ridgrunr

Our club is the Wasatch Trials Association in Utah. We've been in business since 1973 and to be honest, we have just about the same number of riders today that we did when I started riding 25 years ago with the club. We average 20-40 riders at our meets (dependeing on the location). Off hand I can think of 5 new riders that started this year. Our main problem is distance. I drive 3-5 hours one way to get to our events. The spectators we have are mostly family members. I've seen hundreds of riders come and go in the last 25 years. We probably have 5 of us that started out together 25 years ago left. One thing that was driving experienced riders away was the time they had to take off of work to set a meet (we have 10 meets each year), so we changed how we set our events last year. Historically we had a couple of guys be Trials marshals who went out to the area a few days before the meets and set all the sections. Seemed like it was the same half dozen guys setting all the meets, and quite frankly we're getting burned out, not to mention old! So last year we started setting the sections the day of the event. Guys show up at 8:00am and are paired up to go out and set one section on the loop. Each pair of section setters is given a small back pack with ribbon, split plates, markers and such that they'll need to set a section. Ideally we want to pair a lower class rider with an upper class rider paired together. Section setting starts around 8:00am and they have three hours to set the section as the meet starts at 11:00. We usually are done with the event by 4:30 pm. Each rider who sets a section gets 5 additonal club points (a first place gets 20) for the day, plus the entry fee for riders who set sections is $20 vrs $25 for those who don't. So far we haven't had any problem getting riders to show up and set sections. We had ten great sections at last Saturdays event. The other plus for setting a section that you get to "ride in" the section that you set to make sure it works. That helps the riders warm up and we get better sections. This has helped get a lot more riders involved in the section setting chores, and we have seen a lot more diversified sections. It's helped get more riders involved with helping the club run.

Scorpa's us a (TK) Teikei carb.

I leaned out the needle and main jet on my '08 Yamaha powered SY250r, but never messed with the pilot. I'm getting ready to some winter time maintenance and thought I'd mess with the pilot. Bike runs great, but I get some back firing occasionally while starting the bike between sections, and the bike seems to use more fuel than most of the others, so I wonder if it's running really rich with the stock #40? Looking at what's available, it seems there's a #38, and a #42, #44 and #46. Now my pea brain tells me should lean it out (I operate between 3000 and 7000 feet) and the #38 would be leaner than my stock #40, but my buddy swears it's different with pilot jets and the bigger the number, the leaner they are, which is why they offer more bigger (leaner?) jets than the one smaller (richer) jet. Anyone know what the scoop is with the pilot jets?

I think there might be one available at Jorgensen Honda in Richfield, UT. Was sold but I believe the buyer backed out. https://www.facebook.com/JorgensensInc

I run Maxima 75 wt lite transmission fluid in my 08, Yamaha engined SY250. I've never had the clutch stick, and there's no drag. In a lot of bikes, it makes a difference what type of ATF you are using. In my 02 Montesa 315R we've tried a lot of different fluids in the tranny is real particular. The one that works best is Valvoline Maxlife. It's a full synthetic in the red bottle. Clutch is like butter with the Maxlife.

I think the new Scorpa looks great! I love the orange too. Won't have to worry too much which bike is yours when you wade into that ocean of red bikes while trying to find your bike at the starting gate. I bought an '08 Scorpa new in '08. I could have bought any bike I wanted, but wanted something that would last for a few years that wouldn't break everytime I put it into a section or went on a trail ride. Well, after five years, a trials event almost every month, five trips across the Five Miles of Hell, and a couple of hundred practice sessions, I've replaced......wait for it......the fluids and tires. Oh wait, I did replace the reeds. They were chipped. Other than that I've broken not one item on this bike. I don't baby it. I ride it, but face it, I'm not a Champ rider. I ride the Intermediate class and have been riding Trials since 1975 and now at 60 years old, the bike, any bike is not the weak link in the chain anymore. So I wanted one I could ride for a few years and not have to worry too much about it holding up. My Scorpa has done just that. I've owned Yamaha's, Fantics, GG's, Beta's and Montesas. They all had their pluses and minuses. There's no such thing as a perfect bike. I've owned lot's of bikes, but if I was going to go out and buy a new bike, just cause I wanted one. I'd buy new Scorpa.

