Montesa Clutch Drag

[keychange]

Hi - I once again tried to take my Cota 247 for a serious ride through what is for me some demanding forest tracks - steep and rough. Unfortunately once again it has found a new way to spoil my day. The clutch started dragging and gradually got worse to the extent that even with the cable up so far that the clutch pull lever on the crankcase was pushing hard against the oil filler cap. In fact I got stuck at one stage on a boulder on a steep incline I wanted to let the bike come backward off the rock and I couldn't find neutral (amazing when you consider how many false neutrals you can find when you don't want them). Eventually she stalled and I had to remove the oil filler in order to allow the clutch pull lever an additional half inch of movement in order to get enough release to let her come back down off the rock. Later I was ploughing fairly steep uphill through thick giant parramatta grass and stalled. The clutch by now was so ineffective it was impossible to get restarted as every time I clicked into gear there was an almighty lurch and stall again. Only option was to manhandle the bike to turn around ( no mean feat on incline in 2 metre high grass).

Is there an internal adjustment for the clutch or am I up for a replacement?

Cheers

Andrew

[cedric van heerden]

Hi Keychange,
I had exactly the same problem. Have you had the clutch cover off yet? If not,take it off and inside you will find a small brass push rod. These can wear down and affect your clutch adjustment, I found however that the three fingered activator on the clutch cluster was my problem, one of the fingers was ever so slightly bent and was therefore pushing at an angle, it also wore that brass push rod down in one trial. Hope that gives you something to work on.
Regards Cedric

[keychange]

Cedric

Did you repair or replace the parts and if so where did you source them from.

Thanks

Andrew

[cedric van heerden]

Hi Andrew,
I had the three fingered activator out of my 348, and I got the brass push rod from Bultaco UK, their email address is [email protected] and then to the inmotion site, for Montesa spares.
Regards Cedric

[keychange]

Cedric - the push rod on mine is steel - see below , so I laid some metal onto it with my welder and ground back with an oil stone not pretty but it worked see second picture - I also added some metal to the centre of activator as you can see (3rd picture) it was badly pitted. I took the bike for plain dirt track 45 km ride and all went well. Initially I thought my steel might be too soft (I did temper it) but if your pushrod is brass which as I understand is softer than steel so my steel should hold - shouldn't it? It feels fine with lots of adjustment - I am guessing one should be careful not to take out all the slack so that the pushrod isn't in constant contact with the activator.

[David Lahey]

Cedric is camping at a trial tonight so won't get your posting for a while.
If you are using the bike with the spider/activator looking like it does in the photo, the repair won't last long and you will contaminate the gearbox and primary case with steel particles.
There is supposed to be only point contact between the end of the pushrod and the surface of the activator.
The pushrod should have a domed (and polished) end with the top of the dome exactly in the centre.
From my memory of my 348 setup, the activator should have a flat surface at 90 degrees to the clutch shaft axis.
However you do it, the activator has to be able to rotate relative to the pushrod without any rubbing between the two

[keychange]

Thanks David - the pushrod is slightly domed and polished and not as rough as it appears - I also filled the activator and polished that back to smooth - I used a very fine oil stone for the polishing. The clutch is in a seperate compartment to primary and gear box so I am not sure how it gets contiminated - I will remove crankcase cover and check the wear. I guess I should order replacement parts but I am not sure if I should be ordering a brass pushrod or a steel one - Can you suggest a suitable gasket product to seal the clutch cover properly?

[cemoto2]

Hello Keychange, I bougth some .4mm gasket paper from Super Cheap Auto. and made my own gasket with some Permatex. I had similar problems with my 247T, had the side cover off a few times, the gasket was useable again. Regards Graeme.

[Greg Harding]

Hi Andrew,

Sounds like you have sorted the misbehaving Montesa! Are you ready to risk mixing it with some other second hand trials bikes? As I know they all have their own idiosyncrasies and patience testers! Whats that old saying? 50% fixing and 50% riding! If that is true, it sounds like some riding needs to be done! We have a few people riding at my place this sunday, would be good to meet you and compare notes!

[keychange]

Greg

David has put the wind up me a bit with potential primary and gear damage - I will need to whip the covers off and check to see how my botch up is holding up - probably can't get to that until Saturday but all being ok - I will be there - around 10:30 am is that right?

Cheers

Andrew