1oldbanjo

Mike: Where are you located? Update your profile to include where you live and you may make some new local trials friends from this site. The discussion of oil is one that is similar to politics.....but most nearly a religion. There can be some very strong opinions from people.....I am very surprised that I have been the only one to comment so far! I switched to Maxima K2 at the suggestion of Ryan Young - the US Importer of Sherco products. It is the only oil they sell for use in the Sherco 2T. Maxima K2 uses an Ester base stock. Ester oils are more expensive base stocks than others and are unique in that the Ester base has a natural attraction to metal surfaces. Here is a link that explains it: http://www.motul.com.au/fact_sheets/estel_oil.html Here is a link to the Maxima website for K2 oil: http://www.maximausa.com/shopping/index.ph...;products_id=14 I have switched to using the K2 in all my motorcycles and chainsaws a few months ago, and it works fine. However it will probably be years before I have to take anything apart for maintenance to report on how clean it is burning. I have never had any oil related failures and my switch was based on the fact that the 5 time US National Champion and US importer of Sherco's recommended that I start using Maxima K2 to eliminate the dirty oil seepage I was getting out of my exhaust when I used the Mobil 2T.

It will probably be fine at 80:1 in your Sherco - but when in doubt email the tech department at Castrol. I think that most full synthetic 2 stroke motorcycle oils mixed at 80:1 are fine in a trials bike. At first I used Mobil 2T in my Sherco 290 and it worked fine - but I was getting more oil out the exhaust than I wanted. I then switched to Maxima K2 mixed at 80:1 as the US national importer for Sherco (Ryan Young) recommends it.

I have had this kind of dent removal done on a few cars and it worked great. It is truly amazing what they can do. If you will notice on the motorcycle tanks they are working on the access is great - large fuel tanks with big fill holes that provide plenty of room to insert and move the tools around. I have an RL250 Suzuki with a dent - but the small filler cap, narrow tank and the interior hump for the frame backbone all restrict access and make it impossible to get a tool in that will reach the dent. If the dent in your tank is in a location that can be reached by something you can put through your fuel filler opening.....chances are the dent removal could be done.

Welcome to the site. Please update your profile to include where you are located.....then other members can see where you live. This work great for me - a fellow with a 100 acre riding area contacted me and invited me to come ride with his group.

If the spark plug porcelain around the electrode is white.....the bike is running too lean and the spark plug is too hot. If the mixture is correct and the bike is running well, the spark plug insulator should be a nice chocolate brown color. If the bike is running too rich the spark plug insulator will be black. Spark plug reading are best taken under full throttle - so it may be a bit hard to tell what is going on in a trials bike when you are just puttering around. The high speed blast up the hill you did would have been perfect for taking a plug reading - but you have to stop the bike almost immediately and take the plug reading before you do any additional idling or slow speed riding. I have a lot of experience with plug readings on motocross bikes and chainsaws......but my Sherco 290 ran fine and I never took the plug out and did any readings while I owned it. I now have a new 3.2 and it runs just fine....I have never taken the plug out yet. Here is a link to some photos - but a lot of this does not apply to your bike. I think the normal/tan plug is a bit light colored for a 2 cycle engine. Look at how the overheated spark plug has melted the sharp corners off the electrodes and the porcelan is white. http://www.classic-car-magazine.co.uk/arti...uide_chart.html Here is a page from a site that shows a better color of tan for a normal running 2 stroke. If you are putting around at slow speed you may not be able to keep a nice tan color - but after high speed runs it should have a nice tan color. http://www.nh-scooters.com/article/articleview/55/1/2/

Well it sounds to me like your cooling system is fine - but your bike may be running too lean. With too much air and not enough fuel - a 2 stroke engine runs too hot and does not have adequate lubrication. Your carb may have been dirty, your fuel system may not have been flowing enough fuel to keep the float bowl full during the heavy throttle work going up a hill, your jetting may be wrong, your fuel tank vent may not be working right. First you need to get the engine repaired. Hopefully the cylinder can be salvaged, and you will need to get any aluminim transfer from the piston off the cylinder bore. Then fit a new piston and rings and get the engine back together. Then clean the carb and confirm the jetting is what others are using in your area, then confirm the fuel flow from the fuel tank by letting the fuel hose run into a container and check that the flow is regular and does not slow down. When you get the bike running again be careful to be a little gentle while it breaks in......and do some plug readings to make sure the bike is not running too lean. Fuel/oil mix of 80:1 is normal - and use a good fuel and a good synthetic oil.

