Are you sure you mean late 70's ? That looks more like early/mid 70's unless they carried on that style for the 125/172 model.
Rear mudguard looks wrong, give it a good bounce and the tire might eat it !
Never seen a green Montesa, was it factory or did someone personalise it or sponsor it, or was it some sort of regional export model (Gasgas went all silver once to separate the U.K. bikes from the grey imports)
I just checked out your ReKluse auto clutch, I can understand the appeal for trail riding but I cannot see the connection to Trials, once you understand the machine control required for the technical side of Trials riding you will see that an auto clutch is never going to work, people fuss over a bite point of a clutch moving by a millimetre at the handlebars.
There was a time when everyone rode without touching the clutch, sections were more free flowing, nowadays most sections above beginner level will require a rider to have complete control on a turn prior to a climb or descent and the use of the clutch is the key to this.
This bike you are considering is an expensive experiment enabling you to play in your own back yard but what else will it do for you ?
But if you have the money and an itch to scratch, then scratch it ! ( Just be prepared to loose a fair chunk of cash )
I would check out the turning circle of both bikes as I tried an early bike (not sure of the year) and the steering lock was awful only way to get round tight stuff was to trick ride which is good if you can do it but a whole technique to learn if you have just come off a GasGas or Beta.
What previous trials experiance have you got as the E.M. is just so different to ride from a 'clutch' bike.
Lastly, secondhand value, as you say it's been stuck in the dealers so don't buy it expecting to get much of your money back especially if your not living in an area where trials is popular.
Probably the most popular brand back in their day, just about everything was Fantic, then for some reason the bubble burst and they disappeared, just like GasGas but they did not find a billionaire backer.
Gordon Jackson, the rider famous for his one dab ride of the Scottish transferred over to car trials quite successfully, he was British champion for a number of years I believe.
I did that mod on my 05 4rt back in 2006, and I have size 11 feet, never could understand the reason for the pedal position especially since the bike is supposed to be perfect !
Yes you are of course right we are always learning, I was just trying to make the point that queues are often caused by riders attempting something beyond their abilities and once failing then continuing to attempt the next part which is still too much.
This can obviously also be caused by the C of C making the section too hard for the class or weather changing the section and sometimes you have to ride through just to get to the next part of the course.
I am sorry if I have caused offence with my blanket comment but you have to use a bit of common sense if the queue is 20 riders long, don't hang about when you have already failed.
Recent popular trial, 130 entries 20 sections on a single venue, couple of technical sections resulted in queue's. The problem is then compounded by riders passing the section and then doing It twice on their second lap so the queue never went away as these riders were effectively staying there for their second go rather than going off to do a full lap.
A couple of ACU rules ( probably every controlling body has similar ) , firstly sections must be ridden in sequence and more importantly when a rider fails a section he/she must leave it, often the wait is due to someone getting stuck, getting a five then continuing to try to ride a section and possibly getting stuck again !
Queueing in the sun having a chat and watching other riders is part of the sport, but the fun disappears when the line is 20 long, it's just above freezing in driving rain and that bloke has just got stuck again trying to get up a section he obviously is never going to get up.
If you participate, you must be prepared to help out, otherwise the sport is just going to die.
Perhaps trials is just going to end up with riders practicing their Jap Zaps and other flashy moves, (pretty pointless unless you are riding at expert level), but with no competition to use them in what's the point ?
As pointed out above if you can solve the observer problem you will solve the queueing problem, I have no issue laying out 15 sections at our trials but struggle to get observers for 10,so 4 laps of 10 it is.
Looks like a simple confidence issue, you are shutting off / clutching ( why) too early, I would start on a smaller step and just get used to carrying the speed over on the back wheel until you are confident of landing the front. Then progress to the larger steps but use a bit more carry over speed, as soon as you slow the front just drops and you sump out.
I would stick with either first or second until you are confident with the attack speed, a big handful in third could be messy if you can't land it !
Well a quick look on the internet does show hard anodising available in colour, I have not used that before In fact my last personal experiance of hard anodised finish was 30 years ago and that was a mid grey colour and just done for wear resistance.
The site I found did say colour was difficult to control and usually darker than standard colour anodising due to the extra thickness.
You appear to have answered the question yourself in that you know the coloured finish is available and that the expert you took advice from advised against using it on your rims, since my black Gasgas rims scratch easily I would suggest it is only a cosmetic finish used by the factories, there may also of course be a financial reason why they use it.
Why not leave them polished, looks far more in keeping with the period, I see plenty of 'pre 65 ' bikes with black rims and they look wrong - just my opinion of course.
I think Hard anodising is more for making the wear surface 'hard' and there is no choice in the finished colour, whereas colour anodising is a slightly different process and is more aesthetic than wear resistant, it does however protect the surface from oxidising whilst unfortunately being easy to scratch.
Not sure about their value as a training/practice aid as the one I tried rode nothing like a conventional bike.
No engine feedback ( silent for the neighbours but not much good for gauging power delivery), no clutch ( clutch bite point on your normal bike is very important), steering lock on the one I tried was awful ( no excuse for this just bad design, my Gasser turns much tighter without any trickery)
Painting Aluminium Cub Petrol Tank
in Pre-65 Bikes
Posted
Same applies to the paint, if it's rattle can then it may not be petrol resistant.
Seek advice from a body shop or someone with modern paint experiance