woody

That is this bike, it should have a silver frame, it's been repainted red. Some still had the older type kickstart

349/4 was the first one to have this frame and kicked up swingarm, it followed the white model. Then came the 350 which was essentially the same bike, different colour scheme and some minor detail changes (didn't know about the oil check screw mentioned above) That's what this bike looks like, the 350 variant. I had one when they were new. Great bike apart from the clutch which must date back to the 60s, but the new era twinshocks like Fantics, Armstrong etc were better for the trick riding that was prevalent then. Superb bike for classic events now, which don't require all that trick stuff. The 349 motor is one of the best twinshock engines ever. Then there is the MH349 which is also the same bike, again with different colours. This is the model that was being sold off cheap for £799 by Appleyards during the air-cooled mono era when most new bikes were probably £1600 and more

I've always found the opposite.... They act as a great rear / engine brake as long as the rear tyre has traction. If it is used on a slippery surface, the engine braking affect just stalls the engine as the rear wheel is unable to bite into the surface and overcome the engine braking to keep it rotating, the wheel skids and the engine just stops. There is less engine braking affect without the decrompressor. Pull the decrompressor in on ice and see what happens. I became pretty good at using them as I used to use those fitted to my Bultacos and Ossas a lot back in the 70s, but only if the surface gave the rear tyre something to bite into, otherwise it was front brake only and a whiff of rear with engine braking on slippy descents. Most fun use on the Ossa was on the road and pulling it in on high revs whilst passing bus stops or crowded pavements as the noise scared the cr@p out of people

Had a 325 when it was a couple of years old and liked it but Fantics and Armstrongs etc were on the way in, so it was becoming out dated. Superb motor and gripped really well For today's classic sections they will cope easily. I've a last model 325 tucked away waiting for a rebuild, but there are a couple of Sherpas need finishing first. Intention is to ride it in some Miller rounds and/or twinshock series.

Thanks Sparks - good tip about surface speed of the flywheel, I hadn't thought of that. I think I had the speed about 800 if I can work out the reading correctly... I was actually skimming the face of it, theory being that if I keep the larger diameter, it will retain most of the inertia characteristic whilst being a bit lighter, helping it pick up a bit quicker but not losing inertia and causing it to stall easily. Feels as though I may have taken a bit much off riding it around the garden but won't know really until I get it out under proper conditions. Three attempts at fixing the broken kickstart shaft now and three failures, but you don't know if you don't try... I enjoy having a go but know my limitations... and keep finding new ones. But I've learned from others and taught myself a bit so I can at least do most of the stuff on my own bikes now. All part of the overall experience which culminates in what I enjoy most - riding trials.

Looks as though it is the Cota 350 version but with a red frame, they were silver/grey originally All of the 349 range began 51 so that doesn't help identify it as a specific variant

Too late for the yellow card Sparks, I had to yellow card myself from the lathe this evening following a skirmish with an Ossa ignition flywheel. An attempt to lighten one saw it stage a successful bid for freedom from the chuck. 7lbs of spinning mayhem flew across the bench like one of Barnes Wallace's finest creations. Fortunately the direction it took saw it trapped in the corner at the end of the bench where it finally span and bounced itself to rest. If it had come my way, I may well have a new head with Motoplat stamped on it... A sharp lesson of a little knowledge and ambition far outweighing the skill set.... I did persevere and get it done, but it appears I've taken off too much after trying it on the bike... I won't mention too much detail of the earlier attempt to pin and weld my broken BSA kickstart shaft, but the attempt to start the bike with the 'repaired' shaft, the subsequent cracking sound and accompanying cry of pain, and a kickstart hanging limply from the shaft, may suggest to some that it wasn't the success it first seemed to be... Tomorrow will be a spanners only day

Standard there are two seals per leg, I can't remember the actual thickness of them now, but probably 5 or 6mm . There is no spacer between them. I only use one 10mm thick seal, same size as for the KTM SX65, so if you buy a genuine KTM seal you know it should be good quality. Not sure if the seals have identifying markings as to whether they're rotary or hydraulic but any seal distributor should know. I believe rotary type can leak quite quickly if used in forks.

ok, firstly, when it comes to giving advice on stuff like this I'm not an engineer, so it isn't necessarily the correct way, but it works for me... Fit shoes to brake plate and put in lathe. I made a 'mandrel' to fit the brake plate onto and it is a tight push fit, so the mandrel can be held in the chuck, not the brake plate itself (basically it is just a tight fitting spindle) Then skim the shoes until they will just fit into the hub. I've used a normal metal cutting tool for this (no idea if it is an alloy or steel tool or if there is even any difference) Can't really advise you on chuck speed either, I think it's about 800rpm. With the brake plate sitting on the mandrel, if the tool does snag it just stops the brake plate revolving as the mandrel can continue spinning with the chuck. This way you don't have brake shoes making a break for freedom and dancing around your garage Once you have the shoes so that they just fit into the hub you can either stop at that or, go a bit further. If you stop here the shoes will give a good contact patch onto the lining. You test how much by fitting the brake plate and spindle, applying the brake arm so that the brake just bites and revolving the brake plate several times. Take it out and look at the markings on the shoes to see where they contact. It may be enough Or, you can open the shoes slightly and hold them in that position by cable tying the brake arm or jamming something in the cam to hold them. Now, they won't fit back into the hub as they are slightly open. Put them back in the lathe and skim again. This should only remove material from the wider part of the arc at the cam end initially. Keep skimming until material is being removed from the entire surface so that the circumference of the shoe surface is round again. Now refit into the hub, operate the brake as before and revolve the brake plate. Check the contact area which should now be virtually 100%. If not repeat until you have the contact patch you're happy with.

