Look what followed me home today...

[JonnyCash]

Originally Posted by Miguel Sanchez

I bought it from a local guy - it showed up on Craigslist and I knew I had to have it. $1,000 later and it was all mine. Mighta paid a little too much for it, but it has enough aftermarket parts (pipes, ignition, rearsets, carbs, intake, bars, mirrors, tires, etc) to add up to far more than that, plus the bike.

A wise man once told me, "you can't put a price on cool". Warped logic and advice like that has pretty much kept me pennyless ever since...

Geeze, I paid $1250 for mine, and was pretty happy about it. You did well. Get that awful seat off of there, and you'll feel better about things.

[H96669]

I bought one of them in 74, traded my 49 Willys CJ2A and RD200 for that bike.

I miss them all and being 17 again!

I still have the brochure.

[Miguel Sanchez]

Originally Posted by JonnyCash

Leave that MZB ignition alone! Mine slipped on me once, when the bike jumped out of 6th at WOT. Who knows how many revs it shot up to. If you lap the rotor to the crank taper with valve lapping grease, it won't ever slip. Some folks use sleeve retaining loctite for the purpose instead. If you key the rotor, you can no longer adjust the timing.

Pulled that fugly seat off tonight - turns out the PO was an even bigger HACK than I had thought. Somebody ought to take his hacksaw away... Much sanitization is needed.

Removed the pipes and carbs, will run a leakdown test tomorrow night (need to get 1.375 expansion plugs tomorrow). Dropped a dial indicator down the left hole, turned it to 1.9mm BTDC and found that the rotor has indeed slipped - a bunch! Timing is currently set around 45deg BTDC..! Not sure how/why it runs as well as it does .

Fun stuff!!

[Miguel Sanchez]

Leakdown is good - holds 15psi for 5 minutes with zero pressure loss. Question: I've done lots of leakdown testing, but not on twins or triples. I plugged both sides (intake, exhaust, and spark plugs) and tested the entire engine at once. Should I test each side independently (check for leaks from one side to the other)..?

Tomorrow night I'll pull the rotor, lap it to the crank taper, and set the timing. After that, it's time to go through the carbs and take a test run!

[Shocktower]

I would think so since there is the labrynth seal between the 2 bottom ends

[Miguel Sanchez]

Thought a little update on my al--ewe-minium seat base project was in order. Started with an MDF form in the shape I wanted:



Formed a couple pieces of .080" 3003, tig welded them together, and started metal finishing things up.



Fits with the Suzuki SV650 taillight well, I think



Have a bit more metal finishing to do before it's ready for paint or polishing (undecided on that). Unfortunately, summer came along and so did the yard projects, riding, camping, work, travel, etc... Probably won't get much more done on this one until winter returns!

[McJamie]

The pipes alone make it a worthwhile purchase.
How far off-road do you get with the 250 Sherpa? I haven't been too brave with mine yet, mostly easy stuff.

[Shocktower]

loooking really good

[caryder]

Originally Posted by Miguel Sanchez

SNIP

It fires up and idles ok but is pretty fat and blubbery in the mid-range area and falls flat around 5,000 rpm. Almost acts like it drops a cylinder?

SNIP

Also want to check the timing, as it sounds like the Powerdynamo rotor is not keyed to the crank..? I've never had good luck running without a key on other bikes, so not sure why this should be any different...

It sounds like the "falls flat" mystery was solved by measuring the timing (maybe). I have no idea how it ran if the timing was that far advanced. I would be interested in how you go about sorting your overall ignition timing, jetting and fuel selection.