fxstbi

As a 260 owner I too had questions about service intervals so I contacted Dennis Overland, a U.S. dealer that is considered to be an expert in modern Montesa's. They ride, sell and service the brand. He told me to change both oils at about three hours, you need to give the metal surfaces time to run in. After break in he said change the engine oil every 15 hours and the filter every other oil change. Transmission oil every 30 hours. If you ride at the expert level he suggested changing the trans oil every 15 hours. He runs Elf in the transmission and 10w-40 (for winter) and 10w-50 for summer. Hope this helps.

The stock clutch has too fast engagement, the dimpled plates hold oil and slow it down.

Thanks guys, I just wanted to make sure I didn't miss anything.

I'm putting dimpled plates in my '17 260 and the clutch actuator is built into the side cover, is there anything I should be aware of when I remove the cover? Anyone run dimpled plates and do you have any issues or concerns? Thanks

Just a suggestion for something to try because you said the bikes does start some of the time. When it's running adjust your idle to make sure it's at least 1,900 RPM, a little faster is ok. If you don't have a tach just set the idle faster by ear. Then try starting it again. I messed with my idle setting after the bike started breaking in and got it too low and it was very hard to start. I turned the idle screw back to the setting (I had marked the position of the screw slot) it was in before I slowed it down and it fired up right away. As mentioned above, if you adjust the throttle cable too tight it will act like you have the throttle partly open and it won't start. I've learned the hard way on my '17 :). With everything set properly it starts easy and reliably.

As stated above go to puregas.org, Texas and start searching the cities nearest you. I would suggest you call first to make sure they have it. I was incorrect about my friend getting his gas in Austin, he got it in Fredericksburg. He got two five gallon metal cans and drove there and picked it up. 1:20 minutes away from Austin.

I got my guards from Jackscycles.com. They were Jitsie brand and fit great.

djr_austin, I live just east of Austin and I remember talking with you at last months trials in city park. I have a Beta 4t and a Montesa and I run both on avgas. They run great and I don't have any complaints running it. I do know the you can get 93 with no ethanol in Austin, a friend of mine runs it in his 300 RT and gets it somewhere in Austin. Avgas is available at most any small airport, I get mine in Smithville for 3.95 a gallon.

I just did my '17 and it was no problem. I put anti-seize grease on the bolts so there is no corrosion between the steel and aluminum.

I just did the "fix" to my '16 Factory 300 4t. I thought the clutch was pretty good before and was pleasantly surprised how much better it is now! My plates weren't as bad as some of the pictures shown. The majority were very smooth on the edges with hardly any die break out (the rough surface that requires filing) so I mainly radiused the corners so they would slide better on the clutch basket edges. I used a 400 grit sanding board (similar to a ladies emery board) to polish the edges and slick up the sliding surfaces. The glue that I cleaned out between the fibers was pretty thin and uniform. For about four hours total labor it was very well worth it, I would encourage anyone with a Beta to do the "fix"!

Steve has these for sale on ebay again!

Nice job! It looks simple enough to try making one. How did you form the curve, over a tube? What material did you use, 6061T6? The two strips on the bottom are a nice touch, a little extra protection for no weight. Thanks for posting a picture.

I've put a few carbon bits on mine too. Full length fork protectors and frame guards. New bar ends, gas cap vent, number plate and an hour/tach meter. I just received a 9t front sprocket, probably go on tomorrow. Note the Honda stickers on the swing arm.:)

Looking good, where did you get the blue case guard? I'm really enjoying mine, they are incredible machines.

Any of you guys ever near Austin, Texas while on vacation or business you are welcome to ride my '17 260. I have several areas with varying degrees of difficulty so you can get a real feel for the bike. I tried for a long time to get a ride on a Montesa and they were just impossible to find at a dealer for a test ride. I've never been comfortable asking a stranger if I could ride their bike at a trials either although most guys seem to offer if you are friendly and show interest in their bike.

Thall1, can you post a picture of what you made?

Me too and just got an answer. He said he will have some back in stock in a couple of weeks. Thanks for the tip, addict!

I have the same type of tach/hour meter and it reads about half of the RPM it should read. The brand I have is Hardline and it reads correctly on my Beta 4t. I've not found a way to change the one on the Montesa so it displays the correct RPM. My instructions show an alternate way to attach the wire directly to the plug cap, I might try that to see if that solves the problem. Just curious, is there a way to adjust the RPM on the Montesa without a lap top?

Who makes that guard?

Cope, if you have more ideas this is the place to share! Please elaborate.

I hope that is correct. Since my wife bought the bike I didn't talk with the dealer. I'll have to check.

The first page of the owners manual says "this vehicle is sold as is with no warranties". Since it's competition machine nothing is covered.

stevelimb, Excellent write up. My wonderful wife surprised me Christmas morning with this beside the tree! I've always wanted a Montesa but they have never been available or dealers just didn't want to get them because of the ordering hassle. When our dealer friend called her and said it was available she bought it. Obviously I was surprised! I have the best wife in the world!! I ride the Intermediate line and have had several 2t trials bikes and currently ride a Beta 300 4t so I am excited to see the differences between the bikes. Your description above is both through and accurate. I agree with your analogy's, the suspension is lively compared to anything I've ridden before. I'm finding that it is easy to get the bike to jump up onto obstacles when you load then unload the pegs. It doesn't turn as tight as the Beta but I find that that really isn't much of a problem if you are comfortable leaning the bike more. I have found that when I go full lock on the Beta that it is prone to pushing the front tire instead of letting it roll. The clutch is smooth and somewhat progressive on release and one thing I really like is that the plates don't stick together! Start the bike and put it in gear, no drag and no uncontrolled starts because you forgot to un-stick the plates. The engine is phenomenal, easy to start and smooooth and feels every bit a powerful as my 300 4t. A big plus is that the manual says 91 octane gas or higher, nothing exotic required. It's a Honda, what else would you expect. I find the engine braking to be about a third less than my Beta, it still has some but not as much as the Beta. It took me a few hours of peg time to overcome the different feel of the Beta four stroke, I think that acclamation time would be less on the Montesa because of less engine braking. I only mentioned this because everyone that tries 4t power usually doesn't like it after their first ride. I held back for quite a while before taking the plunge. I'm really glad I did! I've only got a few hours on this bike but I can tell everyone for a fact, it is one incredible machine!

I left the clip in the third groove from the top. That is how it came stock. I have no hesitation or lean indications. It runs great at any throttle position. I just checked and my mixture screw is 2 turns out.

Great video, looks like a fun event.