1oldbanjo

I was looking as well, as my chrome rims are a bit pitted. I asked and was told by Matt at Speed and Sport Vintage Motorcycles the 32 spokes that the TY80 used on the front is a problem. The only replacement they are aware of is a undimpled Excell rim and they run about $ 145 each (The Excell Rim is 1.60 wide and the original is 1.40), and then you have to buy $ 62 worth of spokes for each wheel! I have decided that $ 200 a wheel is a bit too dear......and for the moment I am just going to throw on some new tires and leave well enough alone.

I just bought a 1974 Yamaha TY80 that is in need of new tires. Who makes the best trials tires for this bike? The bike currently has the orignal 2.50-16 Trials on the front and the rear has been replaced with an oversize 3.60-14 Knobby on the back (I don't know what the original width should be). I would like tires that get the most grip in the woods and damp/dry ground - I don't expect the bike to be in the mud very often.

Here is a link for a ratio calculator...and it works in both Gallons and liters. I used an 80:1 mix on my 2004 Sherco 290. http://www.csgnetwork.com/oilfuelcalc.html

Read the entire listing........The last line states "The Ryan Young thing is a fib".

I did stop by the AutoZone last night and buy a $ 4.99 bottle of the spray for applying window film. It included a lintless rag. I won't have time to try it until this weekend.....I will let you know how it goes.

I have a new tank and graphics for my 2009 Sherco 3.2 and I need to mount the graphics. When I did this on my 2004 Sherco 2.9 it was a bit of a challenge to get it on straight and without any wrinkles or bubbles. I peeled back a small corner of the paper and held the graphics against the tank and then stuck the small exposed sticky area down - then once it was centered I pulled the paper out from underneath the graphic and stuck it down as the paper came out from underneath. It appears the 3.2 graphics and new style tank will be a bit harder as the tank is more round and the graphics are only joined at the rear. I know that a lot of the sign companies mount the graphics after wetting the tank with a solution of water and liquid soap. This allows them to slide the graphics a bit to get them centered before the adhesive sticks firmly. Once they are happy with the location they then squegee the water and soap mix out from under the graphics. They require that you be careful for 24 hours after application as the bond is not good yet. Does anyone have some suggestions on how to do this on the first try? Thanks - Dave

If you are bold.......you can try this method! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_e1suUBoT0...feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vboJDpXU5ng...feature=related Good luck!

Both of my bikes never dripped a drop......on or off road. Perhaps the pressure cap on your radiator is not functioning properly.

I am 53 years old and had been away from motorcycles for 34 years. A couple of years ago I bought a Suzuki RL250 as I figured a trials bike with a seat would be best suited for riding around on my farm. About a year ago I bought a used 2004 Sherco 290 and it rode great and had plenty of power and an ability that far exceeded my needs - yet it was still easy to ride as long as you respected the power. The Sherco was so much better at riding over rough stuff that I seldom ride the Suzuki anymore. I sold the 290 about 3 months ago and bought a 3.2 Sherco 4 stroke, as it seems to be a little better suited to my slow riding through the woods. I am sure that any newer trials bike you buy will be a wonderful experience for you - spend enough money to get a bike that is in good shape and not abused or worn out. Sometimes fixing up an old bike can be fun.....but parts and repairs can be expensive and you will get far more riding done if you buy a reliable used bike.

I have a new Sherco 3.2, and what you are describing sounds normal for my bike in the summer. My bike is only runnning a few mintures before the fan comes on, and it runs most of the time I am on the bike when it is warm out. If you are not having any radiator overflow or steam I would think that your bike is running as it should. I did get a little concerned about my bike running too hot one night as it was just getting dark, and you could see that the header pipe glows bright red from the heat. A call to the distributor revealed that this is normal - the exhaust does get very hot.

I just wanted to mention this - I have not tried this method on any bike but did read about it 6 months ago in a road test I found on the internet. A magazine was testing a trials bike that had a Yamaha or Honda engine in it and found the clutch to be too aggressive. The factory mechanic took the case cover off, took out the springs and a metal plate and put a small 1mm bend in one of the metal plates. The bike was then put back together and the clutch feel was vastly improved according to the magazine article. I don't know if this is a good method of solving this problem - or if it should only be used in an emergency to solve a problem in a hurry. I have also heard that lightly bead blasting the metal plates will help to solve the problem of clutches that will not release - and it may help on clutches that are too grabby. On my Sherco 2.9 the clutch got so it would not release after the bike sat overnight, and I lightly sanded the metal plates to remove the shine and the clutch worked great afterwords.

I have a 2009 Sherco 3.2 with less than 10 hours on it. There is an intermittent clatter when I start the bike and it is just warming up and the idle has not stabilized, and as the bike warms up for a minute or two the idle increases and the noise stops. The clatter will return when riding if I let the rpm's drop below a normal idle speed and will immediately go away if I increase the engine speed. I emailed Ryan Young about the sound and he said it is the Valve Decompressor and is normal. The engine releases some compression at low revs and the decompressor is activated by a weight on the cam - low revs allow the decompressor to be activated. I am just going to alter my riding style to avoid really low rpm's and keep the decompressor from engaging except at start up.

