jaylael

It's so great to see all you guys riding trials on a winter monday. Must be wonderful to not be chained to your workspace like most of us slaves who haven't got the right to even go outside 'til the weekend when were too tired to do anything but sleep because of the brutal flogging we took on the job.

I like the idea of a heavy duty skid plate from Lewisport. After I recover from christmas I'll be ordering one up. A good friend told me about some different types of rubber I could try a thicker piece and bend the skid plate out away to allow for the additional thickness. I'll look into that option too. Jay

Dave: I would love to get a new '05 Beta 270 but I have about 3 more years of payments on the Montesa, not to mention I just bought a fantastic new Shoei "Fuji-Gas Replica" trials helmet and XC-Ting Montesa one piece suit. It'd cost me fortune to switch brands.

In a perfect world I'd do just that, but I'm too cheap. I think the thicker skidplate sounds like a brilliant solution. Who knows I may yet actually have one made. My first cheapo plan though, is to make a small sump gaurd out of hand laid fiberglass from the auto parts store. I figure I could just lay layers of fiberglass mat directly onto the bottom of the engine until it's all glassed up like the bottom of a boat and then put the skidplate and rubber back on there an go try and BUST it again!

Our friend Ishy had a COTA 315 rear wheel on his Sherco 2.9 and said it "slipped right in". Much better rim design with no leaky rim band/spoke holes.

YES!

My sweet wife purchased me a pair of these for christmas last year and they are great! I've used them in loads of trials events and vintage motocross too and they still don't have any holes in them which is amazing. I have not noticed any limited movement or excess heat or sweat etc. I even raced in the summer with them on and they were fine. Attached is a photo of me racing the fall classic event at Chehalis washington on the Hodaka Combat Wombat. Note the EX-Ting neoprene trials gloves. Jay

Rode one of the works Hondas handed over in 1976 by Bob Nickelson of Team Honda. It was one of the long stroke RTL 300's. That bike would grip! I hope the new Mont. is like that bike. That thing was sweet. The new YZ/CR type 4 strokes are fast, quck revving with no flywheelmass and super short stroke. ALL WRONG for normal use by mortal humans except in full on motocross racing. Honda had it right with the old RTL 300 long stroke. Oh, and brilliant post mr. Shannon!

APEX SPORTS is the US importer for Montesa parts. They have the FujiGas replica helmets and Montesa one piece suits. Don't know in UK or other parts of the country. Jay

I used to ride a 2000 Rev 3 250 and I absolutely LOVED it! It would've been tough to get me to switch. Every time I rode someone's Montesa it felt strange to me. Something just not right about it. Thing is I watched alot of other people who were just thrilled with their Monts. Then came that fateful day. I had just spent a bunch of time and money converting the Beta to 2001 plastics, decals, and a new center muffler, plus bought a new one piece Beta trials suit. The night before a very important event I took my beloved Beta out of the shed and rode it around the driveway for a last minute shakedown before loading it in my van. It was gleaming like a shiny new '01. That's when tragedy struck. It began to run badly like it had fouled a plug and wouldn't rev up cleanly, then within five seconds it quit running alltogether and had no spark. I later found it had a bad ignition module. Anyhow I was very sad, and frustrated. With a quick phone call I threw myself on the mercy of our local trials hero and all'round nice guy, Dennis Sweeten. He agreed to loan me his old tired, badly scathed 2001 Montesa. (which had been ridden in the Goldendale world round) All I had to do was put the rear shock back on as it had been loaned out. I had about ten minutes to get used to the Mont. before the event started, and when I tried to turn a corner on flat ground I was convinced that It didn't turn as well as the Beta. The front wheel seemed to catch traction and come around with such authority that I nearly fell off! It was actually very weird feeling at first. What really surprised me is that I had a terrific result that day and was several places up the list from previous events. By the time that trial was finished, I wouldn't give it back, and I ended up buying it from him. After getting used to the Maytag I rode the Rev again a few times and it just felt so sluggish and awkward. Since then I had a chance to ride the new 2004 Beta and found it to be far better than I had remembered my Beta being. Especially the rear suspension. Anyway I am convinced that if you give yourself a bit more time on a bike you get a completely different impression of it. If you spend a weekend riding any of the current crop of trials bikes, those weird feelings will disappear. It's more a matter of taste and dealer support issues. If you have a good dealer or distributor who takes care of you that is the most important thing to consider when buying a new bike. The rest will fall into place. Jay L

I just got a Shoei "Fuji Gas Replica" in red. I wear a 7 1/4 and it's a "large". Fit's perfectly. The vents work. There are 4 of them and they are bigger than the ones on my old YES Dougie Lampkin lid. The clear plastic scoops look like they wouldn't survive a crash. I already ride better just so I don't land on my shiny and EXPENSIVE new helmet.