I tried the most of the "Special" foam filter oils. Even tried some "spray on" foam filter specific type filter oil on my V65 Sabre. Lost five miles per gallon of gas. The stuff was so thick nothing could get through it. Might as well painted it with tar. If my 1100cc V4 with four carbs can't suck air through that stuff just think how little air is probably getting through to your 250cc Trials engine using that paste! So I tossed the stuff and went back to using a lighter oil and it was right back at 45 mpg. 60,000 miles and 28 years and I'm still grinning when I smack that throttle. I've use pretty much the same stuff, be it Mobil 1 5w30 or Valvoline Synpower 5w20, or Amzoil 2 stoke or what ever I have left over in all five machines I own. I've used them on my Sabre, my Kawasaki Concours, my Kawasaki Brute Force, four Yamaha TY's, a Reflex, two Fantics, a Beta, three different GAS GAS's, and now my Montesa and my Scorpa. The trick is to just get the filter moist so the dirt sticks to it, but you don't want it dripping or gooped up. It also helps to clean it pretty regularly. You can look at the filter and tell if it needs cleaned. Then the truth is in looking inside the air filter box with a flash light and seeing if there are any particulates in there when ever you clean your filter. THAT is also why you SHOULD grease the mating surfaces where the plastic meets the filter. This ensures a more particulate tight fit should there be any irregularities in the mating surfaces. Again, like the oil, I don't think it makes a lot of difference what sort of grease you use, as long as you do grease them. One last thing. I've discovered the hard way that using solvents or gasoline to clean them can damage foam air filters, especially the ones that have glued seams. I've gone to using Dawn dishwasing liquid and fairly warm water. The dawn really cuts the grease and grime, while being gentle on your filter and your delicate hands! Let it dry over night, oil it up with that little bit of the 10w40 Pennzoil you have left in the bottle after you changed the oil in your lawnmower, squeeze out the excess, grease the mating surfaces, install the dude and go riding. If you do this, it'll be as good as you can get it.

Probably not. A lot of guys have gone to ATF. We put that in my sons 315 Montesa and he loves it. He rides Advanced and can do all the hopping stuff.

The '08 calls for 5 wt.

Inside the fork seal you'll find a round spring. That round spring is actually a long spring that is screwed into itself, male into female end. If you take the spring out of it's slot with a small screwdriver and look closely at it, you can see the mating ends. Unscrew the two ends from each other and you'll have a single long spring. Now cut 1/4 inch off the female end (NOT THE MALE END!) Now screw the two ends back together and you'll have a slightly smaller spring. Reinsert it back into the groove in the seal and then mount it. I do this to all the fork seals I've mounted. It puts a little more pressure on the seal which helps it to not leak. I've also put the neoprene fork protectors on every bike I have, even my Kawasaki Concours and my 1985 V65 Honda Sabre. Both have had the same fork seals in it since I bought them. They've never leaked. Those protectors keep crap out of the seal and will also give some protection to the fork slider should you touch it against say a granite rock. One little ding in a fork slider will eat seals forever. I'm a big beliver in fork protection. We ride in the rocks. 90% granite, 10% sandstone. Both are hard on forks. I've had fork guards on the last 15 bikes I've had. I change my fork oil very couple of years, but have never had a seal failure. The fork guards have saved my forks numerous times. I made mine out of thin walled PVC pipe. Cost me $2.00. You can see both on my Scorpa on the pic below.

Welcome to The Scorpa world. I have an 08 and love it. There's not an awful lot of difference between the 2003 and my 08. Graphics of course, and I believe the engines got a little faster in the later years, that could be due to lighter flywheels. I'm not sure. A lot of guys think the Yamaha engine is old fashioned and heavy, but I've loved mine. They last and hold up well over time. My Scorpa has been ridden in a Trials event almost every month since I got it in apring of 08. It took 2nd place out of 6 guys in the Intermediate class last Saturday (got beat by four points for first). I think it's well suited for most riders, easy to ride and rock solid. That's one of the problems I'm having with some of newer bikes from the other manufacturers. They are getting so minimal that after a year or two they are getting pretty ragged. I guess that's fine if a guy's rich and can afford a new bike every year, but unfortunately I'm not. I usually ride a bike for ten years. I just bought an almost new 2002 Montesa Cota for my son for the same reason. It too has longevity and holds up, and like the Yamana engine in the Scorpa you can't beat that Honda engine in the Montesa. The SY's have an embosed raised VIN number block on top of the engine cases. That block has some sharp corners that will dig into the bottom side of the aluminum exhaust mid section and cause it to split out. Make sure those corners are rounded off. I used a dremel tool on mine. 50:1 is way too rich. You can easily run 70 or 80:1. It's hard to get it exact edpending on the container you are using to mix the oil from, so anything in that 70 o 80 range is in the ball park. I'm running Amzoil 2 stroke oil with 100LL av gas, and it really likes it. I run Maxima 75 light transmission fluid in mine. Transmission and clutch work great. Carb is not easy to get to. It's doable once you learn how, but you'll need to take off the fender, tank, aluminum top brace and air filter box to get to it. The good news is that once you get it set, you usually don't have to get into it often. I run iridium NGK plugs. They last forever and don't foul. There are lots of other tricks here if you'll do a search. Good luck

