jaylael

It's an RTX allright. That begs for some kind of engine swap. Looks like a pretty good twinshock chassis. Don't know about the Russian engines though.

The master cyl must build adaequate pressure. You never said wether or not the pedal is firm. I went round and 'round with a little 200 Gasser once which had a cracked rear brake caliper housing. It had weak braking and seemed to leak a little only on occasion but never had a decent pedal either. (mushy) Also make sure the caliper is aligned with the disc. Pads and caliper housing must run paralel to the disc. You may need to put a rebuild kit in the master cyl,. Be sure to have a small amount of pedal free play before attempting to bleed it with a syringe , pushing fluid back through system from the bleeder screw seems to be the best way, or with vacum pump. Once system is bled properly and has good firm pedal it is time to wet her down with the hose, drag rear brake 'til hot and repeat as many times as needed to get a nice bite from the pads. Let us know how it goes, JL

I believe that in 1983 our lad Curt Comer rode an Armstrong CCM Hiro trials bike in the scottish. (here they were called Can-Am) The way the story goes is he had smashed the clutch cover into bits and rode the trial with percious little gear oil in it and mud entering the crankcase at will, but I don't recall if he finished or not. It sounds like they were pretty tough to break. The few times I rode one I was struck with how front heavy it seemed and that I could hardly get the front end off the ground. They sure did look pretty though with all the red and the white sides on the tank. Should be alot of nice examples of the Can-Am around because they did not sell well here. Many never did sell and are probably sitting around some shed in Butte Montana or someplace right now. Pretty bikes! Let us know how it goes with you new toy Gaff. Jay L.

The Garelli will be shipped this week about wednesday. Jim has to drive to Indianapolis and drop it off at Forward Air wich is 100 miles each way. I can't wait to see the bike in the flesh! I have contacted Andy at Graffics.co.uk and he has made some wonderful Garelli stickers for me which have already arrived and at a very reasonable price. Attached is a photo of the Garelli logo and the stickers Andy made. I highly recomend his services. If anyone needs obscure or custom made stickers please supports this fellow Trials Central member. I'm sure they will look great on the bike. Once I get the kicker problem resolved, (gulp) I will be ordering Works Performance trick "Lane Leavitt" trials shocks for the bike. They have special valving for trials use and three stage springs. It will be a good chance to try them out and I suspect they will be quite wonderful, and very expensive. That's the latest Garelli news so I'll sign off. Sincerely JL

Man I love those old spanish and italian weird bikes like JJ Cobas and Mecateco etc. The '86 Gas Gas of Gabino Renales were very beautiful handmade bikes with cobby welds on the strg. head from re aligning the front end rake as experimental mods. Those early twin shock Merlin/ Cagivas were neat too. I am amazed at how rare bikes like these have become. Not many Merlins about these parts.

Steve: I agree on your point about WR bikes being tweaked. Ishy bought a '94 WR Beta, the yellow and black one, which Dougie rode at Donner and that was the most intensely wicked runner I think I have ever seen! It had BIG ferocious power! Not for mortals!!!!I intend to check the timing for sure and go from there. Usually those guys twist the stator plate all the way to the fully advanced position for high altitiude events like Donner Pass but if the Garelli is a bit of a lump Donato may have needed all the help he could get. It will be neat to see. Will post when I find that out. I have a stack of pictures printed off my computer of the Garelli to drool at while stopped at red lights on my way to work, getting petrol in my car etc. Oregon is unique in that we have attendants at all gas stations whereas most states have self serve gasoline stations. Amazingly only a few unlucky sods get burned up doing that. When Oregonians travel to other states they don't know how to run the gas pump. How do you folks do petrol in England?

Good tip Steve and I will post as soon as there's news. I am very excited to try and get 'er going. Jay

I am interested in any Garelli spares that will fit this bike. (If I can afford them) Please have your friend find out if they still have them and obtain contact information for me if posibble. I still haven't got the bike in hand so I don't know what I need. Thanks in advance, Jay

