samwisemcg

Yesterday my 348 was being a bit troublesome, it stalled a fair few times when the revs got low. I put this down to the fuel level being low and maybe some dirt in the bottom of the tank. So today I gave it some fresh fuel and I took the bike out for a ride. I thought I'd stretch it's legs. it seems underpowered and very smoky. After 10 minutes or so of riding, fairly fast, the bike was smoking way more than normal. I rode it staright back to the workshop and it didn't smell good. the exhaust was so hot it had meleted the rear mudguard and was even melting the transfers off the side of the fiberglass tank cover. It was a warm day today but I really don't think that should cause the exhaust to get that hot. Someone has suggested that I may need to decoke the exhaust, does this sound like it could be the cause of my problems? Could a coked up exhaust cause the bike to be underpowered and the exhaust to overheat? Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

Keychange, thanks for the help. I think this weekend I'll be opening up the bike and taking a look. I always wondered about kick starting the bike when in gear. Other twinshocks I've ridden have allowed me to pull the clutch and kick it over in gear. At least now I know it's normal and not another thing I have to fix. Cheers.

I too have some issues with my kick start and the clutch. I have all the same problems mentioned in the beginning of this post. So it is a relief to find some answers. I do however have a couple of questions. Is this the part which will need to be replaced? http://www.inmotiontrials.com/product/montesa-cota-clutch-push-pad-10mm/ And.. Should I be able to kickstart my bike, when in gear, if the clutch lever is pulled?

Ok so I had a dig around and it sounds like 12 psi is the magic number. The air is there to assist the spring. Without it the springs aren't strong enough and will bottom out I believe.

The weird thing is I order 2 NOS parts from Spain. They were both still in the packaging, they both had the same tiny cracks even though they had never been exposed to oil, water, stress. I think they are cast and the casting isn't great. Anyway I spent the afternoon cleaning the inside of the stanchion out pushing wire wool through with a rod, then a cloth with polish on it. Then I have filed the edge of one of the old piston dampers ever so slightly and cleaned it up with some wet and dry. It now fits and slides freely. So thank you for the help. A couple of quick questions I have been told to use 190ml of oil for the forks, is this poured in the top before the air valves are screwed on? And does anyone know what is the correct air pressure? Thanks once again.

They seem clean and smooth inside but it's always worth me giving them a good clean. It's almost as if the piston is ever so slightly too large, It just won't fit in at all. I'll give both parts a clean and see what happens, thanks.

I have recently bought a 78 Montesa Cota 348. Everything is running smooth except for an issue with the forks. They were pretty seized and only moved under a lot of pressure. I took one for to bits trying to locate the problem. It seemed like the damping rods were jammed in the stanchion. It took a few hard knocks to get it out and here is what I found. http://i.imgur.com/d99wyGs.jpg The piston ( part # 2135.023 ) on the damping rod is all cracked and wasn't sliding smoothly inside the stanchion. I located 2 more from spain. Now I am trying to reassemble the forks and they just wont go back together. The new part just will not slide into the stanchion, it is as if it is fractionally too large. http://i.imgur.com/x5H9uzl.jpg I was wondering if anybody has any experience with rebuilding these forks and have you come up against this issue. The only solution I can think of is to slow take down the diameter with some wet and dry. Any advice would be much appreciated, thanks.