LOVING my new ride!!! Got the chance to take it out this weekend after working on lightening the clutch and a host of other small items. Today, I made a front plate and looking forward to some fun riding this season. Even got a comment from a modern trials rider, "This bike is surprising! Really feels like a modern bike!!!" New pegs help and I still am smiling all the way...!
Found a free hour of time, so decided to clean up everything and pout it back together dry, just to make sure it all fits properly again. Tried leaving two springs off and WOW what a difference! Single-finger clutch action, and would love to see if this works. Thinking about tightening up everything, Type F AFT and then give it a go. Worse case is drain, tear apart and put back everything like it was. Already seems improved, with the cleaner plates.
UPDATE: Cleaned, polished and cleaned again EVERYTHING! Spent about 30 minutes fine tuning the clutch adjustment. Added 1200cc of Type F ATF and or course the bike cranked up on the first kick. Pulled in the clutch (with ONE-FINGER!!!) and it didn't lurch, budge or move forward at all. Just a nice "click!" Everything seems nice and smooth. It went on the road through all six gears with seemingly no issues. Pulls me up the hills in the yard with ease. Pull the clutch in (which you LOVE to do, now that it's so light" and the bike rolls just like it should.
Found the previous owner upgraded the clutch arm and lengthened it too! Plus an improvement with the larger balls. Always an improvement!!!
Love my bike and can't wait to try it out for a nice day of riding. Appreciate all the advice and support!
Pulled the clutch cover off my Rotax 240 motor (tucked into an Armstrong/Can-Am frame, so thanks for allowing me into the SWM family!) due to the clutch sticking, even after warm. The prior owner ran some pretty thick gear oil, and the motor sat many years unloved. I prefer ATF, but things are still sticky.
Discovered five friction plates and six steel plates. Should there be another friction plate?
I am in the process of cleaning off the gaps in the plates, as I found some good material on this procedure elsewhere. I've attached the pdf.
Got a great note today from John @ Armstrong Trials UK -
Sorry for the really slow reply. You have a very nice bike – my personal favourite for trialling. I think Armstrong produced about 75 of these, about 50% going to the USA as CanAms. They were only a stop-gap model as by then the monoshock era had arrived and Armstrong were developing the alloy frame TA model which came out the following year. I have used my CMT240 as my main bike for 6 years and the rotax motor is impressively reliable BUT actually not as good as the preceeding HIRO motor as a trials engine. It took me a lot of time to back the ignition off and lighten the clutch to make it easy to ride. The chassis suffered from lack of development – the chain line needs fixing to make it straight and the back brake lever needs major modifications to bring it to a location where it can be used properly. Still, I like the overall package and it certainly handles and rides well. I’ve only had to decoke the bike once in 6 years of regular riding, so can’t be bad.
Regards
John
Great information and can't wait to get some more peg/seat time on this bike, to help sort ME out! Thanks, John!!!
Thanks @wheelieman14! You are in line, should I ever sell this "I'm keeping it FOREVER" bike! I've found some HIRO motor models, but love the sound of the Rotax. Reminds me of my MX-1 racing days! Plus, this motor is pretty-much bulletproof.
Just got my bike (1985 Can-Am 240 Trials - Frame #21) and LOVE how it rides and feels! Need to adjust a few things, but that Rotax motor has plenty of low end to pull me up and over most anything. Put a few miles on the odometer at a local vintage trials event, and was smiling the entire time. New decals and touch ups and this pretty bike will look new again. Thinking about improving the pegs, and maybe new shocks one day. Already put a set of Dunlop GP tires on it, and they seem nice and grippy. I'll dream up more things to do, but for now, will just enjoy my new ride!!! Any and all Can-am/Armstrong info, suggestions are encouraged and welcome!
UPDATE! Got the new decals and LOVE how this bike looks now!!! Tony Murphy found me a custom place in California. Great service and price!
My friend took this sweet old bike out for an inaugural ride today and all reports are promising that I will have a HUGE smile on my face in all the sections of next weekend's trials event!!! SO EXCITED!
A friend is working on my Rotax powered Can-Am 240 trials bike and discovered this gem today!!! Looks like a custom job to smooth out the clutch just a bit. I've yet to even see OR ride this bike yet, so excited to try it out. All feedback is welcome!
A friend is in Kansas today and picked up this beautiful Can-Am 240 for me!!! Will post MANY more photos once it gets here and excited about not only a new project, but a new ride for the upcoming twinshock season!
@lineaway - It's tucked away with all the other original parts. Can't let things go. I love the look of this cover and thanks for admiring my little scooter!
A belated HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my friend, Bultaco Larry!!! AKA: lbhbul - you know him as a great resource of Bultaco knowledge and he's ALWAYS willing to help. Larry has become a great friend and I'm not sure of too many people who go out of their way to help the way he does. I enjoy the times we get to chat on the phone, while I bother him with the simplest issues. Larry is truely one of a kind!
Sorry I am a little late on this one, my friend. Wrote it down in three places, but getting older means you forget stuff, right?
ENJOY and thanks for keeping great threads alive, keeping great bikes alive and keeping such wonderful friendships thriving!!!
After getting some (once again) great advice from Larry, I've decided to find some time and just enjoy my Sherpa, rather than continuing to tear it apart hunting ghosts! I bet I discover my riding ability is WAY BELOW this bike's ability!
I did get a chance to break out the paint remover and take off about three coats of black paint on the head. Now it's looking stock and oh, so pretty!!! Love my shiny Bultaco!
It's all in the details, right?!?!? Well, once again Larry (lbhbul) comes to the rescue and made this fantastic cap for my kicker. Not only does it keep the rubber in place, it looks trick too!
Too hot to ride, but never too hot out to admire this pretty Bultaco Sherpa! THANKS, LARRY!!!
I'm kind of jealous that everyone else is sharing photos riding and such, but it's 100+F here, so too hot to go outside these days!!! But...
Without the help of Larry (lbhbul) I would have never tackled this project. The mailman has brough so many packages back and forth, I've lost track! It's almost like an old M*A*S*H episode when Radar ships a Jeep home in pieces... But here's what I did today with my Sherpa:
Larry totally (I mean totally) rebuilt this pipe and it fit like a glove! And using the hose meant to fit between the carb and airbox eliminated all the curse words I used while trying to fit other hoses. Larry also rebuilt the carb and added a cool tab to the air screw, for easy adjustment by hand! Also raised the tank up a bit to keep a safe distance between the pipe. Nice touch!
Well, it cranked right up, idles like a kitten and pulls like a BEAST! Totally love it, but all my fun was cut short with dealing with family stuff, like sick kids and such...
One day I hope to post me aboard this beauty!
Thanks so much, Larry!!! This site has provided some great friendships (and challenges too) that are AMAZING!
Sending Larry more stuff so he can keep working and sharing his great work!!! That pipe looks awesome and will sound even better! Going to try your hand at welding the Miller midbox too?!?!?
My cardiologist is totally supportive of my trials riding and even might join in too!!! Take is easy, rest, recover and then get up on those pegs!!! You've got some bonus years of life, so take advantage of it! And if you want to ride in Texas, let me know and I'll join you at some of our FANTASTIC vintage events here!!!
Show Me Your Twin Shocker!
in Twinshock
Posted
LOVING my new ride!!! Got the chance to take it out this weekend after working on lightening the clutch and a host of other small items. Today, I made a front plate and looking forward to some fun riding this season. Even got a comment from a modern trials rider, "This bike is surprising! Really feels like a modern bike!!!" New pegs help and I still am smiling all the way...!