Are you sure they are proper fork seals and not rotary seals? Why ATF? Use 10W fork oil. May be a combination of rotary seals and ATF that's letting oil through? Otherwise, no idea on that one, if there is no apparent damage to the stanchion surface that would let oil past. Can't see strapping it down would cause it, the oil should just flow through the damper rod. It's really hard impacts that burst seals. MAR forks work pretty well without any mods from my experience. The standard springs are good, if they aren't worn or sagging. You can't say specifically what length spring is required as it depends on the spring being used, so 17" or 19" would both work if they are a correct rating. The bottoming will be due to low oil more likely than the springs. I'd replace with proper fork seals just to be sure (1 of 35 x 47 x 10 in each leg) fill with 180cc of 10W oil and try again and see what happens.

Colin at TY Offroad has rebuilt a good number of TLR and RTL engines http://tyoffroad.weebly.com/

They're all at least 30 years old so regardless of which was the best when new it's no guarantee what state it will be in now. Worn hubs, worn cams, cam bush in brake plate worn, who knows. I've had Honda, TY and Grimeca front wheels over the years which have had pretty useless front brakes. Even the Yamaha motocross brake plate I used in a mono front wheel was no good. All used current off the shelf brake shoes. Now, there are better linings available to have existing shoes relined. Whichever wheel you use, if you have the drum skimmed to ensure it's round / true, get modern oversize linings suitable for trials fitted to the shoes and skim them to fit the hub for full contact, then you'll have a decent brake

I think he was yes, and as far as I know the sale records only show the name of the rider for supported riders. Otherwise they just show the dealer that Commerfords sold the bike to, so maybe ties up with him being one of their supported riders.

Try TY Offroad,Colin is quite knowledgeable with Honda parts http://tyoffroad.weebly.com/

Useful to know, thanks for that. Website is here http://www.novaracing.co.uk/

Have you tried Bultaco UK yet? You never know what is still available in Spain and they have the contacts. They were able to get me a new final drive sleeve gear for my 340 and gearbox parts for those are as rare as hen's teeth. Spokes - it's 50 years old, so are the spokes, and as you've damage to some spokes which could have been caused by a hard impact, I'd be reluctant to trust those that are left not to break as well if you have another. If it was mine I get the wheels rebuilt. Original spokes aren't available, neither are the nipples, you'll have to use new, choice of finish (galvanised, stainless, butted or not butted etc) is personal preference

221 is a 175cc, not 125cc, and is essentially a sleeved down model 190 250cc Not a great bike with 175cc, but much better than the 125cc which was as much use as a chocolate teapot. The 175cc bike can at least be converted back to 250, making it a decent bike again

They appear original Bultaco stamps to me. If you look at mine, the 1 is bigger than the other numbers, as with yours, as is the J bigger than the M, and if you look at the M on the 198B engine, the M is at an angle like yours. It seems they were always neater with the frame number than engine number. I think to re-stamp the engine number, with the amount of metal that would have to be removed to completely erase the original number, it would appear obvious. If it is a replacement 6 speed engine that someone has fitted and re-stamped to match the frame, they would only have to redo the last four numbers, not the whole number. If you're thinking it is a 5 speed crankcase converted to 6, proper engineering work is required to do that and you have to ask why would someone do it in the first place, as they'd have to have the six speed parts to begin with. Assuming someone would do it if the original 6 speed cases were badly damaged, I'd have a guess that if they had the facilities to convert a 5 speed crankcase to 6, they would have the means to repair the original cases instead.

This is the 199B, didn't think I had a photo but I have

This is mine from the 198B which is worse than my 199B

Wouldn't worry about the engine numbers being in a straight line, mine aren't either and the number on the 198B is even worse.

