woody

Very true - whereas it would slaughter a genuine Pre-65 bike, the modernised versions are as good as a Fantic, so yes, you're quite right

The Seeley is very light on the front. I fitted an RTL engine in one I had a few years ago and the extra torque over the 200 motor made it difficult to keep weight on the front. On up hill camber turns it just ploughed on and if you tried to float turn it didn't want to come down. If you shut off the power and then came back on up a climb the front just wanted to lift, and if you came to a near stop up a muddy or loose climb and had to sit on it and push it was almost impossible to get any forward drive as it just wanted to climb around the back wheel. I put the standard motor back in, sold the bike and the RTL engine. Of the two bikes, I preferred a mate's TLR200 I had a ride on, it felt more planted and was a standard bike, just geared properly with lower footpegs.

I think they are a reasonably rare bike in Spain as most were exported. The Spanish classic trials are structured differently from ours in that they have classes defined by era, so the 4 speed Sherpa is in the Pre-72 class. With a rider as good as any other in the class, it can be a competitive bike. When I last rode the Pre65 in 2007 there were two Spanish bikes entered, a Montesa and a Sherpa. The Montesa was maybe entered as an Impala, don't know, which were available before 1965 but only as 175cc. The first trials model was 1967 followed soon after by the Cota MK1. The bike in the trial looked and sounded like a 250. The Sherpa should have been a Sherpa N to qualify and it was dressed like one except that it had a 5 speed motor...

Blue

So it's a Pre65 trial but the 4 speed Sherpa T ran from 1965 until 1967... It just says 4 speed, not that it must be a Sherpa N or Pre65 Sherpa or that the Sherpa T is excluded. The thought process behind these regs gets ever stranger... They can make those model 10 Sherpas go pretty well with mods, so they could actually be very competitive with the right rider.

Frame was silver - Ford Silver Fox is a very good match (1960/70s colour) You can get Haynes or Clymer manuals (always on ebay) or In Motion sell a manual that covers all 5 speed models

They push in from the outside If the rear top shock mounts are level with the bottom side panel mount it's a '76 MK3 MAR. If they're level with the top side panel mount it's a '77/78 TR77 black frame, green tank, or a '79 TR77 Verde, green frame. You can check with the engine/frame number (should be the same) here http://ossa.2y.net/ossa/reference/ossaref.html

Done, should be ok now

The bike has maybe been brought in from Europe as in some countries I think they were stamped with a second chassis number, not sure which country(s) though. Germany or Italy maybe? I'm sure I've seen this before. Forks are Marzocchi and wheel is Grimeca, maybe from an SWM looking at the fork caps. Rear wheel also Grimeca. The only issue with the forks is that they are longer than Bultaco forks and will sit the bike up at the front altering the handling. They need pushing through the yokes to get the correct height back at the front of the bike but the top yoke would need to have the lip inside removed as this stops the forks being pushed through. There isn't a photo with a full on side shot, so difficult to see how much the forks affect the way the bike sits. Rear shocks are Falcons which are as good as they get, so if not worn out, there is no issue with them, as long as they were set up for that bike originally. Kickstart just looks like one from the previous models and as you say, has been bent to clear the frame as on the A and B models the kickstart can hit the frame. Motor sounds ok but hard to tell really as the sound gets distorted through speakers. The bike looks unmolested which is a bonus and just seems like and honest used example. Some prices being asked for Bultacos are ridiculous and as expected, many remain unsold as no-one is willing to pay the high prices asked. Look on completed items on ebay to see what people are actually willing to pay (obviously there may be some ringers in there...) and also to see those with high prices which have no bids and are listed over and over. For this bike, I'd say around £900 would be a reasonable price, assuming it is mechanically sound. If so it looks like something you could take straight out and ride with little expenditure. Only issue is the front forks and how much they affect the handling, but that won't stop you riding it and is something that could be sorted later if necessary.

