Thanks for the info guys, yeah spoke to MRS , Martin was busy at the time so didn,t get a definate answer but as you say Vertex does them, didn,t know they were standard on the sherco,s , seen them on Gas Gas though as standard, i was more concerned with if the piston would fit all years as Vertex say all 290,s but only list as Bultaco Sherco, don,t mention years or later Sherco,s.
Just received my top end rebuild parts for my 2000 2.9(barrel and piston) my old piston had Beta on the inside and my new one says Vertex. Not sure if that helps with whether or not they fit later year shercos.
Hell, buy the big bore bike, learn to use the clutch and remember a little throttle goes a long way and you should be ok. I say this assuming you have ridden some type of motorcycle in the past. As your skills progress you won't need to buy another bike later on.
As far as which brand of bike, as the others have said if they are well taken care of there should not be any major issues with any of them.
Searching this forum for 2004 Sherco's may help point out if there is a common problem to that year.
I am sure Zipper explained all this logical quick swap stuff to the keeper of the family jewels! He He He!!!
She should have asked, "Why do you need fresh chrome for the same old ass!"
She did ask that question, and I told her "So that your ass will be all shiny and get my attention again"
I should be out of the hospital in time to ride trials in 2011.
(just joking)
Zippy done sold his little 250 Ninja to get $$$ for parts for the other bikes.
I have been having so much fun with that little Toyota MR2 I just did not see a reason to keep the Ninja. MR2 I can drive in the cold and the rain, but due to the miracles of heaters and a roof I stay warm and dry. The MR2 is a more "practical" toy.
Do you actually need a rechrome? Lots of times a bore can be cleaned up quite acceptably with a hone job and an oversized piston. This work is a bit specilized and the bore measured properly though. A good cyl shop can tell you!
Easier and less down time to just ride it until the parts show up from Dealer Dude and swap them out and send my barrel in for the core charge. Similar to what is done with a starter, ya know get a re-manufactured one and pay the core charge, and get the core charge back when you take in your bad starter.
Since I will probably not get a new bike for another 10yrs the other benefit is it will be a totally new top end and when I need to replace pistons later I will be able to replace more pistons before I need a new barrel............did that make any sense there????
I should have bought a new piston, but NNNOOOO I was too cheap. So there is much piston slap and rattles like crazy . And now 2 years later I am buying.
Head O-rings
Piston kit (piston, rings, wrist pin and circlips)
The only difference I am aware of is it seems some pistons may have a cutaway in the rear skirt and others not, but that in itself makes no difference in performance.
A glance through the 99-00 parts books and I did not find the 2.9 piston listed? All the same, best to ck with the importer to be sure.
Roumour was it was the same piston as Beta 270, and many pistons still said Beta on them in the casting.
Precise fitment depends upon the A-B-C sizing variences, so you must ck top piston stamping letter to be sure.
Yep the piston in my 2000 2.9 has Beta written all over it.
Well to try and get this back on track with the and the occasional
Blonde paint job
A blonde, wanting to earn some money, decided to hire herself out as a handyman-type and started canvassing a wealthy neighborhood. She went to the front door of the first house and asked the owner if he had any jobs for her to do.
"Well, you can paint my porch. How much will you charge?"
The blonde said, "How about 50 dollars?" The man agreed and told her that the paint and ladders that she might need were in the garage. The man's wife, inside the house, heard the conversation and said to her husband, "Does she realize that the porch goes all the way around the house?"
The man replied, "She should. She was standing on the porch."
A short time later, the blonde came to the door to collect her money.
"You're finished already?" he asked. "Yes," the blonde answered, "and I had paint left over, so I gave it two coats. "Impressed, the man reached in his pocket for the $50. "And by the way," the blonde added, "that's not a Porch, it's a Ferrari."
AAAHH! but you see these engineer guys believe the spec is like the Holy Word of God and not able to be incorrect, so therefore the piece of equipment is correct for the application even though it is proven in operation that it is not working for what they want. So because it is specified for that then we lowly operators just don't understand and are not worth listening to.
Other things they like to do as an example.
Equipment runs at a average of 120 psi. (notice "average" so it will on occasion go higher)
Spec for two pieces of equipment.
Equip A is operating range for 20psi - 200psi costs $1200
Equip B is operating range for 20psi - 125psi costs $800
B is cheaper and the whole world runs on saving $$$$$ right now, nobody thinks long term anymore.
So they purchase B and don't understand why it won't work when the pressure spikes up to 135psi.
So now we are faced with down time and repairs because we are pushing the equipment at it's upper range 95% of the time and the other 5% we exceed the upper range and break it.
These are the things I find frustrating.
I will temper my post with the following: NOT ALL engineers are like this, but there are a large percentage out there.
OK enough ranting from me.
I would also like to restate that Engineers do provide a vital part of making things work and getting things started. But it would be nice if they could admit that they have made a mistake at those times they make a mistake. I am not trying to lump all engineers in one category, just complaining about the bad ones. (and there are quite a few)
my experience of Indian engineers isn't good, they're really short in the lateral thought department)
Hell my experience with any engineer has not been good...........All I hear is "It works on paper" or "It specs out properly" or my favorite "There is no reason this should not be working". And this is after repeatedly proving in real time and actual operation that their POS is not working.
Don't get me wrong Engineers fill a very needed and vital part of the process of getting things done. They have the ideas and the starting point. They are just not very good at accepting they may be wrong and need to re-figure a thing or two to make this thing work properly.
Previous rant provided by a production worker that has to use this equipment every day.
I hear what your saying Zippy as I would like a four stroke 'cos it's suits my (lack of) style but I'm having a hard time justifying the extra cost between my 05 two stroke and a 2008/9/10 four stroke.
So my question to you is ; Was that Beta $3/4000? better than your Sherco ?
Answer: NOPE!
At this point with my level of riding my current 2000 sherco is much more capable than I am.
A newer bike would be nice, but this one works just fine..........I also find it easier to justify rebuilding a 10 year old engine as apposed to a 3 year old one.
Artie,
On occasion I can be honest and have helpful, meaningful comments...............Don't happen often though
I currently have a 2000 sherco 2.9 2T, I like it very much. I prefer 2T for ease of maintenance and the way the engine reacts.
One of our competitors in MOTA has a Beta Evo 4T and he let me take it for a spin. I was quite surprised with the bike. Did not really feel all that heavy and had shed loads of torque on the bottom. I stopped at the bottom of a medium steep hill and blasted up from dead stop, went over a 18inch-24inch size log in the middle of the hill. After going over the log I shut the throttle right off and it was so quiet I almost thought it stopped running. When the rear tire touched down on the dirt again, I opened up the throttle and just powered right up the rest of the hill. All this without pulling in the clutch lever.
So Moral of the story "Buy what you like and enjoy it"
I can still get parts for my 10 year old beast, so I am certain parts will be available for the 4t's even if they stop producing the bikes.
I guess I should rephrase, they did cover 2009? or was it 2008 nationals? My memory is failing me somebody please have the correct year that they covered the events.......
One thing I keep in my mind when near a danger spot (like those rocks that could swallow an ankle...) was something I read on here from Zippy or Copemech (pretty sure) , "...don't hold on, just let the bike go. They're amazingly strong bikes."
Could not have been me............ I always think I can save it if I can just wrap my left leg around the swingarm, get my right leg to hold the exhaust header pipe, and get my hands on that skid plate. I know I can pull it back.
Some Interesting Questions!
in General Trials Talk
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