I have been looking for a clean Montesa 315r. Does anyone know of one for sale. Prefer 2001-2004, the newer the better. Send me a PM with any information you may have. Thanks for the help.
Here's a good Craigslist searching TIP. Download firefox, install it, but you uncheck make default... (no matter what, IE is safer for general browsing). Then goto http://www.crazedlist.org/index.cgi website, follow on site instructions to eliminate what they need you to do so the site works. Firefox is the only browser you can do this with, that I know of. then pick all the cities you want to "hunt through" in ONE search. Carefull, too many sites and searches I guess Craigslist can ban your IP thinking you are attacking servers... I do all of colorado, nebraska, missouri, oklahoma and north end of texas without problem. you might find some close to you?
Ya do it one time, works flawless though. Ill keep your link too though :} Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk
www.searchtempest.com One site searches all craigslists within a specified radius of your zip code...and sorry no 315r here but I'd love to buy one in the future
That's a kewl site too. I like mine because I can pick sweet spot to hunt like dallas texas minneapolis minnesota Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk
So for this first time trials rider I have located the following bikes. I am still waiting on some of the photos including the Montesa. Just looking for input. I realize this is the Montesa thread but most of you have probably owned one or two machines over the years and have some input. 2002 Beta Rev3 250 2004 Montesa 315R 2007 Scorpa TY250 And I have located 2 Sherco 2.9's 2005 and 2006 My price point is less than $3500 and that includes shipping as most of these are not close by. Any feedback? From what I hear they are all capable machines. Looking for ease of learning and dependability.
The 2004 Montesa was the best Cota 315R made. It was the final year for the 2 stroke. It had updated "Factory" porting and the motor is sweet. On all these bikes look closley at the condition of the skid plate and linkage. If the Monty had normal usage then all you need to do is a good service and you're ready to go. Change engine oils, ask previous owner what he used in the clutch, change fork oil, lube all pivot points, linkage, steering head, wheel, bearings the swing arm is very well sealed and rarely needs attention, maybe repack the silencer and you've got a good bike for years to come.
^ I would expect that of those bikes the Montesa will be the most trouble free. The Sherco is a bit lighter and more zippy feeling. Also its easier to get Sherco parts. The Montesa feels a little more stable and like has a lot more flywheel than the Sherco. They are all way more capable than me and probably most riders so I can't tell you which is best if you are a top rider. I've just done a couple of competitions in the noob class. I have ridden the 2.9, my 'tesa and a beta (but don't remember what year the beta was). The beta felt a lot like my Montesa - heavy-ish flywheel. It had maybe a bit more grunt than my montesa, but the 'tesa has more than I know what to do with. I like the feel of the Montesa's clutch better than the Sherco or Beta, but that could have as much to do with setup as design (the montesa's clutch was horrible when I got it, but awesome after changing to the elf oil). The bearings for the dog bone in the linkage on the Montesa are prone to going dry and wearing/breaking. It's quick and easy to clean and grease it. A complete set of new bearings/seals/bushings is $80 from All Balls IIRC, so not a costly repair if they are shot. I'd also strongly suggest changing shock oil in whatever you get. Its almost always overlooked and gets hammered. I had mine changed and it made a huge improvement in suspension action. Should be less than $100 at your local moto dealer, at lest for the 'tesa. Its a simple showa shock, my honda shop had no troubles sorting it. My Montesa really, really likes the factory spec elf oil in the gearbox. A Montesa parts dealer/guru at a D-6 event confirmed that they are all pretty picky about this. He also noted that the factory spec oil works for longer than most anything else so the cost isn't that bad. He changes it twice a season. I think that overall the Montesa is probably your best bet. It has the best suspension (imo), is very stable and easy to ride. About the only area where I found the Sherco easier was that with its lighter flywheel the motor shut down more quickly. For example, on the Montesa if I go up a big ledge, or really anything that requires a bit of throttle and rpm, to slow down I have to pull in the clutch because with all the flywheel inertia the motor keeps on pulling for a while. On the Sherco just chopping the throttle is often enough to get it slowed down. Of course all that flywheel weight makes the motor easier to manage when you are first applying the power and, I found, makes it easier to float the front end around in rocky stuff. Again this is a trials noob's take, better riders might have other views.
Bike Pilot Thanks for the comprehensive response. Great information. I agree that all of the bikes are capable and have there strong points. Looks like the Montesa is going to be my new bike. I made the deal yesterday and should have it in about a week. Most of the opinions I have received parallel what you have said. Being a total trials beginner I don't see that I can go wrong with this bike. Reliability is key for me, I have enough bikes, quads and a Rhino so I don't need to be spending alot of time fixing one more bike. The Honda brand was a big selling point as was the showa suspension, but most of all the input from other owners and a couple of trials bike shops and club members gave me the overall comfort to buy this bike. Thanks again to all that responded, I am sure I will have many more questions as I go forward.
Congrats, you'll love it! For the basics you'll wanna do when you bring it home in addition to checking bearings, etc., mentioned above this should get you pretty well sorted. 1. Put in fresh Elf oil as spec'd in the manual (HTX740 I think), clean and oil the air filter - like any two stroke filter maintenance is key. 2. Check that it has a resistor plug, it'll do all sorts of really weird things with a non-resistor plug. 3. Fresh fuel mixed at about 70-80:1 with some quality 2-stroke motorcycle premix (I use the honda syn stuff, but its not critical what brand). Note it seems to hold about a liter and is good for ~ 8 miles before you run out. 4. ~4-5psi in the back tire, 5-6psi in the front. Have fun and remember to pull in the clutch when you need to slow down - figuring out how to slow down quickly took me awhile.
So, the carb on the Montessa... the fuel screw on the front left of the carb. Out is richer, correct? I have a manual on the way to me, but want to do a little tuning for the colder weather.
On my '99 315, the spot on the front left is empty. It has a spot in the casting, but it is not drilled. The larger center screw is the idle, and the rear left is the mixture screw. Think of it in terms of an air screw, the more you turn it out, the leaner the mixture. My bike is all stock, and mine is 1 turn out.
The manual for the 2004 shows the air screw in that position. And reads "turning the air screw clockwise will lean the mixture, counter clockwise will enrichen the mixture."
The manual on my '01 is wrong, the older bikes had a different carb than the newer ones, they never updated the picture in the manual as far as I'm aware. Turning the air screw out makes it leaner, turning the fuel screw out makes it richer. Fuel screws are in front (engine side) of the slide, air screws behind the slide (airbox side) and idle screws are right on the slide.
