automagp68 Posted June 14, 2015 Report Share Posted June 14, 2015 (edited) Ok so let me start off by saying I'm very excited and disappointed all in the same time. Im an experienced enduro rider 25+ years living in Colorado and i have wanted a trials bike for a long time. Bikes in Colorado are extremely hard to come by. The other day i was looking on craigslist for a used bike as i always am. I have been looking for the last year. Other then the occasional 10 + year old gas gas nothing ever comes up until.............. Bang! A 2011 Sherco cabestany replica shows up locally. So i call the guy and go to look at it. Here is the funny part. Although i have always wanted to get into trials i have never even ridden a trials bike and know nothing about them mechanically. I do however have some skills with enduro bikes. I know looking at this thing i was getting to excited just to see a bike locally and i was taking a huge gamble because as i said above i know very little about them. I let my excitement get the best of me and threw the thing in the back of my truck and bam! i now own a trials bike..... I don't even exactly know what i bought. pretty sad hu? He had the tittle for it and its a 2011 Cabestany replica and says stz300 on the radiator. The bike looks as if its barley been ridden. So i took a huge gamble on it. If i turn out to hate it, its parked next to my 2015 ktm 300 so its not my only bike. So i fire it up and it starts first kick and purrrs like a kitten. Seems to run great The guy that i bought it from tells me not to put it in gear until it warms up because the clutch will not fully disengage. I thought this was very odd. I tried it and of course he was right and the clutch drag is so bad for the first 15 minutes of riding you can hardly control it. Again in my stupidity i bought it anyway knowing this. I figured should be no big deal. Ill work on it. So i get it home and the first thing i do is pull the clutch apart. I noticed he has some 85 wt extremely heavy sticky gear oil in it, and it is also over full by 2 times the amount of oil it should have in it. Pull the clutch out and everything looks greats. Very little wear on the friction plates, no wear on the steels. Pack it all up, replace the oil with some nice lite motorX 40wt that i run in my ktm and put it back together, happy that the clutch looks fine. Must be a simple hydraulic issue. So i start bleeding the clutch. I bled the clutch last night for an hour or more. Still can't get rid of the clutch drag. When the bike warms up it is better. It also seems that if you pump the clutch a bunch of times it works a little better. If you have the bike not running, put it in gear, pull the clutch in, you can definitely not roll forward. You can sometimes roll back if you try hard enough. I have read other reports of things like this online. What can i do about this? I feel a bit stupid for buying it sight on seen like that. I would NEVER normally do that but i let my excitement get to me and the fact that trials bikes of this age never come around here. Can you guys help the stupid rookie? Is this thing basically a 2.9 with a 300CC cylinder? How and where do i get parts? Should i replace the clutch? I noticed while looking for parts a 300 in my year is rarely listed anywhere. I found one place that says that 2.9 parts work on it unless you need cylinder or piston parts then you need the 300 stuff. What exactly did i just get myself into Try not to make to much fun of the new guy. Any help would be appreciated. Im anxious to put some real time on this and see if i can hang with you open face helmet folks Edited June 14, 2015 by automagp68 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ivsforever Posted June 14, 2015 Report Share Posted June 14, 2015 Ryan Young Products www.rypusa.com is the USA importer for Sherco trials bikes they can help you with parts and your clutch problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
automagp68 Posted June 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2015 Ryan Young Products www.rypusa.com is the USA importer for Sherco trials bikes they can help you with parts and your clutch problem. thanks any ideas on the clutch? i also have been trying to find a service manual for torque specs and other stuff but can only seem to find a owners manual Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
