davidh Posted August 26, 2005 Report Share Posted August 26, 2005 (edited) My son has a Sherco 50 and the rear break is currently on a lever on his handlebars. The cable is routed through the cylinder head and it melts the cable. I believe that you can buy a conversion to a foot brake. Does any one know where I can get one from or have any suggestions how I can get his brake to work better? Cheers Dave & Sam Edited August 26, 2005 by Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leesboy Posted August 26, 2005 Report Share Posted August 26, 2005 Alan Bechard from Clarksville, TN in the USA has done quite a few of these. I'm sure he'll post on the subject soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charliechitlins Posted August 26, 2005 Report Share Posted August 26, 2005 Al's conversion is very clean and allows for the option of retaining the hand brake. He has posted pictures, etc. Maybe check the archives. I'll email him and have him check this thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan bechard Posted August 26, 2005 Report Share Posted August 26, 2005 I have made several of these up, and there are others out there as well. Here is a picture of the first one that I made. The later "Production" units were cleaner and finished better but the design has been the same. You need to take your two cables (brake and throttle) and place them in a 3" long piece of 3/8" fuel line split down one side and ty-wrapped around the cable's where the cables sit on top of the head. It is very important that you do this immediately. Nothing will scare a kid worse than a stuck throttle and no brakes. Somewhere I have a picture but we are taking some this weekend as well. I am sending one of my son's old bikes over to Germany for my God son. Anyway, ask away, I can make them up as a kit ($75) or will provide you the information to build your own for free. I am not the quickest at getting things done, and it comes behind maintaining a slew of lawncare equipment that pays our bills. I always liked that Dean was able to use both the Hand and foot for the rear if something was going wrong. He was also able to adapt to clutch use with a minimum of trouble. Hmm, will try and get you a picture that fits. Coming later I guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidh Posted August 26, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2005 Thanks everyone for the responses. I will have a go with the fuel pipe suggestion tomorrow and see how he gets on. Any suggestions on any tweaks people have made to this type of bike would be appreciated. I look forward to seeing any pictures and thanks Alan for the info. Cheers David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
copemech Posted August 27, 2005 Report Share Posted August 27, 2005 Alan, Shut up and load up the tractor, you may have a LOT of brush to clean up at TTC soon! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan bechard Posted August 27, 2005 Report Share Posted August 27, 2005 Make sure that the vent is open on the case, I made up some tubes that ran across the head and up into the headstock area so that it would be vented yet not let any contamination in. Change oil often, use a squeeze ketchup bottle with a pointy tip marked at 350cc. The MX guys change thiers every Moto. It is real easy with the right bottle. Clean the air filter religiously. Clean it well and oil with a foam filter aerosol and let dry. Hold the petcock while turning the petcock lever. Use 2 hands. (any Sherco) Depending on your child (is he riding serious and doing obstacles) Insure that you have the heavy duty skidplate from RYP. I also made up formed rubber blocks to fill the void between the bottom of the engine and the skidplate to distribute the force of the impacts. Keep your brakes immaculate and the pivots and cables lubed. I switched to a domino set of levers that were take offs from the Polini MX bikes and they have an improved leverage ratio. Get the tubes from RYP for this bike. If you have a flat, take the old tube, cut off the valve stem, slit it open along the inside diameter and use it too wrap the new tube, or if you will as a lining for the tire. A Sherco rimlock works well in the rear, I run two. If you decide you want too only run 1 it does not go opposite the stem, it goes 1/3 the way around the rim. Buy the cheapest all rubber rim lock that you can find and shape it down to fit the front rim. Depending on the year, watch your swingarm. If you have the 01 / 02 it should be gusseted as the 03 and later are. Any welding shop can do this quickly and fairly inexpensively. Adjust the preload on the rear shock to riding ability and childs weight. (yes it does have 3 levels of adjustment, call me with the shock in hand if you do not see them) As the child improves to the top end of the abilities of this bike, cut off and weld back on centered the upper shock eye. I marked my wheel spacers L and R so that when I dropped them in the woods trying to do a quick tire change, it was easy to sort out what went where. Make some tire irons from cheap blade screw drivers by curving the tips over and rounding everything with a file so it is very smooth and small. You will need them on the rear tire. The front goes on with your hands. If you replace plastic, use 03 or newer plastics. These are great bikes and have provided us many, many hours of fun together. The things I am pointing out here come from pushing these bikes quite hard with a good rider. