Electric started system and additional forged
aluminium kick-start lever
Max Power
NA
Max Torque
NA
Transmission
6 Speed
Final Drive
Chain
Frame
Built from Chrome-Molybdenum forming a single
structure
Front Suspension
Paioli 38mm dia hydraulic telescope fork, fully
adjustable for preload and dampening.
Front Wheel Travel
185 mm /
Rear Suspension
Progressive link system with single Ollé
Front Wheel Travel
185 mm / 11.0 in
Rear Suspension
Progressive link system with single Ollé
Front Brakes
Singe 280mm disc
Rear Brakes
Singe 240mm disc
Front Tyre
90/90 -21
Rear Tyre
120/90 -18
Wheelbase
1960 mm / 77.2 in
Seat Height
900 mm / 35.4 in
Ground Clearance:
305 mm / 12.0 in
Dry Weight
102 kg / 224.8 lbs
Fuel Capacity
8.5 Litres / 2.2 US gal
.
Review
ONE of the few injected 250 off-roaders on the market, the
Sherco 2.5i is not only very competent in the rough stuff, it also offers a
real point of difference.
The Sherco brand was born in 1998 in Europe. With a passion
for trials and all things motorcycles the brand has grown rapidly over the
last 12 years, extending from its original range of trials bikes, to enduro,
supermoto and motocross.
Sherco has developed its own modern-day 250cc four-stroke.
It features all the same basics of today’s offroad four-stroke engines as it
comes complete with a DOHC, 4-valve, water-cooled engine.
One of the major features on the Sherco 2.5i is its
electronic fuel injection system. It is breakthrough technology for the crew
at Sherco and is also very new to the world of offroad riding.
The ride
On the track the Sherco donk is fun and lively to ride. The power comes on
quite smooth from the bottom and builds nicely through the mid-range.
The power is quite surprising when you are poking around in
the tight twisty trail and moving along the single line tracks.
The power doesn’t drop off and it is easy to keep the 2.5i moving quickly
along single tracks.
When you hit the more open and fast trails and begin to
really open the upper end of the rpm range the little Sherco begins to sign
off early and leaves you wringing its neck and not going anywhere in a
hurry.
The top end power lacks when compared to some of its 250
four-stroke competition, however if you keep this thing in the lower rev
range and short shift the gearbox you won’t have any dramas keeping up with
your competition.
The six-speed gearbox works well across the board and does
most things very well, however from time to time the ’box seemed a bit
clunky.
The Sherco also features a hydraulic clutch which works very well and has an
extremely light pull at the lever.
The Magnetti Marelli fuel injection system on the Sherco has
undergone a few changes for the new model and is claimed to be much more
reliable than the previous system.
We couldn’t fault the fuel injection system and found it to work efficiently
in most situations we threw at the little blue thumper.
The brakes on the Sherco work surprisingly well, a huge
270mm disc can be found on the front, complete with a new line and actuator
on the current model.
The rear has a 240mm rotor and utilises the same system as in years gone by.
When diving through the trees and giving the brakes a really hard time
through the bush we pushed both the front and rear brakes as hard as we
could and never faulted either of them.
After a quick squirt on the motocross track the brakes came
up trumps once again and work very well for standard equipment.
Sitting beneath the Sherco frame and bodywork is the Ceriani
telescopic front fork and Sachs progressive rear shock. Both of these units
have undergone extensive testing and redevelopment over the last few years
in the bid to iron out some of the handling issues associated with the 2.5i.
For 2010 the Sherco handles better than ever before and the
bike’s development is certainly heading in the right direction. The front
end is still a bit on the twitchy side and is somewhat unstable; we played
around using the clickers and came up with a much better setting and got the
suspension up to a reasonable level.
The rear shock was much better than the front forks and we
were happy with the rear suspension settings from the get-go. We still used
the adjustment setting on the shock, set the sag properly at just over 100mm
and found the shock even better.
The bodywork on the 2.5i is unique to Sherco and the blue
colour scheme looks great. The ergo package works well and the bike is quite
comfortable to ride.
It is fitted with quality Reikon handlebars, new style grips and big wide
footpegs.
The verdict
For those of you who like to have something different, unique and have a
taste for European motorcycles then take a serious look at the latest
offerings from Sherco. The 2.5i is a great bike for the average rider who
loves to go riding in the bush.