Hi

Just a thought has anyone on the forum ever done a front disc conversion on a 348/349/350 - I have seen a picture of one on a local SA auction site - Looks like they used a Japanese front end. It would upset the authenticty of the bike, but would certainly make long descents less hair raising than with std Montesa brakes.

Ian

Never seen such a conversion. My 348 is stock standard and going down those slopes is sometimes interesting! I have a couple of old 247's which I have fiddled with in the front end department. The original one I bought was missing a front wheel and being the inpatient bugger that I am decided to fit the same diameter front wheel from an xl250 that I had lying around. The forks are original and with a bit of fiddling managed to fit the wheel on. The bike rides the same as before but having front brakes which are nearly twice the size of the original ones makes a better bike to ride and stop.

Having had such a success with the first bike I went a little bit further with the second one and fitted a complete front end (also from an old xl250). The Honda forks are about 3 to 4 inches longer than the standard Montesa ones. Stopping wise, again, it is way above the standard Monty setup. One good thing about the second bike is that the forks can be adjusted to suit riding conditions. Most of the riding I do is around our property and conditions can range from fairly tight corners, over logs and small to medium rocks, all slow going stuff. to general riding around. By raising the forks to the limit for the tighter stuff, throttle response is amazing, just one blip of the throttle and over I go. (that is if I don't give it too much blip and end up in the bush somewhere). Oh almost forgot, for all the purists out there I now have standard wheels and the forks for both bikes if I ever decide to sell them.

but would certainly make long descents less hair raising than with std Montesa brakes.

Nothing wrong with the brakes on that model Ian (I'm still alive aren't I?).