247T Cota Manual

[keychange]

Hi - I am new here. I just bought a 1977 247T Montesa Cota (looks very original with all Montie parts) - my early bikes back in the 70's had european gear and brake setups - but this Montie has been tampered with and I am not sure if it's correct or a bad botch up. The right hand brake pedal get's caught by the kick start (in fact it is about to fracture) and the left hand gear pedal is about 25 cm from the foot pedal... I think it's on backwards - I only just offloaded and rode fro 30 seconds in pouring rain - but it's not right!!!

Does anyone have an owner's manual for this or similar vintage Montesa.

Cheers

Andrew in Dorrigo

[David Lahey]

http://www.southwestmontesa.com/manuals.html

[keychange]

Thanks David - I did pay online for one scanned copy ( I wonder how legal it is for people to scan other people's originals and sell at a profit) but it was in Spanish. Does anyone have an English version at a reasonable cost? I don't need parts list etc as I have already paid for that (even though it was listed as user manual) - I just want the basic set up of the original bike - or any advice would be welcome. Eg: is there a decompression valve built into the clutch mechanism? Should the gears be on the left and if so five down or one up three sideways or whatever. The current set up is very confusing so any insight is welcome.

thanks again

Andrew

[David Lahey]

247 Cota (M21 motor number prefix) has the shifter on the LH side of the bike as you sit on it. Rear brake pedal on the RH side. The gears are one down and four up.
When new, 247s were are a very simple and basic bike - piston port induction, points ignition, 27mm flange mount AMAL Mk1 carby, no decompressor, drum brakes.
Have you had a look at any other bikes of the same model to compare? There are many photos of 247s on the internet. That same website has a gallery of brochure photos.
Here is one showing the LH side of an Ulf Karlsson Replica 247 which was the 1977 model 247. The engine covers on this model are different to the earlier model 247s.

[keychange]

Great thanks for - you know I just realised I don't even know what pre-mix to use , I expect 50:1 - is that correct?

The kick start spins freely with the clutch held in - but locks in compression when clutch released - I take it that is normal although I am not sure how it works.

Is it normal for the gear change to be so far from the foot pedal - there is no way I can change without taking my foot off the pedal and I am size 9. I don't intend to compete ( there is no one competing around here ) so it will mainly be used with the trail seat setup (I have both).

Andrew

[David Lahey]

Being air-cooled it probably should be more like 40 to 1 if using synthetic or semi-synthetic oil.

You will find that people use quite a wide range of premix ratios. The less oil, the greater the wear rate. The more oil, the greater tendency to gum up the rings, blow smoke and collect oily gunk in the exhaust pipe.
When the bike was new, oil performance was quite poor and manufacturers usually recommended ratios like 25 to 1. Oils are better now but air-cooled bikes operate over a much wider temperature range than modern water-cooled bikes, so should not be run with the same oil ratios as are advocated for modern water-cooled bikes.

[David Lahey]

Great thanks for - you know I just realised I don't even know what pre-mix to use , I expect 50:1 - is that correct?

The kick start spins freely with the clutch held in - but locks in compression when clutch released - I take it that is normal although I am not sure how it works.

Is it normal for the gear change to be so far from the foot pedal - there is no way I can change without taking my foot off the pedal and I am size 9. I don't intend to compete ( there is no one competing around here ) so it will mainly be used with the trail seat setup (I have both).

Andrew

Kickstart is normal. On that bike it drives the crankshaft via the clutch. This is quite a normal arrangement in old bikes. On more recent bikes the kickstart drives the crankshaft via the gear on the outside of the clutch rather than via the output shaft from the clutch. To start your bike, put it in neutral before you kick it over.

Yes it is normal on trials bikes for the gearshift to be a long way from the footpeg and yes most people have to lift their foot. If you tilt the lever up you can change gear easier while sitting, by using the back of your heel to go up in the gears, and the ball of your foot to go down in the gears.

There are two reasons for the lever to be well forwards of the footpeg.
One is that trials motors are usually developed from MX and enduro motors, so share their mechanical layout. On a trials bike the footpegs are a long way rearwards of what would be normal for MX so the gear shift shaft is actually in the same location as on an MX bike, but the footpegs are not.

The other reason is that when people compete in trials, their feet go through a very wide range of position relative to the footpegs, and having the gearshift too close would mean it was in the way of that foot moving. Same applies to the brake pedal. They are usually much more tucked-in on trials bikes than on an MX bike.

[cedric van heerden]

Hi Keychange, I have 2x Cota 247's, I run both of them with an oil mixture of 25/1, and find that they do not smoke much, and if you are going to trail ride it I would recommend you stick to that ratio, any hillclimbs will clean out your exhaust. You will also find that the kickstart lever has bent after years of kicking, remove it and straighten it with heat and a press. The top of the lever should be at 90deg to the splined end.
Most of the control parts are available from Sammy Miller UK, ie levers and cables, they also have new kickstart levers.
Regards Cedric van Heerden

[keychange]

Cedric

Thanks for that - I'm glad I didn't run with the 50:1 - I had a Benelli 125 back in early 70s and I thought it was 50:1 but I could be wrong - it went well but kept falling apart.

So if I understand you - the kick start should not hit the foot brake pedal - makes sense . The pedal fitted was broken luckily there is a spare and I have just fitted that. There was also a lot of oil coming from the sump plug which is plastic - is that original?? I am fitting a metal one it's place.

The gear shift position is going to drive me insane - can I move the foot pegs - or do you have any other suggestions

Cheers

Andrew

[keychange]

My parts manual over 400 individually scanned pages mostly in Spanish in one section says engine oil 900mm -luckily I discovered it was talking about the Cota 200 - I kept reading and hey presto the owners manual in English is at page 390 !!!! just in time explaining the gearbox SAE 90 300cc and clutch /primary capacities SAE 10W30 200cc - I don't think I blew anything

This has got to be the hardest 250 to kick over that I have ever ridden - ok I mainly rode jap bikes but is soooo hard to kick - is there a nack to it?

Andrew