slogger

The only kickstart issue I had with my 348 was the fact the the return stop cam punched a hole in the engine case as the previous owner had not got it welded up properly. If the kickstart over rotates the cam hits the engine case and punches a hole right in front of the flywheel. unfortunately this means that the chain throws a load of muck into the electrics. I had 3 DNF's on the trot before I noticed. The bike would start fine as the electrics were dry but by the 10 -15th section I would start getting a misfire until it died completely. Make sure you check this out.... I have just sold mine and had it welded up before hand. It only cost me £50 to get it welded but because of the position of the hole I had to split the cases to get it welded which was a real nightmare.

Falcon advised that they don't do TY mono rebuilds. Have ended up going for a pair of Rockshocks and doing a twinshock conversion of the rear which I am quite happy with. So another question re cambers, toe it etc??? Logic is telling me that with both the rider and passenger in place and the shocks loaded with their weight, the bike should be vertical and the chair flat (with a few degrees toe in). Did you get the bike vertical and chair flat with no load, bolt it up then adjust it or did you load both items, strap the bike suspension in position then bolt it up? Just wondering the best way to get the initial starting point???

Paul, thanks for that. I am talking to John Bull at RockShocks at the moment and they are advising 80lb springs.... Am also looking at stiffing up the front end as well. Cant wait to get is sorted and out on it!

Having had a try in the chair last year I am putting an outfit together to move from solo into sidecar next year. I have managed to get a very nice rushton clair off of a club member and am planning to pair it to TYMono I have in the garage. The rear shock is shot to pieces and once the outfit was paired with two riders the bike pitched right over to the right with the inside of the mudguard on the tyre! As the replacement mono shocks for this are getting scarce I have planned to do a twinshock conversion on the TY and would appreciate advice on shocks? The main thing I assume is spring weight? I am about 76Kg in kit as will be the passenger. The main reason for the TY is it is my spare bike to get me going (I am sure if I really enjoy it, it may be changed at some point for another bike) and I am not worried about entering a twinshock converted mono as it is only at my local club who are trying to get a sidecar class going so are encouraging people to "have a go". Any help or advice would be appreciated Rob

I have just picked up a TY Mono which is going to be paired with a chair (new challenge for next year!) I am sorting a few bits out and noticed that the rear brake pedal flop's around due to excessive wear either on the shaft or the housing in the frame. The current pedal looks like it has been built up with braise. I can get a bush made up but first I want to source a replacement pedal. I can't find any UK suppliers stocking any on the net? Or do people buy other ones and modd them (if so what one??)

Also drop this guy a line and have a look at his website as he stocks a range of rings kevin@kevinbreedonracing.co.uk www.kevinbreedonracing.co.uk

Hi James, what a great find, I had the 50cc in the 80's and whilst it was underpowered i did like how it rode. Ive had a recent dilema with a Montesa 348 recently trying to find a top dykes ring! I am sure you will find one but it will become a bit of a treasure hunt. Their are a few twin shock clubs in my area (north wales), with very active facebook pages (Aqueduct classics and Gresford) and people with garages full of bikes and bits! We have a few Italjets competing. If you are not on facebook let me know and I will post on your behalf otherwise join the group and pop a post on there... I sure I read somewhere that they were developed by Bultaco? not sure if inmotion can help? Anyway, best of luck with it and let me know if I can help as above

Jim, many thanks. A nice little shopping list there to give it some TLC. Really appreciate the guidance. The reed block looked like it had fibre ones in it but their was no gasket either between the head and the block or the block and the manifold. Have googled for the right gaskets but could not find any? Do you know a source or are people now using instant gasket for these type of things? So shopping list is as follows: Springs for exhaust u pipe (both ends) - where? Base gasket - Wemoto? Reeds - Crooks Reed block gasket - ? Rings - Beamish club Jets - Beamish club Manifold - Beamish club anything ive missed? Thanks once again