Looks like most of your questions have been answered but what do you really want to know in the context of are they alright? It's subjective and personal opinion. Yes they're a decent bike but not as good as the Bultaco of the same era as they had virtually no development from the original MAR, just longer travel suspension with angled rear and longer forks, revised porting on the cylinder which made them a bit quicker on pick up as the MAR has a fairly docile power delivery. Longer front pipe and one of the most ridiculous rear silencers ever stuck on a trials bike. Green bikes usually had points, Ossa went back to electronic on the Grippers. The green bike with the black frame was 1977, hence TR77, the green frame was introduced in 79, TR77 Verde and was the same bike apart from gold rims and all green frame and guards. The 350, usually called 310 is actually 302cc. I've never ridden a 350 TR77 so no idea what they go like and never ridden a 250 TR77 in sections, so can't really compare with the power delivery of the earlier bikes. I've got a TR77 350 cylinder and it is slightly different porting from my MK2 350 cylinder but how that translates to performance I've no idea. I had a MK3 MAR years ago for a short while and it felt too high with the long travel suspension and needed the forks pulled up through the yokes to make it steer like the MK2 which is a very good handling bike. Maybe it could have done with slightly shorter rear shocks too but Ossa actually moved the shock top mount on the TR77 which probably had the same affect. It's all academic now as when the bikes were new, top centre and national riders would have needed the bike to be as competitive as possible against the bikes from other manufacturers. Nowadays, the sections ridden in classic trials are nowhere near as hard as sections from centre and national trials back then and the bike, even in standard chopper form, is more than capable of handling classic events. If your not riding it in trials it matters even less. Maintenance is no different from other bikes. Yes it has the same oil for clutch and gearbox, 800 - 900cc, but can't see why that is an issue, the Bultaco and Montesa are the only bikes I can think of off the top of my head that have seperate gear and clutch oil. Points maintenance is no different from other bikes but if it has electronic it needs none, just check inside the casing now and again to make sure there is no water in there as the timing cover isn't a brilliant fit in front of the drive sprocket. A useful mod is to move the wires from the stator from exiting through the bottom of the case to exit through the front of the case. There are articles on here somewhere describing how to do this, if not already done. When the wires exit from the bottom they are bent 90 degrees and can get trapped between the sumpguard and engine if the sump has had a good battering which can split the insulation enough to short out the wire and kill the spark. Same can also happen if the insulation has gone hard / brittle over the years.and cracked. The rear brake plate has a flange / slot in it to locate on a lug on the swingarm instead of a torque arm. The alloy of the brake plate is very brittle and if there is any chatter in the fit of the slot on the lug it is possible to break the top flange of the slot clean off if the rear brake is applied hard, meaning you have no rear brake as the plate is no longer fixed in place and free to rotate (I've done it on 3 bikes over the years) It's probably beneficial to pack shims to remove any slack if it's possible to do so and eliminate any chatter from the brake plate. Lastly, all UK bikes had alloy tanks so if the one you're looking at has fibreglass it's probably a later import, unless someone has retro fitted a glass tank. The black framed TR77 had the same alloy tank as the earlier bikes but the green framed bike had a re-shaped tank with an extended front

Yes, it happens, dirt and gunk can get down the pushrod tube and can cause it to stick. I've had it happen, not enough to stop the clutch being disengaged but enough to overcome the springs and prevent the clutch from re-engaging when the lever is let out.

On a 191, only a 325 exhaust will fit (from model 159 onward) The early 325 motors, up to 151, were essentially overbored 250 motors and used the same diameter pipe and bolt on stub as the later 250 (from the model 158 onward) As Larry mentioned, 250 up to model 150 used the threaded collar. The new design 325 motors from model 159 onward, used a larger diameter manifold and stub than the 250 and even as a complete unit they aren't interchangeable because the 325 stud spacing also is wider than the 250. On the 325, you also need to look out for different diameter joints from middle silencer to backbox when using items from other models as they vary. Easily sorted though by welding on new pipe to make the required size coupler

For a UK MK2 MAR the tanks were made and painted here and the decals were made here so they were never the original factory colours, whatever they were. I always used Ford Diamond White. The Goneli rear guard works if it mounted far enough back otherwise they fall short and look ridiculous leaving half the rear tyre exposed, but when mounted like this they only reach under the seat and need another to act as a lower splashguard. The Stilmoto full length look better and the edges can be rounded off at the back if you don't like the squared off look

Not sure if you're on facebook Matt but I've put pictures on. The V behind the filler cap is about right from what I remember but it may be that the point should be a bit closer to the filler cap, but not by much if so. The silver was Ford platinum silver https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=827035540775641&set=pcb.827036407442221&type=3&theater If you're not able to see them,PM me your email and I'll email them to you

