old bones

Hello, I've searched but cant find the values of torque for the cylinder head on my Montesa cota 200, can somebody put me right? Thanks in advance.

The small pinion which acts upon the rack is fitted onto the spindle with a left hand thread, if you leave the pinion in its recess and TAP!!! the arm in a CLOCKWISE direction it should come loose. To fit it back on, fit the bits together and hold it in soft jaws in a vice or "G" clamp and again TAP in the opposite direction just to lock it up. And as Whinger said "BE CAREFUL" Good Luck

Thanks for the replies, it seems that there would not be any great benefit in changing because of the other variables so I think I will wait and maybe swap them over later in the year when I have more time to try them out. I can see now that the shock positions would be different as the swing arm is lengthened between the pivot and the lower mountings thus slightly laying down the shocks and making the rear of the cub a bit lower than if using the standard length one, albeit only slightly. I think I was hoping that this would transform the handling, but as totalshell has said "you pays your money" I recently changed the tyres from Pirelli's to IRC's and found such a difference with so much more grip that I started looking to make other improvements so perhaps the swing arm change is for another day. Many thanks again for your advice.

I have two wide swinging arms for my cub and have been riding with the one that is an inch (25mm) longer than the standard, If I change to the shorter standard length how would that effect the steering, i.e. would I be able to turn tighter with the standard one. I hope someone can advise as it would save me a bit of work changing only to find its worse? Any thoughts would be great.

I have a few questions I hope someone can help me with regarding my "81" montesa cota 200. 1, Is it possible to start the motor when in gear with the clutch lever pulled in? as the clutch wont clear by pulling in the lever and using the kickstart. 2, When the motor is running and you are stopped its very difficult to select a gear, Its also quite hard to pull in the clutch lever, the cable is routed ok and no sharp bends 3, What oil should I use for the gearbox and how much, does this also lube the clutch? 4, I have been using 50:1 petrol /synth oil mix is this correct or can it go a bit leaner?. Sorry if these questions seem simple, but when you dont know its always better to ask. Any info would be great.

Thanks for the reply zerorev3rev4 I tried to send a PM but it says that you cannot receive any messages, not sure why? Sherpat all you need is a tube either solid drawn or welded with at least 2mm wall, at the dia that you want I am using 18mm, heat up the end and flatten it . It will now be bigger than the tube so cut to the same as the dia or slightly smaller. Next cut two bits of flat steel 20mm w X 40mmL X 6mm thick and weld to the tube with a space between of 8mm . I did this with a few washers after drilling the hole for the bolt and inserting an old bolt for the welding process , grind off the weld and tidy it up to make a nice transition from round to the square. this is where Im at now and just need to shape it hence my question. When I know the shape I can then buy any side stand spring and weld a pin at the right place along the stand at a point a bit longer than the spring to allow the spring to act in both the up and down positions. When all is finished all thats required is to cut an oval out of flat and weld to the bottom for a foot, If my explanation throws up any questions just get in touch. Good luck

Hi everyone, would someone have a good picture of the side stand on an 80's cota 200. Ive started to make one but dont know how its shaped and where it contacts/rests either on the swing arm or does it rest on the inner of the wheel spindle. Any help would be great.

Thanks everyone for your advice, I'll probably leave things as they are for now and possibly fit the top chain tube as suggested by zerorev3rev4 as I will be using the mont later in the year in local trials. The trials here seem to be lots of rocks and long sections with very little mud as I was used to with the Bath Club. So perhaps the mods will be better for this type of terrain. Regards

Hi everyone, many thanks for the swift replies, to answer lineaway, yes the forks did stick down and would only return if you gave them a tug, but ....all sems OK now after a few tweeks as suggested by 2stroke4stroke. I did tap the spindle with a rubber mallet just to make sure it was seated retightened all the bolts and all seems well so thank you for the tips that saved me a fork strip which doesnt really need to be done as they are almost perfect anyway. As for the other issues I take on board what you say regarding the chain jumping off but would like to return if possible back to original, I didnt have the problem on my other 200 when riding it many years ago so may take the risk and as you can see there isnt a chain guard of any sort so I would have to make one to fit which might not look the part, what do you think? Hopefully there will be a picture of the swing arm and the bits I'm asking about. The swing arm is steel , and I cant see any obviouse place for the original chain tensioner , no long bolt or holes in the frame or engine plates , could you be a bit more specific with the position of it?? Again many thanks

Hi, I hope some of you more knowledgable guys will be able to help with a couple of probs with my 80's cota 200 (29M).I want to sort these out before I get too far with the restoration. Firstly the forks seem to be a bit reluctant to spring back and seem to stick a bit after they compress.Any Ideas?? The 200 I had back when it was new had the chain tubes , I cant remember if it had a chain tensioner. But this one seems to have a tensioner from a bracket welded to the swing arm which would get in the way of fitting chain tubes also there is an alloy dagger fin which again is on a bracket on the swing arm to help protect the chain and sprocket from contact with rocks, Would this be correct or has someone fitted a different swing arm ?? the welding on the two brackets looks to be factory and not a bodge. Any help would be great.

