sherpa325

Sometimes if the bike hasn't had a decent amount of high speed or hard throttle use, the exhaust gets deposits of carbon which tend to smoke as the bike heats up, particularly if it's been run on a high oil/fuel mix.

I had the same problem with mine. I found out that the fuel I had been using had ethanol in it and after changing to a non ethanol fuel, the tank over a period of time returned to its original size. Sounds crazy but it's true.[10% ethanol]

Was it running OK before you changed the ignition or did it happen after you changed to the Dellorto

The issue is that the spindle is basically corroded to the inner sleeve and any grease that is applied only goes between the inner and outer sleeve [the part that actually moves] and won't get to the spindle. In the past I have drilled one stubborn one out by using increasingly larger drills, starting off with say a 5mm and increasing by a couple of mm each go. Most spindles already have the centre pre drilled and you only have to go in about 15mm deep to clear the frame on each side. This method at least gets the swinging arm out of the frame without damaging the frame or the swinging arm and gives you access to the swinging arm to have a more determined go on your bench.

I normally use a plastic cup and add a dye/pigment so its easier to see where you have covered

Back in the day nobody ran the triangular rear muffler as they did rob the bike of power, there was talk about a reproduction less restrictive one being available. You could always cut the original one open and make it less restrictive.

Are you turning it with the chain attached to the rear wheel, if so check that its not the rear brake

I used to run a 25 pilot with the Amal. I found the air screw was barely one turn out with the 20. With new parts fitted they run fine and require very little tuning/fiddling. The slide, needle and needle jet do require replacing periodically as they are prone to wear, particularly the needle jet and tuning becomes impossible but this does take some time to happen.

From the magneto Black goes to the coil and kill switch and green goes to earth- not sure your green is connected to anything

A photo of your magneto would help, as well as your wiring details . These are very basic ignitions and are reasonably reliable with the only parts that generally need replacing are the points and condenser. I would be interested to know why you replaced the HT coil? It is also important to clean brand new points when installing them as the slightest amount of grease/dirt and they will not work , also check/disconnect your kill switch and make sure your earth is a secure connection, I generally put the earth onto the bolt that holds the coil on so its on bare metal and not a painted surface.

Hard to say but it looks like a one piece tank off the earlier models. The reason I cut the tank apart was so I could clean up the inside with a sander, removing any matting etc and then paint on a coat of resin to seal it

I have repaired two tanks that were effectively destroyed from the inside out by ethanol and were leaking. I have cut the inside of the tank out carefully with a small dremel cutting disc, so I end up with two pieces, the part that goes over the backbone that you cant see and the outside cover that you can see. It then becomes very easy to clean up the inside of the tank and brush on resin over the whole of the inside. It's relatively easy to reassemble the two pieces as long as you are patient and do not try to do the job in one go. I basically glue the two pieces together without any matting, then fibreglass over the join using matting. When finished I pour a cup of colored resin inside the tank to go over the join from the inside. The last one I completed did not even require painting and both tanks are performing perfectly. This is a time consuming process and is going to take a week to complete, but is relatively inexpensive, the key being to plan where you are going to cut so that you have good access to the inside and the reassembly will be easy. Cheers Greg

I gave up lacing wheels a few years ago when I found a local business, that specializes in restoring vintage bikes, they make the spokes and lace the wheel for not a lot more than i was paying for a set of spokes. I personally don't see any down side at all, but would recommend you buy a 'tyre doughnut' to help get the tyre up on the bead. Using the doughnut and a liberal amount of dishwashing soap I have no trouble at all getting the tyre up on the bead with not a massive amount of pressure[I made my own doughnut years ago before they became readily available] Cheers Greg

I have a brand new morad on my Sherpa T and am very happy with the results. I never really liked the IRC tyre and now I can run whatever pressure and trye I want without fear of the tyre moving on the rim and damaging the tube.I also had my rim de- anodized before fitting so it would be the same polished finish as the front akront rim. I'm assuming you are going to use the original style rim not the later flanged type. Cheers Greg

I have mountain bikes as well and most are now converted to tubeless tyres. You can buy the adhesive tape they use [seals off the spokes] it is very flexible, comes in many widths, and has a very high level of adhesion. After fitting the tyre you have to put some sealer inside to stop any minor leaks. I found a nail in my MTB back tyre the other day when cleaning it and as soon as I took it out the sealer bubbled out of the hole for a couple of minutes and then stopped and hasn't lost any pressure since then after riding for over 10hrs or more, so there system does work.There are plenty of YouTube videos on how to do it and I am pretty sure the sealer would have to be non corrosive as the majority of rims would be alloy. Using this system which won't cost much you will still be able to use the tubeless tyre which is a way better idea than using a tube. I have done this on a couple of mountain bikes as they come 'tubeless ready' that is the tyres are tubeless but they have a tube fitted from the factory. Cheers Greg

Best answer so far

The wheelbase changed over the years M92 were just over 52 M124/125 150/151 were shortened to just under 52 with a slightly steeper head angle- apparently to bring them into line with the Miller frames M159 just under 52 , from m183 onwards a longer swinging arm was fitted taking them back to just over the 52 I would personally try and get hold of some original ones just to eliminate that as a handling issue later down the track Cheers Greg

There is nothing actually wrong with the original ball/cup set up, they last indefinitely and require minimal maintenance in comparison to all my newer bikes which have the tapered roller setup.

Woody is right the kickstart will nick the frame on the 199A & B models, the kickstart shaft is shorter by about 10mm to accommodate the narrower late model ignition cover, but they didn't narrow the frame so hence the problem

It's my experience that they only run backwards when the timing is too far advanced and they definitely run better with the points set at the 2.5 - 2.6 mark, the motor will be more predictable right off the bottom with less chance of stalling.

Alloy guards look great,but are not very practical if you are going to ride/compete on the bike. The plastic ones are the same style, cheaper and a lot more practical and come in a variety of colours

That's reasonably tall gearing, standard is 11/39 and most around here are running 11/40 to 11/42 just to get a little more control in the tighter sections.

I like both chocolates and trials bikes

The fabricated steel one is better and I would suggest buying off 'inmotion' because there are a couple of different ones and even the early 250 sherpa ones are different as the engine is mounted slightly further rearwards. Cheers Greg

If the chain oiler is standard factory fitted then the swinging arm will not fit your bike. They were fitted to the slimline models from 1972 through to 1974 and don't include a space in the centre for the rear engine mount bracket.