jaylael

After considerable research I have determined that the guy on the OSSA is Danny Bonaduchi from the Partrigde family, circa 1973. He rode the OSSA because he could not get a cheap price on any of the competitive mounts.

I think I met Brian Fowler at the 1977 USA world round. If I am not mistaken, he was the Beamish Suzuki rep. at that time? The Suzuki guys arrived late while the trial was underway, and they were still allowed to compete. Talk about pressure. They came skidding up in a big red Ford Granada with two Suzuki trials bikes in crates hanging out of the rear trunk. They had driven at high speed all the way from Chicago's OHare intl. airport to Port Huron Michigan and sniffed out the trials site. Apparently their flight was late. Brian was amazed by Chicago. He had never seen anything like it in his life, as he said. The riders were Nigel Birkett and Chris Sutton. Nice guys all. Brian let me ride one of the bikes and gave me a brochure which I clung to and looked at for years until it was horribly disfigured and lost. I never did get the money together to buy one, but I sure wanted one badly. If we're talking about the same guy, he was pretty cool allright.

It's Martin B. and I'd say 1975 because it's not the 348 yet. If it's not him he stole Martin's ultra trendy "track suit"

I'll jump in here. I rode OSSA in nationals and pnta events from 1974 to 1977. The OSSA in my opinion was a fine bike which required a bolder riding style than say the Sherpa T of comparable vintage. It has a lower ground clearance, (9 inches) and the big wide engine works as a ski to glide over rocks and logs as long as you are in second or third gear and have the throttle twisted on. I was a barger on the OSSA riding in second and third gears up every stream bed you could throw at me. The OSSA actually has a steeper front end than the Sherpa T and steers quicker. The front end tends to plow on turns unless you have alot of finesse as to careful weighting of the front and releasing the weight in minute weight transfers as you ease the front end through the transition. The engine is the best part about the OSSA. They have such nice low end torque and the clutch can be made to work very nicely if it is trued correctly. (the induvidual clutch springs each have a screw adjustment so you need to pull in the clutch and carefully adjust the spring preload on them until the pressure plate runs true. Should be a snap for an Indian mechanic. The motoplat ignition is really a drawback as their reliability is questionable these days more than ever. God I wish OSSA's had points like a Montesa or Bultaco. Back then it was a wonderful thing to have electronic ignition, but not so much now when motoplat is out of business. Anyway, I recomend them as very fine vintage trialers. They were the third best trials bike unless you count Yamaha, Kawasaki and Suzuki. (Just kidding). I think all the vintage machines were competitive in the right hands. I even got whipped by a guy on a TL 250 a time or two although he was an exceptionally good rider. The consensus back then was mostly toward the Bultaco, then the "Cat" TY 250 and thirdly the Cota 247, then the OSSA, followed by the RL, the KT and lastly the TL's. Believe it or not this was generally the way these bikes stacked up in the real world. The Sherpa was by far the best trials bike, but maybe not quite as bullet proof as the TY. Of course when the Cota 348 came out this order had to be re arranged because the 348 became the second best bike, over the Yamaha. A few good riders were able to do some damage in the champ class on the TY 250. Still a dang good trials bike and one of the most reliable choices. The TY 175 was a good bike and very effective in the right hands, but generally it wasn't powerful enough for the champ class. I'm sure I have stirred up a whirlwinnd of controversy here, but hey, it's only my opinion. This is the way I saw things in the '70's. Jay L.

I agree. The pro is also a terrific bike. I wonder how you manage to get around the reliability issues. I know you ride and don't just "have" a trials bike so, do tell Steve, have you guys had any reliability issues with these bikes? My neighbor has one also and he rides very little, (of course he loves it) but I have seen so many of these with broken shifter internals, clutch drag, and overheating that it truly scares me to consider one.

I like the look of the 315R, but some guy told me there "Hard to ride"!!!...whatever that means The Montesa 315 R is a wonderful bike, and I think it's easy to ride. I find it hard not to gush too much about how great it is. I think people get tired of hearing people yammer on about how much they love their Montesas. The question was about grip. Never mentioned the other aspects of the sport of trialing. Jay L.

DG Shannon, is the new Scorpa 175 really a 175? Is it one of the 125's with a big bore 143cc kit from poweroll? (poweroll makes the kits for B&J racing) Have you replaced the SY 250 with a mini four stoke? I have ridden the bikes with the big bore kit and without. I agree they are very tractable. I think they would be better still if they were more like 250- 300 cc's and still that same weight. They need the be able to pull second and third for big steps. In our local events in expert class I would say there are some sections which require just a bit more power than the little four banger can muster. (revved to the moon in first gear just doesn't cut it) The 250 is perfect for these. I am definitely a fan of the Scorpa SY 250 although I have never owned one yet. It certainly is a very impressive trials bike! Congrat's to those who own them. Nice bike!

