scotty

Anyone used to ride / practise here in the 70's early 80's ? i used to ride my ossa mar (white tank/yellow-p/petty mudgaurds, anyone remember it???) the area near to the road was the best part , the dells we'd call them! anyhow i heard a rumour that high wycombe district council owns the woods , does anyone if this is true? who does own it? , and also heard that it was for sale at some stage and that some trials riders were thinking of buying it? can anyone shed any light on the above?

thanks woody.

Hi folks i need to remove my flywheel from my 76' 250 MAR, i think the thread is left hand? ie undo's clockwise! is this correct? dont wont to try the wrong way as the nuts already bloody tight! as it should be! thanks Nick.

not sure about that! i read that once 2-stroke oil (modern) been mixed properly it never seperates again! i think this was a throw back to the 60's when the old 2-stroke oils used to seperate im sure this NOT the case anymore!

I tried iris chains once when i used to to enduros on my kdx200 the bloody thing wore out in one enduro!!! always bought RK chains after that, i'd never buy another iris chain cheap rubbish!!!

Hi im interested in adding a 1979 montesa cota 250 to my collection i remember my cousin having one back in 81 and it seemed a stonking bike , really zippy revved well? would this be badged as a 247 cota or a 249??? were they any good i remember it being superier to my 76 ossa at the time though i suppose it was a much newer model better tech, etc!!! only real problem i suppose is actually finding a good one only ever see 248 /349's and earlier 70's cotas but never late seventies 250's cotas WHY? imho the above bike looked stunning! but this was 26 yrs ago!!!

Go for it, ossa mars are great bikes spares come up on ebay quite a bit! dont be scared of buying coz there different or less common than sherpas or cotas thats the whole point of having one in the first place!

I know its spray can paint but PJ1 is top quality and tough as nails for a cellous paint when applyed over primer (PJ1 also) gives great results!!! its only around

Heres another good tip! if your going to fit new tank/sidepanel decals to your bike ALWAYS fit the decals to tank and sidel panels when on the bike!!! never to the parts off the machine! they'll never look right! also ive found the best way to appy vinly decals (this really depends on the quality of the adesive ) is to froth up a bar of soap so its really bubbly then apply the froth straight to the surface, then slide decals on pressing from the centre outwards excluding any air bubbles! any bubbles that seem impossible to get rid of, can be erased by pricking with a needle then squeese the eccess air out.

Woody get your teeth into that OSSA! you know it makes sense!!! i like your ideals on doing the bikes up to use and not concours!!! im doing up x2 ossa mar's ones going to be near show quality and the other nice but to use! just wish i had more time (dont we all ) what with doing 65-70 hrs a week plus having my kids every other weekend plus a new baby on the way, times AND money's at a prenium!!!! oh well ?

Hi guy's i thought i'd start a thread on hot tip's for restoration! as i know a lot of you out there are doing up pre-65 and twinshocks! This would be to everyones benefit helping along a restoration , so heres the first tip, when youve got that old trials bike back home and its looks like its been dragged through a hedge backwards a few times, get a handfull of wire wool and squirt baby oil (yes dont laugh) all over the grimy stuff and rub it well in , you'll find that this will clean up the bike a treat and wiped down with a rag with the same stuff will protect it! ive just done this to a pair (wire wool) akronts and they've come up a treat! everything else i tried was usless. NICK

Hi i used to own the red gollner pictured, as far a i know they were never red (the guy who had before me sprayed it red!) the yellow colour you mentioned is almost the same as the beamish suzuki yellow i think the colour match for this is renault cadium yellow but please dont quote me on this!!! good luck.

Is it a skywalker with different wheels?

sorry to sway from the original post, but i had a 340 6-speeder and could not see what all the fuss is about!!! just like the majesty 250 i thought this was ment to be the dogs b**llock's until found that my 250 reed valve beamish could do everything the majesty could! sometimes these bikes become legendary infact when actually tested found that they dont live up to expectation's, my 199b was vibey,noisey,the IMHO gearbox isnt as strong as the 325's (mine had a horrible 3rd gear whine ) poss due to trying to cram the 6-speed box into the exisisting c/cases? ive also heard that the 6th gear can let go completly! i think most people search these bikes out mostly for there rarity and curiosity value?

