goudrons

There are a few areas old TY's suffer from. The first is from hamfistedness. The crank is a very tight fit into the main bearing, mag side and some owners have been known to wallop the end of the crank to get it out. This obviously isn't good for the crank, even if you leave the nut on the thread and you can actually bend it or knock the alignment out. If you haven't the tools to press it out, it's best to heat the case up a bit so the crank and bearing come out as one, then a puller to remove the bearing from the crank. Another areas worth checked, particularly after a rebore is the chamfer of the transfer ports. They need a good chamfer top and bottom otherwise the piston catches. I suffered and found this out myself a few years ago. I did a rebore and new piston and it rattled from the off, not your normal worn bore/piston rattle, but a loud metallic knocking rasp. When I pulled it apart I found chips of metal in the bottom of the crank and some impact marks on the piston edge. Checking the bore and it was clear the piston had been catching the edge of the transfer ports.

I've had water cooled Beta's since my 1991 Zero and they all at some point knocked and banged on regular 95 octane, some more than others. Before taking anything apart, try running it on 98 or 99.

Here you go, these might help https://www.betausa.com/content/trial-model-history-0 http://trialsport.com.au/beta/Parts/Zero 91.pdf

I'm pretty sure that's a 1991, I had one way back. They were either 240cc or 260cc. They weren't a bad bike back in the day, frame/tank was a bit unkind to your knackers if you got thrown forward and the water pump driveshaft wore/rusted up. Was a bugger to sort as there are lots seals and bearings for it and the cases need splitting to get at them all, as it picks up the drive from one side of the crankcases and goes right across the engine to the pump on the other. Another weak area was the swinging arm pivots, the voids where the bearings and bushes fit were quite thin and brittle and tended to snap across the top of the voids. As time wore on some of the other alloy parts got a bit brittle as well. The original rear rim was a flanged DID, I seem to think the same rim was fitted to the earlier Montesa 315r's. (later 315r's had similar flanged rim, but milled out in the gaps between the spokes, not sure one of those would lace up) Not sure if the Techno shared a CDi and coil with it, have you spoken with John Lampkin at Beta UK?

I use a Berlingo, the MPV version, I've used in it VX Combo's as well and it's not impossible, in fact it's easier when working with smaller vans. Push the bike in and slide the block under, if you've made it around 12" to 13" high, you don't need to lift it. I don't even get in there with the bike, I can do it all from the rear outside. I don't need to hold it up while I get the straps on, it's there sitting straight for me, I just reach in and attach the straps to the foot rests from the rear. It works for me and it may work for others which was the jist of this thread, it's very simple, can also be used as a support for working on the bike, it gives me a much more solid tie down and so cheap it's almost free.

I've done the same and never compressed my suspension, I guess we both can't be doing it correctly. Perhaps you might consider sharing how you do it? After all, the OP was looking for some suggestions.

If you had read my original post, you'd understand I do. I tighten it enough for it to go no where, without compressing the suspension and with as little force on the straps as possible. Using a block under the sump allows you to pull the bike down on to that rather than pull it down against the suspension, it won't bounce on the straps and as a bonus you can prop the bike up on it without having to hold it while you strap it down. Make the block just tall enough and you can also use it as a stand if you need to work on the bike in the field and the whole thing costs peanuts. I gather I may not be totally alone in my thinking as the concept of blocking the suspension is nothing new. "Fork Savers" have been available for motorcross bikes for years, but they only do half the job and aren't suitable for a trials bike due to the mudguard arrangement.

Your cheap 25mm racket strap is capable of putting around 800kg of force through it. I doubt the wire in the springs that are made to support around 70kg of bike and an average rider of say 90-100kg are designed to be held compressed under even half that load for any length of time without damage. It's designed to hold 165kg - 200 kg in it's natural uncompressed state, and not to be held compressed with 800kg or even 400kg on it. You wouldn't load an average car with 800kg in the boot, so yes it's a massive force to hold a bikes springs under.

I used a bit of 2 by 2 and made a wooden block that is just high enough to slip under the sump guard. It's about 12"x 12" x 12". Once slipped under there, I ratchet down from the foot pegs and the bike clamps down on the sump guard rather than the suspension. It's all very tight without having to put massive force back through the frame and suspension with the straps. Two straps are enough, but if you use four, one For and one Aft each side, the bike will go no where. I did the same trick with a trailer, Bike sits over a bar under the sump level with the trailer axle, the rear wheel swings free over the rear. It's really only half a trailer, as there's nothing at the back, it sits up right against the garage wall out of the way. Again, you get a much tighter hold without pulling too hard on the frame and suspension.

