290 jobs to do?

[strawman75]

Hello, new here. 
Just picked up a couple of Sherco 290’s and a Gas Gas 125 to do some riding with my son. 

The 290’s are an 03 and 04 (ones a non-runner so came as a buy 1 get 1 free kind of 😂) so I’m going to go over them and tidy them up and check everything’s all good. 
Any jobs/maintenance that are recommended while I’m in there doing other stuff?

No doubt I’ll be posting for advice, and already had a look through the archives, so thanks in advance 👍

[faussy]

I guess you won't know until you have them started. Good chance the clutch pack is stuck if they've sat long. You could test this without the engine going. Main bearings might be a bit rumbly, but again you won't know until you've started them . The 03 and 04 have non repackable exhausts. Absolute nightmare. Your bike will no doubt sound crap because the exhaust has never been repacked. Some people cut them open to repack, but its a lot more than a hours work. Make sure theres gearbox oil, radiators topped up and fan is coming on before you start going too far

Otherwise, just the usual stuff, headstock bearings could probably do with a greasing and maybe rear linkage bearings. Good chance the latter have a lot of play by now, but that won't stop you getting out and riding them.

PS, check the sherco rear disc for cracks. If they even still have the genuine discs, the disc arms were very thin and prone to cracking

Edited December 9, 2021 by faussy

[strawman75]

Cheers. I’ve seen a bunch of threads on some of the things you’ve mentioned so I’ll have a look. Pretty sure I can get the non-runner back up again. 

[faussy]

At least you can swap components over from the runner, to diagnose what's up with the non runner

[strawman75]

Been stripping it down and found, I think, the root of the problem for why it wouldn't start. The floats for the carb were installed upside down last time it was stripped and cleaned so hopefully easy fix.

The plug is new, probably replaced while trying to figure out why it wouldn't start. The kickstart spring is broken but rest of it looks ok.

While I've got it stripped and doing a bit of a tidy up I was going to do top end and at least as far as the seals in bottom end. I assume you need to split the case to do the shaft bearings but the seals can be done without splitting?

[tony27]

If you're doing the seals check the main bearings for play, not a huge job to replace them if you already have the top end off. Hopefully by now they will have been upgraded to the sealed bearings

When you do the top end remove the head & barrel as a unit, no need to take the head off & will save you needing new o-rings 

Crank seals can be done with the motor assembled apart from the primary drive, bearings involve splitting the cases but it's not a big job. Personally I'd do everything at once then you know the condition of the motor & you're only talking 1 more gasket & 2 bearings. Doing the waterpump bearing, seals & checking shaft condition is also a smart job to do 

[strawman75]

It lives. 

Seals looked fairly fresh and no play so I just left them. Water pump looked fairly fresh too. I retarded the timing a little and reset everything else back to standard settings. 
Carb needle valve was stuck closed and wouldn’t free up so I’ll get a replacement when shops open again. 
Mostly put back together to try and it started on second kick. 
I’ll refresh some of the wiring and connectors and tidy that up a bit and hopefully it’s good to go.