bikepilot

Great to hear about the lewisport linkage. The rear end of the bike does feel quite calm and uninterested in leaving the ground (not that I really know what a trials bike should feel like). I will order up the linkage plates for sure now and experiment with fork height. I'm without a welder at the moment, but have actually done that on a KX250 years ago - worked a treat.

I would like to replace my footpegs and peg brackets as my stock pegs feel a bit narrow and are worn such that they droop a bit (I think this is, in part, due to the brackets). I saw the Raptor Ti brackets and they look very nice, but I am not sure I want to part with $200 for them. OEM brackets are $82 (for both), but seem less than beautifully crafted. Any options that are better than oem but less costly than the raptors? For pegs, does anyone make a rockered peg like the White Brothers and Sunline Arch MX pegs (center spikes are raised higher than the front/rear which, I find, makes moving fore-aft on the bike easier, particularly when operating the rear brake) for trials bikes? I haven't tried swapping them out, but from memory my Cota's peg mounts seem roughly the same dimensions as most honda MX bikes so ... what about a set of MX pegs (about 1/3rd the cost of trials-specific pegs)? (for example, these http://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/productDetail.do?navType=type&webTypeId=93&navTitle=Dirt+Bike+Parts&webCatId=19&prodFamilyId=25961 or the aforementioned WB pegs) Also, I'm curious about the rear suspension "lift kits" like in the picture below. They are inexpensive and I'm thinking about trying a pair just to see. Any functional difference between the Lewisport brand, Vemar and the others? Two other items I intend to order are fork protectors and a a vemar brake lever as I find the stock brake pedal is a bit far from the peg for my liking. Any reason not to or advice in this regard? By way of background I'm completely new to trials, but have been riding most every other form of 2-wheeled device for many years. My trials bike is an '01 Cota 315R that is, except for a pair of renthals, all standard. Thanks very much!

Honda also fitted that batteryless EFI setup to their two premier MX bikes. Don't know how much it was based of the 4RT R&D effort, but no doubt they at least shared notes a bit.

Honda did develop some advanced, clean two strokes. The later CRM250 was relatively clean and quite an interesting bike. The EXP bikes ("works" only) that they ran around in the desert with in the late 1990s were ultra-clean two strokes, and reputedly quite fast. Yamaha led the charge though and got the AMA and FIM to implement rules heavily favoring thumpers in MX/SX and that, I think, really swayed things. In any event, I'd absolutely love a modern DI two stroke - both for my trials bike and dirt/mx bikes. I also think its a real shame that no major companies are making/distributing trials bikes. I think that they'd be hugely more popular, at least in the US if they were readily available. Its astoundingly difficult to actually buy a trials bike and half the riders I meet or more don't even know what they are. If all (or even many) honda powersports dealers also sold montesa trials bikes it'd completely re-shape the trials industry in the states.

Welcome!

I haven't tried them, but yesterday as a test I removed two clutch springs (opposite eachother) and rode around the yard. It made the engagement just a bit less abrupt and of course the clutch lever effort is reduced. I gave full throttle on a concrete slab and did not detect any slippage, but it was just a quick run around my hard/driveway.

All the things mentioned will help, but I find that if you ride only sporadically and spend the rest of your life in an office blisters are inevitable. Last summer I did a 534 mile off road race solo after almost a decade off the bike. Had great gloves etc, but still blistered badly (gloves soaked in blood by the end - nabbed 5th overall though!). Followed that up with 2 months of riding off road nearly every day and by the end of it my hands toughened up nicely. Sadly I've been sat in an office since.

Awesome! I just dragged my wife's KX100 MX bike out of storage where its been for 4.5 years. Tossed some premix in it and bam, fist kick it fired right off. Gotta love two strokes.

I just had a look and my '01 has PHBL but the manual also shows a sub-filter (which I also seem not to have). I'm thinking they forgot to update the manual on this. It even has a section on cleaning the sub-filter. I'm not sure about the fuel leaking.

Thanks for that. If its any use to anyone, you definitely cannot hone a plated cylinder to fit an oversized piston (and really shouldn't hone them at all imho). I'm new to Montys, but have almost two decades doing 2-stroke MX engines. The difference between A, B, C etc is very small though. Wiesco for example just uses one piston for all letter sized cylinders for the CR250R and it works out just fine. The main thing if you run the piston on the tight side is to take a bit of extra care to warm it up slowly - doubly true if using a forged piston.

Three main differences I know of between '98 and '03. The newer one has: 1. Better forks (showa in place of Paoli (sp?). Easily identifiable by the pretty blue-green color. 2. Better brakes (4 piston front caliper IIRC + AJP masters in place of gremica) 3. Different carb (no idea if its better or not). 4. Possibly geometry changes. The '03 I think had slightly steeper fork angle. Overall they are quite similar - same basic frame, motor, shock, etc. Similar feel to them. If in similar condition I'd definitely take the newer one for that smallish price difference. If the newer one is really hammered and the older one quite nice I'd take the older one. If its any help my '01 is a Dougie replica. Don't know if '03 was as well or not (I'm new to Montys).

Nice work. Does the 315R use a steel sleeve or a plated cylinder?

Just got a proper trials bike. Found an older Montesa that I think will suit me well for now. So far only had a quick spin on it in the back yard, but its going to be a ton of fun I can tell.

I have an '01 Cota and an '01 CR250R. The CR's head looks quite different externally. Haven't had the Cota's head off to compare the insides. The CR head might bolt on, but I think the shape of the combustion chamber and possibly water jackets will be very different. The CR's head is nearly flat across the top while the cota's head is quite domed. My '01 CR will have basically the same top end as a '98 CR.

Haha! Indeed it could (its an old shelter along the side of a huge mountain, wish I did own that bit of land!). Any thoughts on a 2001 TXT200? There's one for sale locally that looks well cared for. I think its a bit over-priced, but maybe there's some bargaining room (seller asking $2500, kbb says $1245-$1945 spread for trade-in and dealer retail respectively). I'm hoping to get into the sport for around $1500. Just missed out on an '02 Sherco 290 that was listed for $1350, but sold quicker than I could get to it. I've also seen an '05 Sherco 290 that looks nice listed for $2200, but its a few hundred miles from my house so figure another couple of hundred in diesel fuel to pick it up.

Hi All, I'm looking to get into trials riding. I've done motocross, harescrambles, desert, a wee bit of flat track and a bunch of trail riding. Also ride street bikes. Have not even been astride a trials bike before. Planning on buying something inexpensive to learn on/beat up. Any leads on a bike would be great. I'm in Northern VA about 15 minutes outside DC. Here are some gratuitous pictures for good measure so you can see my pitiful attempts at hooning around/trials-esque maneuvers on MX bikes. playing around at 13k feet in colorado and again in the rain playing on my dad's KX at croom in FL Colorado And a sequence (the rock face was steeper than it looks of course...) the big picture As you might have noticed I like playing around and am not very good at it. For that matter the only thing I'm good at on two wheels really is going fast in the desert, something I've only attempted once, but with good results. Who knew?