To me the Scorpa is like the modern version of an OSSA. Perhaps a bit sluggish power delivery compared to the Pro, but such a tractor for muddy conditions! It's just the bike for clubmen who ride in slippery conditions most of the time. If I had one I'd paint it white with a green stripe and put OSSA emblems on it.

I vote for the Scorpa SY 250 as the current champ in this category.

O.K., Here's one for all you europeans. Trouble is I don't know the answer, but I bet someone out there does. I just think it's a cool picture. I used to ride a bike very similar to this one and had the same helmet.

Looks like Mr. Curt Comer on the "white wonder" circa 1981. What do I win?

Hey there Kansas! The '94 Beta Techno is a great bike! The rear shock linkage may be worn if the owner was not into greasing the bushings etc. Check for slack. This will cost some money to fix. The Clutch is usually stuck after sitting, but this is not a repair issue, just an annoyance. The ignition module could fail at any time, but hey, it's just like a light bulb. There's no way to know when it's gonna' go. The carb. has been known to have needle and seat wear issues, (if it has a mikuni) that may lead to dripping carb. overflow. You will want to replace the needle and seat and floats if it has the peeing carb. syndrome. (float level setup is available on the net which is critical also) I recomend keeping a spare rear brake pedal as for me it was a frequently replaced item. The rear brake especially is a neglected item and may require new rubber seals in the master cyl. and rear caliper, plus new rear pads just to get a nice effective rear brake. Good luck bleeding the rear brake, which is a can of worms on any trials bike. The Beta I bought had bad steering head bearings as it had never been greased, and needed new fork seals within 6 months due to neglect. That's all that comes to mind right off the bat. Good luck and let us know how it goes for you. Jay L.

POINTS?

I had a '93 GG 250 with the same problem. I ended up getting the lower coil for the ignition system rewound. I had bought it an ignition module, and pulse coil which did nothing. It turns out this model/year of Gas Gas have a known problem. The place I sent my coil to be rewound was Sgagit Powersports in Burlington, Washington, (USA) Ask for Gary Lawver. He built the jig which he used to rewind older GAS GAS coils as they are not available as far as I know. The number is 360 757 7999.

Just thought I'd put in my two cents worth as you know I can't resist. What I do is connect an ohm meter between the wire from the points to the coil. (with the upper coil disconnected) This is the coil negative or switched lead. It should switch from close to zero ohms with the points closed to whatever the lower coil value is. On some bikes this is a very small difference so you have to watch closely for the change. For example, on a Maico point system the value on my meter changes from .2 ohms closed points, to .7 ohms open points. Keep in mind that the turning of the flywheel induces AC voltage into the wire even when moved slightly. These surges of ac voltage influence your ohm readings so the flywheel must be still when getting actual readings. The old Montesa lower coil probably reads higher than a Maico. I'd estimate anywhere from 12 to 25 ohms, but it isn't really critical unless the readings are near zero or high. (like 250 ohms and up or something) If the reading is too high thre may be weak or no spark. More likely, as Bullfrog has stated the points could be corroded. If the points need help, what I do is take them off the bike, and take the two parts of the points apart from each other. Be careful not to loose any of the tiny near microscopic fibre washers or the tiny fibre bushing the fits in the eyelet on most older point sets. They must be assembled in such a way as to prevent full time grounding of the wires, and the wire routing is critical to prevent rubbing on the flywheel, etc. Anyhow once the point halves are separate, I buff their contact surfaces on a wire wheel 'til they are bright and shiny. After they are reassembled then pass a business card through them to take off the last bit of oily residue. NEVER EVER use a points file or an emery board or sandpaper on points! If anyone has done this, they are ruined and need to be replaced. The sanding process hopelessly scratches the point surfaces which must be bright and smooth as glass! Then apply a tiny dab of thick grease to the cam rubbing block, reinstall the flywheel and set timing with an ohm meter as previously described. If there are no timing marks, a verinier caliper can be used to measure the time before top dead center that the points just open. My old COTA 304 which was really a 250, had a factory spec of 1.9 mm btdc. I found it ran very well up around 2.5 mm but no higher as the kickstarter gears, and shaft in these bikes are extremely fragile. The slightest kickstarting mishap could break something mostly un obtainable. Hope this helps. Jay

38 pilot 110 main air screw 1 turn plus or minus 1/2 turn to get idle right on the day. (temp and altitude wise) Needle stock, slide stock. clip position varies with conditions. Make sure air filter is clean.

