There were both, depending upon who was riding it. Fujinama was on a Honda and Colomer was on a Montesa when they were first introduced.. In big bold letters HONDA and the frames were slightly though noticeably different, definitely made by different people.
That's because they were (and still are) built in 2 different countries. The Honda RTL 315s and 4RTs are built in Japan for their domestic market (as far as I can tell), while the Montesas were built in Spain for world export. I know that Honda shut down the old Montesa plant in Spain and moved production to anther facility (the location escapes me at the moment). Even though Fuji and Bou's bike says Montesa on it, those are one-off trick units built at HRC in Japan. It would not surprise me in the slightest if very little of the factory bikes share components with the production Japanese RTL or the Montesa 4RT.
I named this Thread... If you like, you can check my past posts...I'm SURE I have other transgressions you could critique... Some poeple have too much tmie on their hnads...
Both the Honda RTL and Montesa Cota are built at the Montesa-Honda factory outside of Barcelona The RTL's are badged as Hondas and then exported to Japan. The Montesas are exported world wide. I'm just glad that Honda is in the trails game. It would be so cool if Yamaha got into it more and KTM. Trials bikes could have a great future if more people realized their potential as Trail bikes. Riding a MX'er on singletrack Trails is just dumb.
...and my bike has factory identifiers (stickers, etc.) that say "HRC" (magnesium side case), "Montesa", "Cota", and "315R". So no, it ain't a Honda.
Yeah, aren't we about due for the factories to 'rediscover' trials? Yamaha is about 10 years OVERdue for a new TY.
And sadly enough, my 4RT has "Honda" cast into it everywhere. Not one "HRC" logo cast on it. Thanks for setting the record straight, PSI.
Forgot about that -- it didn't make much of an impression on the sport being basically a) a Scorpa, and b) a YZ250F mill with no real mods for trials, IIRC. Not like Yamaha's history with the TYs where they provided the foundation to keep the sport afloat for decades. Although judging on the number I ever see around here, the '90's version of the TY didn't hit the US in large enough numbers to constitute a privateer backbone like the older versions. I'd be curious to know if there's many still extant in the UK or on the continent.
I was just trolling. don't particularly care. BUT..... HRC but....... it's not a Honda? Just because it's manufactured in Spain? The last of the "real" mohicans is the Cota 310. Not even the 311 is a Montesa as far as I'm concerned. But that's just me.
you could be right, I mean Volkswagon owns Bentley Lamborghini and Bugatti, would just make sense to just call them all V-dubbya's? BMW owns ROlls Royce, why badge them differently? Hmmmm.... .
If it's the bike in your picture, that looks like a two-stroke, and maybe even the Rotax motor, not the four-stroke YZ250F motor.
Pulled front wheel last night to repair my most recent flat tire. Noted some radial play (in the plane of rotation) between the front brake disc and the mounts. I know it's supposed to have some side-to-side play but how much radial play is acceptable? And do you have to replace the mounting hardware or the brake disc as well? $$
Our bike also has this. It really doesn't seem to effect the performance. I've been thinking of some bellville washers to tighten it up.
The collars that hold the rotor to the hub can wear over the years and need to be replaced. Radial play should be minimal. Pull em off and inspect em and you'll see the wear.
