Dougie Lampkin 4th World Indoor Enduro

Dougie Lampkin recently competed in the 2nd round of the world indoor enduro championship in Genoa, and finished an amazing 4th place. The event was always going to be difficult having a full entry list of top riders with the likes of Taddy Blazusiak(KTM) and Ivan Cervantes(KTM). Despite having almost no experience in enduro and riding a production based BETA RR450 Dougie scraped into the final by winning the last chance qualifier.

 The main event was split into three finals. The first final dougie finished 3rd, one spot ahead of KTM mounted Taddy Blazusiak. The second final wasn't so easy, a crash while sitting in second place pushed him to the back of the pack. He managed to salvage fifth place but unfortunatly even a third place in the final race didn't quite get him to the podium.

“It almost feels as good as a win, as I was not expecting to shine at all, especially after such a tough start to the day. It was very much a case of learning on the job and by the last race I was getting somewhere near the quicker riders. My starts were really bad and left me with a lot of work to do in each race. It’s definitely something I need to practice, as being a trials rider for so long it is not something I have ever thought about before. Overall it’s been a very positive first attempt. “ Dougie concluded.

Overall Results

1: Ivan Cervantes – (SPA-KTM) 38
2: Taddy Blazusiak (POL-KTM) 33
3: Fabio Mossini (ITA-HM) 28
4: Dougie Lampkin (GBR-Beta) 26
5: Xavi Galindo (SPA-KTM) 1

Beta Evo Lands in Western Australia

It's been a long wait but finally the 2009 Beta Evo and the Beta Enduro race model  have landed in Western Australia. I've only been able to take my Evo 290 out for one quick ride so far and I'm extremely impressed. Lewis and Alex also received their 125 and 250, and have probably worn out their  tyres already!  Paul has also updated his enduro bike to the new Beta 450 RR 4T Racing, the racing model comes with a whole stack of parts specifically for riding flat out. keep posted for a full ride review.

Australian Motorcycle News, Alex steals the lime light

Moto Trials featured strongly in the Vol 58 No13 7-20 Jan 2009 addition of the Australian Motorcycle News coverage of the Northam bike festival.  Alex featured in the opening statements along with a photo of him stirring up Lewis for being injured, and one of him riding.  I don’t know how Alex got so much coverage, it can’t be his good looks because he is as ugly as sin, and I don’t think he has enough money to have paid for it.  Neil and Tim were lucky to get a mention considering Alex’s coverage but it was great to see trials featuring in main stream motorcycle news.  Clearly the crowd loved the trials demos as there was never much spectator room around the area when the boys fired up.  With the new demo trailer I suspect the boys will be featuring in a lot more shows this year.

Moto Dynamics Service Check, Water pump housing

Rev3 models 2003 to 2008 have a magnesium clutch/water pump housing. Magnesium is more prone to corrosion then aluminium. It is recommended to check your water pump to ensure there is not excessive corrosion. No need to drain the coolant unless you wish to change it. Simply lay your bike on its right hand side. Leave the radiator hoses connected. Remove the water pump cover and inspect the water pump area for corrosion. See photos.




















The water pump cover has an O ring that seals it to the housing so it can be re-fitted without the need to replace gaskets etc. Just a smear of water proof grease on the O ring is all that is needed. You will loose a small amount of coolant so remember to top up your coolant. Fill the radiator so that the coolant is level with the bottom of the filler neck where it connects with the top of the radiator. The filler tube needs to be empty to allow for heat expansion. A handy tip for easy fitting of the radiator cap is to shorten the overflow tube so that it is only as long as the diameter of the radiator cap. See photos.










Another handy tip is if you have kids on bikes, connect a hose to the overflow and direct the hose so that it drains on to the exhaust pipe. The idea of this is that if the bike over heats the coolant will drop on the exhaust creating heaps of steam and the kids will notice it, you hope!! It might even be handy for yourself.

Recommended Coolant:
The Beta manual specifies Bardahl Permanent. Beta Australia recommends the use of Motul Factory Line Coolant. Team Beta WA uses Belray No Tox Coolant. Silkolene also produces a coolant recommended for magnesium housings.

Coolant Changes:
The Beta manual specifies changes every 120 hours of operation.

Team Beta WA rider injuries

Both Alex and Lewis have been nursing injuries during Dec.  Maybe they thought Santa would feel sorry for them and give them more presents, I don’t think it worked.  Lewis had a bad crash at the Northam Bike Festival injuring his wrist whilst Alex has had a sore shoulder.  He can’t remember anything particular that would have caused the injury but I’m sure it's not from carrying all his school books home to study.  Anyway they are both back on their bikes practising and riding push bike jumps. 

LEFT- Lewis Nolan

Jeroni Fajardo 4th Spanish Indoor Corunna

Factory Beta rider Jeroni Fajardo finished the 2009 season with a strong result at the Spanish Indoor Championship held in Corunna.  The Spanish Indoor Championship is one of the hardest competitions in trials which has 5 of the top 7 riders in the world Competing. Jeroni finished the round in 4th position only one point behind third place Albert Cabestany. Unfortunately an error in section 4 cost him a ride in the final but a strong ride here will give him a confidence boost for the World Indoor Championship starting at Sheffield on the 3rd of January.