dombush

Sherco 34 a much discussed topic!! I personally use 75:1 also on a Sherco 125. You will find people running as much as 40:1 and as little as 100:1 Opinion warning!! That 100:1 with a high quality synthetic oil is probably ok but i dont want to risk it.... 40:1 - 60:1 creates decreasing amounts of spooge (exhaust dribble) risking clogging the silencer wadding. 75:1 seemed to keep the wadding clear and didnt choke the engine even with prolonged low rev running. Engine dissasembly also showed good distribution of oil in key areas (piston skirt, big end, mains etc) So, with no negative effects at 75:1 i figured that saving some pennies on oil by pushing it further wasnt worth risking. Dom

Ben http://www.splatshop.co.uk/gasgas-pro-water-pump-shaft.html For the effort involved in replacing the seal, its worth doing the job right. There's a strange satisfaction to be had from selling something that you know to be "good". Also, trials is a relatively small world... Dom

You may possibly have the wrong idea about oil life. Whilst it might be possible to feel when your oil has deteriorated, the other properties of the oil may (will) have long since significantly deteriorated. Oil life is limited by a number of factors; contamination, particulate build up, deterioration (loss of viscosity), deterioration (loss of film strength), corrosion resistance and more besides. Its likely that the "feel" of an oil might be related to the viscosity (clutch action) or its film strength (ease of gear selection) BUT by this time the particulate build up or contamination is high and bearing life is suffering. Bearing life is calculated in 1000's of hours and assumes "good" lubrication. You wont know that you've accelerated the wear in your gearbox until long after the damage is done. Its also worth noting that mechanical wear doesn't occur at a steady rate. As component wear increases it accelerates for a number of reasons.... therefore you want to slow the early stages as much as possible. Cutting to the chase... change it often because:- ATF and gearbox oil is cheap A trials bike doesn't hold much oil anyway. Contamination (clutch particles, dirt, gear particles, water etc.) limit its service life. Gearbox rebuilds are expensive and time consuming. Its easy to do. This reminds me of a mate that raced bike engine race cars. The engine cost £4,000 and tuning work a further £8,000. The engine spent most of its life between 9000 and 13000 RPM. If we were forced to strip the engine before the perceived the oil life was up he would strain the oil through some ladies tights and put it back in...... even race oil was only £60!!! Doh!!!!!! Dom

Malcolm Not knowing where you are its difficult to be specific, but assuming your in the UK, Europe or the USA, then any KTM dealer will help you. I take it you've tried the Beta importer for your area. In the UK its John Lampkin, link here:- http://www.beta-uk.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=216&Itemid=160 Dom

That Copey, was the information I was hoping to hear. I imagine that loosening some of the surrounding good spokes may involve putting a grinder through them!! Thanks both. Dom

Hi This weekend we broke a spoke on the front wheel of our Sherco 125. My question is how to get the spoke out of the hub as the remaining good spokes in the hub appear to prevent the "head" of the broken spoke getting past. This means extracting a single spoke is difficult / impossible?? Tomorrow I'll post a photo to make it clear but anyone who has done this will understand what I mean. I'm hoping there's a simple "trick" to it...... Any ideas??

Malcolm The bottom end of the engine is the same as the KTM 65 (might also share with the 85 as already stated above). KTM used Beta to manufacture their small 2 stroke engines from 2002 - 2009 before they introduced their own power-valve engine. Dom

Two thoughts (assuming that you've checked there isn't any other more simple reason its not moving, this is quite unusual) Use an aluminium dolly instead of wood to transfer more of the shock load (wood is a good shock absorber) if that doesn't work..... Get some local targeted heat onto the inner race of the bearing as the resulting expansion breaks the seizure, use some penetrating oil before it fully cools. Dom

At least 2 of those kicks should have started it (or would have started mine) If it were me, next steps:- Compression check, cold, wide open throttle, 5 kicks... expect something around 150 - 170 psi Check the ignition timing is std Dom

Sawtooth I dont doubt that the technique is working, but you've just described the quickest way to damage the kickstart mechanism. The manner that you describe puts shock load on the gear / teeth / ratchet (e.g. your instinct is correct) Not owning a 280 personally i'm happy to be told otherwise, but a video speaks a thousand words. Credit to Jim Snell for this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdM4qkAqywk If this is the case the question might be why do you need to do this?

Ben often 2 strokes don't rev out initially due to oil / fuel build-up in the crankcases being thrown into the combustion chamber (all that low revs running). With that gradient, he needed full revs (power) immediately. If you've ever watched the supercross (2 stroke days) you'll have seen them red lining the motor for 2-3 seconds (clouds of smoke) before the gate dropped.... same reason. Dom

Yes, frustrating isnt it!! Autosol on my 06 chrome frame recovered most of the damage. Dom

Southwester Trials bikes / Motocross bikes are chalk and cheese, as are the riding styles (I'm sure you know this). I can truly say that riding my mountain bike in Wales is more relevant than the two years I spent riding Enduro. Opinion warning!! As you're a big lad I wouldn't buy a 125. They're very capable but need a committed approach, 15 stone will exacerbate this. 250's have a wider spread of power, meaning they're more forgiving to ride. All capacities power delivery can be adjusted by more / less compression, flywheels, etc. All models (125's - 300's) require the same good throttle / clutch control. I don't find the bigger cc bikes any harder to ride. Like riding a big road bike they can be pussycats until you get sloppy. £2000 buys you a 3 or 4 year old bike from the most common 3 manufacturers (Beta / Sherco / GasGas) Buy on condition rather than age because spares are expensive. As a beginner a good condition 2005 bike will see you through your first year without much performance penalty. Watch a good rider win on a 1990 TY mono to understand trials is more rider than bike. There.... got that off my chest Good Luck Dom

b40rt I couldn't say that its "industry standard" but its true of every bike that I've worked on (Japanese, Italian, Spanish in multiple bike disciplines). Dom

mccarro the side with the etched letters at the ring "ends" face upwards. Dom