SWM

on may 6,2007 on the east coast of the US we are trying to get almost20 swm trials bikes in one spot. that many swms together at a trials hasn`t been seen since the early 80`s.i hope it doesn`t speed up the melting of the ice packs....johnnyb

I am going to look at a swm trials next week, the owner thinks it's a 1981 240, supposed to be all there except the seat, rear shocks, and kick lever, and in decent condition otherwise, what should I be looking for? are these good bikes? I have never rode a swm, I remember when Bernie and Martin were riding them in the 80's, I will probably buy it if the price isn't too high, how is parts availability for them? is there a model identification guide available?

Thought I was paying too much as Ebay ad said it didn't run,but by the time I did the "Buy It Now" he'd got it going.Engine sounds terrific! Runs beauty! So Smooth,quietest running 2stroke I've ever heard :-) Gonna need alot of tweaking to get it as effective as My Fantic 240,but progress is already being made,have clutch down to easy two finger/OKay but distracting 1 finger action,will try taking out a couple of clutch springs next.Brakes are strong,rims round,tires hard as stone ;-) no oil in forks,rear shocks leaking from not being ridden. Footpegs are miserable,will cut those pristine mounts and never tweaked(Or even come in contact with anything other than a bootsol…

Hi, I've had the crankcasing of my 280 engine beadblasted so as to be able to see if there is any bad corosion which needs to be taken care of before rebuilding. I'd like to know what paint would be the best option to use to reseal the surface, bearing in mind that it needs to be nonporous, hard (scratch resistant) and of course be easy to apply and look good ;o] Any ideas.....

Hello everyone I am a new SWM owner living in South West Scotland. I acquired my 1980 320 TL from someone on Ebay last September. The bike had been restored, after being imported from Italy three years before, which included a couple of what l now understand are standard mods. One of these was moving the foot pegs back and down by about 1/2 an inch. In their new position the foot pegs had fillets run down their length to strengthen them. This means that the fillets foul the side stand, and unless l grind the offending fillet back, l can't fit the stock side stand. I ve been thinking of fitting the bolt for the stand with a heavy spring and leaving some slack in …

Does anyone know whether the Rotax motor has a 'stop' on the kickstart mechanism? Mine is the Jumbo but I believe it's the same as the 240/280 motors. Problem has occured in that the kickstart travel/rotation is long and on full swing the knuckle of the kickestart has gone round and punched a hole in the casing. I can't see how to stop this happening. It's never happened before but it's happening now. I've looked at the parts diagram and had the kickstart ratchet and spring out but can't see that there is anything to stop the kickstart shaft continuing to rotate until the kickstart hits the casing. There is no way I can kick it gently enough to shorten the swing to prev…

Hi, I fitted new carbs to my bikes and did some testing on Sunday morning. Also tried my action cam out for the first time. The 320 is sorted but the 125 still soots up the plug after a short while. I'm scratchin my head and a few other places besides. The carb is brand new, original spec. I have fresh 102 octane with no methanol mixed at 50:1 full synthetic oil. The exhaust has been cleaned and the middle box repacked. The timing is spot on and a brand new NGK BP5ES plug. The filter is clean, there are no leaks, new crank seals. To be continued...........

I have trawled through the SWM threads and have come up with the following; Timing 2.6/2.8 BTDC Points Gap - 0.4mm Plug Gap - ? Help ! A few other questions - How do you adjust the timing, do you need to slip the magneto off and move the back plate and refit the magneto and check. Are there any timing marks to point the strobe at ? Ours seems to have some cold chisel marks on the backplate ! How do you connect an external condensor ? The only wiring diagrams I have found are in Italian and a bit difficult to read the colours etc. Finally, not getting any e-mail replies from Martin Matthews. Is he on holiday ? Many Thanks.

