gii

The manual covers this (and everything else) very comprehensively. Take off the valve covers and the oil fill cap Rotate the crankshaft 'till the T mark on the flywheel lines up with the reference mark in the oil fill hole Check that the engine is on its compression stroke i.e. both rockers are loose, if not, rotate crankshaft through 360

There's already a filter screen in the carb banjo that's the equal of a cheap inline filter. Check that the vacuum pipe to the fuel pump hasn't been nipped

Have you tried bump starting it? (yes, they will). Gives you the opportunity to try different throttle openings whilst spinning the motor at 500-1000rpm without it kicking back.

I'd doubt compression is your problem, I've an old TY mono at the back of the garage that has no discernable compression whatsoever but ten or twenty kicks and it fires up. powerful too even though the piston rattles like it's trying to get out. I'd guess that either you're not getting enough fuel through or the spark is at the wrong time. Did you ever get the flywheel off and was the woodruff key still present? If it was me, I'd take the plug out and the airbox off. Heat the plug up with a blowlamp till it's just glowing, then whip it back into the head, just nip it up, then immediately pour a level tablespoon of petrol into the back of the carb and start kicking with around 1/2 throttle. If you still get no sign of life then I'd say the spark is not occurring anywhere near TDC. The above may sound crude - it is - but engines will run with settings a mile away from ideal and it works for me on bikes, outboards, lawnmowers, anything really The hot dry plug guarantees the spark in the correct place (but not time) and the big slug of petrol in the carb airway provides a combustible vapour.

Spend some and let us know The electrex does look good, and living in the cover should be easy to fit, lots of advantages really. Just never met anyone using it. The PVL really requires a stripped motor and good engineering skills to fit it. Loads of people use it because when fitted correctly, it works brilliantly.

Nah, it's just a couple of little chips in the Gelcoat. Save your money and wear it. I don't know you, do I?

I'm baffled, How could it affect the advance curve? The pick up coil is just a fixed coil, the magnet whizzes past, it sends an electrical pulse to the ECU, the ECU fires the HT coil and hence the plug. The ECU also calculates the engine rpm from the frequency of the pulses from the stator coils and alters the timing to suit by varying the retardation (it can't actually advance it, it retards it more at low rpm and less at high rpm) I think it's a great bit of work, Ignition system failures are a major pain in the life of trials riders - ask most Beta owners from the last 15 years, yet the components used are most likely standard or directly replaceable with those fitted to truly mass produced bikes, the hard bit is finding out which. Well done.

Helicoiling is easy, if you can re-build a motor, it's really really really easy. If you go to an engineering shop, for some reason it is very difficult and expensive The trouble (in my experience) with Cubs is that owners replace the original cross head machine screws with Allen head machine screws, then apply a lot more torque than the threads can take - hence the stripped threads. I'm not sure which cover you mean, but I'm guessing its the RH inner cover over the gearbox / oil pump / Camshaft drive. That one is held on by four 1/4" BSF bolts of varying lengths. A 1/4" BSF helicoil kit including the correct oversize drill tap and 20 inserts is yours for around

The official line from both the engine manufacturer and the gasket manufacturer is that unless they mention otherwise, gaskets should be used dry. My personal view is that they are using brand new ultra-clean components, not warped by heat or use and not damaged during the dis-assembly process. Also, if it leaks, they can either replace it or leave it for the supplying dealer to sort out. I don't like doing a job twice so I always use a bit of gasket 'jam'. My personal favourite is a thin smear of blue hylomar on both metal faces. Rolls Royce use it too, I've been there and I've seen it. But. The official line from both the engine manufacturer and the gasket manufacturer is that unless they mention otherwise, gaskets should be used dry.

My thought is, who are you to tell 2 people who are demonstrably much better riders than you that they should ride a harder course? Infact, why should you be able to tell anyone what they should do at all? It's an attitude that angers and sickens me at the same time. Trials is a dangerous sport, the danger is countered by the ability of the rider, only the rider knows his own ability and no-one has the right to make anyone ride on a course that may be beyond their ability. The rule book uses the word competance rather than ability. Bear that in mind whilst you learn it. If your aim is to finish an easy course on less than 20 then move up - that's great, do it, I waited 'till I finished first on the easy course (which in your trial would have needed less than 1), it doesn't matter, you meet your goal and progress. If you move up, you'll have your eyes opened and you'll either manage or you won't, but don't impose your ideals on others. Don't even mention them, they're yours, personally implemented, that's all. I could give you many dozens of examples of people who ride the easy course every week on a very low score. They all have reasons for doing so, and none of those reasons have anything to do with you. What does matter is that they enjoy their sport at their level and compete regularly in a sport that is as old as Motorcycling itself

ATF works for me

Apart from the Scottish Pre 65, I doubt anyone'd be bothered till you started winning.........

I have an hour meter on the bike and change the oil (Mobil 1) every 25 hours, the oil & filter every 50 hours. That's the sort of frequency recommended on other wet service engines like jetskis, 25 hours equates to 12-15 club trials. I ran my first 4RT this way, 50+ trials per year for 4 years, engine sounded like new when I sold it, it's replacement is treated the same. Try putting a smear of high temp grease on the ignition cover before you re assemble it.