I think I still have a topside picture of the bike I rebuilt a few years ago but won't be home until late this evening, so can't look until then. The original blue was usually similar to the later 340 blue which is RAL 5015 (close enough) I'm not sure where the tanks were actually painted or whether they were all the same colour. Don't know whether Homerlite painted them or left it up to the importer. The blue on the Haynes manual is the more common type but I've seen them darker as well. A mate had one that was nearly new at the time and that was a much darker blue. Impossible to know really whether they were all painted the same and some changed by owners or whether they were different shades from new. I did mine a shade of blue I liked as I'm not that bothered about originality but the pattern of the blue / silver was done to original. I can't post photo on here, I can put it on my facebook page which is open and you can find under Dave Wood - but won't be until tonight

No, when Pedrosa made up ground at the end and looked faster he took Marquez but then went wide which allowed Marquez back through - where people got the notion that Marquez bit straight back and took Pedrosa at will (as evidence he wasn't trying to pass Lorenzo) I don't know. Pedrosa clearly went wide on the brakes. Had he not we'll never know if Marquez could have passed him back. As for Marquez helping Lorenzo by not attempting a pass, there were also a few other races during the season where Marquez followed behind Lorenzo unable to make a pass on him the entire race, both for first or second place - those races are conveniently forgotten when people say Marquez always makes a pass.

They are a 250 engine yes, so converting it to a 250 is easy enough. They have a different chassis from the blue 350 model as they use a chassis from the '76 - '78 250 models, these differed by being shorter and with a slightly different headstock design which used shorter forks and a shallower bottom yoke. This chassis is a nimbler chassis than the 350 and the 250 Sherpas are good bikes, usually overlooked by punters in favour of the bigger model. The 250 isn't lacking in power and a much better bet than 175cc.

In the UK - unlikely, I've never heard of anyone having one in stock If you're able you can make something that will do the job http://www.trialscentral.com/forums/topic/18875-ossa-mar-flywheel-puller/?hl=ossa+cushdrive Where it mentions the plate with the hole in (preferably round in shape) it is also a benefit to machine a recess into the area around the hole so that when the plate is pulled forward to locate against the two collars, the collars fit snugly into the recess which helps prevent them from being pulled out of the groove when you start to apply pressure with the puller

Yes Sam's own development 325 before they went into production, which he probably used to prove most of his own aftermarket parts... He also used a Mikuni on it.

If it's just the 199b you mean, there was only one version but there are minor differences in some components, probably due to what was available at the time they were assembled. Some had an alloy head steady. Some have a bracket on the front down tube in front of the head, probably for a horn, some Puma and similar bikes use that to add a front head steady. Some R/H fork legs aren't drilled for spindle pinch bolts. Some had Femsa ignition, some had Motoplat.

My opinion only, but on an SWM there is no need to even start - those I've ridden are fine as they are and will steer around anything Altering steering on older bikes doesn't always give a benefit. I've a 340 Sherpa with altered steering and I'm not convinced. I'd guess there is a fine line between making something marginally better and ruining it

So when is someone going to discover EOR 2K

I've always liked the Spanish bikes but as to which is better, the SWM from yellow/black model is the better bike. Only thing that lets it down is the clutch but it can be sorted. Once you get to the Jumbo framed bikes, both 240 and 350, they left the Bultaco behind, as you'd expect. The Jumbo frame 240 is probably right at the top of the twinshock tree, the 350 has fantastic torque but needs someone who can make use of it, a novice bike it isn't...

Gear ratios are fine on the 5 speed, you're never ever going to use 4th for a section but it pulls no problem on tracks, it's not a big enough jump to make the motor bog when going from 3rd to 4th up hills. If you want a real jump in gear ratios, try going from 4th to 5th uphill on an Ossa...

Really, I can't see the point of initially allowing riders to spend money on a foreign carb and spend time getting their bikes set up to run well with it, then revoking the rule so that they have to spend another £150 on another new carb and spend more time trying to get the bike to run exactly as it did before. Just causes unnecessary time and expense for riders It's ok to have a Cub that looks nothing like period and bears absolutely no resemblance whatsoever to a 1964 machine in terms of appearance in either overall silhouette or individual components - which is contrary to the overall desire of maintaining period appearance - but you can't have a foreign carb because it doesn't look period. What is the point really after all this time using foreign carbs? Bring them into line with the Scottish? Why? If clubs want to run events for bikes using only genuine Pre65 parts and of Pre65 appearance why don't they just do that and put everything else in the specials class