Last time I prepped my bike I straightened the skid plate and installed a new rubber damper between the engine and skid plate. After one trials event the rubber is squashed and the engine is leaking. I was looking at a friends Cota 315 (KK) this past weekend, and I am certain the skid plate has never been off of it, and his skid plate rubber is not even slightly distorted! I must be more of a hack than I thought. I was thinking I might get my friend Jack to build me a carbon fibre engine gaurd which is form fitted to the bottom side of my engine, then install it with a thin cushion of rubber between it and the engine, then install the stock rubber damper and skid plate over the carbon fibre gaurd. It's got to help keep the engine cases from distorting so easily. Jay

Auto parts stores have a product called "wax and grease remover" which cuts alot of icky stuff like old sticker goo etc. extremely well. Then scrub with a bristle brush and try an assortment of cleaners found under the kitchen sink. Boraxo is my favorite for plastic, as it's non abrasive and seems to clean the brown stuff out of the scratches. Jay

Charlie: Alloy fenders are readily available from B&J Racing

Terry: I've had the same problem as you. Simply bend the caliper back straight with a big pair of pliers. (really big) If it snaps then you needed a new one anyway right? I successfully straightened the rear caliper on my old 2000 Rev 3 and it seemed to be pretty good metal. Try to square it up with the brake rotor as best you can. Also once you have bent it as straight as you can get it, you still might need to shim the caliper mounting bolts with a flat washer or two in order to get it 100% lined up. The caliper must be perfectly lined up with the disc, and centered too if possible. Good luck, Jay

Keith Lynas's OSSA planetMats Nybergs OSSA page Above you should find two links to excellent OSSA sites. Mats Nyberg has a huge list of rosources for OSSA fans. Jay

Since there has been such an overwhelming response to this thread, I am forced to conclude that I must be in the wrong here. I have replaced my skid plate rubber with a new stock one and clutch cover gasket and straightened out the skid plate so it isn't bent against the engine. I will try to behave. Don't know for how long though as I am an habitual offender. I recall seeing an injection molded plast part for a semi truck suspension that was a white nylon plastic which was springy. It seems as though one could create a really neat plastic insert that would prevent bending the engine. Apparently no one else has this problem. Jay

I recall something about this subject when the '97 Honda CR 250 was introduced. The way I recall, they would run badly at times with the non resistor plug and some people said it could cause premature failure of the electronic ignition. (not sure if this is actually true) I do know for certain that I put a set of ordinary metal core plug wires, for points system on a Honda Civic which had Hitachi Electronic distributor on it and the car would Idle well, but had profound missfiring under a load. The scope showed radically wild veriations in the spark time line which disappeared with the resistor wires along with the missfires. I conclude that the lack of resistor somehow is related to the secondary ignition coils secondary resistance. The resistor extends firing time at the spark plug gap considerably. See, like I said it's voodoo.

Stu: If you are unable to get resistor plugs, install a resistor cap like older Hondas used and it should perform the same function. The resistor is needed for use with certain types of electronic ignitions. The exact function is voodoo.