The reed induction 350 engine fitted to the SWM Jumbo and Armstrong 350 trials bikes was also used in some trail bikes I believe and possibly some motocross bikes as well. Does anyone know which other bikes used these engines? I think they were fitted in some Armstrong/CCM trail bikes but not sure which. I'm hoping to find a spare clutch cover but it doesn't have to have come from an SWM Jumbo engine, it can come from anything as long as it fits, I don't care if it doesn't say SWM on it. If I knew what other bikes these 350 engines were fitted to I could ring around some of the bike breakers and ask, but at the moment I don't know which bikes to ask about. Anyone got an…

I have acquired a TL320 this summer. I know these things are quite noisy - and nearly bullet proof. Inspections of clutch (to try solving the clutch'problem') and inspections of barrel and head, indicates that the engine is very fine. Anyway - it has a lot of mechanical noises and there seems to be some play either at the top-end or the big-end of the rod. I haven't measured it and it is just recognisable. (A lot of the noise is transferred by the fins on the head I have noticed) Do anyone know where to find the specifications of service limits, wear outs etc. for the Rotax engine?

Hi, I post a bike/engine that I started a long time ago to collect your comments about; regards.

I need a spark arrestor to ride in all the good places nearby. Every add-on spark arrestor I could find on the market would require me to hack up my silencer, so I decided to replace it instead. At least this way, I can preserve the original silencer, should I ever decide to restore the bike. This monstrosity would look right at home on a modern trials bike, but it sure looks out of place here. Sadly, it's also a bit louder, though not oppressively so. I was hoping it would be quieter. Oddly, the bike SOUNDS like a modern trials bike now.

Howdy again Gang! When I took my TL320 down to Moab last month, with a fresh change of the fork oil to ATF, I found that the seals leaked a great deal. I decided to change them, so I ordered a set of seals for 35mm Betor forks. They came as a set of four separate seals, apparently meant to be stacked on top of each other for a double-lip seal. Last night, I dismantled the forks and removed the old seals. The old seals were not stacked, they were a single seal on each side, each with a double lip inside. One fork leg was embossed with the words: "Honda F seal, 9125-273-000". So it would seem that someone had the fork legs machined to accept a Honda seal, though I suspect…

What's considered to be a good compromise angle for steering angle ? Currently about 23 degrees. Thanks

Just back from a trial down in deepest France and was really impressed with an Swm out after having a make over. Was interested to learn that the headstock had been moved... swingarm lenthened and exhaust had been breathed over. Was really impressed with the way that it went I was told it was a 1982 280. Are these really an undervalued .., but overllooked alternative in the competative twinshock trials market. Don t know as in many cases, whether the above mods are really worth the hassle and cost and at the end of the day the bike still has to be ridden but I was very impressed with the way it went , I might even be tempted or are they an aquired taste....... Thank…

I have got SWM 280TL which runs OK for about an hour then fouls or buns out the plug. If I change the plug it then runs OK again. I am using a BP5ES plug. Any advice or possible cure would be great. JGM

I have never seen an SWM in an Ahrma event here in the states. My question is are they legal and if not why? Thanks for the help. --Biff

I thought you SWM enthusiasts might enjoy a picture of my SWM project .The bike is a 1980 Tl 320 that was originally sold in England, imported to Califoria in the late 80's and found last year in a salvage yard in Montana. I have tried to replicate Bernie Schriebers last Factory TL320 before he started riding the Jumbo. My project incorporates all of the mods from the french Burgat article on this forum and everything I could see from the photos in Bernies' book "Observed trials". My only real change from the original factory bikes is a modified Pro Circuit Racing silencer that weighs about a fourth of what the original did. That and other weight reduction mods bring the …

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SWM-Twinshock-Trials-TL320-/331073166800?pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item4d157f9dd0

I have recently replaced the crank seals and also the large O ring on the disk valve cover but engine oil still seems to be getting through into the cylinder. Bike smokes a fair bit as a result. Does anybody have any ideas of what else I can do to stop the engine oil getting through?