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidh Posted August 29, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2005 Alan Thanks for the tips. Sam is getting into his bike now and we are doing a few events. We have a farm so he is out at every opportunity practicing in streams and on bankings. The one thing that does frustrate him is the back break and I would like to make arrangments for you to make up one for me. This will help him a lot. Please let me oknow what I need to do to get the cash to you and hopefully I can get it sorted. I have already changed the levers on his bike as the origionals were hard to pull for him. Sam's bike is an 03 so hopefully he swinging arm should be OK. He is 7 years old but only quite light but I will have a look at where the setting is on the suspension. I change the oil regularly but I have not been doing the air filter as often as you recommend. I will get hold of some rim locks to help with his tyres. Did you ever do anything to adjust the clutch on the bike? I was at an event a couple of weeks ago and one of the dads said it was slow to engage. I wondered if you had done anything? Please let me know which is the best way to sort out the brake lever and thanks for the info to date. Cheers David & Sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan bechard Posted August 29, 2005 Report Share Posted August 29, 2005 It would help if you would fill in your profile where you are at. If you want to run both lever and foot (what I reccomend) then you need to modify the brake backing plate. It is pretty easy, any fairly competent welder can do it for you, but I am guessing that you are in England so it would not be practical for me to modify that part (I need the brake hub itself to modify it) Anyway, let me look in my box of parts and see what I have and see if I can make one up for you. $ can be figured out. I will bet that your shock is on the lightest setting. Put a small zip tie around the shaft and see if he is bottoming it. I never had a clutch problem with any of ours (01, 03 and 04) it runs the 2 shoe stock polini clutch. These are often available as take off units from the polini MX guys. In the world of 50cc MX guys clutches are a world unto themselves. My 2 cents would be too try a couple of oil changes with a couple of different brands of oils and see what comes up. Then just change out the unit if it still is not performing satisfactorily. There are springs, and shoes and on and on but I would just change the unit out as an entity. On the 03 the swingarm should be gray and there should be gussets in the front corners of the swingarm. trialsalan at bellsouth.net Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidh Posted August 29, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 29, 2005 Alan Yes I am in the UK. As you can see I am new to the forum and I will change my profile to show my location as you suggest. I am not too handy at welding but I do have a friend that is. I am sure he could adapt the fitting on the back plate. Have a look through what you have and let me know if you think it will be easier to send me drawings to have a go at having one made over hear. Cheers David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan bechard Posted August 30, 2005 Report Share Posted August 30, 2005 It would probably be easiest for me to make up the brake pedal, mount, cables etc, and for you too have someone there locally modify the rear brake mounting / backing plate. Do you have access (or your friend) too SAE taps? If I remember correctly it is a 5/16 X 24 that you will need to thread the plate for the cable end that I use. I could also use something like the stock Sherco 50 adjusters and thread them metric if you wanted??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidh Posted August 30, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 30, 2005 Alan I am sure that we woiuld be able to adapt the back plate to manage both cables. I am sure that I could get hold of the tap you mention but I think it would be safest to do it in metric which I am positve we have. Cheers David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan bechard Posted August 30, 2005 Report Share Posted August 30, 2005 Do you guys use the Euro? Would it be easier to send Euro's to Germany? My daughter is there and all young women like having spending money I will look tonight and see what I have, can find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidh Posted August 31, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2005 Alan I can do what ever you want. I believe taht I can get a Dollar Cheque made out at the bank and send that to you or do the same for euros and send that to Germany. I can get cash and put it in the post but that is a bit risky. If you gave me bank details I can get a direct transfer to your account. Let me know what you want to do and i will sort it this end. Cheers David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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