twinshock giles

If it really nice and has been restored to original spec, rather than in green lane trim then maybe £1500, I think the SP's were more desirable so may command slightly higher prices. On the plus side if you keep it nice its not going to loose any value.

There's also the Sammy Miller photocopy of the original factory manual, I've got one, its ok if you have a very early bike, but the Clymer one is probably a better bet if you can get hold of them. Exploded parts diagrams are available on the net which are pretty usefull.

My SWM has had the coil mounting modification done, I can't beleive the coils were that unreliable though....

I can't see anybody else going to the time and trouble of making all of those modifications really, if it was a fresh rebuild and they were broadcasting far and wide that it was his bike then I would be a little more skeptical. As it stands it has convinced me. Has Martin had a chance to ride it and compare it to a standard bike?

Not sure about the correct procedure but on all my bikes I set it so it doesn't get over tight once i'm aboard and the suspension is slightly more depressed. You've got a chain tensioner to take up the slack when its on the over run so its not absolutely critical as long as it isn't tight. Just make sure both snail cams are set the same way around and adjusted by the same amount at each side. Its actually taken me longer to think about how to do it than do the job

I'm thinking that more than likely they wouldn't have bothered entering all the prefixes either

Hi, following on from my road registrations thread, I was looking at my Gori and it has some signs it was registered at some point: The full format of the frame number is *MT325*1331xx* am going to try the DVLA (as I was born in Yorkshire and am too tight to pay for a HPI) to see if they can find a record for it but does anybody have one that was registered from new as I wondered if the full frame number is given on the log book or just the last 6 digits? Many thanks

Have just ordered the V55/5's so will try with my SWM first - might even be able to get age related with that one as it shows the year of manufacture on the headstock. Will report back on what happens

Thanks Sparks, not really worried about a Q or age related they're unregistered at the moment so I can't imagine the values will be changed. Getting them off a 'Q' if I ever wanted to is easy as long as it was only allocated due to no proof of age - have done it a few times in the past. Doing it this way avoids the £55 first registration fee associated with full registration. Was hoping someone else had already done this and could give me a few pointers as to what was asked for. Will just send off what I have and see what happens

Where no one can see you is the best place. If you use the jet wash at the petrol station and the bike(s) are really filthy they will usually complain and ask you not to come back as it blocks their drains (in my experience anyway). If you do use the petrol station (or if you have your bike on a trailer/ rack) try and take a wierd route home and watch out for anybody following you

Has anybody done this? At the moment everything I have is insured on its frame numbers anyway but it would be nice to have a proper registration number even if it is a Q. I have had a look at DVLA information sheet INF85 and it says "You should send documentation showing the Vehicle Identifcation Number (VIN), engine number and proof of ownership with your application" I could probably in most cases find the original hand written receipts if they haven't fallen apart, but does anybody know exactly what they want? And what I can send if I can't find a receipt? It would be easy enough to take a photo of engine and frame numbers to send along with the application. I've already HPI'd most of them on the variations of the frame numbers (with/ without prefixes) and not a one has come up - oddly this includes 2 that I know for a fact are registered but I don't have complete plates for , my 250 Bultaco which was on a P and my SWM which a previous owner recognised and was on a W Thanks for the help

Yes have seen the barrel done in that way but it had bits of pipe stuffed in rather than nice rubber blocks, no idea what the original spec of the bike was but it was fitted with the dual seat from one of the trail versions of the MAR. Have done that wiring modification and also seen it done by others - from (my admittedly hazy) memory you had to also remove some metal (a fin maybe?) to run the wire round that way behind the stator so it wasn't as simple as it first appears. I did it to make it harder for water to get in rather than preventing damage to the wires though. Also had a swinging arm done the way you describe but didn't measure it.

I must have been luck as the MAR ones have always come off OK for me, the Gripper needed warming up with oxy/ acetylene to get it to let go, but that had possibly never been apart before... Got to be a better system than the 348 mont that just uses an unkeyed taper for the same drive take off though...

We did exactly the same with my first 1976 Bultaco with the red plastic tank, had left over plasticiser etc from doing an insurance job on a posh Orion with painted bumpers (I think), it looked lovely for about 2 weeks then started to bubble then finally peeled off in sheets. That was our one and only attempt to paint a plastic tank! I have seen a PW tank that had been plastic coated and that looked good, sadly I've got no idea how well it lasted.

On a side note has anybody had any success in making their plastic tank look better, no matter what i have tried on mine it always looks tired. I even (on a small area) tried flatting it down and acrylic floor polish as that works on old MX plastics but to no avail...

Oddly my DG3.50 has an ossa front wheel as well, I spent ages trying to work out what wheel they had used as mine need a brake plate and hub then realised it was identical to the one on my Gripper

Re the missing frame number - could it have had a replacement frame very early in its life? A new frame wouldn't have been stamped up. If these were still sold in kit form maybe the frame was damaged before it was sold and a replacement was supplied?

What is that? It does say SWM on it but thats where the similarity ends I think? It has a lovely compact fuel tank/ airbox carb arrangement whatever it was though. I don't recognise the engine casings at all... Looks like some nice sensible steady sections.

All bikes of this era tended to have a much higher bend than what is available new today, 6 or 8" rise maybe from memory? This height of rise actually works better for me than modern trials bars as it seems a bit easier on my back

I would just get yours set up correctly with new shoes/ thicker linings to suit the drums, SWM brakes are pretty good to start with and it would also give you a baseline to judge any improvement on. All I can think of off hand is that the sanding process increased the surface area in contact with the drum or the hardener softened the linings somehow increasing brake performance, might be easier to get some different linings though.

The only way I could get decent brakes on my TLR was to use genuine Honda pads (which were also cheaper than the pattern ones available), however my drums are well worn and the pivots need work. I think KTM also may have used a twin leading shoe front brake at the end of the drum brake era on their MX bikes, however they are a much bigger drum than you would need for trials use. When my front brake on the TLR was set up correctly you could do the wrong way round wheelie bit with a heavy application of front brakes. My bikes with Grimeca hubs have all been good

Glad its not just me then! I made a new one from a lot thicker steel, your solution is considerably more elegant...

Yes mine does too. While the bash plate is off either lockwire the kickstart spring? (Its been a while) retaining bolt or mark it in some way so you don't remove the wrong one when you are draining the oil.........In my defence I've only done it once and it does look like it should be the drain plug.

I was in a bit of a hurry and I knew they would be coming off again anyway as the tank needs painting, I just wanted to make sure I got the pattern correct. As Woody said previously they are a very different shape to the alloy tank ones. But like you say a bit of warmth and they would have conformed much better.

Slightly off topic but has anybody else found the original front brake torque arm would buckle if you locked the front brake going backwards? Or was mine just passed its best?