bigman

Hi I am looking to buy a van, I have seen the Fiat Doblo's driving around and they look like they would be a good size, as they appear to be slightly larger than the same age Vauxhall combo (2003ish). Has anybody got any experience with this van, Ideally I will be wanting to fit in 2 bikes on the odd occasion! Otherwise I think I am going to be going down the route of an older style combo van. Thanks Adam

I am 6ft4 and have some S3 5inch riser bars, they feel great, really improved the feel of the bike for me!

Sounds good, what are they like fit wise? The trousers I have now are a close fit, which I don't mind, these look like they are little more baggy,is that right? Thanks Adam

Hi Guys, I am looking at getting myself a new set of trousers and was wondering what people think of the Jitsie Bolt trousers, The main reason I ask is that I am not really wanting to pay £100+ for trousers and I have seen the 2011 Gas Gas Jitsie Bolt trousers at a reduced price with one of the retailers at £70. Thanks Adam

Thanks for the replies guys, It is looking like I will be heading towards the 2010 300 Raga, after speaking to the guys at the dealer they said its one of the best condition bikes they have had in as second hand! And after reading about the different gasser engines the 300 is the one that I am leaning towards the most! I just have to hope that they offer a reasonable price for my Beta as a part exchange! Quite looking forward to something abit different, however I am still unsure on the gold! Adam

Perhaps I didn't word it quite how I meant, I was saying that compared to most 250's my evo250 is lively, however occaisionaly I do feel that it lacks abit of power at times, what with me being abit on the larger side! I rode a friends Sherco 290 on more than one occaision and got on with it realy well! I have ridden a 2010 gasser 280, I remember it feeling really nice, but it was a while ago! Adam

Thanks for the reply Smalley! Thats starting to sound more appealing to me now! However I have also seen a 2010 Raga 300 that is much closer to me than the 2011 280, chassis and airbox wise is there much difference between these, they look pretty similar, however I assume that the Raga will have slightly lighter weight crank cases and abit more tuning etc? Adam

Hi guys I have done abit of research through the forum and keep reading that the 280cc gasser is quite a handful, I am looking to change my 250 Evo soon, My plan was to change to a 300cc Evo Factory but there is also a very tidy 2011 Gas Gas 280 for a good price, which I am considering as an alternative. However I keep reading that the 280's tend to be quite a lively machine, I admit that i do like a lively bike (for a 250 my evo is more lively than alot of 250's I have ridden) also being around the 19st mark the bike does have to work! So I suppose my question is, how do people find there 280's and if they have found them to be really lively has the fitment of a flywheel weight helped tame them much? Thanks Adam

Have a look on ebay, I am sure there is one on there at the moment. Adam

I know its not free, but theres a 2011 mudguard with a clean snap on ebay: Snapped 2011 Mudguard Adam

Yeh, they have, but a shops seem to still have stock of master cylinders etc. Does anybody know any other differences between these two master cylinders other than the size of the reseviour: and Thanks Adam

Sorry, when I say levers I meant to say master cylinders, looking to swap both the brake and clutch master cylinders, as the AJP ones are much cheaper than the Grimeca ones! Adam

Thats good to hear, thanks, If I am able to save £50ish by using AJP master cylinders instead of Grimeca I will be happy!! Do you have any other info on whether the small or large AJP master cylinders would be better? Thanks Adam

Hi Guys Both my clutch and front brake master cylinders seem to be leaking, I have changed the seals on the piston yet it continues, After a details look it seems that the inside of the master cylinder seems to be scored, hence the leaking and continuing to leak with new seals etc!, it has done this since I got the bike so I assume that something got in the levers with the previous owner to score them! Any hoo, I was looking into getting a pair of new master cylinders from Lampkins, but at the best part of £80 each it seems abit expensive, however I am sure I have heard about people fitting AJP master cylinders to Betas, how true is this and does it have any implications? Also is there any difference performance wise between the small and large AJP levers or is it just the reseviour size? Main reason is that I have seen that the AJP full levers are around £25 cheaper than the Grimeca ones!! Also, If I were to get an AJP master cylinder with the outlet in the same position as the grimeca ones (pointing inwards towards the forks) would the standard beta clutch and brake hoses fit straight in? Thanks Adam

Wicked vid, I enjoyed that, just curious where some of it was filmed, I reconized lots of it being at Earl Shilton, but where was the rest? I am from just outside coventry and would love some other places to go riding! Adam

I know this is going to sound realy basic, but make sure its not just the float in the front disc rotor, this is mostly aimed at the guy above. Adam

Just taken the bike back out to the shed and took some new pics, my red and black SXS number board arrived in the post this morning, I think it finishs it off just nicely!! And here it is with my other toy! Adam

haha, I know what you mean, I admit my bike doesn't get cleaned as much as it should, although it is generaly kept well maintainence wise! and the rims were cleaned VERY well before putting on the decals, cleaning with hot water and soap, then dried with the heat gun, then meths, wiped down then warmed up before fitting the decals! Also, unfortunately not, its tesco kitchen towel Adam

The fork brace came with the mudguards, Steve Saunders supplied me the TTT mudguard kit without the stickers. I am just fitting my red rim strips, looks good so far!! EDIT: Fitted the rim strips: Adam

Yeh, the left grip tends to spin slowly whilst riding, its not bad enough to notice when riding si it doesn't bother me. And yes, I have just finished round 1 of spraying the garden, round 2 this week, providing it doesn't rain!! Adam

Hi Guys, recently bought some new plastics as the originals were abit worse for wear, a set of top trial team mudguards were in order but I was not much of a fan of the TTT sticker kit, so I decided to get some decals made myself, A guy at work drew up the original 09 style graphics and got them re-cut but red instead, I think they turned out well. I also have a set of red rim strips for the sidewalls but I have not had a chance to fit them yet, here are some pictures: Adam

The rest:

Hi Guys, I traveled back to my parents place in Cornwall this week and brought the bike down with me, so decided one afternoon to drag my mother an her DSLR camera out for a few hours at my local (when I am in cornwall) practice spot. Thanks Adam

If you could put the pics up that would be much appreciated, I like the sound of this mod, my clutch on my 09 is very snappy! Thanks Adam

I recently had this dilema too, I was looking at 290's (coming from a 2001 sherco 290) and then spoke to one of the guys who trains at the ESTC, he mentioned that for 90% of people a 250 would be more than capable, after this I looked at 250's, I am not on the slim side either, usualy around the 18 1/2 stone mark, so I bought a 2009 250 evo and it is ample, the only time you sometimes miss the larger CC is for low down torque, but after a few rides you learn to ride the bike slightly different to compensate, I have done everything I could do on the sherco and MUCH more in the 3 weeks I have had the bike, the only things that I ended up changing is I have fitted a quick action throttle, removed the fly wheel weight and added the 20% stiffer spring from SXS, I love this bike! For the record, I haven't ridden any trials yet, but at the training days at the earl shilton trials club I am put in the hardest group, so would put myself somewhere around the 50/50 and low end expert riding....... Hope that helps Adam