Meet Luo Tuo (Chinese For Camel) The Sherpa

**Monstaman** · 23rd March 2010, 09:21

Morning gents

First off, with thanks to Joe and Pampa for checking out the Sherpa in Wellywood, good info and background from Joe ruled out the Wellywood bike.

So we were down in Invercargill looking at one that was on TM, was a bit more than we wanted to spend but we went and had a look anyway to see if a Sherpa would even fit Ellen and took the opportunity to catch up with some friends as well.

Some negotiations and waving of cash we agreed on a price and I rode Luo Tuo back to Wanaka (241 km.)

Someone who looks like me did even take any gear other than my helmet and gloves, no goggles, jacket pants etc

... what was I thinking!!

Anyway, quick trip the the Warehouse and grab some grinding goggles ($2.99) and some shite wet pants($18.00) and I was fully kitted

Looked hideous but it did the trick and now we have Luo Tuo at home, I battled very strong winds and some rain as well but what a great wee bike.

Again thanks to all for the help and props, Rosie next Fuckengruven rally Ellen will be there on her bike WOH HOH.

**junkmanjoe** · 23rd March 2010, 10:06

looking at your photos, she a minta compared to the wellywood one...

now you stop riding it so you dont brake it....

JMJ

**Monstaman** · 23rd March 2010, 10:56

Originally Posted by junkmanjoe

looking at your photos, she a minta compared to the wellywood one...

now you stop riding it so you dont brake it....

JMJ

Too scared to take it out!!, bike has done 1719 km after my 241 km ride home and yeap it is in mint condition.... Ellen will soon change that

**Baldyman** · 23rd March 2010, 11:24

Very nice indeed.

Don't forget to post some pics of the first adventure ride.

**clint640** · 23rd March 2010, 12:14

Nice, the black ones look good! Put some handguards on it to save the levers & go hard!

PS they are jetted real lean from std so if it hasn't been done already a re-jet will stop it being so cold blooded & finicky in the mornings.

Cheers
Clint

**mazz1972** · 23rd March 2010, 13:04

Originally Posted by Monstaman

Too scared to take it out!!, bike has done 1719 km after my 241 km ride home and yeap it is in mint condition.... Ellen will soon change
that

What are you saying??!!

Have faith.......mine was still like brand new after 11,000kms.

Aaawwww she's gorgeous!!!

**Padmei** · 23rd March 2010, 19:44

Woooh throw a rope around that filly before she jumps out of the corral

Time to saddle up & ride some of those highcountry stations

**Monstaman** · 23rd March 2010, 20:59

Lowered the suspension tonight, made some longer dogbones, dropped the forks through the clamps.

Tomorrow night we attack the top of the seat with the electric bread knife and do a seatopdectomy, feel guilty chopping the seat down but done properly no one will even know.

That should give her the standing height that will inspire a bit of confidence which is great.

**alane** · 23rd March 2010, 21:32

Originally Posted by Monstaman

Lowered the suspension tonight, made some longer dogbones, dropped the forks through the clamps.

Tomorrow night we attack the top of the seat with the electric bread knife and do a seatopdectomy, feel guilty chopping the seat down but done properly no one will even know.

That should give her the standing height that will inspire a bit of confidence which is great.

Dunno as I would attack that seat yet .

Arse comfort is important,& your gunna compromise it.
Are you REALLY that desperate to get it Low LOW LOW????

Another thing that got damaged in the abuse handed out to my KL250,s over the years ,(not me--all the other rough so--in--so,s that have riden it)----both have had the stops broken on one side of the fork yokes ,in a spill ,I guess.A bit weak there,not much you can do about it except ,dont do the clamps up --TOO--tight so they slip a little in a spill.
One other thing------while there has proly not been a lot of Super Sherpa,s sold in N.Z. there is a lot of Stockmen around ,(farm version) so most dealers are conversant with repairs / parts.
Pity I can,t download the pics
Good luck ---Alane

**Monstaman** · 24th March 2010, 07:15

Heya Alane

Yeah she needs it a bit lower, the seat has a fair depth of section were we wonna trim it and she knows it may lose a bit of comfort however we are both hard arse MTBers so the Sherpa is somewhat of a couch compared to what she is used to.

Once she get used to the height then maybe if she feels like she can add a sheepskin or even undo the seat cover again and insert a new piece back in, for the moment it is more important for Ellen to feel comfortable with the bike and handling than the seat.

**Rosie** · 24th March 2010, 08:19

Originally Posted by Monstaman

Lowered the suspension tonight, made some longer dogbones, dropped the forks through the clamps.

Tomorrow night we attack the top of the seat with the electric bread knife and do a seatopdectomy, feel guilty chopping the seat down but done properly no one will even know.

That should give her the standing height that will inspire a bit of confidence which is great.

Yeah, I felt kind of bad electric breadknifing my seat, but it needed it, and it turned out pretty well. The seat foam is pretty soft, so if you are scooping a lot of it out, you may like to replace some of the foam with something denser. When I did mine, I made the front a bit lower/narrower, to make it easier to touch the ground, and made the back a bit fatter (layer of closed cell foam, plus layer of softer foam), for on road comfort. The back of the stock seat wasn't very comfortable, but now I've redone it, it's really nice. And it doesn't really matter how high the seat is further back, because you are only sitting there when the bike is underway.

The seat vinyl is pretty thin, and I wasn't sure how it would like being re-stretched and re-stapled, so I bought some vinyl from a fabric shop (spotlight) and used that instead.

As Alane said, almost all the parts are identical to the Stockman, so it's generally easy to find parts (except rear sprockets).

**NordieBoy** · 24th March 2010, 11:12

Now you know how I felt modding my Corbin!

**zeRax** · 25th March 2010, 05:26

i highly recommend using a flap disc on an angle grinder after you have done the bulk of the foam with your bread knife, can get an ultra nice finish on the seat,

my kdx200 seat height is absolutely perfect for me now, and before it was tall, now i can cock it over without a hassle, seat cutting is great!, maybe ill cut me a little bucket into the couch :O.....

**Monstaman** · 25th March 2010, 07:55

Seat chop done, took some photos.

We did end up angling the back out a lot to make the transition smooth and we rounded of the edges quite considerably.

Ultimate result is perfect for my wife, we ended up cutting 30 mm deep, the seat was 80 mm deep through the mid section so she basically has not lost any comfort, in fact it is still more comfortable than my DR!!!

Nordie know what ya mean ... was a bit apprehensive even with a cheap we kwaka seat!