What you absolutely must have for your chinese oko carb is the clear float bowl. Nothing says you have made it like that trick piece... 

 

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb71/biffsgasgas/60C64AB3-B822-4BD4-814B-985C652E11C3_zpsekasz4c9.jpg

--Biff

Oh Yes, the plastic float bowl is a lovely looking addition indeed...But one has to be careful not to damage it when rapping on the carb with a stone to try unstick the float out on the trail.

Hi there just a quick update on my 320 exhaust rocker ,fitted new rocker and found the shimes to be wrong size .i had 3 pairs in total  from previous adjustments ,so found nearest over size and ground the top face down on a square sharpening stone only 0.0 something of a mm ,this was easier than I thought and saved me waiting 3 weeks for new ones  .  Not sure if I mentioned I also fitted new decompression mechanism as this has not worked for the last year or 2  . End result is a bike that is almost a pleasure to start ,easy to kick over and start. Before fixing decompression I was leaning on a tree with all my weight over the bike to be able to kick it over so this is a huge improvement. Just one negative , im not sure weather I can hear a ticking on idle. I wonder if this is something to do with decompression mechanism and it will have a short life like the last one . If anyone has any experience or imformation on this it would be appreciated regards ralphy

@Biff: Thanks for sharing that tip, looks like a useful addition.

@Ralphy: I've thought about that, but wasn't sure if the shim surface has been hardened. Anyway, I finally received my shims a few days ago. As far as I can tell from listening to Sherco 4T bikes shown running on youtube, most of them have a slight ticking noise on idle. Also read this: 

Apparently, the rattling/ticking noise is normal. 

Right now I'm having other commitments, meaning I will not be able to work on the bike for the next few weeks. 

Well, the few weeks have passed. (...)

We knew we had to do a complete makeover of the back garden. After that, we thought, let's do the front garden also while we're at it. Which turned out to take considerable more time and effort than we had anticipated. Then we did the bathroom. Then she decided to do a training and a career switch, starting her own company, meaning I had to give up my hobby room. We just finished building her new office. In between I also suffered some health issues, meaning I couldn't ride trial bikes. It's also the time were literally everything we bought ten years ago starts failing all at once. On top of that the neighbors washing machine pumped it's contents to our top floor, meaning three wrecked floors, walls and ceilings. Just when we had that lot dry and cleaned, they did it again. Total chaos. In short, life got in the way big time. 

She started about a new kitchen, living room, the lot, but wisely decided we've reached the DIY boiling point. It's time for having fun again.

In between chaos I've managed to do some extensive rebuilding work on my old 1996 Yamaha TDM which had been sleeping for years. Starting riding again, joined a club, and got really excited. More mods and maintenance are planned, but I need to finish the Sherco first to clear my head, and have some decent space to work the TDM.   

Also, the plan is for the whole family to ride trials again from the new season start somewhere in februari 2019. Last week the missus fell in love with a 2012 Scorpa TY125 4-stroke with E-starter. She hates not being able to start the 290, only to see me having a go and start it first kick. I'm hoping to keep the 290, because it's a blast, and having a spare bike can come in handy. The shop still had some minor carb tweaks to do on the TY-125, because it's tiny jets tend to clog after a week not running. (thanks to ethanol gas).

If all goes well, we're back in business end of the year, both riding 4 stroke.

Got the garage all cleaned out, starting on the wheel bearings tonight! 

Edited October 8, 20187 yr by proper

Got the new bearings in, as well as the new rear hub spacer. The old one had several deep dents from the axle. Just shows what this bike has endured. It also explained the large play of the rear wheel, despite the previous owner having replaced the bearings. 

Mounted a new red anodized rear sprocket with 41 teeth. Used new sprocket bolts, since it came with non fitting countersink bolts. New nyloc nuts on the back. 

On the front, a new 10T sprocket.

 

 

The frame is a mess. It requires repainting after several small incidents round the shop. Also discovered some spots where the paint is coming loose. 

It seems the few spots of old coating I didn't remove from hard to get spots, reacted with the new paint. 

I'll touch up the weak spots for now, and powdercoat the frame next year. 

Edited October 14, 20187 yr by proper

Could use a bit of advice: Should I mount the radiator before reinstalling the engine in the frame? 

If it's anything like the 2 strokes I'd leave the radiator until the engine is in

 

Got a good quote for powdercoating the frame, got it back in high gloss black! Should have done that a year ago, instead of trying to do it myself using spraycans, wasting time and money.

Took the forks apart, heavy pitting and deep scratching on the black diamond coated tubes. Filled all the damage with black epoxy, will try to sand it smooth without damaging the black coating. Fingers crossed.

Got all the wheel bearings replaced.

Cleaned the front brake caliper, replaced brake pads and flushed the brake fluid with fresh DOT4.  

 

Sanded the patches of black epoxy down using 1200 grit waterproof. Looks usable now. Mounted new bushings, seals and wipers. 

Got the engine back in. Hardest puzzle in the world. I have no idea how to describe the procedure of fitting the frame around the engine. After several hours of messing about, it suddenly went in. No damage to the powdercoated frame. 

Edited January 2, 20197 yr by proper

looking good!

On 2/24/2017 at 11:02 PM, proper said:

There's an update on the valves too. I increased compression force on the Clamp way beyond my comfort zone, and the half bits popped loose from the stem, covering half the workshop floor. Retrieved both. (Pfew!!!)

There's quite some carbon deposits on the valves. Mating surfaces also have spots of carbon. Time for some valve lapping...

Its usual to just give the end of the spring compressor over the valve stem a light tap with a hammer, this frees the friction fit of the collets in the top hat.

By the time you have this bike completed it should look amazing and you should be proud of your efforts??

8 hours ago, section swept said:

Its usual to just give the end of the spring compressor over the valve stem a light tap with a hammer, this frees the friction fit of the collets in the top hat.

If I remember correctly, there was just one valve with sticking collets. The other three popped easily without massive force. I did use the tapping trick, but it was no use on that single bugger. 

8 hours ago, section swept said:

By the time you have this bike completed it should look amazing and you should be proud of your efforts??

Thanks! It's normal for me that projects take considerable time, and overshoot budget way beyond sanity. But I'm enjoying it massively. Lot's of TLC involved. She'll be a beauty again. 
I'm just hoping it 'll start! I've counted in a few extra months for the Chinese carb adjustments, which will probably be the most interesting part of this rebuild.

So far the swingarm, rear wheel, header, carb, airbox, radiator and front fork are mounted.
It's so typical you read the instructions for filling the front fork legs with oil, make mental notes about FIRST fixing the drain bolt in the bottom, only to fill it up without that bolt... 
Need to sort the rear brake master cylinder and brake lever, chain, cooling hoses and exhaust (it's polished, like the front forks, swingarm and bash plate ? ).
Then electronics and plastics are next.  Most, if not all, plastics will be new. I'm trying to save the tank. 

So far my observation is that this bike has seen plenty of abuse, but was well cared after.
There's not a bit on the bike that wasn't badly scratched or damaged by rock / concrete impact. All the bearings were locked solid, lots of rust everywhere.
But all the bolts and screws were like new, with threads and heads in great condition.

Edited January 11, 20197 yr by proper