bpilgrim

I'm just gathering the original bits at the moment. As you correctly said, I wouldn't want to ride it with NOS bits on it! Most of the good bits I currently have, intact crankcase covers etc are just being stored for now. I'm planning on getting a modern trials bike soon though (Beta Rev 3), so that the Montesa can rest and the beta can be used instead!

Thanks for the info on the rims and hubs, that's good news! I can now get them refurbed and get some new tyres on the bike! I was initially planning on doing the rims myself, as I wanted to learn how to lace wheels, but I don't have access to a jig to true them, so I think I'll send them off. Anyone know of any wheel refurb places? I don't think they need to be chromed, on the link above to an original 348, they look like they're just polished. Thanks Ben

A few more questions! Do you know what the original twist grip would be? I got it with a broken Domino throttle and I put an new Amal T80/200 on. For the shocks, any ideas on the make and length? Thanks

Hi, I'm not sure what the original brake shoes are like, but you could get water grooved shoes if you don't already have them. Tyre pressures are obviously a big one, on the rear it depends how many rim locks you have. I only have one rim lock on the rear of my 348, so I don't go below 4psi, I usually run 6psi front. I too use an Amal, I had a Mikuni, but swapped it just because I prefer Amal and mine actually ran better on the Amal. Perhaps the Minuki was just jetted wrong. I would guess you already have a have a decompressor fitted on a 247? If not, they come in handy, personally, I find it easier to control hill descents with a decompressor. It does however scare spectators when it occasionally goes bang!

The 349 also has an aluminium bash plate, whereas on the 348 the down tubes continue under the engine with steel mesh welded between them. Both the 348/349 share the 51M engine/frame number prefix, 15'700 348's were made (not sure if this includes the 3300 of the 348T), and I believe they just carried on counting for the 349. http://www.southwestmontesa.com/production.html Ben

Hello everyone, I'm trying to make my 348 as original as is practically possible (money limiting at the moment). This is the first bike I've ever rebuilt, and I'm attached to it, so I wont ever be selling my 348, as I'm only 19 too, I'm going to have it a long time! I thought it'd be best to gather all the original bits before they become too rare. I have already bought a complete-ish donor bike, which seems fairly original, but has been in a house fire. I picked it up from a salvage yard for

Thanks for all of the advice, it was the plunger. My one's actually steel, but I checked my spare 348 engine and that had a brass plunger. The brass one was however quite a bit shorter so I used the steel one. There were signs of uneven wear on the 3 claw pusher, as if the plunger wasn't flush, but the plunger fell out when I took the cover off so I know it was in the wrong way, but I didn't know which way was the wrong way! So I played around with it and put the cover back on, and the travel on the clutch arm was much further. Topped it up with the Morris Lubricants oil and it's brilliant. I can now roll the bike backwards in gear, and can get it into neutral with the engine running. I tried kicking it through the compression, it did slip, but that isn't too much of a problem, and it may get better after some running, and some more fresh oil. Thanks for the help!

Thanks for the comments, I have fitted the brass clutch plunger with the cut out into the hole in the casing, so the smooth end is pushing against the rotating 3 claw pusher. I have just ordered some Morris Lubricants Golden Film SAE 20, which has been recommended for use in 348/349's. So I'll change the oil and if not, I'll order a new brass plunger from RM Montesa and see if that does the trick. Thanks Ben

Hello, I'm having issues with the clutch on my 348. Firstly, it slips if I kick it through a compression, so to start it I use the decompressor to get it to TDC and give it a kick from there, that works. I tried adjusting it to give me enough bite to enable it to be kicked straight through, this worked, and then to test if it was now dragging, I put the front wheel against a fence (it's a good job), and knocked it into gear, even with the clutch pulled in fully, the rear spun. After a lot of adjusting whilst it was firmly stuck against the fence, I've adjusted it so the clutch drag is bearable, I can't move the bike backwards in gear, but it doesn't move forwards on it's own anymore. Another problem with this is that you can't get it into neutral when the engine is running. When the engine is hot however, this improves, so I'm thinking that it's just the oil? I was recommended to use modern gear/clutch oil, by a bike garage, I went in asking for the oil that the manual says, and they had never heard of it... They were also surprised to hear the clutch was separated from the gears... Do you think this is just the oil? I've heard it could also be warped plates? What type of oil do you recommend, I've heard ATF being mentioned, any particular type? Another thing I thought it could be was the travel on the cable/levers. I've got some standard/universal levers, are amal levers known for having more travel? Thanks in advance Ben ps. What's the point of the breather of the RH crankcase cover?

I put the ignition flywheel in the oven! After I first rebuilt the bike it sheared a key on the first start and I read it is a common failure. So I cleaned it up, new woodruff key, put it in the oven and used some loctite too! It hasn't sheared since! The difficult bit was lining up a 150degC flywheel with the key!

That crank has snapped just like mine, I recently bought a spare engine which is in great condition, intact crank with flywheel and kick start gear seems solid, but my 348 has matching numbers, so I plan to swap the crank and kick start gear, and also get the crank cases patched up. Does anyone know if cast aluminium can be welded? I'm guessing it'd take a specialist, the part of the RH crankcase that acts as a stop for the kick start has broken away.

Personally, I think Montesa sadly lost its Viva in the mid 80's when it sold the majority of its shares... I'm proud to own a '77 bike, a true Mont!

