Usually, behind every restoration there is a story. It may seem crazy to face motorcycles that may be full of rust, have been idle for decades, be undocumented, or simply have not taken care of themselves as they should.
However, there are many of us who see behind all this A dream come true The illusion of having the bike we never had, reminiscing about old times, having the same bike in our garage as the one our parents enjoyed, or something as simple as living new sensations.
If you identify with any of these cases, you will enjoy reading this story of passion; the story of the second youth for an Ossa MAR of 1974 who seemed to end up doomed in a garage under a blanket.
A STORY OF PASSION
One day Luis contacted me through Trialworld to ask for help: he had two bikes that he loved in the garage and he needed to get rid of them. Not for lack of affection or passion, but because both needed a good review, knowledge of mechanics, investment and health to enjoy them. Luis did not feel strong enough to carry out this task.
Behind this bike there is a beautiful story of passion, since Luis invested his first salary in it and enjoyed impressive landscapes that with the current legislation would be impossible to relive.
In addition, this MAR was documented, with its maintenance book and all the insurance receipts that it has accumulated in its years of use over these almost 40 years. This encouraged me even more!
A few days later I showed up at his house and we reached an agreement to keep the Ossa MAR 2nd series and also a Beta ALP TR34 Long Ride. The agreement was closed with one condition on our part: to rehabilitate the two motorcycles, leave them in perfect working order and make the report you are reading right now.
LET’S GET TO WORK
There are two ways to restore a bike: patching the flaws that we currently see on the bike, or disassembling and starting from scratch.
From the first moment a friend advised me:
“if you want to do a good job, it doesn’t matter if the bike is regular, bad, or very bad; You’re going to have to start working from scratch.”
And so it was. The first thing is to start the bike, making sure that the engine is revving and the compression is optimal.
This unit, despite the years it had been stopped, did not fight much about it. However It’s not until you start dismantling that you realize the work ahead of you. You should also be clear about whether your goal is to do a total or partial restoration, many times both things cost almost the same job. We We opted to disassemble the bike 100% and work each component separately.
The first thing we did was to select the pieces that required external work. The chassis, swingarm, kickstand and stock were taken to the hands of Paco, from T3Trial, in Argés (Toledo), who even found the exact code of the original paintwork. The price was 110 euros. At the same time , we have welded the silencer , which is a weak point of this model, along with both aluminum fenders (although in the second evolution of the restoration they have been fitted with new ones).
Now another decision had to be made: leave the MAR in its original state, giving up regional championships, or eliminate all the dispensable elements to make it more competitive.
At that point there was no doubt: we wanted to leave the bike as it came out of the factory. Now it was up to us to find all the parts that were broken, defective or simply missing. Researching, we found Ossa Cels, an online portal specialized in Ossa spare parts, which have absolutely everything. We told them our purpose and they helped us in any way they could. In addition, they have quite competitive prices, especially when valued in the context of the sector, which is expensive.
ORIGINAL COMPONENTS
Seat cover
60 euros
Footpegs
22 euros
Original grips
16 euros
Full side covers
67 euros
Complete original stickers
40 euros
Pirelli rear tyre
80 euros
Original front fender
€145
Original rear fender
95 euros
Fuel cap
18 euros
Front brake drum calipers 18 euros
With this material already received, we got down to work on the small components, polishing them, removing the fat and rejuvenating them as much as we could. At the same time, we had the tank and the side covers painted white, adding a final lacquer on the adhesives. The total cost of this operation was 100 euros.
Other components, such as the silencer, drums and small details, we painted ourselves and the finish was optimal.
THE SET-UP
Once we had all the components painted and ready, we started with the assembly of the Ossa MAR. For reasons of time we entrusted this work to a workshop specialized in off-road located on the outskirts of Madrid, especially Trial, whose quality/price ratio is more than outstanding: Vinces Motor (91843.82.56) (Cotos de Monterey – Madrid).
Andrés, owner of the workshop, carried out a mechanical tune-up and proceeded to the meticulous assembly of all the components; A task that requires patience, good work and excellence to achieve the final result that you can see in the images. The only mechanical complication was that, after pouring the new oil into the engine, a leak was detected through the drain screw, which was solved by making a new thread and a new screw.
TOTAL BUDGET
Pieces in Ossa Cels:
561 euros
Painting and blasting chassis/cylinder head: 110 euros
Body painting:
100 euros
Welding:
40 euros
Assembly in Vinces Motor: 12 hours of work (can range between 300 and 400 euros)
Total: €1,051
To have the bike ready, we only have to pass the ITV. We will continue this article with a dynamic test of the Ossa MAR 2nd series, a bike that marked an era and is still frequently seen in classic motorcycle trials.
Acknowledgements: Luis Cordero, Ossa Cels, Andrés Benzal (Vinces Motor), Paco (T3Trial) and J.L. Quer for the amount of effort and dedication they have put into this project.
