charlie chitlins

The more exact way to bend cast aluminum...other than "hot, but not too hot"...is to rub the lever with white soap, heat until the soap turns black, then immediately quench in water (or your favorite quench...oil...lard...the blood of your adversaries...)

Whenever I broke a lever, I'd light the torch and weld a ball on the end. I keep them for spares. I really like them, but something makes me replace them again with a long lever. I think it's just tradition. I'm just damned old and those stubby levers look weird to me, so I replace them with "proper" ones. I know...it's sad... You are right, though...being able to pull the lever in next to your fingers really works...especially if you have an older GG Pro with a draggy clutch. The extra throw really helps. You do, though, lose the option of adding a second finger as the day wears on. At one point I had thought about making them as a side business, but virtually nobody I asked had any interest. I'd say, If you like them, run them! I also knew a guy who used to cut his throttle tube and grip in half so a few inches of handlebar protruded from the end of the grip. He said that being able to hold the bar and the grip at the same time gave him much more throttle control. I rode his bike and it was not unpleasant. I'd never seen that before or since...but it worked for him!

Easy! The bike that's most reliable, easiest to maintain, has the best spare parts availability, handles the best and is least expensive wins. Now get to work, kid! But...as a mechanic friend of mine used to say...there's fast, cheap and good...pick two.

Trials is strenuous. Get stronger.

I live with the slightly-cumbersome American system of gallons and ounces. 1.5 oz/gallon (128 oz.) gets me 85:1. That seems to be working well in my 2.9 and the lad's 1.25. 75:1 would be fine, I'm sure. I have, in the past, run as fat as 64:1 without plug fouling or too much exhaust clogging. You have to check your plugs and pay close attention to power delivery. A rich oil/fuel mix carries less fuel into the cylinder so the fuel/air mix goes lean. There's a lot of knowledge/opinion about plug fouling, exhaust clogging, lubrication, etc. but little talk of the effects of more or less oil in the mix resulting in more or less fuel reaching the cylinder per burn.

Stainless doesn't have a particularly good friction coefficient. When I had my repair shop (Harley related), a lot of folks wanted to switch to stainless rotors because form tends to trump function in that crowd. It was pretty shocking how poorly the stainless rotors worked compared to stock. Last I read (which was maybe 7 or 8 years ago), F1 was still using cast iron, but considering carbon fiber.

I've ridden and wrenched them all (except Ossa and Jotagas) and I've always liked Sherco best. Although...being one of the "mortals" I think I would never notice anything lost from a link-less suspension. I love the simplicity of the Beta and the Scorpa, and DAMN are they sexy!

When you say "legs" do you mean tubes? But you wouldn't need to disassemble the forks to check the tubes. The tubes go inside the legs. If it's tubes...yeah...sand, file or otherwise grind off the high spots, fill the divots with super glue and sand it smooth. Don't sand/smooth inside the gouge...you want some roughness for a strong mechanical bond as there's no chemical bond between CyA and metal. I've had this last for years and it probably can be considered a permanent fix.

If it isn't .5mm, it's a damned good start.

Cope's right again...or is it STILL right? Mild steel or cast iron, which most rotors are made of, can't be tempered, hardened, annealed, etc. because of its low carbon content....even if it does turn colors (oxides) like higher carbon tool steel. It also rusts quite easily...just look at the rotors on your car if it sits in damp weather for a couple days. This makes me unsure of what kind of steel trials bike disks are made of...they don't seem to rust. If there is carbon or nickel (as with stainless), they could be affected by heat. If anybody wants to send me an old one, I could heat it up and whack it around the anvil and give a report. There are also charts that show the pattern of sparks different metals make when put to a grinding wheel. Every one is different and old-time blacksmiths used to be able to put a piece of metal to a wheel and tell you what it was.

Nice bike! I've got to admit, though...I wouldn't notice that it's different from any other Bultaco frame. I might have noticed that it's chrome and thought, "Dang! I didn't know they had rednecks in Belgium!"

I'm struggling with anything bigger than something I can just push my front wheel out a bit to keep from bottoming. If I try to wheelie off, I often get too much speed and need more run-out than I'd like to slow down after I hit. I seldom get it right, but when I do, I feel like the front wheel is pretty high and I drop straight down and stop, but I can't get it consistently. Any tips?

Rare? It doesn't even EXIST if you don't post a pic.

This is the best band that I'm in. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRGKGhbWL4423EGmol38aTw

I'm betting a burp. I bet your overflow hose ends near the coil. A little coolant probably shorted the kill button.

Yup...when I bought a cover it didn't come with the sight glass either. I didn't care about the glass, but a new seal would have sure helped. Mine wept and I had to snot it up.

Yeah...at $750, I'd sell the bike and put the money toward an upgrade, That's a lotta sheckels.

I don't think that's where the master link goes.... Make sure you grease those stainless bolts or they could take the aluminum with them next time they come out.

What are these? Swingarm protectors? Frame?

I can't find this on the Sherco website. The '01 200 I rode was so killer, I'm trying to figure out if I put a 200 top end on my son's 125, if it will run the same. The '08 125 is so revvy, I have a hard time imagining it has the same stroke as the older 200. So the stroke on the '01 2.0 is 50.7mm. Anybody know what it is for the lad's '08 125?

Very quick-revving motor. Maybe a flywheel weight would help.

There's a website...I think it's realgas.com...thst lists stations in your area that have alcohol free gas. I use avgas from the local airport...100 octane. The bikes love it and it doesn't smell!

I bet he wears gloves now

Mice seem to love petroleum products. I think an oiled filter is more irresistible than a dry one. Mice have also chewed right through the plastic gas tank of my lawn mower. I used to deal with a lot of antique barn finds. I can't tell you how many times I've started up an old bike and has acorns shoot out the tailpipe!

All I can say is...keep those exhaust systems totally sealed, boys and girls. A hand over the pipe easily saved my top end yesterday. So glad I welded up that split seam! Fugly, though. Welding aluminum with a torch isn't pretty...at least, not when I do it!