Bob Moore

I still haven't flown the motors I have , one day soon, but I was just at a mates workshop and he'd bought plugs for a vintage Kawasaki 2 stroke he has (widow maker). Plugs are BH8S. I said to him that what my paramotors use. Then he shows me on the NGK packet, they put an X through aircraft and microlight. BH8S was what I've seen recommended on here and elsewhere, so why the X on the packet? Somewhat confused.

No worries. Received the netting, I can't tear it apart with my hands. I'd say strong enough.

This is where I bought mine 28mm, I'll have to see how strong it is but basically to stop brakes or say a throttle going through. https://www.knowlenets.co.uk/ https://www.knowlenets.co.uk/product/bird-pest-control-nets/pest-control-netting-28mm-1⅛-knotted-square-mesh/ they sell some heavy duty stuff as well

Just reviving this old thread. I'm going to start training soon with paramotors and have been running mine up on my back, and ground handling with the machine on but not running. Both machines I have have high hang points. I've been free flying pg 15 years and my ground handling is good but I struggled a bit ground handling with the motor during my second session at it the other day, then I figured I'm not used to having brake handles so high. It was also a flukey wind, thermic and changing direction a lot which didn't help! I've made some home made extensions which I'm hoping will help. Fortunately I've got another couple of wings I can use for motoring (pg wings) so my free flying glider can stay as it is. I figure running with hands that high and trying to use the throttle will be difficult? I have taken the old handles off ( knots are still in the same place so it can't go way to high through the pulley.) I saw someone mention leaving the old handles there so you can do a big flare when landing, but I tried it and they are a pain when ground handling reverse launching as they kept snagging the risers. I figured a few wraps when landing should do the same. I have roughly figured what length extensions I need but after reading this will shorten a bit. After reading of a bad accident last week I'm improving the netting on both machines as it was barely adequate and I don't want a brake getting through the cage. Using a 28mm starling netting. Any tips or observations would be appreciated.

Later. All is not lost. Got the whole assembly off with the shaft and will take it to a friend with a workshop and pillar drill to drill out the sheared bolt tomorrow! Also got the lower pulley off the tapered shaft and turned the thing by 90 degs as was the original plan.

Oh well, thought I'd have a go at getting the pulleys off. I should have left it alone. I'd filed the damaged teeth and it was starting Ok, now it's f.cked! Removed the nylock on the bottom pulley, put a socket on the bolt head that holds the top pulley and holds the prop and started to turn it. Felt like it was moving, bit more pressure, yes it's turning. And then it sheared off. It wasn't turning. Now useless unless I can get the thing off, drill out the bolt etc.

Does anybody know an easy way (ie other than pulling off drive pulleys) to remove the drive belt on an Adventure f3 paramotor please? There is no assymetric adjuster as far as I can see to slacken it.. Both drive pulleys are fixed on their shafts. It's a tight belt so I doubt I can gradually ease it off by turning it over as I have done on another motor. The teeth on the electric start drive disc are a bit damaged in one spot, and the motor always stops in the same place when you kill it, hence it always starts, throws in the bendix thingy, in the same spot. I'm hoping to remove it and shift it around by 90 degs on the pulley.

Thanks Simon, I have provisionally marked it out and it is close to some holes, but that said it's clamped by a big plate on the outside and I'm confident it won't weaken the hub. I was given some other 45 inch props that have been re-drilled though haven't tested them to see how successful it was. (Too big for this cage though.) Most important I feel is to find a workshop with a good solid bench drill so that as well as being properly positioned that they are vertical! I can see a potential for all kinds of problems if they are even just a degree or two off!

