pro sport

I feel that Scotland should be kept for the Six Days, the premier event closely followed by the Pre-65 Scottish. Nord vue at Penrith is an ideal venue for a man made exterior stadium event which allows for blanket charges for entry to be made @£25 which seems slightly excessive considering in Belgium an entry charge was 5 and this was open to honesty by the 6,000+ spectators ! I don't know how many spectators there were at Penrith last weekend but from photo and video evidence nowhere near Belgium or Italy! Was that down to price? or the fact that you can see a centrally located stadium , man made set out ,indoor with seating ,with World class riders for much the same £25 Certainly I feel that a Yorkshire located, naturally laid out trial that would test the worlds best would get better support , perhaps jointly funded by the FIM the ACU and Advertising. Could this be the ultimate UK WTC ? Thoughts.......The Scott on Steroids?.........

Welcome Lewis Looks like your getting yourself a great sport and hobby! As far as riding gear goes try to afford a new helmet as you may never be able to tell just what has happened to a second hand skid lid ! ! ! I have a couple of X-citing outfits, my first that's about five years old, still in perfectly useable condition but as I recently entered a two day trial and knowing that it would be wet I purchased from Matt Gardiner on eBay another X-cite suit and the quality is just as good. Also get yourself a decent pair of trials boots, but try them on for comfort first coz the sizes never come up like shoe sizes.... Most of all get yourself to a few local trials, speak to riders - we're a friendly bunch ! Perhaps even observe a couple so that you can see how riders tackle a section and see the lines they take, it's all good experience, then look forward to getting your first bike. Cheers Dave

Bou and Raga are from another planet..... Well done to Emma. Looking forward to next weekend.

Looks like being a wet weekend, so should prove very interesting!, 1st round of the Ladies as well so let's wish Emma & Becky all the best

What ever is decided about the choice of bike, just make sure the interest is encouraged as these youngsters are the future of the sport! Well done young Christopher and Hendriks Lad.

Looks like tough terrain, especially if it rains late night - early morning. Should make for great spectating !

This is my work in progress, a well used Mk4b. Also Stefano you asked about parts suppliers, I would thoroughly recommend Inmotion who advertize on this site. Frankiemountain spanish parts supplies, and also good old Ebay Dave

Cio Stefano It looks like you have a very late Montesa Cota 247 built somewhere around September/October 1980. The last 247's had the 348 style tank as Feetup said, possibly with the large tandem seat like the Trail version that also had rear folding footrests on the swinging arm. The Trail version also had lights fitted as standard. As for the engine casings originally being black, certainly the later bottom half covers were black as they again followed the trend set by the 348/349, but some Ulf Karlson replica versions had the shiny alloy covers with the same M relief pattern and some were black! I would check Google Images on Cota247 for sales brochures that look similar to your bike for confirmation. Regards Dave

I think I would leave the silentbloc bushes in. Think you will find them buggers to remove, on my old Triumph Spitfire they used these a lot on the suspension and to replace some of them you end up having to burn them out, believe me the smell of burnt rubber lingers!

WOW really nice bikes, from my era too - hope I get to see them close up one day. Regards Dave

Try this, don't know why the other takes you nowhere ! ! !

Found it http://pilgrim.co.nr/ Under useful stuff Montesa service/repair manual 1965/1975

For parts try Inmotion, great service. Old Cota's were always a bit rattley, I will try to find a link to the manual that I copied off from this site. Dave

Great stuff Hugh I rebuilt my Amal with new main, needle, and pilot jets a new needle and throttle valve for about £30 from Burlen . Probably the best spent money on the bike so far as it was running very rich before and four stroking with no pickup, now it running with a strawberry brown plug and really responsive on the throttle. Cheers Dave

Thanks for the heads up on this Shyted, been looking out for some spare riding gear and at these prices it's like getting a pair of trials pants free for the cost of a regular top. Cheers

Blimey, at Ten Grand I would want the Car thrown in with the trailer and also a new 4RT as well ;-)

Hi Steve Used to ride at Poles wood before I moved to Suffolk, now I use the Trials Park Corton and love it. If you both want to try some easy Trials join The Dabbers trials club, they have trials in north Essex,Sufflok and Nofolk, pop over and have a spectate at Ashdon nr Saffron Walden on either Sat or Sun 28/29 or even learn what it's all about by observing with a friendly bunch of people. Cheers Dave

Hi Jim My first Montesa was a 69 mk2, then i had a 73 model with the smaller brake drums. Now i have a 75 mk4b If your still looking for a front brake plate they always come up on ebay, even new old stock and brake shoes. any questions ask away. Enjoy your Montesa Cheers Dave

My 1975 Cota mk4b uses B6HS, and I also have a B5HS in the position where the decompressor should be instead of a blanking plug, I can use this plug when the weather is hot so that the engine can run a bit cooler and it's also an instant backup should the main plug foul ! As for Iridium plugs, why pay 4x the amount for a plug that is only designed to last between the increasing service intervals of modern cars! A two stroke trials bike will need a new plug roughly 2/3 times a season due to carbon buildup and at a couple of quid a shot they are dead cheap and always the first thing to change should any electrical problem/ missfire occur. Cheers Dave

Nae Bridies, twa fish suppers d'ya ken!

Hi, Don't know if Frankiemountain36 on eBay ( Vintage Spanish parts ) could supply any parts you might need ? Makes it a bit pricey with the postage though ! but all looks original quality parts.

I am also old enough to have started under 0 1 3 5 rules , but I gave up when sections were made more difficult in the mono-shock era,I got fed up repairing my bike and myself. If we take the above video as an example - those sections are set out to test the best in our game and not the rest of us mere mortals, and even those top guys were having troubles. If people want trials set out like that and stop allowed then there must be a series set up for them surely we can run 2 sets of rules and keep events seperate but the sport in general the same. As for me I'm happy back riding in trials like I grew up in, no stop , that the C o C has set out so that the entry can clean at least 60% of the sections and the club regularly get entries of over a hundred riders including more than half of them from 11 to 30 age and we always seem to get a full compliment of observers that mark correctly to nonstop rules. I want to see trials survive as we all do, so forget the in-fighting and let's get our heads together to fight against the loss of the one thing the sport cannot do without - the ground to run events on !

#102 is John riding a cota175 circa 1973

Hi Paul Great to watch Deborah and you tackle some tight sections at the Dabbers Trial at the Trials Park, Corton today, hope you had a good ride, I managed to get away with dropping 28 marks on the 3 laps of 15 Cheersk Dave

Was that Bou just getting a five for knocking a section marker off ' shock , horror ' that's usually my trick.