29th & 30th May

Thanks, I've always found Talon to be very helpful but was rather concerned to see the statement on trialsbits website that whilst they stock Talon rear sprockets for Cubs in 520 size, fronts are unavailable

246cc Cub runs with a 520 chain but it's a bit tight between the clutch and gearbox - wears away the split link, must get round to fitting a rivet type. Also, now Serco have gone I'm not too sure where I could get a new front sprocket. Anyone know who made them for Serco?

110s are great trials transport, I'm on my second. I had a hard top (van) and now have a station wagon 110 Hard top takes 2 bikes easily, 3 at a push 110 Station wagon takes 1 bike easily, 2 at a push (all 10 seats in, 7 folded!) Don't put a rack on the back without talking to the rack manufacturer first, the suspension characteristics can put very high loads through the rack. At a trial you never struggle to find a parking place and if it's a boggy field, it's amaxing how many pals you suddenly have.

RUBBISH! Whether you're defiant or not, siped tyres are allowed. If you look at a new Michelin or Dunlop there are sipes in the tread blocks, they're not enormously deep, but they are there. It's been a while since I've had a new Dunlop but the Michelin has 5 concentric rows of blocks and every block in the 3 centre rows has 4 sipes, in a square pattern but without the corners. A long, long time ago I saw a future world champion at a trial receive a delivery of tyres. Whilst he was out riding, his crew sat down and re-cut the sipes on the tyres deeper. So it can't be disallowed - can it?. Anyway, since then, when I've had the time I've taken a stanley knife to my new tyres and cut the sipes deeper and it seems to help, the 'new tyre effect' seems to last a lot longer The sipes 'squeegee' away the water on smooth wet surfaces allowing the rubber to grip. The one control in our sport is the tyres. The size of the blocks and their spacing is strictly defined in the rule book and should limit the amount of grip available. Every tyre commercially available will have the smallest blocks and the biggest gaps allowed by the rules - that's the way to get the best grip in most trials situations. Re-cutting the edges of a block will normally take the tyre outside of these limits and make it illegal However, rubber compound (e.g. IRC vs Barum) and surface finish (e.g. sipes) do not seem to be at present controlled by the rule makers. Personally, I believe that the Pirelli tyre does not conform to the rules as the blocks are not square - the leading and trailing edges are concave, this is visible to the naked eye, but since no-one uses them at a high level it goes un-noticed (or without penalty). Also the IRC tyre appears to contravene the rules by being a (relatively) 'low profile' tyre - i.e. the aspect ratio is outside the rules. My thoughts Re-Cut your sipes however you want, if it helps - great!!

Open office is free and the spreadsheet program will open an excel file http://www.office-3.org

I borrowed one from a mate, it worked great on his but poorly on mine. The settings are as advised by Eurocarb, the dellorto importer and are: Pilot 35, Slide 40, Main 100, Emulsion BZ260, Needle D40 middle groove, Eurocarb can supply you all of the bits, just google dellorto uk

Actually, it would suit Kirk. I well remember riding at Bedburn and his dad shouting after him "It's not a new tyre you need, it's a ****ing propellor!"

If you bend them too much, replace them. How'd you feel if you fitted stronger ones and broke the frame? If you're bending them, you're clouting them.

Not so simple if you don't know who they are Alan Whitton doesn't actively advertise his services and prices, just the hypnotism bit, (by repute, he's so busy he doesn't need to) Bob at UPB seems to be marketing some of the parts Serco did, and does have a price list Terry Weedy has a website Duncan Macdonald has too - armac design Who else,...........................please?

Aargh, carburation I've not got it sorted yet, not nearly The engine is reputedly 246cc. I don't know the extent or detail of the modifications, but it is powerful, and in the mid range, very powerful. There seems an awful lot of secrecy about pre 65 bikes and for me it has made improving things rather difficult When I acquired it it had an Amal mk1 concentric, 25 pilot jet, 106 needle jet, needle middle groove, No 3.1/2 slide, 120 main, and PVL ignition firing an NGK B7HS plug, which was always sooty black It went well but had a horrible hesitation if you cracked the throttle open quickly, you could stop the engine dead by opening the throttle wide open close to tickover I bought a No 3 slide and a 110 main. This improved things in that instead of stopping dead when you cracked the throttle open, the engine gulped, then went, revved nicely too. Not too sure if just stopping wouldn't have been better. As a crap rider I tend to ride right up to obstacles before tackling them. The gulp means you can hit them pretty hard when you expected to lift over them. It really sooted the plug up (new plug every 2 laps) so I've changed to a BP4 I borrowed a Dellorto off a mate's 199 cub, it was great on his, jets were Pilot 35, Slide 40, Emulsion BZ260, Needle D40 middle then top groove, main 100. It was absolutely terrible, wouldn't take any quick throttle, moving the needle didn't make any difference I tried the Mikuni VM22 in the pics, haven't made a note of the settings but it's no better than the Amal, I just can't shift the hesitation. I have a new Amal and I've tried it too in case the slide was slack in the body. Running the same as above but a number 107 needle jet and needle raised as high as possible improved things but only slightly. I kinda feel that a 2.1/2 slide might sort out the hesitation, but not sure if the plug could take the richness