mspenz

Try this method, the only thing that worked for me when I had a similar problem on my CCM, I spent several nights after work mid winter in a freezing shed trying to get rid of the sponginess. Take the brake pads completely out and then clamp the pistons fully home using a couple of G-clamps (this ensures that there are no air pockets behind), use gravity feed initially and just let the fluid slowly find it's own way through but then don't worry about being too gentle...use the standard method of pulling the lever then opening the bleed nipple but also add in several consecutive rapid pumps while the nipple is open but finish with the single press method when you start to feel more pressure. Pop the pads back in and use the lever, initially it won't feel like there's any difference but keep going until the pads meet the disc and then

The shock on my 06' is similar to yours & I just ride it, some experienced riders screw the preload right up so that they can hop around easier but if that's not you (or me) slacken it off a bit (don't forget to undo the grub screw) and see how it feels and go from there. As previously mentioned, Splat do rebuilds but might also be worth contacting KAIS to get a rebuild quote if you decide to go down that route. With your bike standing upright (not on the stand) how much can you lift the rear frame (slack play)? Most owners think that just replacing the (cheaper) needle bearings is enough but it soon gets to a stage when the bushes/pins are so worn that just replacing the bearings makes very little difference...replace the lot if you intend keeping the bike! And check swingarm play while your at it. Although, as you have already mentioned, technique has a lot to do with what the bike can/cannot do

I must add that John from offroadmotouk has been absolutely brilliant to deal with so I have to make that clear . The plates are slightly under the thickness of my originals but they are from Sherco and well within tolerance, there's maybe been a slight change in the manufacturing process over time which would explain the new plates being slightly different! The main problem is probably the fact that the hub and cover faces are worn enough to let it slip with the slightly thinner plates which wouldn't be a problem in another bike without the same amount of wear, my one is obviously borderline but isn't slipping with my old plates and the new springs...at the moment anyway. Mike.

Hi Andy, I ended up replacing all the clutch bearings, bushes, washers/shims, needle bearing and bearing bush as well as riveting on a new basket (and replacing the rubber cushions) to get rid of more of a clatter than a rattle! When the lever was pulled it was reasonably quiet but let it out and the noise was 'interesting', not to mention a really annoying loud bearing whine as well. There's still a little noise now but nothing compared to what was there before and that horrible ill sounding whine has gone. Your rattle (if that's all it is should probably be an easy fix but if you are in there anyway it's always worth doing some other wearing parts, I replaced the crankshaft seal, water pump shaft etc and a couple of washers on the kickstart that are known to wear down (mine were almost worn to nothing). Once you start....

The new plates are nearly all down on the specified thickness, that combined with some wear on the hub face and on the cover face was obviously too much to keep the pressure on under load! I should have measured my old plates first but had already decided that I'd put a fresh set in since I was doing all the other bits under the clutch, my own steel plates all measure between 1.5 & 1.53mm and my friction are between 2.7 & 2.73mm....all good. The new steel plates vary between 1.46 & 1.49mm and the friction plates vary between 2.62 & 2.68mm, quite a bit lower than they should be so likely a manufacturing process / quality control issue. I put my old plates back in with the new springs (which measure 3 @ 46mm & 3 @ 44mm....my old springs are 43mm) and it's a transformation, I first tried it and slowly built up to around 35mph in 4th before cracking open the throttle expecting the slip again, wrong, the front wheel came up so quickly and I just managed to dab the brake or I'd have been off the back and lying in a field covered in cow **** It does the same in top. I'll still add those shim washers mentioned by Tim until I decide if I can keep the bike longer, if so I'll replace the hub and cover and do it properly. John has been totally understanding and has asked for the plates back so that he can examine them and replace as necessary. Many thanks for all the advice and helpful information Now I just need to find somewhere I can get out more often... Mike.

Good shout! It's proud by about 1mm so all seems to be in order there.

Got It! I'll post the result once I've heard back from John at offroadmotouk...