John, MK2 needle is different from the MK1 needle

At least with the Amal there is infomation available for the original jetting / settings, so you have a starting point. From memory I think pilot is #20, needle jet #106, main #160 and slide #3.0. There is only one needle for the 2-stroke concentric and it should be centre groove. I've never had to raise an Amal needle, they've always run fine with the clip on the middle groove. What's confusing is when you raised the needle which richens the mixture, it weakened the pilot as you had to turn the air screw in which richens it more... That isn't right as raising the needle will richen the mixture at the bottom of the rev range, so you'd expect to have to wind the airscrew out a little if the increased richness caused it to run lumpy at idle or coming off idle. As for individual jets and the part of the rev range they are supposed to affect, I've found to the contrary of general thinking. A weak main jet can make a bike pink at very low throttle opening when the engine is warm as I've just had this very problem with my Ossa. I had a 130 main fitted (Mikuni) instead of a 160 and the bike nearly blew itself apart on the road, even with the choke on, and this was at around 25mph in top on a bike that will touch 70mph, so that gives you an idea of how little the throttle was open - and the main jet is only supposed to affect 3/4 and above throttle opening. It's possible you have a partial blockage in the pilot system, so it would be worth soaking it in carb cleaner and blowing the pilot circuit through with an airline, or if you can, get it sonic cleaned. Also, what spark plug does it have. Too soft and it will pink when warm. Generally, an NGK BP6ES or 5ES works fine. Avoid race plugs as they are no use in a trials bike, they're designed to run constant high revs, they can easily foul up in trials engines. Check the jetting against spec first, also make sure you haven't got a 4-stroke needle which is weaker than the 2-stroke, is longer and has much less of a taper. I'm not sure if it woould even run with the 4-stroke needle but worth a check I guess. I forget what the 2-stroke needle is stamped. but it has a U in it I think. You didn't say whether the bike has always done this or whether it only began after you tweaked it at that last trial.

With Barnett plates, I've found that you can only use 4, as mentioned previously, but to keep the correct thickness of the pack I use one steel plate on the outside, so 4 Barnett and 1 steel friction plates and 5 drive plates. As also mentioned previously, drive plate goes into the basket first. I run all six springs on my Sherpas but with the nuts backed off to get a light pull on the lever. You can't back the nuts off very much as they will foul the inside of the case, so I machine the nuts to half of their thickness. This means they can no longer be lock wired, unless you drill new holes, but I've never had any come undone. I screw then in until the thread of the studs is just showing and then start fine tuning from there. First thing to do is disconnect the cable and back off the centre adjustment screw in the basket. There should now be a lot of free play on the clutch arm. Rotate the clutch arm as far as it will go clockwise and then screw in the adjuster screw until you see the arm move. Back of the adjuster until you have a little free play in the clutch arm. Now position the clutch arm on the spline so that it is roughly 90 degrees to the cable run, so that the cable is pulling the arm straight towards it rather than having to rotate it around the spline which will increase its resistance. If the arm is as straight as you can get it, it will offer the least resistance when the cable pulls it. Reconnect the cable, adjust up slack, and you should now be able to pull the lever and operate the clutch. If you can't you will have to repeat the above until you can - if the clutch arm or splined shaft is not positioned correctly you can end up with the 'cam' of the operating arm fully rotated against the pushrod before you even pull the lever, so it can't move any further and will feel solid. So if all has gone to plan you should by this stage have a little play in the clutch arm to pushrod and a little play in the cable on the clutch lever. Once you have the clutch plates moving you need to ensure that the pressure plate is lifting evenly by adjusting tension of individual springs. I've found that on all clutches there can be as much of a difference of one or even one and a half turns in (or out depending on how you're measuring) between springs to achieve this, they're never all at the same tension. Also ensure that the faces of the slots in the basket in which the friction plate tabs run are perfectly smooth and free of ridges. Once you have the pressure plate lifting evenly, check the pull on the lever, you should be able to operate it with just one finger. If it feels heavy, back off each spring half a turn and experiment like this until you get the pull you want. With the greater friction of the Barnett plates it seems less tension can be used on the springs which helps. Now put the bike on a stand, stand on it and kick start it. If the kickstart is slipping, put a quarter of a turn on each spring and try again until it starts. A bit of slippage on the kickstart isn't unusual but obviously you don't want too much, and bear in mind it may increase when the oil gets warm under normal use. Best way to start the Bulto is clutch in, rotate the kickstart to about 3 o'clock, let out clutch, let kickstart up slightly and feel for TDC by pushing gently. When there, lift kickstart on ratchet until it's in a comfortable position for you and push hard, rather than kicking or thrashing at it. It's less likely to slip that way. If you kick and thrash at it, they can slip on the clutch. Now ride it to see how it feels and adjust accordingly. Only when that is all finished, put the case back on and fill with oil. Also, it's worth checking the alignment of the pins that hold the springs and buckets as they are quite weak and can be moved off centre in relation to the holes in the pressure plate. Before fitting the springs and buckets I check their alignment and centre them - easily done by just bending them with a screwdriver through the pressure plate hole. I figure it's best to have them centralised so that there is no binding on the springs / buckets. It's a bit fiddly but this is how I set up the clutches on my Sherpas and I can operate them with one finger. It's just takes a while to get the right leverage with no or just acceptable slip on the kickstart. Edit: - Forgot to mention that for a clutch arm, I use the Sherpa front brake arm as it is longer so requires less leverage, as the standard clutch arm is quite short. If you're using the standard clutch arm, you probably won't get as light a pull on the lever.

Found it, on a Swiss twinshock website. Some more pictures for info http://www.twnclub.ch/classic_trial_files/Italjet/italjet.htm