You may have seen my long and tortuous thread about trying to get a Solo 210 I acquired to run properly, or more accurately restart after it had been run. (It had sat in someone's garage for 20 years) After wasting £200 on it I finally gave up. Bought an Adventure F3 that needed a starter motor and my old one fitted, had a few other little things to sort, engine mounts, fuel lines etc. but that paramotor starts, restarts and runs well. 48 inch prop. I also acquired another motor, a more recent Solo 210 unit with CDI ignition for free and have transplanted it into my original machine which had a 4 bladed 36 inch prop, lighter weight, smaller cage . Lo and behold I started it today, hand start, but only briefly as it has no prop on it at the moment. So here's the issue. The old motor has a mount with 6 screws for the 4 blade 36 inch prop. The motor I acquired for free has a boss with 4 bolts. It's looks like a hard job to switch the bosses (I'd need to switch both) so I hope to drill out 4 holes in the wooden boss to fit the new boss. I realise this is a risky procedure balance wise. Don't want to shell out lots of bucks as this motor hadn't been run for 8 years and as it was I spent £200+ trying to get the original working. Does anyone know a safe and reliable way to re-drill a prop for a different mount please. I just looked at some prop specialist web sites and it would cost more than this thing is worth to get them to do it.

it just gets to mid-throttle and then dies. Sounds like fuel starvation? But I guess someone has said that. Is the crankcase driven pump working hard enough. New membrane in it? Dirt in the small built in filter in the pump side of the carb? I'd have thought that air locks in the line would stop it all the time and not just mid throttle?

Oh well, removed the head on motor two, removed grub screw but the passage was clear right down to the exhaust port. Did discovered that the carb that was on it is the WB 37 which is thought to be better than the WB32 so refitted that. I had put on the new WB 32 that I bought. All I'm waiting for is some fuel pipe and a priming bulb then I can see if this is a runner though it still is hard to hand start pull. Might need that decompressor?.

Interesting. I'm going to remove the head again from the second motor and check out the small port. You also answered my next question which was going to be why did you fit a decompressor! The one I ordered was less than a fiver so if clearing hole does work in reducing compression to a manageable level I won't have lost a lot!

Thanks Kiwi, for some reason the post isn't showing but I saw it on the email. And thanks Tom, I recall reading something about removing the grub screw and clean the hole, doesn't make sense but I'll have a go. Did it work for you? Though I know you fitted a decompression valve. I'l, try the cleaning out the hole before trying to tap a 10 mill thread! Ah, reading the article about cleaning I get it! The hole is connected to the exhaust port. ie, when the engine is not running as in when starting, there is no pressure into the cylinder from the exhaust but there is a small loss of compression. Once the engine fires it the back pressure from the exhaust compensates for the hole and any loss of compression. (I think!)

I just took another look at my motors. Two have the heads predrilled to take the original mushroom type automatic vacuum operated decompressor. One is in use on the Adventure F3 that is up and running well. My original motor (the 20 year old unsued one that I couldn't get to restart and gave up on after spending £200 on it!) had the hole in the side of the cylinder but blocked with a small allen screw which I guess means not used. The big head from the one that I was given with a tuned exhaust doesn't have a corresponding hole it to sit opposite the hole in the cylinder either.

Thanks Tom that's very helpful. Was the valve they fitted similar to this? http://www.ebay.com/itm/DECOMPRESSION-VALVE-Fits-STIHL-HUSQVARNA-PARTNER-MAKITA-WACKER-DOLMAR-/140606126505 The other machine has a vacuum operated one now which is great. I don't quite figure how the built in decompression works (if there is one) I haven't seen any corresponding hole in the cylinder head? I've seen pics, small hole in the side of the barrel and a hole in the top I think.

Hi Tom, bit of an update. I now have a working and apparently reliable motor bought a couple of weeks ago. This is an Adventure F3. It was minus starter motor but the motor from the old paramotor fitted so it's sorted. I also took out a blanking bolt and fitted the vacuum driven decompressor from my original motor (the previous owner had burned out the starter motor) and it's starts easily and restarts. BUT I also acquired for free a more recent Solo 210 engine, electronic CDI ignition and believed to be OK., so to cut to the chase, I transplanted that into my original machine (which in many ways I preferred to the new one, smaller as it has a 4 blade prop and is lighter) but I want/need to fit a decompressor to that. Way too hard to pull start without. All the decompressor valves I've seen online appear to be 10 mm thread and the hole in the cylinder head is 8 mm. What size thread is the one you fitted? Did you find one with a smaller thread? I could drill and tap the head to suit 10mm but if I mess it up it could be expensive, though on the bright size I actually have a spare big style later head too. Also have a tuned exhaust but there's no space to fit it on either machine, and it adds weight. I'm only 69 kgs. Don't think I need the extra power.

