Changing Gears

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Gavin711
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Changing Gears

Postby Gavin711 » Sat Feb 10, 2018 7:36 pm

G'day all,

I’ve just taken the plunge into trials riding and so far, I’m really loving it. In NSW most of the clubs start up in March and I’m excited to get stuck in to it and meet some other riders.

I’m reasonably experienced with motorcycles of different varieties. I’m a little bit embarrassed to ask such a basic question but I’m having a bit of trouble with changing gears on the trials bike.

I understand that in a trial you are penalised for rolling backwards, is that correct? This leads me to my question; how do people shift gears at a standstill? I’ve watched a few videos and the pros seem to be able to do it 2 or 3 gears at a time. Does it involve a tiny slip of the clutch or something like that, which is harder to see?

On almost every bike I’ve owned, you need to roll the bike to get the gears to engage. On my 2010 Beta 290 i absolutely cannot change gears at a standstill, the bike must be rolling. Even then the gear shifts can be a bit inconsistent and I’m not confident in them yet.

Is it possible the bike has a problem or am i just naive? Or is this completely normal and i just need to look ahead and be in the right gear before i stop? Will I get penalised in a trial if its obvious I’m just rolling to shift gears?
I appreciate any input

Cheers,
Gavin



Dr Peter
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Bike: Beta 80 Senior (2023
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Location: Nathalia Victoria
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Re: Changing Gears

Postby Dr Peter » Sat Feb 10, 2018 10:20 pm

Good question, Gavin.
My old TY seems to find false neutrals a lot, especially between 1st and 2nd. Hang on, that would be neutral wouldn't it? Do we just stamp on the gearshift without clutch? It's strange not having the foot on the peg for gear shifts.
Peter



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MAG66
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Re: Changing Gears

Postby MAG66 » Sun Feb 11, 2018 10:22 am

As a beginner almost all sections you should stick to first gear up until your looking at C grade sections
The 3 betas I have owned have all been a bitch to select gears while stationary with the motor running.



David Lahey
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Re: Changing Gears

Postby David Lahey » Sun Feb 11, 2018 12:16 pm

Betas can be tricky to get the clutch to completely disengage. The reason that some bikes need to be rolling to shift gears is clutch drag putting load on the drive dogs on the gears. Rolling backwards does not release the force on the gear dogs.
It is possible to shift gear at a stop with mild clutch drag (because of the geometry of the rear suspension and drive chain) by bouncing the bike up and down as you hold force on the shift lever.
Having a completely free clutch when disengaged is one of the holy grails for trials rider so if you go searching you will finds huge amounts of discussion on the subject.
You shouldn't be needing to shift gears in a section unless you are riding at a very high level.


relax, nothing is under control

David Lahey
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Re: Changing Gears

Postby David Lahey » Sun Feb 11, 2018 12:18 pm

and there is no penalty for rolling forwards for any reason


relax, nothing is under control

Gavin711
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Re: Changing Gears

Postby Gavin711 » Sun Feb 11, 2018 7:40 pm

Thanks very much for all the replies.

It sounds like, at least for now, i shouldn't need to worry to much about it. I'm just trying to be as prepared as possible.
That's an interesting point about the clutch drag and it being a beta issue. I'll give the bouncing a go, to see how that works. Again though, it sounds like it wont be a problem in competition but it will be a nice skill to have while i'm playing around and practising or if i ever do find myself in a situation i do want to shift at a standstill.

Cheers again,
Gavin



TerrY
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Bike: Beta 200
Club: WDTC
Location: U Brookfield

Re: Changing Gears

Postby TerrY » Mon Feb 12, 2018 9:37 am

There is a fix for the Beta clutches but it takes about 5 hours of detailed painstaking manual work with primitive tools.

The two main issues seem to be the excess amount of glue used to bond the fibre to the clutch plates and the roughness of the tags that engage the clutch basket fingers.

So the excess glue has to be removed from the grooves between the fibre pads on the clutch plates by little scrapers. That is every groove on both sides of each clutch plate. Fun Fun Fun.

And smooth off all the external tags on all the plates that engage the basket fingers. Don't forget to have a little taper on each side as well. A file seems the easiest tool. Again Fun Fun Fun.

To do all that will take you 5 hours of Fun Fun Fun.

There is a major improvement but not a total fix.

Have fun.



Gavin711
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Re: Changing Gears

Postby Gavin711 » Tue Feb 13, 2018 6:12 am

Thanks for that Terry,

Well so far the trials bike is requiring considerably less maintenance than my old enduro bikes. So when one of those days rolls around where i desperately want to do something with the bike but cant ride it for some reason i probably wont mind pulling out the files and having some fun of my own :lol: :lol: :lol:




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