cleanorbust

Unfortunately trying to remove the gear from the crankshaft can turn into the kind of challenge that leaves a competent mechanic in need of therapy, a mere quivering shell of his former self. All manner of heating, pulling and battering has been known to be used to crack the problem of the gear tightening itself onto the shaft over a 40 year period. On the other hand you may be lucky...

While you've got the cases apart it would make sense to replace the main bearings. These and the seals are available from Inmotion, www.inmotiontrials.com. Good luck with removing the gear pinion from the crankshaft!

Results are on the Isle of Man Trials website www.iomtrials.com

You may find Arthur Francis Rayspeed (www.afrayspeed.co.uk), who are near me, helpful. They appear to have the brake shoes of this design in their online catalogue.

I see, thanks for explaining, just didn't spot the brake on your Gas Gas - still to be fabricated? Precision work indeed from the look of your workshop notes!

Great stuff, thanks for posting. Nice to see some historical shots. Guess you do it all without the benefit of a rear brake? Good on you.

Can we have a photo of you riding up that rock? I can see the tyre marks you've left on it.

Is there actually a spark at the plug?

Sorry can't offer a 100% answer other than to suggest the new kickstart doesn't have as much of an outward crank as the original - have you compared the two in this way? Is there some scope to move the kickstart outboard a bit on its shaft? It looks possible from the photo. Aside from that could you post a photo of the complete bike? Looks as though you have done a very clean restoration.

For bike: spare petrol (5 litre can), selection of tools you need to do minor adjustments including doing rear wheel spindle nut if you need to do a chain adjustment during the trial: allen keys, screwdrivers, spanners, pliers, plug spanner. Spare plug. Some plastic ties. Rubber bands cut from an old inner tube. Duct tape. Chain lube. Pressure gauge and pump. Lightweight stand if you have one (I use a stool) to plonk bike onto when doing chain adjustment etc. For you: all of your trials clobber and a change of clothes, towel to rub down after trial, bin bag to put mucky clothes in. Sufficient to eat and drink (you'll be thirsty when you finish). Good idea to have a first aid kit in the truck, to help someone else if not yourself. As a general piece of advice, don't spend too long looking at the sections, keep up with the general pace of riders circulating round the course. As a beginner you don't want to end up at the back of the field with little leeway for extricating yourself from any difficult positions or sorting any bike issues. Enjoy!

I don't think there's an inference that this is a low budget option. Mountain bikes and bits can cost more than a trials bike, and that's without factoring in the cost of an engine. Also, however good the rest of the plot may be, riding sections on mtb tyres would be the biggest self-imposed disadvantage I could think of in a bike. Neat job though.

I'm sure others will be along shortly to say the same thing, but the 200 will not be underpowered for you. Don't think about the capacity, it's a trials bike which just needs riding, and a truly excellent one at that.

Tank reminds me of that fitted to the Sammy Miller-produced frame kit used to make the "Villiers Bultaco" of the late 60s - early 70s. (37a Villiers motor in a Miller frame of Bultaco design). Could have been taken off one of those and fitted to your Montesa.

Sounds like knackered shoes then, or worn brake drum. New shoes may well sort it.

I had a heart attack and three stents fitted eight years ago. It didn't occur to me to stop riding or doing anything else. If anything, as I'd had the medical equivalent of a rebore and flushing out of the oilways, I was far better prepared for this sort of activity after the event than before it. A triple by-pass is a similar upgrade.

I had one that year, from memory the brakes were as good, or bad, as anything else of the period. Could try chamfering the leading edge of the lining material with a file to make the brake as effective as possible.

The Mark 2 version had a metal tank, not sure if it would be straight replacement but someone here will know.

This is one reason why I don't think it is automatically a good idea to promote trials. There is an optimum number of competitors for a given venue, beyond which most people are turned off by queuing. In several places the optimum number is already achieved. Yes, riders could be started at different sections to reduce the problem but in my experience that doesn't happen much when it could be a positive help.

Yes, looks to be a Mark 1 Mick Andrews Replica, circa 1972, 244cc. The mudguards are non-standard (originally alloy), as is the silencer. Looks to have Sammy Miller front mudguard stays, which were an improvement on the originals, and of course it's been painted all white, original colour scheme was green/white. It's also had a metal sump guard fitted, the original models had one made of a material touted as carbon fibre which wasn't really up to the job. Looks like it's also had a replacement flat rear sprocket fitted with a spacer at some time, the original being a dished design. The bike was one of the earliest on the UK market to have pointless transistorised ignition, which was known to give up the ghost after a certain time. Hopefully yours is OK. Parts should be available from In Motion trials. One disadvantage is that the fuel tank looks like the original, ie fibreglass, which doesn't cope well with modern petrol. All in all though it looks like a reasonable example which, if you got it for little money, could be a good find.

Possibly, but there's no link to a mortgage provider on the advert to fund it.

Yes, that is true of many sports. There are maybe 70 youngsters in that photo, would be surprising to me if a dozen of them are still involved in a decade's time. Nothing wrong with that, people develop and change interests quickly when so many pursuits are accessible.

Welcome aboard. If it's within reach, you could join Scarborough and District MC and get unlimited access to their excellent land at Low North Park, Harwood Dale. I'm up there most weeks and would be happy to meet up and show you some tips once you get sorted out with a bike. Message me any time.

For me it is the fact that the sport is low-key, understated, unspoilt by publicity, largely unknown to those outside it and which exists happily while rarely if ever feeling the need to show itself off to the rest of the world which makes it as charming and brilliant as it was when I got involved 47 years ago.

Nothing really new about this. I recall decades ago parts supplied by the multiple trials champion of the time inevitably seemed to need some "encouragement" to fit their intended role. Why does this sort of thing still go on? Complacency, garnished with arrogance plus a side order of greed seems to cover it.

Because it's a plunger, which as noted can have its own class.