Hi all,
I have tasked myself with getting my dad's old Montesa Cota 247 running and riding again.
The bike was bought years ago and spent most of it's time in his shed collecting dust. I dragged it out a few years ago and kicked it over, kicks over fine but would not start. I put it back with a promise to try get it going again.
So that day came today, got it back out. Both tyres are flat and it needs some work. We are going to try get her running and riding again and then strip it down and make it look like new
This is the bike in current form
So checked the oil, looks OK, kicked it over a few times and everything seems to be free. I removed the HT lead and went into remove the plug... 20mm spanner? which I do not have... You can imagine looking down and just seeing the empty space where it once lived So dug out an old spark plug, put it on and kicked the bike, nothing.
So went to the other Montesa Cota 247 we have and removed the coil, removed the tank and coil from this bike and replaced. The coil I fitted was the old screw tyre on top of the plug which was fun, fitted this and still the same. I have put fresh fuel in the old girl and made sure the tap was opened. While kicking you can smell the fuel.
That is the original coil fitted. I have removed that one.
I have loads of questions and this is the first bike I have ever worked on.
This was my last project
A couple questions I have straight away....
Do we need to mix the fuel? ie put lead replacement into the unleaded fuel?
What oil does these bikes use?
Where is the oil filter... or is there not one?
Any ideas why we are not getting a spark?
We are based in Somerset UK and half tempted to find a local bike guy to get her up and running and I will do the cosmetics.
Anyway, any comments welcome... Interested to know what we have etc... Does the parts look original? Like I said, it is my dad's bikes... He had them back in the 70's and bought these for a reminder of his youth...mid life crisis haha
Right guys,
An update.
So I kicked the bike over and nothing...
Took the lead off, put another plug on and put on the tank, kicked her over and cannot see a spark..
I noticed under the tank was a coil, so removed the tank and checked the connections on the coil, all OK. I removed the coil and replaced with the coil from the other bike which was the old style that screws into the top of the spark plug
Some photos
While I was taking bits off I came across the engine number??? of this bike...
Can anyone tell me details on this engine number please...
I next removed the chain cover and checked the points by eye, all looked OK but know I need to get these looked at again
Next I took the air filter off and cleaned etc
So while the air filter/box was removed I thought I might as well remove this and check over and clean
All fitted back together
I removed the plug and checked, all looked fine, gave it a bit of a clean up but didn't really need it
This is the spares bike we have, can anyone tell me more about this one?
And this is the engine number...
Again, can anyone shed some light on this for me? age etc
After all this I went to fire and nothing again. I ended up putting the original coil back in her and tried again, still the same.
I am half tempted to put it into a garage and get them to make her breath again then I can start on the body.
While I am talking about the body of the bike, can anyone tell me paint codes etc please and what colour items are supposed to be. ie... the air filter housing, is that the correct factory colour? if not what was...? I am going to pressure wash the old girl down and start rubbing down parts and giving a new lick of paint This is where I work my magic
Anyway, thanks for looking, sorry for all the pics... I like to show plenty of detail. I was a nightmare with my Escort but was great reading for enthusiasts and for me to keep track of what I did to her.
Thanks
Mark
Well guys, this is the old girl running. My dad was over the moon which was nice.
This has highlighted the exhaust manifold needs some work... any ideas?
One happy montesa helper haha
Right, nice little update.
As some will know, I put the bike in with a mechanic I know, we left it that he would take it apart, see what is needed and give me a call to discuss. I dropped it off Friday around 4.30 and was not expecting anything until the tail end of next week.
10.30 Saturday morning I get a call from the mechanic saying it was ready for collection... Shocked was a understatement. So managed to grab the work van and collect the bike, £35 lighter she started first time!
He found a few little things that need to be addressed but overall very good. So in the van it went and back home. I was going to give this to my dad straight away but had an afternoon of Karting and just didn't have time so put it in my back garden and went karting.
Later that evening I wheeled the bike over to my dads without him noticing and kicked her into life! His face said it all
So after a good chin wag and some ideas we are putting our heads together and starting to tidy the bike up.
So today I got the bike back at mine (I live across the road), removed the fibre glass petrol tank cover and sprayed the bike down with WD40, I let this sink in while I was getting the pressure washer ready Montesa Cota 247 Restore by Mark Boon, on Flickr Montesa Cota 247 Restore by Mark Boon, on Flickr Montesa Cota 247 Restore by Mark Boon, on Flickr Montesa Cota 247 Restore by Mark Boon, on Flickr Montesa Cota 247 Restore by Mark Boon, on Flickr Montesa Cota 247 Restore by Mark Boon, on Flickr
I forgot to say, the mechanic just adjusted the points and it kicked straight into life. 5 years this bike sat, very impressed.
