I've been after one of these for a little while now, (since I used one on the Inch perfect training day Lucy bought for me last year), and this one came up at the right time from a guy called Paul Bealey, who's a dealer and was happy to take both my Sherco & the Gas Gas in part exchange for this bike.
I drove down to his place near Skipton and looked the bike over, it's not been serviced or particularly well fettled but the engine was strong and felt 'right'. It's got good tyres, the suspension and bearings all seemed good so we did the deal and I drove off with my first ever Beta and left behind Lucy's 125 & my lovely Sherco. It has to be said I was sorry to see the Sherco go, it's been a great bike and I've learnt a lot because of it.
Once back home, the Beta got put to one side for the weekend as I was off to Wales for some green lane action with a group of lads from down south, I did manage 10 minutes on it once the van was loaded and it's a feisty wee bike to say the least! It also died and wouldn't restart which left me something to ponder over the weekend.
I'm now back home and have taken off the plastics and started to have a good look around it. You can see where some bodge repairs have been made to the grills that protect the air box and there are a couple of small cracks that will need some attention. The whole bike needs a bit of TLC & a good service, so research time!
I found both the owners manual and the spare parts manual online which helps a lot and will hopefully provide a good start point for all the little things you find with all bikes.
The Splat Shop as always has some great tips and helpful advice re the Keihin PWK 28 carb plus all the spares needed to keep it sweet. Easily one of my favourite shops to use for all things trials!
2009/2010 models use the following bits in their Keihin PWK 28 carb according to Beta...
Needle & clip position - JJH, 4th position from top
Needle Jet - this lies below the main jet and falls out when you upend the carb. (NB: if it's not positioned correctly the bike runs really badly apparently!)
Main Jet - 125
Idle/Pilot Jet - 48
Slide - 3.5
Mixture screw 2.5 turn open
Here is the notes for setting the float height from the Splat Shop blog.
There is also a note on Trials Central about changing the reeds to Boyesen Reeds, I know a mate whose done this but not sure why at the moment, so will find out some more...
Two stroke oil mix ratio on the paperwork is 1.5%, I've been told on a forum to put 70ml of Putoline oil in for every 5 litres mixed, so as the old spark plug was pretty oily I'll try this and see where it goes for now.
- Transmission oil is 20w40 according to the manual. (NB: There is a window on the engine case for the right amount but I haven't found a specific amount as yet). I rang Inch Perfect Trials for thetake on this and they use Silkolene Pro SRG 75 at 500ml per bike. these are their stock training bikes as well, so they get well used.
- Dot 4 for the brake and clutch fluids
- SAE 5 for the fork oil - don't know the amount as yet.
- Spark plugs are NGK BR7ES with a gap of 0.5 to 0.6mm
Coolant seems to be pretty specific for these bikes, the manual states 'Bardahl Permanent Coolant' at 600ml, when I searched for this, it turns out to be a coolant that is not mixed with ionised water as normal but 100% coolant specifically designed to not interact with magnesium casings.
When I drained the radiator, there was a pink coloured fluid in it and plenty of floating black bits, which I'm hoping are aged related and have developed over time rather than the possible degradation of any water pump seals, time will tell I guess.
According to Martin at MHB Motorcycles in Kirby Stephen the molecules in the coolant vibrate and cause holes in the magnesium engine casing which then allows external water into the engine and knackers the engine given enough time. So I've to find a magnesium stable coolant and pop that into the radiator. It also lasts a long time so that's a good thing!
I've found this stuff at a website called www. powerenhancer.co.uk after a chat on Trails Central: Link HERE - £14.40 including postage for 5 litres, so we'll see how that goes. this turned out to not be the correct one it appears so I think this is the correct stuff, this has taken some finding!! Bardahl Permanent Coolant. It comes from Italy and seems to be the only supplier I can find on the web.
On the Bardahl website there is a good explanation of their types of coolant HERE
An important comment I received from a guy on the Trials Central forum is:
''http://www.smithandallan.com/products/transport-antifreeze-and-coolant/2731-smith-and-allan-long-life-anti-freeze-antifreeze/ is OK in Betas''
''The pink VAG / Comma long life stuff does not suit Betas, it leaves deposits in water pump and seems to react with non OAT coolants''.
When I filled the radiator though after flushing it through, it only took 500ml to the bend in the neck of the radiator, so I'll run the bike a bit and just double check it.