If the carb was gravity fed I would agree with you, but this motor has the tank below the carb and depends on cranking and crank case pressure to pump the fuel. As Cas says, you could just crank it but all the advice I've seen re these carbs is depress the metering diaphram and pump till a little fuel trickles out of the carb. PS It started OK with the new carb. Still needs running up and trying when hot. Tried it after stopping just once and it didn't want to go! But not a real test as I haven't properly tuned it yet. For the sake of a few quid I have ordered a small bulb primer and T piece. I'm going to drill a small hole in the flange between the air filter and the carb and fit a tube. The secondary primer will be connected to that.

Thanks Cas, just fitted it. Even cut a new gasket for inlet side! Had to switch the pump plate cover so spigot pointed the right way and switched low jet adjuster as the new one was just a screw head as opposed to an extended safer easy to use one. Can't fire it up though as p.ssing with rain here in Devon. Thanks for advice about priming. If we get a break in showers I'll try and run it.

Got it thanks, and I'd seen the small clear chainsaw type on e bay, that's way to go. New carb has arrived today, if I still have trouble I'll add a secondary primer. Or do you prime with that first when yo start? The new carb I have only has the small hole in the metering diaphram cover too so I can't imagine how you'd press that anyway to prime?

Cas, thanks for the pics though any chance you could draw a diagram of the system, can't really quite figure it out from the pics. Sorry to be a pain! Hi again Cas, Thanks for the long and detailed reply. I've serviced the carb twice and both kits had the new rubber tipped needle, so hopefully that's OK. Re the priming, for my initial cold start I think I have that cracked. I give the primer bulb a small pump until I see fuel run from the carb, one needs to press the top of the diaphram to do this, I thought it was the recommended way. Unless you do this fuel won't flow? But anyhow, little prime turn it over. It usually coughs and runs briefly. Then I give another short prime and it's away. I'd seen the Alex Varvs pop off guide. Maybe I should get the proper tool as I just made something up and use a footpump with a pressure gauge. I have read that most problems with these engines can be put down to pop off pressure. I'll see how I get on with the new carb that should arrive in todays post! If the issue still persists I'll make a primer that injects fuel into the inlet manifold as you had described. Still not quite clear how it works though? cheers Bob

Yes, apologies for a double post on Facebook but two forums grabs more attention and more people and did produce some other ideas. Unfortunately nothing I hadn't thought of or tried. Did produce a new carb at a good price though. Remains to be seen if it will make a difference though!

Thanks, but my carb has a white phenolic insulating block between it and the cylinder head so doesn't really get hot.

Mmm. Interesting idea, but impossible!

Thanks Savage, fuel doesn't appear to run back, no bubbles in the line and you can see it's still there. The pump in the carb works too as if you hold down the metering diaphram while you are cranking it over fuel pees out of the carb. Just doesn't appear to be going into the cylinder. Jets are clean too. Amongst all the other stuff I did when I first got this motor that was unused for 20 years I replaced all fuel lines, cleaned the tank, new filter and new priming bulb which has a working none return valve too. I have bitten the bullet and bought a new carb after someone offered me one on a Facebook group that they'd ordered but bought the wrong one. It remains to be seen if that resolves my hot starting issue. I doubt it but I might be lucky. It's another thing eliminated anyway.

Thanks Cas that sounds the way go. Yes pics please. If you can't post here my e mail is bobtheflyer (at)gmail (dot) com My motor does have the primary bulb of course between the fuel filter and carb but I can't really reach that in flight. Certainly not easily anyway. I guess this is T joined in to the fuel line? I think I've seen some motors that can be primed while in flight by blowing a tube too?