Have been really pleased with the Beamish since I got it 12 months ago but over the last few events it has starting giving me signs that things were not right, the main one being after the run between sections the tickover races but one it is left to cool down for 3 -4 mins its back to normal. I started to investigate today and noticed the following, any thoughts or comments are appreciated: 1) The exhaust was blowing from the front manifold when the bike first starts up from cold. This is not around the gasket/flange but actually where the u pipe pushes into the manifold flange. Their were no springs locking the u pipe to the flange or on the other end to the main expansion chamber 2) When stripping it down it become clear that one of the exhaust manifold threads had been either been helicoil's or drilled, metal filled and tapped as I could not tighten down on it. Looks like that needs to be re-helicoil'd or welded and tapped 3) Have checked the reed valves and these looked in a good state 4) The air mixture screw was set at 3/4 turn from the fully in position Any thoughts are appreciated. The engine is out on the bench ready to get the thread sorted but Im wondering if their is anything else I need to take a look at? Rob

The last few years have been a great experience for me as I have learnt to maintain / restore a number of T/S bikes following me getting back into trials. I am slowly learning a number of skills which I would have previously not had the confidence to tackle without the help of forums such as this, so firstly thanks to all! So my next learning curve is around a Bultaco 175 which had its first shakedown ride but i have put this in the general section as it is around tuning... My symptoms of poor starting and irratic pick up from tickover in sections points to the slow idle jet still being blocked (the bike was stood up for a long time when I bought it and opening up the carb, it was not a pretty site). I thought I had done a reasonable job of cleaning it but it is now having a dip in an ultrasonic cleaning bath! My questions is around the fitting of a new electronic timing / stator and I have set it up based on the limited A4 sheet that came with it. I am trying to understand the basics of advance / retard and how this will effect running. Any knowledge would be appreciated.... thanks in advance Rob

Thanks all.....

As this is the next running maintainence job I need to do (to sort a slow oil leak) I am wondering if anyone who had done one before can shed light on the following: 1) I understand that it must be done with the selector shaft removed as you can not prise it out and replace the new one over the selector shaft 2) In order to withdrawal the selector shaft, I believe the clutch basket needs to come off? Is this splined or tapered and is it easy to get off, or like the montesa, a real pig that needs a heavy duty puller? 3) When reassembling is their any line up marks that need to be paid attention to to ensure all gears select OK thanks Rob

Belldane, many thanks. Gave them a try but no joy unfortunately. Following some other leads thought

HI Gasgasstu, how are you getting along with it ?

Mark, tried in motion first, they only had a very large oversize that is to big to gap down. 2S4S, have PM'd you, thanks

Does anyone know any suppliers who are able to locate / stock a standard (78mm) top ring for a 348. Have tried a number of places but no joy?

Wow! took place in my first chair event a few weeks ago. Whilst waiting for my chair to be fitted to my Beamish, someone else in the club had fitted one to a TY Pinky. Neither of us had ridden sidecar before and the start was not clever or pretty but the more we rode, the more we improved and at the end I was hooked, so much that I am not sure if I want to ride or go in the chair (which was where I ended up) !!! The fact that two people now have outfits has resulted in the club having a white route sidecar class for next year where the venue suits it and we hope that more people will come on board... So a quick question? Wha'ts the scoring? When does the passengers behaviour warrant a 5 (eg if you get out and push!!) It would be useful to know the current thinking....its a local twin shock and pre-65 club... if that makes any difference ?