I've got an electronic montesa manual, that was kindly passed on to me, it covers most models, and has been very useful for my 348, most parts seem fairly common. It's here on my website under 'Useful Stuff' http://bpilgrim.co.nr/ Hope this helps.

I'm currently running my 348 on 50:1 with synthetic race oil, I was running it on 30:1 to start with as recommended, but it was consistently oiling up. The plug had to be dried for every cold start. It has the original Amal L2627/402 carb, jetted correctly, but didn't seem to like 30:1. I gradually reduced the oil to 50:1 and now doesn't oil it, it still smokes good, and runs well...

Hi there, I mean the kick start lever, I have bought most of my parts from In Motion, it's a good shop: http://www.inmotiontrials.com/

Hi there, I've got a Cota 348 (1977), I got it 7 months ago, it has a bodged kickstart, which has ruined the splines, and then been drilled and pegged. It needs a new kickstart (available new for £60 from In Motion, not too bad) and a kickstart shaft, the shaft I haven't yet found. They do seem to be hard to find, so I'm now looking to buy a complete engine for parts. The idea previously mentioned about the compression release sounds good, because if I try to kick mine straight through a compression, the clutch slips. I have to get it just past TDC and then give it a kick. Although mine doesn't seem to have a huge amount of compression it does put a huge load through the shaft. It took me a while to find something strong enough to put a new peg in the shaft, I was using stainless steel bolts and it was shearing them like they were made of plastic! A drill bit seems hard enough to cope, for now! Hope this helps, Ben

Hello again, Thanks for your advice, at last I have a spark! It was the wire that comes from the condenser to the points, the crimp connector was quite long and was almost touching a screw, all I did was file the ends, put it back together and I got a brilliant spark. The engine is back in now, timing set at 1.8mm BTDC, fingers crossed for some combustion tomorrow! What sort of fuel/oil mix would be suitable? The oil is race spec valvoline 2T oil, as I have about 15 litres of it! The engine hasn't ran for a couple of years, 50:1 ish?

Hello, I have been struggling to get a spark out of my 348, it's had a new plug, HT lead, ignition coil, points, condenser, woodruff key and wiring from the magneto coil. To try and reduce the number of potential problems, I have left out the kill switch, and have been trying for a spark directly from the end of the HT lead to a bare part of the block. I had the gap set to 15 thou, and left the timing as I'm just trying for a spark first (the engine is still out of the bike). The magneto coil does appear to be rather worn, the plastic shields at the top and bottom of the individual coils are quite bent and the soldered connections may be touching the inside of the flywheel. So I'm thinking the only thing left is to buy a new magneto? I was wondering whether the Cota 348 shares a common type magneto with either the Cota 247 or Montesa Scorpion. I have found one of each for sale, and the Scorpion magneto appears the same but is in Oregon... Thanks in advance for your advice, Ben

Hi there, I have recently had this problem, I lost 3 ball bearings when removing the yokes, I have searched for replacement bearings and the only place that I found was inmotionbultaco, they were

Hi, Thanks for all the info, it's been very useful, I now have a few more questions! 1. I have read that late 349's were the first with chain tensioners? Mine has got one, which has forced the chain to run against the swinging arm. 2. Coil, it doesn't fit either way, forwards or backwards, the mounting plate that the coil is on is too long, either that or the exhaust has been modified. 3. My fuel tank doesn't have a breather, and there are no signs that the tank ever had a breather, the tank also protrudes out below the side of the fairing (see pictures above), wrong tank maybe? Now for an update; I was planning on getting the bike running first before I started the restoration, but after taking the bodged kickstart off, it was clear it wasn't going back on, the splines are non-existent! I thought about just bumping it, but with only three unknown gears selecting, I thought better of it. The bike is now stripped and some parts are about to go for paint, while I get more time to source essential parts, like a kickstart and the shaft, I have tried Inmotion Bultaco and France Trial Classic with no success, anyone know where I could find one? Many Thanks Benjamin

Hi, I have just received an email from In Motion Bultaco, I sent a question about the decompresser kits along with my chassis number, he's put a year of 1977 on it, but said they stopped selling the kits as they went from

Hello everyone, I picked up my 'new' Cota 348 yesterday, I don't know what year it is, and I don't know how original it is, maybe it's a bit of a mongrel? The matching chassis and engine number is: 51M13030 I'm also slightly puzzled with the gearbox, just by pushing it round (with the plugs out), the order is N 1 2 3 N (I think) so, I'm guessing 4th has gone? The forks were seized when I got it, since then I've managed to free them, but I'm unsure if there are parts missing, are the top of the forks supposed to be open? There was a little bit of water in mine. Finally, the coil has melted because it doesn't fit on the bracket (it fouls exhaust) so someone has put one bolt in, and it has come loose at some point and melted, I have found the same type on eBay, but does anyone know of where I can get one that fits properly? Also, the wiring to the coil, some wires have simply been snipped and are not being used, but a green has a crimp on it, does anyone know exactly how it should be wired? Any tips on what to check to get a spark would be much appreciated. Now for the possibly silly questions: Is the kickstart supposed to disengage when you operate the clutch? Why are there two spark plugs? Are the pegs supposed to be so far from the pedals? Thanks in advance, Ben (newbie, when it comes to old bikes)