Thanks for the great responses! I will post pics of the broken kicker parts with this message. The bike has been languishing in the back of Jim Snell's garage since '88 or something. Donato broke it at Watkins Glenn NY ('85) world round and it was abandoned/orphaned in America along with a mate to it. Both bikes broke the kicker internals during the week before the WR so they didn't even get paint dabs on hubs etc. from tech inspection. Donato was very bummed and allegedly went home to Italy and quit, but a quick check of the records show he rode Garelli to 9th place in WR championships in '87 which is when I saw him ride the single shock disc brake Garelli which was very similar to this. (wonder what became of that bike?) This bike includes the spare parts shown in this picture, so my first plan is to try and get it going with what's included. Jim Snell said he isn't sure whether or not there's enough stuff to fix it. He says he has never tried to get it going in all the years he's owned it. I sure intend to asap. As for the Washougal trial I have been instructed by my Doctor not to ride it as I have just had another severe episode of "acute Sinusitis" which lasted for two days and long suffering nights, and I may be forced to have surgery in a few weeks (maybe) My terrible headaches continue to get worse and I am fed up with re-organizing my life around the headaches. I'll be thinking of you guys. Have some fun for me. Jay Lael

And lastly the other side of bike. Jay

Heres the other side. Jay

Here's a couple motor pics. Jay

I just won the E Bay auction for a former Donato Miglio works Garelli Trial 320. I am very excited to get my hands on this rare and interesting bike. I wonder if there's anyone out there who knows anything about them or has one? I searched the web and found a guy in CZ who is looking for kickstarter parts. I am certain the kicker mechanism is a weakness of this machine. I will be trying to resolve this problem enough to at least ride the old girl a little bit. Heres a picture of the beast. Sincerely, Jay Lael.

Great Thread! I love the weird bikes! In '87 at USA world round, I rode 'round with Tony Scarlett and had had a JCM, Red with tank under seat. He was very friendly even though I was obviously not at WC level, fiving every section but one. In all fairrness it was pretty hard. Jay

Back in '76 I rode a "350" OSSA MAR and it had the Amal carb, stock. In '78 the Bolger "BLT" bike came out here with a mikuni on it and I must say the thing ran pitiful compared to the '76. What I mean is fluffy lean bottom and midrange and overall less power on heavy accelleration also. The airbox may have been restrictive, but I found they ran, and started better with the Amal. I also ran a works Bing carb. with choke which was given to me along with a works exhaust pipe by John Taylor (of Yankee motor co.) OSSA explorer trials/trail bikes all had the slip fit Amal here and we sold loads of 'em. The OSSA dealer I worked for set a national record for the sale of OSSA motorcycles in 1974, and the biggest part of them were explorers. There have got to be tons of those bikes still out there somewhere. One bad thing was the common flooding of the engine when the bike was laid on it's side (ahem) for 15 seconds or more. Mikuni's are friendy and easy to tune, but back then I don't think I knew as much about jetting as I do now so it is a moot point. Setup was probably the reason I liked the Amal better back then. JL

I find my self idling just before the section and trying to direct the flow of gasses downward with my hand. If the first bit of the section is a big wall or hillclimb I would rev 'er up 'til she cleans out a bit, but for anything less it can be a bit loaded up and it wont hurt a thing. "Ya can always wring it out a bit right before the wall of death comes up. My good buddy KK has built himself a "downspout" for his M4RT out of rubber? It may catch fire if run hard enough I would think, but anyhow the neat advantage is, it doesn't present a hazard as far as being a mankiller in a trial accident or such. This is really kind of a good idea! directing thre exhaust flow down (significantly) would be a good thing on all trials bikes, but an alloy tube poking down may be a bit dangerous if things go wrong. In the same vein (bike saftey) I have built some foam pads that protect the rider from hip damage when smacking up against the controls on the underside of the handlebars. I have smacked my thigh on the clutch perch underside so many times I am scarred for life. Why couldn't the clutch perch be padded with dense foam in a sano fashion? This would be a good thing! I have currently fabricated some crude pads out of equine saddle pad 3/4" thich neoprene type closed cell foam cut to fit and secured with grey racing tape. they work sweet! Seems to me like these would be a good mod to anyones trials bike. Imagine they could be built with a nice vinyl cover and velcro to close them like a crossbar pad. Have them built with bike colors and logo on it too? Bike safey gear should be considered as an avenue for bike improvement that really hasn't been explored. (sorry I just need to vent sometimes) JL

I agree on this point absolutely. I suspect it were all in my head.