These sound like your problem, lack of fuel getting through. You need to pull the carb again. Strip and clean it, pay close attention the jets aren't blocked or any of the overflow/breather pipes. Next you need to set the float height for fuel in the float bowl. Due to the angle the carb is fitted, the Rev3 is very fussy to how the level is set. Too low and it'll starve, too high and it'll flood up and pee fuel everywhere, set it really high and it'll just pour straight through the carb and into the crank. You might find the setting on the forum somewhere and it'll be in the handbook which you should find on the net somewhere. The Mikuni carb isn't the best bit of kit and it can take some time setting it up, though this should be pretty easy and straight forward. When I ran Rev3's I binned the Mikuni for a Dellorto, the difference is quite apparent and they run far better, but are a lot fussier to set up.

The lower tube is the float bowl overflow. If the bowl over fills, it'll pour over a vertical tube within the bowl and out the pipe. It also works as a breather for the float bowl, stops a vacuum being created in the bowl as fuel is sucked out. The second one on the side is a breather/balancer, it evens out the air pressure inside the carb, again fuel pouring into the bowl and being sucked out again tends to create a vacuum if it's not open to air entering. Some carbs on the inlet stub or on the manifold might have a further pipe that would have attached to an autolube, a system of metering and pumping oil into the engine instead of premixing the fuel. It there was one and the pump has been removed it'll need blocking up. Over the years most of these overflow/breather pipes get broken off or lost, simple enough to replace with a bit of tubing, that'll stop the naked barbs blocking up with muck.

Talking of Mercedes Vito wheel angles, check out this http://www.penso.co.uk/case_studies/vehicle-build-of-mercedes-benz-vito-taxi/ You can almost rear end yourself!

They relate to the United Kingdom, 7 days a week, 12 months of the year!

Same here, Combat Camo on my Combat Camo. Only trouble is if I fall off in the bushes, no one will ever spot me! I use those ex army goretex bootliners as well, much better than Sealskinz and a third of the price. When it's really cold, try something that wicks away the sweat under the rest of your kit, like Alphaskin shirt and leggins. Stops all the sweat and condensation cooling off against your skin.

I've managed to remove a dropped wrist pin clip by swilling out the crankcase with the normal mix of petrol/2T and blowing it out with compressed air from a can with a straw, the stuff used to clean PC keyboards and the like. This canned air is really useful stuff and worth keeping in your tool box.

I thought he's crushed his cojones!

Check the wires to the coil.

I don't know too much about the 315R other than that they stopped producing them in 2004. From what I hear they aren't bad, but I am sure parts will be getting thin on the ground now, best checking with the importer. They do feel a bit heavier and more "old school" compared to similar Betas, Shercos etc that are a bit more svelte. The Rev3 was produced from 2000 to 2008 and got progressively better as it went. I seem to think some plastics are getting hard to source, but I think everything else is pretty much available, the importer is close to you in Skipton (though they used to be closer in Silsden), might be worth a ring to John Lampkins and ask what's not available anymore. After my fair share of them in the past I think I can comment on the common problems. Stator can fail, though you can get them rewound. Check the rear shock, the bladder in them can split, if so it'll leak and/or sound all slurppy and no one will recon them. Need to run on 98 or 99 octane fuel otherwise they'll pink and knock. 2000-2007 models have Mikuni Carbs and they can suffer bad fueling if the float level isn't bang on (it's not the most sophisticated carb and it feels it!) 2008 had a Keihin and much better for it. Clutches have always been a bone of contention, they can suffer with awful drag, even the later Evos. Had a couple chew up water pump impellers, easy to replace the cheap plastic items with a larger alloy one. Another option might be the Scorpa SY250, that has a Yamaha engine with a similar linkless rear suspension setup to the Beta. I seem to remember they were pretty well built and don't remember seeing too many in bits out the back of a van! I'll probably get banned from this site, but I don't think Gasgas models around the mid '00 weren't the best. My one venture with a 2005 didn't go well, bits fell off or broke with shocking ease and regularity, same as all my riding buddies. If you've not joined a club, do so, the members will be a good source of information, with plenty of bikes to nose around and there's usually a few with bikes for sale.

