ADB ED Mitch Lees leaves a nasty big dent in the 2023 Sherco 300 SE Factory long term test bike and takes it to ADB's Tech Ed Mat Boyd to fix.
If only fixing dents in my wife’s car was as easy as fixing dents in my expansion chamber. After a quick ride to blow out some deadline cobwebs I noticed a great big dent in my expansion chamber on the 2023 Sherco 300 SE Factory. I couldn’t even remember hitting anything that hard, but lo and behold, there it was. It was big enough to eat your soup out of!
Fortunately it was in the middle of the pipe which makes it easier to remove. Big dents at the ends of the pipe are much harder to remove and according to our Technical Editor, are also more likely to change the power. Speaking of changing the power, after noticing the big dent in the pipe I took the bike straight to Boydy’s who was able to dyno the bike before removing the dent, then stick it back on the dyno once the dent was blown back out. The results were very interesting but that’s for another feature coming up in ADB.
Boydy was able to get the pipe off the bike with relative ease (the manifolds where the pipe fits are easily accessible, unless you’ve just run it on the dyno. Then they’re red hot and will burn the skin off your hands, be careful). He attached his pipe repair kit and blew the dent out. He re-attached the pipe to the bike and I headed back out for a ride.
I still noticed a slightly tinny ding when the revs would hit a certain height but the drop in power that I noticed with the dented pipe, was gone. The dent made it harder to stay in the meat of the power without peaking or dropping off.
After venting my frustration on social media at my misfortune, many people asked me why I don’t run a pipe guard. I’m not a huge fan of the massive bullbars people stick on their pipes because they fill with mud and water and not only make the bike heavier but they also make it a bitch to clean. That being said, they do offer great protection and regularly blowing out a pipe is not ideal. I think I will look at getting the Sherco Carbon Pipe Guard to stop the dents as it is more lightweight than the big metal options.
Oh and my Nitro Mousse Tubes and Dunlop AT81 EX tyres arrived! Mousse tubes and the soft Dunlop tyres are my ideal choice for hard enduro but with long life. I’m keen to get these on the 2023 Sherco 300 SE Factory and report back.
MITCH LEES