Update no.3: 23/02/2017
So there is some new coolant in the radiator. the spark plug is new, all the carb bits have now been fitted, the bike started first time, (revved a bit high because I'd trapped the throttle cable, muppet moment), so now it's wait for the gearbox oil to finish off the job. She's running sweet so it's time to take her out for a play...
Happy days!!
I drove down to his place near Skipton and looked the bike over, it's not been serviced or particularly well fettled but the engine was strong and felt 'right'. It's got good tyres, the suspension and bearings all seemed good so we did the deal and I drove off with my first ever Beta and left behind Lucy's 125 & my lovely Sherco. It has to be said I was sorry to see the Sherco go, it's been a great bike and I've learnt a lot because of it.
 |
| Beta 290 Evo 2010 |
I'm now back home and have taken off the plastics and started to have a good look around it. You can see where some bodge repairs have been made to the grills that protect the air box and there are a couple of small cracks that will need some attention. The whole bike needs a bit of TLC & a good service, so research time!
I found both the owners manual and the spare parts manual online which helps a lot and will hopefully provide a good start point for all the little things you find with all bikes.
The Splat Shop as always has some great tips and helpful advice re the Keihin PWK 28 carb plus all the spares needed to keep it sweet. Easily one of my favourite shops to use for all things trials!
2009/2010 models use the following bits in their Keihin PWK 28 carb according to Beta...
Needle & clip position - JJH, 4th position from top
Needle Jet - this lies below the main jet and falls out when you upend the carb. (NB: if it's not positioned correctly the bike runs really badly apparently!)
Main Jet - 125
Idle/Pilot Jet - 48
Slide - 3.5
Mixture screw 2.5 turn open
Here is the notes for setting the float height from the Splat Shop blog.
There is also a note on Trials Central about changing the reeds to Boyesen Reeds, I know a mate whose done this but not sure why at the moment, so will find out some more...
Two stroke oil mix ratio on the paperwork is 1.5%, I've been told on a forum to put 70ml of Putoline oil in for every 5 litres mixed, so as the old spark plug was pretty oily I'll try this and see where it goes for now.
- Transmission oil is 20w40 according to the manual. (NB: There is a window on the engine case for the right amount but I haven't found a specific amount as yet). I rang Inch Perfect Trials for thetake on this and they use Silkolene Pro SRG 75 at 500ml per bike. these are their stock training bikes as well, so they get well used.
- Dot 4 for the brake and clutch fluids
- SAE 5 for the fork oil - don't know the amount as yet.
- Spark plugs are NGK BR7ES with a gap of 0.5 to 0.6mm
Coolant seems to be pretty specific for these bikes, the manual states 'Bardahl Permanent Coolant' at 600ml, when I searched for this, it turns out to be a coolant that is not mixed with ionised water as normal but 100% coolant specifically designed to not interact with magnesium casings.
When I drained the radiator, there was a pink coloured fluid in it and plenty of floating black bits, which I'm hoping are aged related and have developed over time rather than the possible degradation of any water pump seals, time will tell I guess.
According to Martin at MHB Motorcycles in Kirby Stephen the molecules in the coolant vibrate and cause holes in the magnesium engine casing which then allows external water into the engine and knackers the engine given enough time. So I've to find a magnesium stable coolant and pop that into the radiator. It also lasts a long time so that's a good thing!
I've found this stuff at a website called www. powerenhancer.co.uk after a chat on Trails Central: Link HERE - £14.40 including postage for 5 litres, so we'll see how that goes. this turned out to not be the correct one it appears so I think this is the correct stuff, this has taken some finding!! Bardahl Permanent Coolant. It comes from Italy and seems to be the only supplier I can find on the web.
On the Bardahl website there is a good explanation of their types of coolant HERE
An important comment I received from a guy on the Trials Central forum is:
''http://www.smithandallan.com/products/transport-antifreeze-and-coolant/2731-smith-and-allan-long-life-anti-freeze-antifreeze/ is OK in Betas''
''The pink VAG / Comma long life stuff does not suit Betas, it leaves deposits in water pump and seems to react with non OAT coolants''.
When I filled the radiator though after flushing it through, it only took 500ml to the bend in the neck of the radiator, so I'll run the bike a bit and just double check it.
Update no.3: 23/02/2017
So there is some new coolant in the radiator. the spark plug is new, all the carb bits have now been fitted, the bike started first time, (revved a bit high because I'd trapped the throttle cable, muppet moment), so now it's wait for the gearbox oil to finish off the job. She's running sweet so it's time to take her out for a play...
Happy days!!
