feetupfun

The standard tank on them was plastic and it did breathe vapour through the walls which can cause paint and stickers to bubble but is otherwise fine to use. All plastic tanks breathe petrol vapour. If your tank really is GRP and I see you are in the UK so it is at risk of being dissolved by your fuel but it can be lined with epoxy resin to make it fuel proof for your fuel. A photo would help determine what it is made from

There was an era when the 290 Sherco was only suitable for top level riders and there seemed to be quite a few for sale cheap second/third/fourth hand that had been bought in error by people thinking they would be good to learn trials riding on. There was also an era around then when Shercos didn't have much steering lock compared with other brands so you needed to be able to hop the front where something like a Beta would turn much tighter with both wheels on the ground.

Yours has the later arrangement for the brake pedal pivot. The early arrangement had the pivot location to the rear of the frame upright. Is your engine number also somewhere around 1787? Your rear wheel looks like the early type hub (shared with model 10 and model 27) Here are photos of my series 1 model 49 (49-00100) showing the early brake pedal pivot location (and brake pedal) and early type rear hub.

All the 250 twinshock TY250s they sold in Australia (and the USA) were competition models with the speedo attached to the left fork slider. In Japan and some European markets they sold twinshock TY250s with full road equipment which may have had a bigger speedo mounted up in the normal motorbike position. I've seen TYs in Australia with both MPH and KM/H speedos on the fork leg. I don't remember which models had which speed unit scale. Maybe start looking soon because nice ones are rare/expensive

Yes looks like Godden numbering 81 = 1981 11 = November 01 B = no idea. Mine has three numbers next (106) As for knowing if it's a 250/320 Godden frame or not, the Godden frame is very different in design to the Yamaha-based 250/320 Majesty frame Yamaha frame numbering is very different too. For the Yam framed Majestys, they used D and E model frames with numbering 493 - xxxxxxx

Top shock mount location moved down and forwards to where yours are during model 49. Brake pedal design changed during model 49. Can't see yours. Frame tubes under engine went from single middle tube to a smaller tube each side during model 49. Outer engine casings design changed to your type during model 49. This co-incided with the frame tube change under the engine. This change was somewhere around number 2650. I don't have the book with me at the moment with the number in it to refer to. Rear hub changed during model 49. Can't see yours well enough to say which one yours is. Your lack of frame tubes under the engine is non-standard but is a common mod. The book " Historia de la Sherpa T" by Francois Stauffacher is a good reference book for Sherpa T identification

Thanks for sharing this. Very interesting.

Of course there are a lot of things that could be causing your issue but the usual (simple) thing that causes those symptoms is a blocked pilot jet or blocked pilot jet passage (in the carby). The fuel hole in the pilot jet is a tiny thing and blocks very easily. If you are confident enough, you can take the pilot jet out and clean its hole. When you can hold it up to a light and see through it clearly you will know you have cleaned it out.

From my experience those pressed steel caps are only fitted to the outsides of the crankwheels so they are not actually "stuffers" as such because they don't reduce the volume of the crankcase. Did yours have them on the inside ends of the holes as well as the outside ends? If you want there is no law against using stuffers in a TY250 so yes you can use cork or balsa stuffers. The usual sealant however is epoxy resin rather than varnish. I find the standard motor runs amazingly well without stuffers and some people even space the reed cage outwards to increase the crankcase volume so it may not be a good move to fit stuffers if you are not wanting to go out on a limb. Those steel caps may be there to provide some sort of streamlining of the crankshaft to reduce aerodynamic drag at high RPM. I would say that their presence or lack of presence is not something important for performance. Their presence is definitely a liability for the risk they pose should they come loose

MITAS are as bad as MT43

Sounds like they changed the cylinder casting and fork sliders at some point after 006798. There was also a change to a plastic base for the seat pad instead of steel at some point

Nigel this is what the Peter Paice TY250 frame sidecar looks like. If you are seeking current design philosophy for trials sidecars rather than what people used in the 1970s, Justin Gough would be a good local to talk to

From memory there is a set of dimensioned basic drawings in the MA M.O.M.S that show the size requirements for competition trials sidecars in Australia. Also pretty sure that Ron Chadwick (Brisbane) has a sidecar on a TY250 twinshock that you could probably arrange to measure up. Another one for a TY250 twinshock (further away though) is owned by Peter Paice (Newcastle NSW). Peter's TY250 that the sidecar fits is currently at my place in Gladstone so if it helps I could send photos of the attachment points on the bike.

That plastic bit should be inside the tube behind the snap ring. The right side tube in your photo is the correct setup

My OSSA also has the top mount larger than the bottom and it doesn't have an old sleeve still there

The drain holes on the fork sliders on that bike are at the side. Later sliders have the drain holes at the rear.

That is not very early but early enough to have the fork sliders they started production off with. Another thing that changed during production of the 434 model is the cylinder casting. The earliest production bikes have an un-finned section above the exhaust port. I've heard that production TY250A numbering started at 434-000101. Sorry I have no idea about title or MSO in your country.

Here are the footpeg and tank re-shape photos of the mrmikkelsen XL185s trials bike

PM sent

Medium silver metallic. There looks to be plenty of original paint there to do a match at a paint shop if you want it to be exact. The wheel hubs are the same colour as the frame. How early is the frame/engine number? I see it has the early type fork sliders.

I seem to remember he said he pushed out the inner steel bushes

I don't know what it is but it is a beautiful design and well-made

To have so little flaking after all these years, you have got a good one. One of mine on a 1975 bike is still perfect while another on a 1978 bike was terrible and had to have a liner fitted. From memory your bike is a 115 or 116 which may have the type of rear hub that came with a ferrous liner from new.

Before you ride it you will need to fit the frame braces that are missing in your photos. They connect the outside swingarm pivots to the lug on the rear edge of the cylinder head

Yes