automagp68 Posted June 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2015 Bike looks very nice with a lot of trick bits been fitted, someone's spent quite a bit of money on extras. Trials bikes (especially shercos) are known for the clutch sticking if they've sat a while unused. When you stripped the clutch did you notice any grooves worn into the clutch hub or the clutch basket? The plates usually stick together with the oil which is easily fixed by removing the plates, cleaning them up and re-fitting with fresh oil. As you've done that the next cause could be the actual plates sticking in grooves on the clutch basket or hub, as you release the lever one or more plates could be sticking in the worn grooves. Again it's an easy fit, small file and file down the grooves. Thank you sir! I must admit, although most of it is non functional, all the little things on the bike do make it really look nice! When i took the clutch apart i did not notice any grooves on the hub but its a simple operation to take apart again and double check. I have been struggling to find a service manual to get torque specs. Any ideas? I have found owners and parts manuals but no service manual. I torqued the clutch spring retaining bolts to 6ft lbs just as a guess from my ktm specs. So if there are no grooves in the basket, clutch is properly bled, then what. I just rode it for about 15 minutes. What a kick in the pants this thing is! The clutch did loosen up after it got nice and hot but it stalled on me once with in the first 6-7 minutes because the drag is so bad. Like i said about sometimes during testing, ill pump the clutch a few times before i come to a stop. That seems to help a little Part of me wants to try and track down a rebuild kit for both the master and slave hmmmmmmm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jfc Posted June 14, 2015 Report Share Posted June 14, 2015 (edited) Have a look at the beta clutch fix (pinned at the top of the beta page) it well worth a read, trials bikes and dragging clutches is nothing new, don't go spending a lot of time and money until you have got to the bottom of it, if the bike has very little use you may need to get it hot and then really give the clutch some abuse! Edited June 14, 2015 by jfc 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
automagp68 Posted June 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 14, 2015 yea I'm not really sure on use level. It looks very new as if it has not seen much abuse. the clutch plates looked nearly new Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve_earle Posted June 14, 2015 Report Share Posted June 14, 2015 Use ATF Dex 2, 3 or G spec, This is the best oil for reducing clutch drag, I have used it in all trials bikes for years. 40wt oil will make your clutch drag like hell in a Sherco. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan williams Posted June 14, 2015 Report Share Posted June 14, 2015 (edited) Nice bike. Look at the clutch fix pinned to the top of the Beta forum. I believe Beta and Sherco use the same friction plate supplier so the fix may help your bike. You didn't buy a turd. What you got there is a very capable machine. Oh yeah, it's better to have slightly too little gear oil than, well, a poopload too much. Don't do ATF. Makes Beta clutches grabby as hell. Great for experts but not for a newby. Edited June 14, 2015 by dan williams Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
htrdoug Posted June 15, 2015 Report Share Posted June 15, 2015 (edited) Ryan sells Maxima MTL 75wt for Sherco trans,use that and you'll be using what they recommend,may take several changes to get the full effect. Starting procedure I use is to put the bike in 3rd or 4th gear,choke on,clutch lever in,rock the bike forward and back until clutch breaks free,select neutral,start it up.Won't run away when you stick it in gear then. That is a awesome sweet bike! Find trials riders to ride with! Recommend some bar ends,that way when you drop it on the throttle side it won't lie there screaming it's brains out. Edited June 15, 2015 by htrdoug 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
automagp68 Posted June 15, 2015 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2015 Well just for kicks this afternoon and because i could not get the maxima stuff that Sherco recommends until tomorrow i stuck 450CC of ATF in there on the recommendations of a few Sherco owners. WOW! What a difference The clutch is 80% better then before. I would say its almost to smooth! I can see that if you progress to needing to dump the clutch hard to jump up large steps in this sport you would want a harder clutch hit then what I'm getting with the ATF now but for me this is perfect. it engages much much smoother now and has much less drag. Its nice and smooth and should teach me proper clutch control and help improve my balance since it won't be jerking all over the place now!In all my enduro bikes i can put almost anything in them and they seem to behave the same way. Who woulda thought that these bikes were this sensitive to gear oil?Very happy now! Managed to work out a few 3rd gear wheelies and some basic lock turns. Got a nice burn on my leg