heavywrecker

If you are going to change to oil rather than ATF clean all the old stuff out, oil & ATF don't mix well and can emulsify. ATF is fine, I use it as fork oil in a couple of my bikes. Maybe think about some new springs first though. They do 'shorten' after that many years. The air valves are a help with adjusting the sag, without rider there should be about an inch of sag in the suspension with the bike off stand. With the rider aboard a couple of inches sag and an even amount front and rear. You will only want to use a hand pump and low pressure gauge. The Max I would put in them is 8psi. It is only a small volume needed. When you reassemble the forks lube the new seals up before sliding them on to lubed up fork legs.

Right you lot, Liked the roofing felt tip, a lot! I shall steal that! Letting down the tyres on the car/van works, ( would have thought guys running 4 psi in the tyres of their trials bike would think of that!). 10 psi would do the trick (but blow em up again asap obviously). Try pulling away in second gear with a slipped clutch, if the field looks slippy, again use your trials experience! Walk the spot you are going to park on first, ditto! Taking the 150lbs of Trials bike off the backrack of a front wheel drive car works too. Getting folks to push endangers their achilles tendons, sit them on the boot (rear wheel drive) or bonnet (front wheel drive) and make them bounce up and down a lot Folks might look down their noses at my 1963 Land Rover, but towing out a 50+ grand Range Rover/Porshe Cayenne is very satisfying indeed! I've towed 16 tonners off fields with it too. Tyres make a hellova din though! And I have a lot of extra metal welded up to strengthen the rear chassis Back in the old days you could by Town&Country tyres, much like modern Snow tyres and a mate in the tyre trade is selling a lot of those this year. Get yourself a pair of secondhand rims from the breakers, fit snows, stick them on the drive axle for the winter, simples! Always carry your own lump of rope, and get a couple of 1 1/2" u-shackles (never tighten a shackle all the way up), you don't want 8" of knotted blue string on the towing eye of the motor for the next few years! On modern cars/vans the tow eye is in the boot/toolkit & screws into the crumple-bumper (hidden under a circular blanking plug on the plastic bumper). Never tighten these eyes up, wynd it home and back off a half turn or it will stick. If you are really stuck, and there's no one to tow you out, jack the car up and use the floormats under both the wheels. ( Carry a 9"x9" piece of ali treadplate in the boot for the jacks foot, great for resting you bikes sidestand on too). Try starting the vehicle in 1st or 2nd gear, using the starter motor to (wynd it out) get that first bit of traction might just swing it! Oh and a spade, not a shovel, comes in handy sometimes. Why's my forum name Heavywrecker? Used to tow lorries for a living.....

Are you sure the replacement coil is AC not DC ? Fitting the condenser under the tank with the coil is a good idea. Go to the local car factors and get a Lucas DCB203C condenser, comes with a bracket and a wire, most convenient. I presume you are setting the points up with a TDC tool or dial gauge? Cheers Bill

Get a link & a half and a spare split link too, that will give you plenty of room to play around. 4 inch angle grinder and a centre-punch works for me! Cheers Bill

Fantastic video mate nice one!

Chap I guess the answer is no they don't need to line up,(as there is a solid friction plate between them) and the reason they are there is to make the clutch slip when you want it to, by allowing the oil to flow freely. However there may be a balance/ vibration issue if they aren't lined up? Cheers Bill

Absolutely unacceptable. If a rider behaves in an un-gentlemanly/un-gentlewomanly fashion they must have their scorecard confiscated (by the offended official) & DNF as a result. Disqualification should be accepted as the norm if a rider misbehaves, and yes, naming and shaming them too. Trials is a quiet sport and participants should keep their own council. For goodness sake, I beat myself up for just cussing in a section when there are youngsters about! As for International 'stars' berrating officials they need to take a reality check and look at how immaculately competitors would behave in ISDT's of days gone by. There is no place for 'attitude' in Trials, go ride a skateboard instead! And a polite 'thank you' when someone punches your card doesn't go amiss either!

Thanks mate. I like light oil as it makes loading the forks before an obstacle easier ( which gives me vital confidence) Cheers Bill

Hi Sam Good to hear you have a reliable machine there. Once the points are set accurately at 3mm BTDC with a gap of 0.4mm you have a range of adjustment by varying the points gap alone. A gap of 0.35mm gives softer (retarded) power, good for loose and slippy ground. A gap of 0.45mm gives quicker pick up (advanced), say when you want to lift the front end easily for a lot of rocks, logs big wheelies on the driveway. If you set the initial setting to 2.7mm BTDC then you will have more retardation and even smoother power delivery, although more body action is needed to get the front end up. Go steady on advancing the timing too far though (say 3.5mm BTDC), don't want a holed piston! Cheers Bill

I can't speak for the reliability but this is an alternative. http://www.powerdynamo.biz/eng/systems/7190/7190acmain.htm Provides lighting too, which the Electrex one doesn't. Similar prices. But still a lot of money for something that you can't fix yourself if it goes wrong. I saved my money and mastered setting up the points properly (with help from David Taylor who is on this forum). I moved the condensor to a mount on the HT coil, which works well (cooler location). Using a Lucas DBC203C is preferable to the stock condensor. The advantage of staying with points is you can tune the bike to give milder (or wilder) power simply. After a few goes I have a bike that starts hot or cold, ticks over steadily and pulls great. Cheers Bill

Can anybody tell me how many cc's of oil per fork leg please? Plan on using 5w, is that right? Cheers Bill

So having replaced my knackered 340mm shocks for 360mm one's, on my Montesa 349, I should be okay as I bought them from SM Products?

Thanks again for the help guys, much appreciated. I have discounted the idea of a needle roller conversion.

That's cool, I really wasn't looking forward to changing the primary. Thanks

Thanks for the help guys, going to tear it down and have a good look. Shall forget about needles. Cheers

Thanks mate, guess I'll have to bite the bullet and change the primary then. Cheers

I have a lot of play in the swingarm bushes on my 349 Cota. Is there a conversion to needle roller bearings available/possible? Does the sleeve in the frame/pivot bolt wear, giving similar symptoms to shot bushes? Cheers

I'm currently building a 3TA for beginners trials, green lanes and LDT's I have fitted a 14t front sprocket and am looking for advice/ suppliers of a larger than standard rear sprocket. (Standard Primary drive ratio fitted) I need the bolt up brake drum too. I'm thinking around 54 to 60 rear teeth, am I on the right track here? Also, do we think I will need to fit rim locks to stop the rear tyre slipping (or is the 350 so 'soft' it won't slip at 4 psi ) ? Cheers

Are you sure the points are in good shape and the condenser hasn't failed? Run the bike with the cover off and check for arc-ing across the points.

Have you thought of raising the mudguard to the bottom yoke like an Adventurer/Trophy Trail ? Easy and quick. I am building a 3TA for LDT's and green lanes and have fitted a set of Trident forks, yokes and wheel re-laced to 18" with the Trident hub and single disc (not the easiest to find a trials pattern for admitted). Going to have to fit some softer springs I expect due to the weight difference of course. Alternatively you could look for 2" over legs from a custom/chopper source? Cheers Bill

Got the Trials bug at the tender age of 43 when a pal donated a Fantic 301. Building a Triumph 3ta special and recently aquired a Montesa 349 Cota in rather good nick for sensible money. Cheers Bill