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A couple of weeks ago I was in France for work and only one hour away from the Sherco enduro factory in Nimmes. The trials factory is located in Spain. The visit was pre arranged by Neil at Triple R Motorbikes. Thanks mate!
Alexandre Posnich, the international marketing manager, took the time to show myself and my wife around. Taking photos was not a problem, but he asked that they were not put on any forums or the www. So sorry chaps, I have heaps of photos, but not for publishing unfortunately. Don’t quote me on the figures etc below – I’m on holiday and my memory maybe alcohol affected :blink:
To sum it up, very impressed. With a staff of 30working from this site, they managed to deliver 350-odd bikes in August and about 3900 in the last12 months. Everything is done on site. Some parts are manufactured elsewhere (clutch covers etc) but crankcases and cylinder heads are all manufactured on site with their CNC mills.
Bikes are assembled in batches of 10 or 20, depending on what the requirement is ie 250 4 stroke, 300 2 stroke etc. I was able to pick up a frame for the 250/300 (same frame) from the rack of in excess of 50 and was surprised how light it was. All bikes are run for 20 to 30 mins on the dyno and use special Michelin tyres for the dyno run. Filter and oil are checked on all bikes following this. Interestingly, Michelin 130/90×18 are standard tyres for the 300i. I thought the 120 was big but I can go bigger! There were a couple of big bins containing all the throw away plastics etc, that had been removed from race bikes and quality control. All I needed was 5 mins in this area!
Next was the R&D section. This was great – a normal work shop with grease and oil and lots of new and used bikes undergoing who-knows-what! Saw Fabien Planets next 6-day bike. Looked like a weapon!
Not surprisingly, the 300i is their biggest seller. Forgot to ask about the electric bike and I didn’t see any. There were a whole heap of 125 or 150 (can’t remember!) bikes with black plastics and road tyres. Interesting! They are not for the Australian market, however I did see crates and crates of new 2 bangers, waiting to be shipped to Australia.
In the entrance to the building was a 2010 built Dakar bike, looking well used.
The facility was clean and tidy, everyone was happy to stop and talk to us. Access to everything was given and I was able to get up close and personal when I wanted, ie engine assembly line.
It was the type of place I could’ve spent the whole week in. I spoke to my financial advisor about selling my 2011 300i and maybe getting a brand newy while I was there, but she gave me “that look”. I’ll have to work on that!
Currently sitting by the pool is Mykonos, Greece. Lifes good! Missing my bike tho
Cheers budge
good work there Budge
I drove straight past the Gasgas factory in Gerona when I was there in June and wish I’d stopped for a look
and the Ossa factory is just round the corner as well :S :SVery interesting Budge , I really like seeing the build process of anything and it doesn’t get better than seeing bikes being made !!
Be good to have the pics too knowing their not that readily available
Nick
Good read Budge.
Chuck those pics up in the Bullpit. Those frog eaters will never see them thereSTM
singletrackmind wrote:Good read Budge.
Chuck those pics up in the Bullpit. Those frog eaters will never see them there
STM
Good call STM
PTW
Awesome stuff Budge what an experience
Thanks for sharing
TB
budge wrote:Currently sitting by the pool is Mykonos, Greece. Lifes good! Missing my bike tho
Cheers budgeIf you go to Rhodes you can hire a bike there, they had XT500’s when I was there in 2007. Just make sure the e start is working if you take it down to the beach. They don’t have a kick starter are a pig to push in that sand, especially in 43°C heat.
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