loomesy

I replaced the gearbox oil in my 97 techno as it was starting to look a bit dark, with Silkolene light gearbox oil (which is virtually transparent), started the bike to let it warm up and noticed that after a couple of minutes running, the oil through the window had gone milky. I left it for a few hours, after doing a bit of phoning round for advice, and went back again and the oil is now clear again. Would i be right in assuming everything's fine?

Are technos susceptible to corrosion of the water pump housing by stuff in the coolent? I've heard this is a problem on the Rev 3s because of the magnesium casings? My techno is a 97 model if that makes a difference

I realise that this has been done before, its just that having read the other posts about their Techno's about this, some people mention using spacers. Where would you put them as the exhaust is mounted to the inside of the subframe, so any spacers would move the exhaust towards the wheel? Other than bending back (exhaust or subframe) I guess there's not much else that can be done? Cheers Loomesy

I was thinking of having a fiddle with the suspension settings on my 97 Techno, but I dont know what the adjusters do on the shock or forks. Theres a red spinny knob on one fork leg (not sure if theres adjustment on the other, but if there is i think its an allen key). on the shock theres preload (I know that one) and a blue knob clicky knob. (Sorry about getting all technical on you) What do these do? Are there any other adjustments that I've not noticed? What would be a rough setting for a 75kg bloke? Many thanks

They are both weak, as in stoppies are impossible even pointing downhill, and the lever is spongy. There is no loss of pressure. NOt tried the lever pumping technique, but i think a bleed is in order. It's funny I've jsut bled the rear brake expecting the worst after reading the threads on here, but it couldn't have been easier, the old fluid practically fell out as I topped up the reservior level, and now I have strong enough brakes to lock the rear easily. Win some and lose some I suppose

Ahhh ooops, wont be undoing them any time soon (I hope anyway). I've not swung on them....hmmm we'll see. Thanks for the replies. One other quick one. The front brake is quite spongy and not that powerful. Is this normal for a 97 Techno? I would rather live with it as it is than bleed the brake to find no improvement! Cheers

I have noticed that when I put the brakes on on my 97 Techno, the brake discs are not fixed solidly to the wheel hubs. There is a slight amount of movement as if the holes of the discs have 'ovalised' over the years. As a result, the brakes are not as sharp as I would like and make a noise/judder slightly. Is this normal/do i just tighten up the disc bolts/do I need to replace the discs? Thanks for the help. Loomesy

I'm new to this trials game, and was wondering are all fairly modern trials bikes pretty much the same or are there some characteristic differences between the manufacturers? So for example is there a Honda of the trials bike world which 'fits like a glove', is very usable, has excellent build quality but is possibly a bit boring, or a BMW which is quirky, excellent engineering but a bit rough round the edges so to speak. I'm pretty good at telling different road bikes apart but to my eyes, trials bikes are pretty identical....Enlighten me Cheers

Oh right, cool thanks for that. Especially the FAQ bit I'd imagine that this may explain why it doesnt feel as perky as a 260cc trials bike should. Compared to my mates 96 Techno, which I realise is a lot newer, water cooled, and more powerful, but still...my tr35 seems positively comatose by comparison. Ive found it bogs down a lot, so presumably its running far too rich, coupled with the fact that it running on 50:1 rather than 70:1 which is probably not helping things either...so much for 'running like a dream' Also whilst I'm here is there any reason why there is foamy, spongy stuff in the front brake reservior, my thought is that it prevents air getting into the hose if the bike goes upside down or something. Id imaging if you fill the reservoir to the top, there wouldnt be any need for that??? Apart from changing the fluid is there anything I can do to improve front brake performance? Ive got a braided hose on it bit its still shockingly bad, though Ive heard early disc brakes on trials bikes were pretty awful. By the way on the Beta FAQ it says engine oil (which presumably means gearbox oil rather than 2 stroke): 800 cc. Is that right?? Sorry about bringing up an old thread but thanks again for your help, Im learning stuff all the time. Its much appreciated!! Loomesy

COOOOOOL Cheers for that, running like a dream now..I think

Hello, I have a Beta tr35 with the dellorto carb, which I have recently stripped and cleaned, only to forget in the process, the number of turns out for the adjustment screws. So now I have a bike that idles too high and will rev its head off, which is mildy inconvenient, noisy and a bit scary. I realise the big one sticking out the side of the carb is idle speed adjustment, but not sure about the other one, and how they relate to each other, so would appreciate any possible advice regarding these. Also, whilst I'm here and all that, the bike has upside down forks, does anyone know the fork oil capacity. I know the tr34 which had normal way up forks has 200cc oil per leg, but would the tr35's legs have the same capacity Thanks for any help Loomesy

Hello there Ive got a Beta TR35 260 and have had a few problems of an electrical nature, it but i think generally sorted (Fingers, toes, legs,arms and anything else crossed). The only thing is it doesnt really seem that powerful, especially at lower revs where it bogs down slightly on steep uphills, though it seems to get into its stride more once it's at higher revs. Its also quite vibey and not that high revving (tho i suppose its on par in those respects to a Fantic 200, which is the only other trials bike I have experience of)... ...so I was wondering if anyone else has any experience of these TR's and could tell me if mines typical...or still broken Cheers