Steve Sells (Marlimar) was the Ossa man when I restored mine. steve@marlimar-uk.wanadoo.co.uk Not sure if this is his number still 07800 778048 Ossa's aren't his living, more a sideline, so you might have to wait a bit for a reply, but I'm sure he'll have everything you need. There is a Spainish company called Ossacels, though I never used them myself. http://ossacels.com/ventas/index.php

Try unplugging the lanyard from the loom. One or two have had issues with them. Check the connection from the battery/capacitor to the loom, just follow the wire out of the airbox on the left hand side until you get to it. My connector failed completely and failed to fire, ended up having to chop the connector out, only found the fault by jiggling the connector. Although no one tells you, the 9v rechargeable battery needs to be in tip top condition to get a clean start and no battery lasts forever, so it's wise to buy another and a mains recharger if you're not planning on converting it to batteryless. Another tip learnt the hard way, don't store the bike for too long it with fuel in the tank, once the fuel goes stale it bungs up the fuel pump and modern fuel goes off very quickly.

Beta's handbook states to run them on "super grade unleaded". They pink and knock on anything less than 97 ron. They are also quite fussy with the float height setting due to the angle of the carb, you might find some help on here to set it, though you should be able to find a handbook to download for it on the web somewhere, any Rev 3 book from 2002 to 2007 will do. (2000, 2001 were similar but certain parts like forks and airbox were different and 2008 had a different carb altogether) If someone has had it apart, did they put it back together properly? I'd check the timing at the very least.

Fiat Doblo, but get the MPV version rather than the van. You'll get two bikes in it still if you flip the rear seats, but pay less road tax and insurance than the van version.

Feetupfun is correct, the standard VM22 has a flange, unlike the original SS with a spigot. The original VM22SS carb was some sort of special, one off jobby, even Mikuni know very little about it, I tried to find a new one myself a few years ago, but ended up doing the swap to a stock VM22 that was machined to fit. BJ Racing can supply a stock VM22 which has been machined to replace the SS as a kit. If I remember correctly, SS takes a very large main jet (240 rings a bell), the one in the machined stock was about half that, methinks. You might find a OKO kit for it at Mid Atlantic Trials or you could have a go at jetting one yourself. Though be careful if you do try this, even though the OKO is a copy (of a Keihin), there are ropey copies of the OKO's out there these days and none of the proper OKO's jet will fit. As you have probably read, a lot describe carb set up as being fussy or difficult, but what tends to happen is owners end up chasing a "better" set up. There's always a danger of tinkering and fiddling to see if you can make it better!

One will just drop in and the shift drum holds it in, though it won't be oil tight, just keeps some of the sh*t out. Best advice is, don't fix what ain't broke. If it's ok now, leave it and have some fun. Splitting the cases when you don't really need to (like crank rebuild, mains bearing or seals) will more likely cause a load of other issues. They aren't overly complicated, but they can bite back, I've seem plenty mullered by guerilla engineers. You can put far too much into one of these and to be truthful, you don't get much out. There are a few useful mods that help them a little, adding an inch to the swinging arm, modding the top yoke to move the bar clamps over the top of the yokes and dropping the forks down the clamps around an inch helps them steer a bit better as does moving the foot rests back and down a little. They don't really ride that great compared to most, if not all the competition of the day and they can swallow a lot of money quite easily that you'll not see back. But sometimes madness takes over and I once got hooked on one. Just don't ask what I spent, I prefer to try and forget!

It's already been mentioned it's a hole machined to hold the shift drum and should have a plastic cap inserted from inside, but most got damaged there as it's were the chain hits if it comes off the rear sprocket. So finding a good case is very hard! I remember buying up 6 or 7 complete cases to try and find a decent one when I did my refurb. The old trick was to jam a coin in there from the inside, any oil that spilled out lubed the chain! Just remember to top the gear oil up before use. A 2p piece fits perfectly. There's a weak point on the case at the other side too, around the post for the kick start return spring. Usually once the splines on the kick start shaft wear away, owners get a bit brutal with the kick starter, repeatedly smashing it around until either the spring breaks of more often, the post snaps off and rips a hole in the inner case. This can also crack and take out the lowest, rear most point of the case at that side too.