After seeing the new 4RT in action (and riding it a bit) I am convinced it is one fine bike! I will own one as soon as Dennis gets tired of the one he's riding and decides to sell it. They are better than I hought they would be. Anyone want to buy a nice 2004 315 R? Jay

That step at section three seemed like it was ten feet tall! Ishy seemed to have no trouble getting up it. I think I got up it fine but couldn't resist an adrenalin fed panic and subsequent five (on the top) every time. I talked to a few other riders who said that step scared the holy crud outa' them. I'm still trying to figure out how I could have done this. If not for four fives on this section I would have been WAY up the list from where I was. The other sections were all within my capabilities. The only thing I can figure is that I need to practice these more. It's just no the kind of section I would parctice because I find it too frightening. I'm sure alot of this is in my own mind. This type of section is partly why minders were invented. To have a mentor standing up there yelling words of encouragement might just be what's missing. Anyone have any thoughts on this subject? Perhaps I ought to order a Ryan Young video. Is that the secret? Thanks to Ed "Bullfrog" Chesnut for the fine pictures. Jay

Strange as it sounds today, I was trolling for a factory ride. I had borrowed quite a bit to ride the few nationals that I was in say in 1976 and '77, and when no ride was forthcoming, I was done. It took years to pay back the loans. How many rich folks are out there who can afford to travel all over the country? Just the thought of driving my beater Dodge van to the east coast gives me the chills. Not to mention tumbling backwards down a rocky chasm, with a trials bike comin' after me. People want to have FUN, especially if they are spending their precious vacation days, their family time and hard earned money too! At age 17 I was fool enough to believe that sponsorship was a possibility, but now clearly when there's no chance of that the only remaining incentive for doing this is the fun of it. To experience life and to meet people and go outside your rut for a change. That's what sane people want out of trials in my view. Ishy has brought up a very important question here. Why are the champ riders falling by the wayside? Expense and too hard sections. Problem is they have such low scores even with really hard sctions then the tight time limits make it stressfull and dangerous. Where is the fun in that? In the '70's sections were hard, but they had straight on big climbs that required alot of guts and horsepower. That spells fun in my book. Just one example of things being different today.

Back in '87 alot of guys used to sport decals that said, "100%" I have one that's Hot pink and blue which would've looked great on Johnny Anderson's Pink Honda, but alas it has been rendered unimpressive in view of the apparent change in the mathematical formula for percentages which can go as high as one million percent here in the new millenium. I went so far as to stick it on the back of my gas tank before a big race, but I ended up peeling it off and placing it on my toolbox where it will last a whole lot longer. As for Dougie, he's earned a well deserved Legendary status as truly one of the great trials riders of all time! Whatever he does from here he should try to do it gracefully. If declining results are to become the norm, it will be hard for him to stomach. EVERY single trials legend before him has been obliged by age to fade away. It's a bitter irony as we get really good at what we do, the relentless advance of time whittles away at our beleagured bodies. If we can't accept it gracefully we will be forced to accept it otherwise. All of us go down with a difference of style according to our personalities and upbringing. It is the single toughest challenge any of us will face in our lives. I find that so far it has been easier to keep trying than the letdown of giving up. No one gets to be world champion by not loving the sport enough to give so much effort year after year. Keep riding because you love the sport and results suddenly become less critical to our feelings of self worth. Go Dougie! Just ride for yourself and it'll all work out.

This would explain why certain induviduals experienced plug fouling problems. In automotive computers a certain amount of learning is required until the machine adapts to temperature, atmospheric pressure and humidity which is called "relative air density" Unless you can make the entire earth the same "r.a.d." the adaptability of fuel injection systems is needed. Once the ECM figures out these factors on a given machine it should perform perfectly. Since the Montesa 4rt has no battery it will most likely store these "adapts" in what's called Non volotile memory which will be retained in the absence of voltage supply, i.e. when the bike is shut off. Long story short, this just isn't a problem! Only a piece of information for new bike owners. Hysterical snap judgments are not appropriate here.

Hard to tell from here but It sounds like wrist pin bearing could be at fault. Charlie Chitlin is right about noises that get better as the engine gets warmer being piston related. If the lower rod bearing is bad a new crankshaft assy will be required (very expensive) as mr. Honda doesn't trust anyone to put in a damn rod kit. (almost every other manufacturer in the world will sell you a rod kit which must be pressed into crank by a machine shop) I thought you were a Beta owner Stu?

Ishy: Which one of the lads threw his new Montesa down? Wasn't Odus by chance. Just a wild guess

And we LIKED IT TOO!