You clean your carb after evey ride.......or just the motorcycle? I really think that your carb needs to be cleaned when you notice a problem.....or when doing annual maintenance. Use good clean fuel, avoid spraying a lot of water directly on the carb when washing the bike, and you should not have to clean the carb very often.

Try loosening the fuel cap when it is running badly and see if it improves. It could be that your tank vent is not working and you are getting a vacuum in your tank as you ride.

In my vintage 2 strokes I use a good quality synthetic oil mixed at 50:1.

What's wrong with us banjo players? Am I the only banjo player that also rides trials....and enjoys them both?

When I took the lights off my 3.2 I used the wiring harness kit from Ryan Young Products, and I used a kill switch that I bought from him. The kit came with the instructions. Here is a link to the instructions and it shows the wiring harness used - you could make your own if you have wire and connectors. http://www.sherco.com/wayne/Wiring_installation.pdf I have kept the switch on for the two ignition maps - but I honestly don't use it. If you want to remove it you will have to cut the wires and connect one of the two map wires to the third wire. The wire you choose will determine which Map you retain.

So why do you think the decompressor was added? Most manufacturers try to avoid adding parts that are not necessary - both to save cost and to eliminate potential problems. Was it added just to help old guys like me kick the bike over?

This topic was discussed about 4 months ago in this thread: http://www.trialscentral.com/forums/index....showtopic=29383 You might contact the fellow that removed his decompressor and see how it has worked for the last 4 months.

In order to avoid this situation I have two things that I do. One is that I have "mixing tags" that you can attach to you fuel jug and you can switch the tag to show if you have mixed it or not. The second thing I do is that when I have a 2 cycle oil that does not have enough dye in it, I add some. I bought a little bottle of blue dye that is used for dying candles - make sure you get an oil based dye and not a soy based one. It takes about 5 drops of oil per gallon to tint the fuel enough to show vividly that the fuel is mixed. I got the dye from a craft seller on eBay - but any craft shop that deals with candles will have it.

We dump mixed chainsaw fuel mixed at 50:1 in the cars fairly often and it runs fine (we also dump it into the lawn mowers when that season arrives. Since the fuel in this part of the US has ethanol we dump whatever we don't use in 3 months into the car. The catalytic converter is not bothered by burned oil - only by lead which coats the converter media with lead and makes it useless. If all your cars are diesel......give the fuel to a friend as there is really no envornmentally sound way to just dump it. The least amount of environmental damage will come from putting it to use in an engine.

When and engine is running out of fuel - there is usually a brief period where the engine starts to run lean and run a bit faster as the mixture becomes lean. You can turn your petcock off and see what this would feel and sound like while riding - then if the bike behaves the same way when it stops running you will know what it sounds like when the carb stops getting fuel. When the engine stops you could take out the spark plug, place it back into the electric cap and ground the plug against the engine and kick it over and see if it has any spark. While the plug is out you could place a small amount of fuel mix into the cylinder and see if the engine will restart for a brief period. If the engine is running out of fuel you should loosen the fuel cap and see if the fuel flows and the engine will restart. You could also take the fuel line off at the carb and turn the fuel flow on and see how long the fuel will flow out of the tank to confirm that you have good fuel flow from the tank. The fuel should flow in a steady stream until the tank is empty. Your problem does not sound like a crank seal to me - minor air leaks usually make the engine run lean and the engine races or idles weird.

I had that problem on a used 2004 290 that I bought. The previous owner did not take the break lever apart regularly and clean/grease it - so the bearing was dry and the grit wore the bushing. The result was that the brake pedal had a lot of sideway movement. Grease the new bearing and bushing well.......and occasionally take them apart and clean and grease them in the future.

