I had been looking to get back into Motorcycle Trials basically as an avenue to better fitness and ended up purchasing a used 2023 Sherco 300 STR from Pat Smage. A 200 cc version was recommended but it seemed they were hard to come by and if available exceeded my "spousal" budget so when this one popped up I made an offer that was accepted and I drove to Kenosha WI to pick it up.

The last time I rode trials was in the early 90's so I didn't know that Pat was a National Trials Champion! 

Click here to see the Facebook For Sale Listing.

When I picked up the bike it was sitting on a stand since it didn't have a kickstand. Since it was used by a "pro" I figured maybe it was to save weight or maybe the kickstand ends up flopping around when hopping the bike from obstacle to obstacle. Well I realized I needed a kickstand after entering my first MOTA trials event and had to find a tree every time I stopped to review a section.

It took a couple of weeks ordering parts from 2 different places but I finally received all the parts and wrestled the kickstand into place. And it was pricey!

I was praticing with a few "senior" riders and one of them had a Trail Tech hour/tach meter installed. Back at home I searched around and found it available from the Trials Superstore so I bought one. The bike had 62 hours on it according to Pat Smage when I bought it so monitoring the additional hours that I would eventually put on it would be a good idea.

The tachometer reading during idle was just over 2000 rpm which seems on the high side so later I'll be looking into adjusting that.

After installing the Tach Tech Hour/Tach meter the engine idle RPM was over 2000 RPM. I didn't know if this was the way a "Pro" rider liked it but for myself who is recently back in the sport after a 30 year absence it seemed high. The idle adjustment screw is tucked in the frame and doesn't lend itself to easy access. On the Sherco/Scorpa Facebook group I asked about it and one of the responses was to use a long flat screwdriver to access it via the rear tire area. I tried this with no luck and went so far as to order long needle now pliers as well as a flexible extension. A 7/16 box end wrench could be finagled into position to adjust it but instead I designed a 3D printed tool to help. The Result - I lowered the idle RPM down to around 1200 to 1400 as read off the Tach Tech.