from the pipe. That will teach me to ride in the front yard with out proper gear on. I see some trials boots in my future. Tomrrow i will warm it up, dump that ATF and load it with fresh ATF again. I figure the stuff in there now is basically just getting rid of left over MotorX stuff and cleaning the gears up. So ill dump it tomorrow refill with ATF and then get after it! Thanks for all the info guys and helping the rookie a bit 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirdabalot Posted June 15, 2015 Report Share Posted June 15, 2015 Nice bike. A lesson I learnt the hard way regarding Sherco and Beta clutches is, when parking it up till next ride, tie the clutch lever back to the handlebars. This stops the plates sticking on a cold start. I use a piece of old inner tube. This is after you have checked the system is in good order, as you have done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony27 Posted June 15, 2015 Report Share Posted June 15, 2015 (edited) Nice bike. Look at the clutch fix pinned to the top of the Beta forum. I believe Beta and Sherco use the same friction plate supplier so the fix may help your bike. You didn't buy a turd. What you got there is a very capable machine. Oh yeah, it's better to have slightly too little gear oil than, well, a poopload too much. Don't do ATF. Makes Beta clutches grabby as hell. Great for experts but not for a newby. Not just the same supplier but the same friction plates, I know this from comparing the plates with rev3 plates at the Beta importers 1 of the times I was there working on my ty250 twinshock that he owns I think you've bought a lemon, best you crate it up & send it to me for disposal . Seriously you've gotten a nice bike but not 1 I'd recommend to a beginner There isn't a full manual available for shercos, torque figures can normally be found in the parts diagrams which are able to be downloaded from the sherco site. Ryan Young Products has a good set of manuals on his site for different parts of the bike, should be links pinned to the top of this section Had a look on sherco site & here is a manual for 2011 http://www.sherco.com/manuels.html#2011 2011 parts book, there is a small separate book for the Cabestany that is in addition to the standard bike http://www.sherco.com/spare_parks.html#2011 Edited June 15, 2015 by tony27 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ham2 Posted June 15, 2015 Report Share Posted June 15, 2015 ATF is the boyo but with a bike as pokey as that you may find that after purging your 'box of the remains of the 40wt, then re-filling with new ATF that the clutch is a bit of an on/off switch; which would make that bike a handfull for a newby. But really, it's your toy, enjoy it, it looks like it's had an easy life...so far Wayne (very jealous) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lbhbul Posted June 15, 2015 Report Share Posted June 15, 2015 If its the same type clutch as I have fixed on Shercos, Betas,Scorpas in the past, clean the glue up then do this very simple (hour or so) fix, finish off with my choice only Dexron ATF. Not fancy, thread file 10 or 11 pitch, 3 strokes each pad. Try not to go to deep, all we are trying to do is add radial grooves to help break up the sticktion and sling the oil out. Try it you will like it. Shaky old camera hands, sorry about that. Larry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rms2 Posted June 15, 2015 Report Share Posted June 15, 2015 (edited) Hey automag - nothing about buying that bike was stupid! I say that because I recently did the same thing. Except yours is much nicer and newer, I bought a 2000 Sherco 2.9. Also with surprisingly low hours. Just a few easy tweeks and it's running great! And it's honestly the most fun I have ever had on a dirt bike. And that's saying a lot because I always have fun when I ride. But this is a whole new level. Now my KTM 200 gets much less ride time. If you're like me though just be careful when you get back on the KTM. You'll be trying to hit the same obstacles that you have learned to clean on your trials bike which will make for very amusing viewing for any bystanders! Also, one of the best things I did was to join this forum and make use of the search function, and read lots of posts. And the other best thing was to take the advice of the members here to become a customer of rypusa.com. Ryan has the parts needed, ships quickly, and is an amazing resource. And I would highly recommend that you buy his Trials Training DVD's. They are both incredible, though the second one features techniques that are still way beyond my skill level. I have worked my way through the first DVD and it has made a huge difference in my riding. Edited June 15, 2015 by rms2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.