Rev3 Guy: I have worn the one piece almost exclusivly this year. Only vintage trials I wear Clice moto cross gear so as not to scare the vintage types. It's clear that one piece suits are not vintage appropriate.

O.K., the clutch slave cyl is on the left hand side. The piston could be sticking in the bore. I'd clean the bore with a bit of fine sandpaper and lube it with brake caliper assy lube. Then bleed with vacum source. Running it will probably be o.k. but why not try to fix it? Just my thoughts although as a good friend of mine has said to me many times, "You're gonna' do what you wanta' do anyhow."

Beta Boy: I've thought a bit about your comment. I don't know you, and at 114 lbs. you must be pretty young, so this may not apply, but I feel compelled to say this. Take a look at this picture and ask yourself what you see. Hopefully you know the burly guy is '79 world champ, American Bernie Schreiber. He was born about a month from the time I was born so I figure we were sort of comparable as peers in trials. He obviously was far more accomplished than me in the sport although it would seem we both had similar opportunties. (theoretically) Just look at him. What do you see? I'll tell you what I see. He exudes tremendous amounts of self confidence. He is likely to have had his choice of beautiful women beyond our wildest imaginations. (like marrying Gilles Burgat's sister who is awesome!) Why? Self confidence! (a buff body doesn't hurt either) You may be a skinny english boy for all I know, but look at the fictitious character, Billy Elliott. He was also a scrawny lad and look how he turned out. (even if it was only a movie) You obviously have a passion for trials. You also obviously have a wonderful mum. In addition to these the things you need to succeed are, 1- SELF CONFIDENCE! (If those girls are laughing at you, you may be talking to the wrong girls) 2- The buff body. This isn't nearly as important as what comes from within you, but high protein, low fat diet and muscle building excercises will help this cause. I was a skinny wimp at age 16 then I got a job as a log peeler at a place which built custom log cabins. I worked on a log peeling crew which involved hand peeling the bark from logs about one foot in diameter with a draw knife for eight hours a day. In 3 months of this I suddenly had a set of shoulders and biceps which enabled me to toss my OSSA MAR around like it were a toy! Look at Bernies buff bod next to the rest of these lads and ask yourself who is kicking butt at trials riding and getting all the hot women? Just a few thoughts for your young mind to kick around. Thanks for listening and I apologize if this is inappropriate. Jay.

Beta Boy: The 07 pants look great to me. The pocket if for your scorecard if you're one of those guys who has to keep it where it takes five minutes to get it out and have it punched every section. I hate that when I'm observing! Try to keep the scorecard in a convenient spot. One guy I know rolls it up and puts it in his crossbar pad! Then he acts like it's perfectly normal every time he goes through this elaborate ritual to get it out for me to punch.! Jeez!

Beta Boy: I'm sure you'll look cute in them. Make sure your local girlfriends get a look and it'll be worth the trouble.

And loose that crowd of pretty women following me around the loop? Not a chance!

Trials riders like the improved cooling effect of paper thin skin tight spandex suits that don't resist movement and provide incredible incentive not to fall on yer back in the rocks. Besides they look cool and feel really mmm good.

To each his own lad. If ya' don't like them wear a feed sack. Dressing in a spandex suit is for the fit, serious rider. The japanese were the first as far as I recall, and they were so stylish that many others eventually followed. Alot of racer types think trials is a puff sport anyway. I say to heck with them! Let them try it and find out just how easy it is in the expert class then we'll see if they think we're puffs. Try to get over your homophobia. Maybe find a woman or somethin'

Neonsurge: Head gasket failure should be pretty easy to diagnose. Here's how. When you start the engine up cold. Run it for about one minute, shut it down, then quickly remove the radiator cap, while intently listening for a quick rush of escaping air. This is sure proof of head gasket leak. If your fan comes on qickly, it couldbe caused by low coolant level, incorrect fan thermostat (turn on threshold temp.) or the fan impeller is not being driven or has broken. (This one causes bad overheating though.) As far as the pinging goes, don't hesitate to go for a larger pilot jet. On my Montesa I went from a #30 stock pilot jet to a #38 with incredible improvement in general running and starting, plus no pinging on unleaded premium fuel at 40:1 with silkoline comp 2. I run this in all my bikes from vintage Maico to the Hodakas, and Suzuki RM 400 with excellent results. The Montesa could do with 80:1 or so but it would end up in the other bikes and for them it's just not enough oil to prevent con rod failure or seizures. Jay