Thanks Tim, what a brilliant detailed reply! I'll do the simples first (measure plates, thrust etc) before delving in, you have me thinking about the clutch hub washer (M208) but I have the old washer here along with the rest of the elderly replaced parts and I've also found a couple of invoices from you guys with all the new parts listed as supplied and I don't have any 'extras' lying around. The old basket was notched but the hub was still pretty good so I don't think that the plates are 'hanging'. Does the oil really make a significant difference? The old plate set up didn't have any drag either, only slip under load in the higher trail gears...but not so much as there is now ?? I currently have a BM 1150 in bits with the gearbox out and a CCM SM with the back end off in the shed at the moment so space is severely limited but I'll try to make some progress this weekend. Cheers, Mike.

I don't think that the clutch would work at all (and it would probably be very noisy) if things were the wrong way around and I'm pretty sure that are right...I'll double check though.

Yeah, they were soaked overnight .

Don't know anything about this but I'll have a look.

The new plates probably won't be any thicker than my originals, the dimensions quoted by Splat Shop correspond to my original plates exactly (2.7mm & 1.5mm from new) although they are very glazed and I just replaced everything in the order that came out. The new set should be of the same dimensions but without the glazing! Maybe it's not the plates after all so maybe it's something else causing the problem, saying that, the new set are much worse than the originals. I'll take them out again over the weekend and check the thickness first before doing too much.

Thank's guys, some good info here to get on with but it'll have to wait until Sunday now as I've other stuff to attend to. I'll check out that master cylinder free play first (an easy one) but nothing has really changed from before as I didn't change the clutch fluid or adjust the lever...is there a specific amount of slack to set? The clutch springs are new and supplied by Splat Shop, they were also noticeably longer than the old originals so that's good. I contacted John from offroadmotouk and he couldn't be more helpful, he hasn't had any other issues with the plates he has already sold so he has asked me to measure the new set and get back to him, there may be a manufacturing anomaly but that would have probably shown up on other sets. I did find a note from Splat Shop with the approximate actual thickness of a new set...friction plate will be @ 2.7mm and the pressure plate @ 1.5mm. When I measure my old plates they are exactly that size, although pretty glazed looking What do you mean by the throw out bearing being shimmed Dan? I'm using Putoline 75w light gear oil and have done since getting the bike about 1 year ago. That clutch free play has me thinking now, I've previously changed the fluid but haven't adjusted any play and there's always been a bit of slip under throttle in the last 2 gears but why would it be worse with a new set of plates? Mike.

It's an 06' 290 and it had a lot of clutch chatter and some noticeable slip in the top 2 gears. I replaced the clutch bearings and bushes and also put on a new basket (Splat Shop) as the original clutch was jerky, I decided to replace all the plates using a set supplied by Ebay seller 'offroadmotouk' and fitted new springs supplied by Splat Shop. The majority of the noise has now gone and the engine has that nice tight sounding whine but the clutch slip in 4th & 5th is ridiculous! When I looked at the old plates they didn't seem too bad but I should have measured both old and new before trying them...something I'll do this weekend. I bought the plates back in August and have only used the bike in the garden 3 times so today was the first chance to get out properly, if the plates are rubbish then it's going to be too late to return them I'd imagine, or am I missing something and could something else be causing this? I personally now think that the new plates could be the problem, anyone else tried a set of plates from these guys before? I've not been on here for a while as I don't get the opportunity to use the bike much unfortunately due to a lack of places to go Mike.

I had exactly the same issue with my 06' 290, replaced the basket (around £25 from Splat) and some whining bearings and all is good. Using Putoline SAE 75W light gear oil. Enjoy, great bikes.

Have a read of this, should help to get your carb properly set up for a start: http://www.splatshop.co.uk/blog/2012/12/setting-the-float-height-on-the-keihin-pwk-28/ That mudguard is designed to fail so you will have to cover the obvious gap between the mudguard and the subframe where all the water and crap gets projected off the rear tyre, either be ingenious and make some sort of flap or just use duct tape! Also fit some draught excluder between the airbox and the side of the guard where again there is an obvious gap for dirt and water to get in, just sit back and take a proper look and you will see where all the problems are. Definitely worth having a look at the piston if there's gunge in the inlet and give the gearbox and crankcase a proper flush out as well as it's bound to have all sorts in there now! I'm also just a few weeks into 290 ownership and you learn quickly and there will definitely be some more clued up types along soon with their suggestions... Good luck. Mike

Thanks for the replies guys, all useful information

Oversize cams, brilliant! I assumed that they were standard but I'll look into that. Thanks Cope.