I agree.....I would never put petrol in the gearbox......for any reason. If you are looking to flush the gearbox out use something that is not explosive....and something that has some lubricating value. If you must put something in the gearbox to wash it out.....use diesel fuel. Is the oil that comes out frothy/milky in color? You may have a coolant leak from the water pump seal.

Also check the fuel tank vent....you might be losing fuel flow once enough fuel has been used to create a vacuum in the tank.

It would help to know what part of the world you live in.....and what sort of terrain you might be riding in. I live in Kentucky, USA and wanted to get back into riding after being away for nearly 30 years. I wanted something I could ride around the farm and challenge me without excessive speed. I chose to buy a vintage trails bike with a seat and had a Suzuki RL250 for a few years - then I decided I liked it enough to get a more modern bike. The Suzuki is very reliable and very low maintenance and it works great for getting you familiar with riding again and is something similar to what you used to ride.....modern trials bikes are far more aggressive and nimble and the maintenance is higher as a result of them being much lighter and having water cooling. The vintage bikes are fine for slow trail riding riding up hills and practicing your balance and riding over small obstacles - but when the terrain gets very rugged and the obstacles get larger the newer bikes are far better than the vintage bikes. It is easy to get used to the redution in weight and the much more nimble handlling......it takes a bit longer to get used to how fast the power comes on when compared to a much slower vintage bike.

It was on the wall at Ryan Young Products.....near Louisville, Kentucky.

I second the vote for not needing 110 Octane, and agree that the bike would probably run better on pump gas. If you are using this fuel to avoid ethanol blends in pump gas - I am going to switch over to VP SEF 94 fuel. It is 94 Octane and it will not deteriorate like ethanol pump gas.

I have not taken mine apart - but I did see a diagram of the carb when I bought my bike. The jet holder beneath the slide needle is spring loaded, and when the throttle is opened quickly the spring pushes a small quantity of fuel up into the intake stream.......or that is the way I interpreted the diagram.

I am too familiar with this issue. I bought a used 2004 290 and the fuel tank had grown and was pushing the rear fender back and the tank was very tight in the frame. The bottom of the tank was very soft and flexible and it was rubbing on the engine mount and I was concerned that I was about to become a very "hot" rider! I bought a new fuel tank just before I sold the bike and I bought a new 2009 Sherco 3.2. I had my 3.2 about 6 months and things were going great - then I noticed the fuel tank was getting more flexible and was growing. It was starting to push the fender back and it was very snug in the frame rails. The fuel petcock was leaking as the mount was too flexible and not pushing against the 0-ring tight enough to seal. I had to get a new tank after just 6 months. The area I live in has EPA mandates that require all stations to sell fuel that contains 10% ethanol - and I believe that is what is causing the fuel tanks to swell and become flexible. I talked to one of the delivery truck drivers and found out that the bulk plants that distribute the fuel mix in the ethanol just before delivery to the gas stations. They do sell gasoline without ethanol blending to farmers to use in their equipment, as the blended fuel does not store well in the elevated tanks the farmers use. I was able to buy some of this fuel prior to blending with ethanol and I am now using it, the distributer says they have a lot of companies that do landscaping that buy this fuel for use in their lawnmowers and chainsaws as it stores better than the fuel with ethanol blended in. VP fuel now makes a 94 Octane fuel that is intended for use in landscaping equipment that does not have ethanol in it, and I am probably going to buy some of it for my Sherco.

If you have a Forward Air terminal near enough the shipping is reasonable. I made a crate and shipped a Suzuki RL250 to Colorado from Kentucky a year ago. I over did the crating and the entire package weighed 445 pounds and the cost was $ 284 to ship. Ryan Young uses Fed Ex and the original Sherco crates and last year he shipped my used Sherco 2.9 to Colorado for $ 200. If you use Forward Air's small containier you should be able to get it shipped for a bit more than $ 300. You might also be able to find someone traveling up you way that could bring the bike. If you are really interested in that one.....phone the guy and find out if he is traveling your way......you might be pleasantly surprised to find out he is planning on coming your direction or knows someone that is. I have bought several things and found connections to get them home at little or no cost.....maybe just a dinner.