Following 12 months of disappointment of buying what ended up being a significantly bodged Montesa 348 off of ebay and having 4 out of 6 comps as DNF, the Mont is now stripped and having a rebuild. To keep riding I am buying another bike and a very kind owner at the club allowed me to try his Beamish this weekend (try before you buy......) I absolutely loved the bike and the fact that it has finished every comp in the last year and was a dream to start, we have agreed the price (plus the fact that I smacked the rear brake pedal in the very last section on a rock and bent it made me compelled to buy it!) The bike was almost faultless but I did notice (and the owner confirmed) that under load (bank climb sections, 4 secs on 1/2 revs, 1 and 2nd gear), the engine just starts to bog down. It felt like fuel starvation? The bike has a new Mikuni and the owner was assured it was "standard jetting for a Beamish" so I will check the jetting out but any other things to check out (I was wondering reeds etc). Also the bike is a silver engine but the rear swing arm did not look full chrome? unlike the rest of the frame (but I was checking this at the end of the comp so it might have been chrome.....). Any comments/ thoughts appreciated.

Now here is an interesting learning...... took the clutch case cover off and magically everything went back to normal............. so what was the cause I hear you ask? Well I now know that the end of the gear selector butts against a small moulding on the case to prevent lateral movement. As I was rushing to get the bike ready I used plastic gasket instead of a standard one. The difference in the thickness was just enough to pinch the selector shaft against the moulding and stop the shaft from naturally returning. Talk about tight tolerances! Have now ordered a gasket!

I have just noticed that after I borrowed my sons Sherco 125 (2002) last month, the gear selector will select gears but is not returning to either central position. I have read thru the forum and the selector spring seems the obvious candidate. I cant see a thread for the selector spring change, but picking up the the odd piece of info and I right in the following: 1) Quoted as a "straight forward" replacement 2) Its behind the clutch basket (RHS engine case off) 3) It does not need the engine to be split I assume if it is a straight forward replacement, its just a case of clutch case off, clutch basket out, replace spring, reassemble? If that is the case, how hard is the clutch basket to get off? I have been working on a Montesa 348 which was on a tapered shaft which was a pig! How hard are the cutch baskets to shift on the Shercos? Any help / advice is appreciated.... Rob

copemech, cheers. Looks straight forward, now just to order the parts....

Have read a few threads and a bit of goggling and it would appear that this is an indicator for the pump seals failing. If people concur, has anyone changed the seals before and can they give me the dummies guide....

I had noticed in the last few comps that the fan was not kicking in and on checking the bike over today found that the radiator was empty. On refilling it and running the bike, I spotted a small jet of water coming out under pressure from a small hole in the case. This is in front of the water pump hosing on the engine case face that the exhaust goes into. The hole is in the engine cover and not in the main crank casing but looks like it should be there?? (although I did have something similar on a Beta which I thought was an overflow / pressure relief but was infact a hole!) So has anyone experienced this before and what's the fix. I have taken the impeller off and whilst is a bit corroded in side, it has not perforated through the case. I assume the water is getting into the other side through the seal or where the impeller pushes the water through to the water jacket and there is a perforation? Am I to assume that the next step is to drain the oil, take the outer case off and inspect the case / water channels ? Rob

FUF, Many thanks for the dis-assemble order. Most of the clutch side got done tonight. I must say I was a bit nervous using a puller on the clutch basket (the one that has the drive gears which mesh with the primary drive gear on the crank). Especially when it cracked the first time! The small flywheel came of OK but I still have the drive gear attached to the crank to remove. Is this the one which is supposed to be a pig? I assume it is a carefully placed puller and bundles of patient / nerve?

All, Many thanks for the advice and encouragement..... the general consensus seems to be "avoid at all costs". Unfortunately 3 DNF's out of the last 6 competitions means that my only real option is to get it welded up. I had originally plated it, with a silicon bead AND metal filled it from the outside but it has now gone from a hole to to total breach (ie the 5mm bead on the outside of the case has given way as way an now the hole is quite substantial. Going onto the UK autumn / winter the comps here tend to get muddy and I really want it as a perm fix. I also have a spare bike I can use for 3 months (albeit a mono.....) but at least I can carry on competing. I would like to get this sorted properly and to be honest I am quite happy to learn about the insides of this bike and do a full strip down So any advice on the order to disassemble would be appreciated (and once again many thanks for the encouragement to leave well alone, sorry I am ignoring them.....)