I honestly don't have a lot of experience with trials bikes and was hoping that someone would respond to your listing - but I have 35 years of experience with chainsaws and motocross bikes and I really don't think the carbon deposit looks unusual and is pretty typical - I suspect the droplets are just coolant leaked out when the head was taken off. I really don't see that you need to keep taking your head off to decarbon the piston and cylinder head......you are going to wear yourself out taking the engine apart to keep the carbon off as it happens quickly in a two cycle engine. There should not be an interference between the piston and head with the small amount of carbon build up on the piston. Are you using a good full synthetic oil mixed at the recommended ratio? I don't know about your Beta - my Sherco is mixed at 80:1. Find someone that is familiar with your bike and see if your bike knocks louder than theirs......maybe it is time for you to get a piston or rings if the knocking is caused by excessive clearance between the piston and cylinder.

I would never advise tearing into something until you research the problem first. Add oil to the transmission, fill the radiator and leave a bit of air space at the top for expansion, then go for a half hour ride. When you get back drain the transmission fluid and check the color. If the color looks fine put a fresh pan underneath and leave the drain plug out overnight and see if any water comes out into the pan. I suspect that once the bike cools the radiator will no longer be under pressure and you will likely not get any additional water out. If you get milky transmission fluid......then it is time to replace the water pump seal and check the condition of the impellor and shaft. IF you want to tear the bike down and do maintenance.....it is advisable to ride the bike enough that you can find the items needing maintenance. Check the grease in the bearing for the rear brake pedal, take apart the rear suspension and grease al the bearings, check brakes, etc. while you have some down time.

My 09 3.2T generally starts easily if I choke it and then it takes about 3 kick before it will "pop" once, then I remove the choke and then the bike will start on the next kick. You then just have to let the bike idle for a minute while you put your helmet on before adding any throttle. Only once did I flood it.....and it took lots of kicking with the choke off and the throttle open to get it started. After the bike has been ridden and is still warm it starts easily without the choke.

I don't know about your part of the world.....but here in Kentucky I have noticed that the ground is really soft from all the frost heave over the winter. I have found that the front wheel easily loses grip on the soft soil - and I was not having this problem in the fall.

Carl: I have been away from motorcyles for more than 34 years.....my last race was on a new Ossa GPII somewhere around 1978. I bought a used trials bike last year and loved it......I sold it and just took delivery of my new Sherco 3.2 a few weeks ago. Makes me sorry I gave up riding when I moved to Cincinnati to go to college......I really have a lot of catching up to do. I am really enjoying riding again......although the spring rains are making it difficult to get any riding done. Dave

I have had my new 2009 3.2 for about 3 weeks now. It is much better suited to slow riding than my 2004 2.9 was - it feels like it is geared much lower although it may just be the power characteristics of the 4 stroke. It starts and runs fine - provided you follow the ritual. When it is cold you set the choke and leave the throttle closed and kick 2 or 3 times until you hear it pop out the exhaust. Then you push the choke off and kick it once or twice with the throttle closed and when it starts - you let it idle for a minute or two while you put on your helmet and gloves. After the short warm up you can start to give it some throttle - if you rush it and the bike stalls.....it is hard to decide if it needs more choke or just another kick. I flooded it once after stalling the bike by applying throttle too soon and it was very hard to get started as I had flooded it. It required lots of kicking with the choke off and the throttle open to get it running again. I have owned about 15 bikes over the years and evey one was a two stroke and most were race bikes. It is taking me a little while to unlearn my old habits and begin to understand how a 4 stroke motor makes power. The 2 stroke bikes lacked torque and needed some revs to make things go and the more the engine revs the faster the bike would accelerate. This 4 stroke motor seems to be very stong at low revs and the power doesn't feel like it builds with revs - but I am sure that it does and it is just my 2 stroke mentality clouding my judgement. I have less than 4 hours of riding and am still learning and I have not challenged the bike with any kind of hills yet - it has mostly been slow riding and practicing balance and control. I very much like the bike - however I would not call it a very quiet bike and could stand a bit less noise while riding around my property. I don't get on the throttle too much when I am near my neighbors houses and I wait until I am in the woods before I use much throttle. I am not sure the 3.2 is a better bike than the 2.9 - but it is different and probably better suited for my riding style. I am 53 years old and just now learning to ride trials......I have been away from motorcycles since 1978.

Here is the link to the Sherco Parts Manual. You can look up the bolts/screws that you need. http://www.sherco.com/spare_parts.html You may not find a manual for your exact year - but most parts are the same.

I have been using a 50:1 mixture of full synthetic oil (Mobil 2T) in my Suzuki RL250 for a couple of years without any problems. Back in the old days when people just used 30 weight motor oil we would mix at 20:1 - but these old oils were not as good as the modern synthetic oils and needed to be mixed that way to properly lubricate.

On my Sherco I was starting to have a clutch release problem. At first I would just start the bike, roll it forward and put it into first gear and then pull in the clutch and apply some rear brake - and it would work fine the rest of the day. As the summer went on it took longer for me to get it to release. A few weeks ago I had the bike in 3rd, 4th and 5th and could not get the clutch to release after the bike sat for about 3 weeks (We are officially into winter and the snow was just too deep to ride). While the weather was bad I took the clutch cover off and took the clutch apart. I cleaned the metal and fiber discs with mineral spirits and and then lightly scuffed the metal discs with some fine emery cloth until the shine was gone. I laid the emery cloth on a sheet of glass and then slid the fiber discs across the emery cloth until the gloss was gone from the fiber. I then cleaned them again and dried them off. I put it all back together and added new fluid. The clutch now works perfectly and releases very easily. I think I may have been going too long between oil changes.

Does anyone have any insight into why an additional crank bearing was added to the 3.2 in 2009? Was there a problem with the earlier bikes that the extra bearing will resolve?