I didn't like the screw mounts on my Scorpa rear fender because I was afraid the screws would rip out in a fall. I see one guy is even trying magnets (be interesting to see how that works). Until then, here's a pretty easy fix to replace the screws, that let you use nylon zip ties to hold the rear fender on. I simply took a small "L" bracket I got at the hardware store and mounted it to the current theaded hole. I bent the top around the air filter box to keep it from spinning, then the hole in the fender and the new hole in the brakcet line up so you can use the zip ties. I like breaking the ties a lot better than breaking the fender!

I haven't replaced the bearings on my Scorpa. but I imagine they come out like the Fantics and Gas Gas's I've done. Inside the hub is a metal tube spacer, it's the one the axle goes through. Once the axle is out, you should be able to push that tube space slightly off center to the side with a long phillips screw driver. Once you have it moved slightly off center, you can get a long center punch through the axle tube so that it can be placed against the side of the bearing. Then tapping lightly on the center punch you should be able to knock the bearing out the far side. Once it's out, you simply turn the wheel over and knock out the other bearing. A few times I have warmed the bearing up with a heat gun before knocking it out. Beware though, once you commit to knock out the bearing, the center punch will probably ruin it as you knock it out, so make sure you have new ones to put back in. One more trick that will save you problems down the road. Often the bearings you buy are not very well greased (that's why they go bad in the first place). Before you install the new bearing, take a super small flat screw driver and work the rubber (plastic) donut side off the bearing exposing the inner roller bearings. Then pack the bearing with water proof grease, press the side donut back on, then install it. I put some anti-seize around the outside of the bearing before I press it into the wheel so that it will come out easier if you ever need to do it again. A large socket the same size as the bearing can be used to gently knock against with a hammer to seat the new bearing back into the wheel. Don't forget to put the spacer tube back in there. Once you've got the new bearing in, every time you take the wheel off again, say to mount a new tire, front tire too, carefully work the plastic side off the bearing and re-grease the bearings. I've never had to replace a bearing again if I keep them greased. That's my story anyway...and I'm sticking to it.

Ok, rode Utah's 5 Miles of Hell yesterday. http://www.utahtrial.../5moh/5moh.html What a great day! Three of us went across, my Scorpa, Chris on his Gaser and Jay on his YZ250. Wondered how the YZ would do, but he did OK. He worked a lot harder than we did on the Trials bikes, but he was prepared, as was his bike! A broken shifter lever on the Gasser was our only issue. The new Boyesen reeds worked great in the SY, but they did make it run a little rich in the mid range and it used a little more gas than usual. I could hear it popping more on the low end too, so I dropped the needle a notch this morning. Other than that, the bike ran great all day. This was the Scorpa's third time to Hell, and it has survived every trip completely unscathed. Can't say that for the three KTM's we met half way across. Guy said he had never crashed his bike so much in one day. You can see the broken bike parts that have paid homage to Hell in the rock carne at the base of the 5MOH sign. I did go down once, in some of that stinking 7 inch deep sand in the bottom of one of the canyons, but it was a nice slow soft tip over, so I just lay there in the sand a caught five winks. Man my thighs are burning today though after riding 18 miles of that stuff, it's actually 9 miles across (we rode it both ways, which the KTM guys could not believe!) So anyway the bike runs great again! Gotta tell yoiu, I'm loving that Scorpa! If you ever want to see what you...and your bike...are made of, I highly recommend that you go to Hell and find out! All five..er nine...miles of it!

Yup, them's the ones, the power reed on the left. Things came in like two days too!

Well, after trying everything I could think of in an effort to get rid of that top end flat spot, I finally replaced the reeds. I was suprised to discover the stock reeds were fiber and not steel like I was expecting. But, they were chipped. Two of the petals had chips on the top. So I put in the Boyesen Power reeds, and just like that the top end flat spot was gone. Revs quicker and smoother too. Well worth the $39 they cost me. Think I'm all ready for the Five Miles of Hell next week. Now if I could only figure out a way to shed thirty years!