Hi Nick Mine also has that number on it and was sold as a 260cc, hadn't considered decilitres though... Although I don't know the answer, it seems unlikely to have the capacity measured to 1/10000 of a decilitre. All the road bikes I've owned have the capacity corect to 1cc How has progress been on yours? Ive sent my coil and stator to Spain to be fixed, hopefully thatll fix it...if it doesnt, I'm all out of ideas

Hello I was wondering if anyone knows the thread size and pitch of the flywheel for a beta tr35 to remove it, as i need to get to the stator. Thanks for your help

Hello again From what ive been reading, these TR and any other trials bikes with USD forks suffer from knackered fork seals a lot (not surprising really)...im thinking of taking off the plastic fork guards which dont really guard the forks, they just look pretty and replace them with some ally guards. Ahh ok...ill give the airbox bypass trick a go...cheers, not thought of that. Does your bike have a guard at the back to prevent mud/water/trees etc getting into the airbox, seems like there should be one. I might put a sock over it to see if that helps a bit. I took everything out of the carb (a dellorto phbh26 if that means anything to you) that i could apart from the floats, now all the jets are squeaky clean...what the bloke was running the bikes on I dont know...smelt like paint thinners...but then as someone suggested, domestos and toilet duck may well be likely. Nah to be honest i dont think itd change much, wouldnt get a discount, i shouldve been less impatient and checked the bike more thoroughly there and then....plus its given me the chance to tinker which ive not done in a while and i plan on passing the bike on as a family heirloom...if the b%st

Hi Nick That is indeed a tale of woe...mines a similar story really but luckily (for me anyway) slightly less woeful. I finished an 8hr shift at 8 on tuesday (probably the longest shift of my life) and went to go and collect it with my housemate whose done trials since the age of 12ish, pretty much straight away...full of childish exuberance. We got there and the bloke seemed a proper petrol head so assumed maintenence would have been done to a good standard. The bike ran sweet with the only problem being that you had to pump the front brake lever to get it to work, and assumed this was due to a sticking piston, and the fork leg was slightly damp, with myself and my housemate giving it the once over....admittedly at 10 at night. Anyway got it home and the next day went for a play at the trials club, whereupon we noticed that the front wheel moved quite a lot...so as to not ruin the day I rode it anyway, taking it easy...even for a trials newbie, but still had fun...for about an hour. Whilst there i adjusted the throttle play, clutch play...started it up got about 25metres annnnnd it cut out...and ive not been able to start it since. Ive worked on it for two days, the sparks good, theres fuel going in, ive stripped and cleaned the carb, cleaned the air filter, cleaned the reed valves, theres good compression..sooo i think its swallowed some water as the airbox inlet is right by the back wheel and not shielded in any way, so whenever a fresh charge is forced in, the wetness just blows the spark out...tomorrows gonna be a day of reckoning, if its not that, then im all out of ideas. All this work has learnt me a lesson...never buy off ebay without properly looking at it first...im annoyed that the advert mentioned nothing about the leaky forks, the wheel wobble and it is tatty, but for a 20yr old bike you kind of expect that...but again not mentioned...and now the lug that holds the sidestand on has snapped because of fatigue of trying to kick it over!!! having said that...i'd never stripped a carb before and im feeling a lot more confident about my own maintenence skills, so swings and roundabouts i s'pose. Now on to some questions.... how often/much are you s'posed to change/put in gearbox oil? Why does it have two gearbox drain plugs? What is the petrol/two stroke ratio? Think thats it......happy trials-ing everyone

Hello again Yep I bought it off ebay, thats a bit crazy that you know the bloke who bought his other bike. The carb is going to be my main focus of attention tomorrow, it stopped starting just after i fell off a bit. The thing is the intake into the airbox is in the main line of fire from all the s*%t from the back wheel, so maybe said s*%t has found its way into the carb, will find out tomorrow...wish me luck, its my first ever carb strip...should be a larf! My clutch was dragging a bit, but ive adjusted it so thats fine, and my rear suspension is fine i think, but my front wheel moves about quite a lot which is why i think the bearings are shot, or maybe the wheel is just loose, again will find out tomorrow, hopefully i wont find any more hidden demons!! Annoyingly i didnt spot these things when i went to pick it up because of my childish exuberance clouded any judgement...oh well...live and learn hopefully Thanks for your help...will check out this john lampkin fella

Hi there Im new to this trials riding malarky, having only had a go last friday on my mates Fantic 200, this prompted me to get my own as I had seen the proverbial light, so I got a Beta TR35. It has a few issues which need to be sorted though. Where do people recommend getting there spares from? Have discovered it needs new front wheel bearings, new fork seals (upside down fork seals on a trials bike, who's silly idea was that?!!!) and thats about it i think. Today i went to ride it and all was going well until it died and stubbornly refused to start...luckily Id reached the top of the hill by then. Ive checked the spark, theres good compression and fuels going in, so I was wondering what else it could be...think the bike needs a service really. Thanks for your help