Very Funny Ringo. I strive to ride like you whenever possible. The suggestion that I alter my teqnique is valid, but for me ipractical. There are just a few really good practice sections where I live and there are almost no rocks of any note. Sadly it's more of a sidehill slippery root turn kinda place if you get what I mean. My favorite rock is actually five feet tall and shaped just like the letter A. In order to make it I hit it hard in 2nd when dry and 3rd when wet. Dennis Sweeten is the only rider who will attempt it besides me so far.( Ya'll are welcome to come and have a go if you're anywhere near Portland, Or. Just look me up). He said it was scary. The only way for me to make it is to sump out momentarily and then gas it down the backside to avoid an endo you must projectile wheelie outward as it is nearly vertical on the back side and maybe 4 1/2 high minimum. The other is a so called "Zap" rock about 4 feet tall and pointed on top. The thing sits just 20 feet outside my living room window, so I get to look at my tracks up the sucker everytime I look out the window. It's hard not to be trying it in the dark while liquored up because it's so inviting to the diseased trials mind. Ask a friend of mine who works at APEX sports and answers the phone there, who tried it once and sprained his back so bad he had to quit riding for awhile until he healed up. All I'm saying is, If we are alll such a bunch of bad a** trials riders who will squander 5 - 7 grand of our retirement fund on a trials bike, shouldn't we be able to do stuff like this without the bike breaking? Beta has a thick rubber sumbitch under thier bike's engine and they are much togher for it! The whole point of engineering is to design away glaring flaws. That's what "Research and development" stands for. The thing works awesome. It just has an achilles heel. My old Hodaka could bash rocks into oblivion and never damge it's engine and that was frickin' 30 years ago.

Hi all! Hey I was just looking at my 2004 Montesa and noiticed much to my horror, the @#$% engine is leaking oil! The leak is from the engine sump, which has been damaged by repeated whacks of the skid plate against rocks. I have two large A shaped rocks in my group of practice sections, and apparently there is a large impact to the skidplate involved to make them. Consequently my rubber damper gets squashed badly and then the clutch cover gets distorted and opens up a leak. I have this notion that some of you clever people out there may be able to solve this riddle. Why in this modern era where you can by all sorts of carbon fibre bits and dogbone suspension links and the like that no one has the sense to make an injection molded high impact plast insert to save my poor engine? The stock rubber piece wants throwen out! Anybody work in this field who could actually make this part somehow? If it were available I'd sure buy one. Now that's something that we Montesa riders really need! Any entrepenuers out there? Jay L.

Let me take this opportunity to say thank you to Nicole! Girl you did us proud! You go girl! If I had the dough I'd sponsor ya' no problem! It was a real pleasure riding with you at the oregon nationals last year. You are very talented and you inspired me to try and keep up or get my butt kicked. THAT IS A GOOD THING. I think really talented female riders deserve all the support, moral or otherwise, that we local schmoes can muster. Sorry it can't boil down to actual financial support, but please accept my kind words anyhow. Please don't hesitate to post around here. You are most welcome as a fellow trials competitor and ISDE veteran too. Signed by "An admirer too shy to actually speak to you when I had he chance" Jay L.

Indian riders back in the 40's used to love saying, "Harley Davidson, made of tin, ride 'em out and push 'em in". Contrary to popular opinion, this wasn't originally written, "Maico Breako, made-a-tin... etc"

Not enough information. Need more data. Like what kind of bike is it, have you tried to fix it? You could try cracking the bleeder screw to see if there is a release of brake fluid pressure that is causing the front brake to drag. If this is the case, you may have the adjustment too tight on the master cyl. plunger rod. It needs a bit of freeplay to not build up pressure. The other thing that could be causing front brake drag is the caliper needs re- built. The piston could be sticking in it's bore. Another thing that can cause piston sticking is if the caliper or cal. mount are bent which causes diagonal pad wear and binding or cocking of the caliper piston. I straightened my rear caliper on my Beta Rev 3 with a big pair of pliers sometimes called channel-locks or "water pump pliers" for God knows what reason they are called that. Anyway try and eyeball the caliper and make sure it is square with the disc. Good luck, Jay

My 2004 Mont. started doing similar on flat level ground. Dirt was in the carb. bowl vents causing intemitent starving out. I had to blow out the bowl vents specifically, but you should also clean the air passages at the back of the air horn and of course the pilot, choke and main jets. Normally when going down step embankments flooding is the cause of stalling. If you are convinced it's running out of fuel on steep descents and not fllooding, clean the carb. thouroughly. If that doesn't solve it then you will need to check for air leaks at intake man, main seal, or base gasket. If you are certain this problem only occurrs when the fuel tank level gets low, then check out the petcock for any plugged up passages, but it seems pretty far fetched. Also make sure the vent hose on top is not restricted, pinched etc. Good luck, Jay