So a few pics after it was sprayed down Montesa Cota 247 Restore by Mark Boon, on Flickr Montesa Cota 247 Restore by Mark Boon, on Flickr Montesa Cota 247 Restore by Mark Boon, on Flickr
Now was the time to start stripping it down until it looked like this Montesa Cota 247 Restore by Mark Boon, on Flickr Montesa Cota 247 Restore by Mark Boon, on Flickr
Now I was going to strip this right down and get the frame blasted and sprayed.... but it looks pretty good, so now thinking of just doing a light resto on the bike and get all the metal/chrome looking a bit better.
I took a few photos of small detail on the bike Montesa Cota 247 Restore by Mark Boon, on Flickr Montesa Cota 247 Restore by Mark Boon, on Flickr
I also found the frame number.... which matches the engine Montesa Cota 247 Restore by Mark Boon, on Flickr
One of the things that was highlighted by the mechanic was the pipe from the tank to the carb was too small, the fuel takes an age to prime the carb. So I will remove the fuel line from the spare bike and change it over
This is the problem hose Montesa Cota 247 Restore by Mark Boon, on Flickr
Also noticed this on the bike Montesa Cota 247 Restore by Mark Boon, on Flickr
Up until 6 months ago I was Head IT Engineer for a company that supported Talon. There office is around 10 minutes from my front door, that could come in hand at some point.
So the first thing I wanted to tidy up which has bugged me since day one was the air filter box
It did look like this Montesa Cota 247 Restore by Mark Boon, on Flickr
I sanded it down with wet and dry and currently sat on the table waiting to dry before I spray it. I am going to spray this Titanium Silver..... purely because I have some of this paint in the shed from our BMW. I will update once I have sprayed this item, it will take a good few coats though Montesa Cota 247 Restore 2 by Mark Boon, on Flickr Montesa Cota 247 Restore 2 by Mark Boon, on Flickr Montesa Cota 247 Restore 2 by Mark Boon, on Flickr
Next up was the exhaust, years of riding has took it's tole so off that came, sanded down and sprayed
Sanded down Montesa Cota 247 Restore 2 by Mark Boon, on Flickr
A couple coats of matt black high temp paint Montesa Cota 247 Restore 2 by Mark Boon, on Flickr
I was not happy with this, held it up to the bike and it looked rubbish against the shiny black frame. So out came my trusty can of Satin Black, after a good coat of this (it is still very wet) I think it looks a lot better than it did... although still not happy. Untitled by Mark Boon, on Flickr Untitled by Mark Boon, on Flickr While I was and still am waiting for this paint to go off I got the Autosol metal polish out. I started on the mudguards
This is the bit I was not happy with, but.... Not much I can do about it unless I buy new items... which is very tempting if they can still be had.
Can anyone tell me if the metal items I have are original items? did they come with the metal ones or plastic?
So this is a before shot, as you can see the metal is putted and really dull Montesa Cota 247 Restore 2 by Mark Boon, on Flickr Montesa Cota 247 Restore 2 by Mark Boon, on Flickr
This is the stuff I am using, a good friend uses this on exhausts and its cracking stuff Montesa Cota 247 Restore 2 by Mark Boon, on Flickr
And this is a kind of before and after shot Montesa Cota 247 Restore 2 by Mark Boon, on Flickr
As you can see, still plenty of room for improvement Montesa Cota 247 Restore 2 by Mark Boon, on Flickr
And after some elbow grease they ended up like this... well the front does.. Not started the back yet Montesa Cota 247 Restore 2 by Mark Boon, on Flickr Montesa Cota 247 Restore 2 by Mark Boon, on Flickr
Pretty tired by this point but couldn't resist seeing what the engine cover would come up like so started on this
Before Montesa Cota 247 Restore 2 by Mark Boon, on Flickr
After Montesa Cota 247 Restore 2 by Mark Boon, on Flickr
Seems to be working on the engine covers but loads of little nicks and marks in the metal which is annoying.. I must remind myself this is a trials bike and not a show car haha.
So I am just waiting for the exhaust to go off, will put another coat on that and will put the first coat on the air filter. Not sure if the titanium silver will be any good but I guess I can always sanded it back down and spray again.
I have ordered the first part for the bike as well, and thanks to Gary (Above) for pointing it out. We are missing the rubber sleeve that goes over the join on the exhaust, this was causing the smoke to come out by your leg
I also have a friend coming around today to look over the fibre glass tank cover, he is going to repair and spray for me so it should look like new again. I will also like new decals if possible? anyone know where I can get these from?
Thanks for reading, sorry about all the pics but I like detail
Cheers
Mark