Looks like there isn't a rev limiter. But after trying every jetting possibility I could think of (man I'm becoming an expert at getting to that carb! And yes that carb is crystal clean!) I couldn't find any combination that would get rid of that top end flat spot. Bike runs perfectly everywhere else. So I went on a web search and eventually found a site that explained what could be expected to be found with most intake issues and how to diagnose and correct them. In one, he described my issue perfectly, then said the problem was most likely an intake reed issue, the one thing I hadn't checked. That made sense to me, so I ordered a set of Boyesen Trials specific reeds. http://boyesen.com/power-reeds-358.html. They probably won't make it here in time for the meet this weekend, but should be here in time to get them in for the 5 Miles of Hell ride. I'll let you know.

Been doing some jetting to see if I can help end the stalled engine 5's. I've never really ran it full throttle before to check the main jet spark plug color, but have noticed the revs go a little flat right at the top, as if there is a rev limiter. Tried rich, tried lean and it doesn't make any difference. Bike runs great, gut goes flat right at the top of the R's. Anyone expereinced this? Now I'm wondering if other makes have a rev limiter?

I know you said you checked the vent tubes, but it might be worth a second look. Sounds like the same thing that happened to a Fantic I had.

Hey Cope. Might have to do something. Would be interested to see how one with the orange frame does. Maybe after I get the truck paid off. My main competition just got himself one of them funny looking lemon yellow framed 2013 bikes. He got me by 1 point last year, 88 to 87. It'll be interesting to see if it helps him this year.

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get back to this topic guys, but just thought I'd give an update. Been riding the '08 SY250R now for what, almost 5 years!!?? Wow, how time flies. Bike has ridden a Trials meet almost every month since I got it, three trips across the Five Miles of Hell and who know how many hours practicing or pretending to. So how has the beastie treated me? Pretty well. Let's see, what went wrong? Dropped the tank and cracked it at the top just in front of the fuel cap. Found some neat mairtime plastic fuel epoxy that sealed it right up, was even white, then I coated the inside of the tank with some Caswell epoxy and it's as good, maybe better, than new. Sort of wish the aluminum Marazocci forks had drains in the bottom of the legs, as it's not so fun to have to remove the forks to replace the oil, but at least with the fork protectors I put on, I'm still running the original fork seals that have never leaked. I so wish it was a little easier to get that carb out for cleaning and jet work too. But I guess that's about it. I run 100LL av fuel that it seems to like a lot better than pump gas, amsoil full synthetic at 80/1, and maxima MTL lite 75 wt transmission fluid. My one gripe, well not really a gripe, but I do wish sometimes that engine was just a little narrower, which would use a narrower skid plate, which would help keep me from getting the plate hung up on those sharply slanted rocks which seems to catch the side of the skid plate a lot more than those super narrow GG's. This is probably fixed now on the models that use the narrower Sherco engine. So over all I've really enjoyed the bike. Not as much as my '94 Fantic KRoo (man I loved that bike, except for that stinking plastic front fender holder on the upside down forks) but probably just as much as my '99 GG 321. So what and when's my next bike? Good question. I mean I'm 59 now. I don't think I ride near as well as I once thought I did. So let's face it, the Scorpa is probably not the limiting factor here. But, I am looking forward to April 6, when we go across the 5 Miles of Hell (http://www.utahtrial.../5moh/5moh.html) again. Taking a 30 year old I work with me across this time who will be riding a YZ250R. Be interesting to see which is better on the 5MOH a Yamaha powered YZ or a Yamaha powered SY. I'm betting on the SY.

If you are wanting to slow it down a bit, you might put a slow turn throttle on it, that is if you have a fast one on there now. The white tubes are the fast one and the black are slow.

Another tranny fluid you might look at is Maxima light 75 wt transmisssion fluid. I've used it in all of my bikes from Fantics, to GG's and now my 08 Scorpa. I've had great success with it. I just turned on a friend to another trick I do. It's a good idea to leave the bar clamp bolts on your front brake and clutch mastercylinders loose enough so they will rotate around the bars instead of breaking off in case of a fall...and you will fall. I put a few layers of teflon tape around my bar, then put the handle bar contol clamp over the tape. Makes it so you can tighten it down enough to stay in place, but they'll spin and hopefully not break if you biff it. Helps so the clamps don't dig in and score the bars too. Amzoil full synthetic at 80:1 and 100LL aviation fuel that you can usually get from any of the smaller airports. Luckily, I work at one and my Scorpa really likes the 100LL gas over the 85 Octane gasahol they sell at most gas stations.

I've got pics of most of the Scorpas, and all the other bikes for that matter on the utahtrials.com web page. http://utahtrials.com/bike_pics/scorpa/scorpa.html You should be able to find a pic of it there.

I believe this is the 2013 Scorpa SR More info can be found here: http://www.scootracemoto.com/modeles_2013/scorpa/scorpa-sr-280-p-3357.html