Hi ss426, there is one on a well known auction site under "Twinshock Trials". also I have had good results by putting an Ad in the clasified section when looking for bits for my 200. Good luck

Hello, could someone advise on the correct white to use on the tank and seat unit on my 80's cota 200. I've searched the RAL colours and there seems to be three whites. 9003 signal white 9010 pure white 9016 traffic white Any suggestions would be good or an alternative Halfords rattle can colour, oversprayed with petrol proof lac.The tank and seat unit has an alloy tank under it so no problems with leaky fibreglass. Thanks

davetom, Well what can I say!!!. Many thanks!!That will teach me to look a bit harder next time. Any ideas on the best way to correct the sloppy fit? Happy Christmas. Regards

b40rt, I've also looked in Rupert ratio's book and a BSA workshop manual but it is not mentioned at all , I've tried it both ways LH & RH but it wont budge and I dont want to go at it too hard just incase i damage something . Its quite difficult to hold the bits and try and undo thats why Im looking for advice on how to do it. The lever is through the alloy case and the case is badly worn ,Im sure this must be a common problem and again was wondering how others have corrected it. Thanks for your reply ,will wait and see if anyone else can help. Regards

I wonder if someone could tell me how to get the little clutch operating pinion off the clutch lever, I know its threaded onto it and I've had a go at trying to get it off but it wont shift. Is there a trick to it or maybe its a left hand thread? The clutch lever is the one that sits behind the kickstart sort of vertical in the right hand case (timing side) its a very sloppy fit as there seems to be no bushing in the worn alloy case , any suggestions on how to correct the sloppy fit? any advice greatfully accepted.

Thank You it worked!! Good detail and part numbers. Now the search can start!! Have a good Christmas , Thanks again Regards

Sorry the email didnt work I use it for downloading large files as i've had problems with other email service but try this one . chardie@tiscali.co.uk Had a look at the map to see where your brother lives,not too far from Angouleme and looks a nice place on the sat photos. Thanks again for the user manual hopefully this time it will work. Regards

Thanks for the reply zerorev3rev4, a user manual would be a great. And thanks for the advice about the stator I will probably put a want ad in the clasified section and also look on the auction sites. I have the same problem spelling in French its never spelt how you think it is but like most things......practice,practice and more practice. Does your brother ride trials? There is a blog site by one of the members of the Angouleme club called " seventies trial 16" he posts up what is happening and put photos up of the events so if your brother wants a ride, i'm sure they would make him as welcome as they made me. yuo probably need my email to send the user manual? chardie@bigfoot.com Regards

Hello, I was hoping to fit lights to my cota 200 so I bought some genuine mont ones second hand, I started to investigate how to wire them up so looked at the generator side but I could only see through the slots in the rotor one coil so I am assuming that this is for the ignition and that the coils for the lighting have been removed. Could someone confirm that there should be more than one coil and if I need to replace the stator would one from another model fit . this would widen the search for available parts. I'm also looking for a workshop manual but there does'nt seem to be anything specific to the 200 would the Clymer manuals that pop up now and again for the 123-360cc 1965-1975 be any good? Any advice or recommendation would be great. If anyone is wondering why I want to put lights back on to the Mont.... I have moved to France and am slowly getting my head around the trials scene here and It seems that most trials bikes here are reg'ed for the road and they need lights to get the registration which is not easy. It was not reg'ed in the UK so I dont have a V5 which would make it a bit easier...Anyway I hope someone can help Regards

Totalshell, Thanks for the advice and the magnetic sump plug mod. Old bones

Many thanks Brucey and Old trials fanatic, I was not sure of what I put in to start with so thought to seek advice first. I have plenty of 20/50 castrol and also plenty of straight 30 & 40 and have never considered the semi synthetic option although I do use ATF in the chaincase. Looks like a trip to the shops and see what they have. In case someone has found the same problem as me when I came to drain the gearbox I found that because the engine is spacered over I could not get a spanner on the drain plug so I syphoned it out from the filler cap using thin plastic pipe and a hand held syphone . Thanks again Old Bones

Hello . Could someone suggest what oil to use for the engine and gearbox on my cub, Thanks

Many thanks for the reply, yes I did notice the price of the long guard!!!now where did the wife hide my credit card!!

Hello all. I'm rebuiding a Mont 200 the one with the alloy tank under the F/glass tank and seat unit. I understand that there are two sorts of rear guard, LONG and SHORT, There seems to be a black plastic shield behind the air box does this mean I need a short guard? any help would be great as I've nothing to go by. Also would this model have the chain tubes as standard? Thanks in advance.

Hi all I've got PVL on my cub which I had to have the machining and the post fitted to mount it in the chaincase, It works just fine and has never let me down so I would recommend it, But I went to Netly Marsh Auto Jumble in September and found my way to Ray Smalls stand (cub mods)he had a dfferent way of mounting the PVL by adapting the original fixings on the rear of the chaincase so it was mounted in much the same way as on my bike. You could still remove the chaincase cover without disturbing the PVL, I think there was a little movement on the mountings to allow for the air gap adjustment between rotor and stator. It looked a well engineered bit of kit probably saving on the cost and time to get crank cases modified, I dont know the cost but if you give Ray a ring Im sure he will give you the info and his advice on cub stuff is always spot on. Ray Small Cub Mods 02380693183 he is not my dad, uncle or brother just someone who has helped me out Old Bones