martinm

James Have you still got your original piston? If so, find a set of calipers and ring this man....Steve Reilly, Pistonbroke Engineering in Bristol 01179 412300. He wont have a clue what a Mecatechno is, but if you measure the diameter, pin size, skirt height, pin/crown distance...Steve has a computer data base with about 2500 different pistons on it, you may find that something else will fit. Worth a try before you go past the point of no return on the barrell. Martin PS I did this exercise on a Rotax piston and found they used the same one in a Kawasaki Jet Ski !!!!!!!!!

Spanish economics rather than competition from other marks. Bultaco were struck by a series of strikes by the workforce around 1980, just after they won the world championship....right at the point when they could have sold more bikes than anyone else. Ossa went into receivership in 1979, and was run by the Spanish Government for a few years before it was eventually closed down. Montesa was going in the same direction, but was rescued by Honda.

Jesse I would go with Steve on this....do not touch the bike and take it back to the dealer. If its as easy to fix as r2w is suggesting, they wont have any problems sorting it out. But if there are any signs you have been trying yourself, they might not be so keen to assist !! Good Luck Martin

How many riders on this forum compete in an event every week of the year? Answer, probably very few. Giving up a ride for one day a year is a small sacrifice, there are 51 other weekends to get your fix!!! Think it would do nothing for public relations to run events on this day, and as far as fund raising events...Taunton club run a charity event on the Saturday afternoon. Martin

Dabster, that thing looks like it was prepared by Anthony Rew...........anyone that has seen his bikes will know exactly what I mean Martin PS. Looking at the state of it would you take

What you reckon its better looking than this? Think we are onto a different thread here........the best looking twinshock ever, my vote 1978 TL320 SWM (Now there's a surprise!!! ) Martin

Mr Dabster - There is a guy that does the Italian autojumble circuit that has a van full of new Villa trials. mx and enduro spares........easier to get Villa bits than SWM or Fantic!!!!!! Totally agree with you on your other point, that is one ugly looking bike Martin

Hi Rob Have you seen this photo of Felix Kranstrover on the KTM ? Regards Martin

Rob Forks, suspension, swinging arm, and motor will bolt straight onto the TL320. Carb will fit, also the front pipe and rear silencer, not sure on the airbox or tank/seat (although 320 tank and seat will be ok). Jumbo middle silencer has packing, its a cut it and weld job to repack. The rear silencers have only a small amount of packing, and changing it makes little difference!!!! A few people have used alloy rear silencers with reasonable success, early Gas gas, TY yam or Aprilia units are worth a try. Will have a look for a 320 frame and let you know Martin PS Didnt Felix Kranstrover ride the works KTM trials bike? I thought Walter Lufts bike was a home made effort.

Rob I forgot to mention the other day that a Jumbo motor will fit straight into a TL320 frame. You will need to either alter the exhaust system or chop the 2 strutts above the swinging arm spindle out of the frame, but knowing how you Aussies can adapt anything...this should proove an easy project!!!!! TL 320 frames are a lot easier to find, or you could slot the motor into something else, I am sure t-shock250 could give you a few ideas, as he has a Jumbo Aprilia project on the go. Cheers Martin

On the tyre topic....I run modern tubeless tyres on the original rims with security bolts. Purely because there is more choice available. I'm not saying there should be restrictions on the choice of tyre, just that if they work ok on the original rims, why bother changing it to a tubeless. Martin PS...T-shock 250, I thought that was an entire Sherco front end on your SWM ???

Thought I would sling in my opinion on this thread. If you want to ride a modern bike (ie. Disc brakes, hydraulic clutch, tubeless rims)...ride it in the modern class. Half the fun of twinshock trials is being able to restore a reasonably priced bike and ride it in a class where everyone was on a level playing field. Adding modern bits to an old bike destroys this and along with it, most of the fun. I moved from modern bike to twinshocks back in the mid 90's. It was the at the time the only way I could afford to keep riding. New bikes at the time were in the region of

Rode in a South West championship trial about 10 years ago and an out of centre rider turned up on a Fantic 240 with twin discs, made no difference in this case as the rider was HondaRS !!!!!!!!!!!! Martin

Looking at your clues for works Gori riders Ian Weatherall & Dave Hooke? You sure on 83? Photo looks more like 81. Martin

You sure you have the right picture???? Where are the Gori's???? Martin

Craig Comer with daft hat..........do I win a prize? Martin

Merlin for sale on ebay at the moment.......if anyone fancies a real challenge! Click here Martin

Hi Tim Wasp produced solo frame kits during the late 1960's/early 70's that were modified to suit the customers motor. I have had Wasp framed Bultacos in the past, but to answer your question, I dont think any of them were made pre 1965. Whether that makes them any different to the Armac, Hardy, Otter or other trick frames, is an entirely different question! Martin

Same colour scheme as your Pro, Heath !!!! I'm sure you could bling it up with a few bits of carbon fibre!!!!

Or talk to Steve Kenny at PEMS garage.....which is also in Rochdale 01706 645781 Martin

Hi Glenn Having been through the same problem several times with 240 & 300 Fantics, it is almost certainly the low tension coil, not the pickup. The LT coils, after years of water/condensation etc will corrode and eventually break down. The symptoms are that it will start and run ok when cold, will get progressively more difficult to start when hot and then stop altogether! Its the heat expanding the coil and creating a gap where the wire has corroded through. You can get the LT coils rewound over here in the UK at reasonable costs. Unlikely to be the pickup, as that acts as a trigger....and if its faulty, the bike will not run at all. Let me know if you want any names/numbers for the rewind people. Regards Martin

Mark Seeley forks use the same casting as early 125/200 Fantics and SWM's. The only difference is that the bolt holes are larger on the Seeley, so should be ok to use. I only have a right hand (speedo) side available.....any use to you. Martin www.motoswm.com

Looking through an Italian bike mag from 1974 that someone had given me, found an advert for CZ. Looks as though they actually produced a trials bike!!!! Never even knew one existed......anyone ever seen one?????? Martin

Think the guy on the Sherpa is Len Weed.............co-author of Bernie Schreibers book. Martin

Take a look at BVM's website www.bvm-moto.co.uk .......for a location map.