new sherpa rider

[neanderthaler]

hello to all, new to trials and new to vintage. just bought an excellent condition 73 bultaco sherpa t 350. if i am right, it is a model 92. it has 300 miles on the odo, and i have no reason to believe that is not true, judging by the condition. looking at as many google images as i can, i think the only non original parts are the tires. mine has a spanish made pirelli rear and a Firestone knobby front. on the recommendation of b & j, i have vee rubber trials tires on the way. i got the bike with the original mso. so far, I've used caswell to line the tank, replaced the spark plug and air filter, changed both oils and am running vp non ethanol race gas with golden spectro premix. starts much easier than last week when i picked it up. i need to wire in a kill switch. anyone know which wire to interrupt? i thank you all in advance, as i'm sure this will be the first of many questions. hope to enter my first trial on the sherpa as soon as possible so i can see just how little riding skill i really have! hope i can post pics

[PSchrauber]

Originally Posted by neanderthaler

... hope i can post pics

Hello, sounds great to me, avery nice model the 1973 Sherpa.

I would love to see some pic's

The kill switch is attached to the black wire that comes from the magneto/ignition, as seen here, (# 07):




Looking forward to your pic's:

[JRAM]

Originally Posted by PSchrauber

Hello, sounds great to me, avery nice model the 1973 Sherpa.

I would love to see some pic's

The kill switch is attached to the black wire that comes from the magneto/ignition, as seen here, (# 07):




Looking forward to your pic's:

Very cool diagram- did you draw it yourself? Yes the black wire is the for the ignition. All you do is basically ground the black wire. There should be a junction block with screw terminals under the front of the tank. Look for the black wire.

Congratulations on the Sherpa T- they are some of the best old trials bikes.

[neanderthaler]

thanks for the schematic schrauber. i must be missing something, because i just cannot figure out how to get a pic posted here. if i email you pics, would that be easier? i'd love to show the sherpa off

[PSchrauber]

Originally Posted by neanderthaler

thanks for the schematic schrauber. i must be missing something, because i just cannot figure out how to get a pic posted here. if i email you pics, would that be easier? i'd love to show the sherpa off

You need an online picture stack, like Picasa or SmugMug, ...

You want to Upload the pic's there. Then you "only" need the www adress of the pictures and copy/paste (the adress of the pictures in your picture stack) in your post by using the picture button.

I use Picasa it's free for up to 1 GB of pictures when I remember right.

[neanderthaler]

i'm still working on the pics - driving myself nuts. i got them saved to picassa now, so i'm getting somewhere. thanks. i did see the terminal block under the tank, and i do have a kill switch on the bars with no wires going to it. i'm wondering what to do next. my modern bikes have a kill switch with wires attached to the switch. I'll get more into it tomorrow. right now i'm just determined to get these pictures up

[neanderthaler]

[neanderthaler]

[neanderthaler]

[Sting32]

Originally Posted by neanderthaler

Get the tires changed from knobs to trials tires, right after you either rewire the existing kill switch or buy a new one, yamaha makes a nice killswitch, I think they are less than $20.

Here's what I put on all of my bikes that dont have one already...

Did someone mount 70's style 20inch bicycle bars on that dang thing? find some handle bars... that would be a start.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/YAMAHA-IT175...5be7d7&vxp=mtr

[neanderthaler]

trials tires will be here today. i've been wondering about those bars, too. some pics show similar bars, other pics of 73 sherpas show much lower (but still wide) bars. i agree though, they look out of place. i saw some sammy miller bars i would like to order. I'd like to keep the bike "period correct"

[PSchrauber]

Originally Posted by neanderthaler

trials tires will be here today. i've been wondering about those bars, too. some pics show similar bars, other pics of 73 sherpas show much lower (but still wide) bars. i agree though, they look out of place. i saw some sammy miller bars i would like to order. I'd like to keep the bike "period correct"

@JRAM:
The wiring diagram is made from various diagrams I have together with the wiring I found on my bike, instead of diferent monochromatic lines i used colors for the wires, so the diagram is easier to read.

The bike is very pretty !!! The tobacco pouch (rear silencer) decrease power a lot, there are modifications available
to cure this without gaining noise.

To the handlebar, they had high handlebars back then but this is far too high. I would replace the bar too, to the handlebar high this depends to your body height and arm length. I would suggest a 5.0 renthal trials aluminium
bar. You can always mount the other one in need or try to search up an original, (very dificult).

[LowPSI]

The front Firestone tire may be original. The some early Sherpa T's came with knobbies standard. By Spanish law they had to use "made in Spain" components only and there were no trials tires made in Spain at that time, so Bultaco mounter knobbies.. Everyone removed the knobbies and put on Dunlop Trials Universal's.

[neanderthaler]

i really appreciate all of you guys help and feedback. i'm soaking up all of the info. I'll get updated pics next week with new tires mounted and hopefully some new bars. great knowledge base - keep it coming

[65SlashTwo]

Congrats on the Sherpa; she's a beaut.

Just before moving a year and a half ago, I had to sell
my Alpina 250...pained me to do so but allowed me to
keep my R60/2.

My feeling is to not worry too terribly much about the
original equip and ride the damned thing! I got lots
of pleasure from my '74 and they should be ridden.

Best of luck!
Slash