That's a mint looking 06' 290 there...great find

Ok, I'm just back in from messing around and I changed the joining link earlier as I noticed it was wider than the others...noise gone!! I'm now reading your guys suggestions and realising that it's pretty common so that's a big relief....something so small can make so much noise. Still can't understand why it only done it in the top 2 gears though? I'm also struggling to get the chain shortened by one link, at the moment the cam adjusters are fully tensioned and the chain and tensioner is pretty much spot on, as it already was, only problem being that I have no further adjustment available. I think the problem lies with the R/H side, the braided brake hose runs through the swing arm and when I try to push the wheel fully forward the hose contacts with the edge of the swing arm recess (where the hose exits) and it won't allow the wheel to go any further forward but there's still a few mm available to move? Also, how many chain links are the Sherco owners using, I'm counting 50 outer links? Cheers, Mike

There's new chain and sprockets on the bike but I'm having to put the adjuster cams fully round to take up the slack, if I remove 1 link then the ends won't meet with the cams fully slack! The new chain etc was on the bike when I got it and I always thought it odd that the chain was so long, the notch and pin on the brake calliper only allow so much movement and it isn't enough to allow the extra link to come out? Sprockets are a standard 10/42. The time of the noise is more like the chain revolution rather than a fast gear rotation speed so it looks like I'll have to check again to see if the wheel will go far enough forward to remove 1 link and shorten the chain to allow better adjustment but I must be missing something obvious! The chain seemed to be ok and that's why I wondered about gearbox noise but it kinda makes sense that gear noise would probably be more rapid...why just tensioner noise in 4th & 5th though? Thanks for the info and suggestions. Cheers, Mike.

I've only had the bike a couple of weeks and used it twice, the rest of the time iv'e either been working tidying things up (replacing the usual seals/bushes/bearings & spraying the frame) or I've been busy with other stuff. First 3 gears are perfect and engage as they should but I got it out in a field behind the house tonight and when I put it into 4th and gave it throttle there was an audible 'clack' sound which seems to come from down the left side around the sprocket area, this clack only happens when under throttle and as soon as I close off the throttle regardless of speed there's no noise, same happens in 5th?? If I go along in 4th or 5th and hold the throttle on the clack becomes like a rythmic noise every couple of seconds or so as if it's happening on rotation, I initially thought that it was coming from the chain but I can't replicate it in any way and I can't see anything in contact that might make that type of sound. It sounds a bit like a worn CV joint when you hear someone pulling out from a junction, it's also difficult to pinpoint as I can only hear it under acceleration so every time I open up in 4th and try to crouch down to listen the bloody thing wheelies, not what you want when looking down and leaning over the side Are there any known issues with this type of sound and am I looking at a gearbox strip or can it be coming from the drivetrain? Cheers, Mike.

I've just fitted one of those brass bushes to the brake lever from Splatshop, lovely solid feel now without any slop so a cheap and practical fix!

I'm in northern Scotland and it's -4c tonight (28f ?) and I also have a newish to me 06' 290 which I keep in a draughty wooden shed, just tried and it started 2nd kick a few minutes ago, the bike has also been well used but hopefully not too abused so your low mileage/hour bike should fire up quite quickly? The only other thing I do is to put it into 5th gear then rock it back & fore until the clutch clears, this also seems to help prime the fuel system. If you are kicking the bike up to around 10 times then the plug shouldn't be dry...are there any inline fuel filters on a Sherco? What grade of fuel are you using as a matter of interest?

Yeah, I've seen that, amazing! I wanted to hang onto it but I'd spent more than planned and it was going to end up costing considerably more so I though it best to move on, the young guy who bought is delighted and he just intends to use it running around the local woods but I'm pretty sure that he'll kill it! The Sherco is going to take a bit of getting used to but it's just had a top end rebuild and rear suspension bearings/bushes so something less to think about for a while. Mike.