on line store, Vince is happy to ship to the UK without charging extra, you pay by paypal and you normally get them in 5-7 days.

A bit of grease on the carb and air box stubs and inside the rubber pipes makes a huge difference. If you're going to put the carb and airbox back in as a unit, be careful not to damage the rear brake fluid reservoir.

Open the plug gap a bit and kick it over quickly , you are looking for fat blue sparks you can hear