tricksport Posted July 7, 2015 Report Share Posted July 7, 2015 I recently got my first classic bike, from a friend who just wanted it out the garage. He has said its a ossa mar 250 mick andrews rep. I don't know enough about it, to know for sure if it is what it is claimed to be. Any help and advice much appreciated. Earl 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cleanorbust Posted July 7, 2015 Report Share Posted July 7, 2015 Yes, looks to be a Mark 1 Mick Andrews Replica, circa 1972, 244cc. The mudguards are non-standard (originally alloy), as is the silencer. Looks to have Sammy Miller front mudguard stays, which were an improvement on the originals, and of course it's been painted all white, original colour scheme was green/white. It's also had a metal sump guard fitted, the original models had one made of a material touted as carbon fibre which wasn't really up to the job. Looks like it's also had a replacement flat rear sprocket fitted with a spacer at some time, the original being a dished design. The bike was one of the earliest on the UK market to have pointless transistorised ignition, which was known to give up the ghost after a certain time. Hopefully yours is OK. Parts should be available from In Motion trials. One disadvantage is that the fuel tank looks like the original, ie fibreglass, which doesn't cope well with modern petrol. All in all though it looks like a reasonable example which, if you got it for little money, could be a good find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody Posted July 7, 2015 Report Share Posted July 7, 2015 Yes, it's an Ossa MAR MK1. Model year from 72 to early 74. Looks in pretty well original condition, just missing the green stripe on the tank and side panels. If the carb is mounted by rubber hose it will be a later model MK1 unless someone has fitted another cylinder, First MK1 came with a bolt on carb. Rear silencer is from another bike, probably a Montesa Cota 247 as it's been cut up a bit. Early MK1 has a peashooter style silencer (which didn't...), kater MK1 has a bullet shape. Sidestand isn't original as they bolted to the other side (not that it matters) although some MK1 didn't have the bracket on the swingarm and came without one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tricksport Posted July 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 Thanks for helping confirm that it is what it's suppose to be. Is it possible to get a replacement tank and ditch the fibreglass one? Is there anything particular I should look out for, during the rebuild process? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goudrons Posted July 8, 2015 Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 (edited) An alloy aftermarket tank is available from Sammy Miller Products or http://www.p-drr.co.uk/Fuel_tanks.html But neither will be cheap. Alloy ones only got fitted (swapped) to UK bikes back in the day, so there aren't many originals floating about, you might get (very) lucky on Ebay, but they do tend to sell for good money. Marlimar (Steve Sell) is the Ossa parts man, both new and used. He can usually help with most parts, though it's not his main business so you might need to leave a message, but he does get back to you and is a top bloke too. mob 07800778048 They are pretty straight forward, though if you are splitting the engine cases, removing the primary sides "cush" drive is almost impossible without a special tool to pull it off the crank. And the gearbox shafts should be reshimmed when rebuilding, which is a bit of a pain. You'll find a parts diagram here http://www.custgp.com/downloads.html Other than that, I wouldn't go too mad with the cash, for some reason they don't quite make the same sort of money as some other twinshocks do, even though they ride really well when sorted and are pretty reliable. Edited July 8, 2015 by goudrons Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cleanorbust Posted July 8, 2015 Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 The Mark 2 version had a metal tank, not sure if it would be straight replacement but someone here will know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody Posted July 8, 2015 Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 The Mark 2 version had a metal tank, not sure if it would be straight replacement but someone here will know. Not just the MK2, all bikes left the factory with fibregalss tanks but after 1973/4, due to a law change prohibiting the use of fibreglass tanks on the road, they were swapped for alloy tanks after import into the UK. Alloy were fitted to all models from then on right through to Grippers. The shape of the fibreglass tanks changed with the Verde model, as did the UK alloy version, but all of the MAR tank variants fit any MAR model The UK alloy tank for the MK2 / MK3 MAR is a different shape from the fibreglass tank so the standard decals for the MK2 / MK3 stripes won't fit, you need UK versions. MK1 had a painted green band, no decal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tricksport Posted July 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 Brilliant, thanks for the advice and the links. I plan on stripping her down to repaint the frame and judge things as I take them off as to how much attention they need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody Posted July 8, 2015 Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 You can see pictures of the various models here http://www.ataq.qc.ca/galerie/index.php?folder=/Mus%E9e/Ossa/ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tricksport Posted July 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2015 So it begins! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baloo Posted March 31, 2021 Report Share Posted March 31, 2021 (edited) Hi @tricksport, complete Longshot, but Is there any chance this is my Dads old bike (with me on the tank 40 odd years ago)? You don’t see many with just a white tank, registration NPJ 57L. Cheers Wayne Edited April 1, 2021 by baloo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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