Looks great spud!!!! good to see the original lights on it to! YEP IM GONNA SAY IT!!!!!!!!! wish i'd never sold mine!

Ive had four ossa mars and always found them great bikes! (still have two 76 models) found the steering nicer and balance better than bultaco's of the same era!!! but thats just my own opinion? i think ossa always missed the boat compared to bultaco and Montesa who signed up the best riders of the time ,bar mick andrews. they always suffered from bad marketing which didn't help, IMHO ive never had any problems with the motoplat ignition with any of my ossa's its alway's worked fine. what ive alway's found that if you ask anyone if you should buy an ossa you normally get the answer that there a bit iffy!!! this goe's wrong and that! nothing could be further from truth ,( they've probely never owned one) there dam fine bikes that IMHO are also proberly the best looking trials bike ever made esp from 72-77.

Sorry chap's im relativey new to trials competitions , although been riding the bikes for years! the way i see it if i enter say my ossa at example WDMC trial i could ride the easy/novice route but its to easy(for me!) then if i enter'd the clubman route which is full of modern bikes i would be uncompetive on a 30 year old bike, i know what your going to suggest buy a newish bike! but i love the bikes from my youth! ie beamish's,majesty's, bultaco's etc!!! seem to be in no mans land on this one, maybe get the pinky out and ride the clubman route and be done with it!

how come theres been a pre 65 class for so long yet no classes for 76/82 machines etc , im refering to these years as IMHO these years were the years that trials bikes evolved taking gaint leaps in design/function etc! , i know theres a twinshock class/route! but these seem to be few and far between? isn't it time the ACU etc brought in the above cut off years (or similiar) there must be hundreds of twinshock/spanish bikes out there being done up ready to go!!! some local trial's ive competed in do a modern,pre 65 and novice easy route! but it seem's twinshock bike's sit in no mans land, ive posted this after reading nearly the same comment in trail bike magazine! your views please gentleman.

Thank's mate.

Thanks for the pic's motosinge 83! anyone got some pics of the front of the shop maybe with some bikes outside? keep the stories coming in! unfortunatly i never got over to this legendary shop as i was only 15 at the time!!! Nick.

had an gripper 250 a few years ago! loved it apart when you needed to get the amal carb off for a strip down! if i remember rightly rear mudgaurd/side panels/seat/air box i think, what a bloody nightmare!!! so god knows what the the engine would be like? but no doubt worth it, think about it ossa engine's are bullet proof!!! so well worth spending money on, i had a MAR 26 yrs old still working well engine never been stripped!!! fab bikes to ride and i think look gorgeous esp,350 yellow ones!!!

Yep! already subscribed to the classic dirtbike mag! whats the other mag ?

Doe's anyone remember this shop back in the seventie's, what bikes did they sell? and did they support local ace riders? i think my ossa mar originally came from there as it had the little " castle" stickers on the side panels( it came from burham/ taplow area, we lived in high wycombe at the time!) some pic's would be great if anyone has some? Nick

sorry to carp on about this, but if someone had the skills to cut out the rear engine mounts and reweld/align etc, how could you modify the front down tubes (without it being obvious) surely anyone with the skills and time to do all of the above would have just made/cut a sprocket spacer like s.miller did instead? the way i see it some engines were offset to the left some weren't ???

cheers but still not sure about this? ive alo had a 1976 mk11 before and the engine was offset by about 1 1/2" to the left as veiwed from behind! i thought this was normal on ossa's from the mid 70's until i got my lastest mk11 model and this has its engine dead centre! notghings bent as far as i know as ive completly rebuilt the offset m/c ground up (engine slotted in no prob's) NEED AN EXPERT ON OSSA'S TO HELP OUT ON THIS ONE?