thedawnpatrol Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Sorry Guys another question, never having touched a bike clutch before................ Pleased to say that my new disks arrived yesterday, so do i just slide them all back on and tighten up the 3 screws as tight as possible........... or is it a case of 'suck it and see' any advive gladly received jules Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RattlesnakeBob Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 I don't know mate...but .. ..if the kick start on your Norton goes 'through' the clutch back to the crank as it does on a BSA B44?........ well then........ you got some fun coming to get that set up and operating properly :cool2:..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Posted March 22, 2012 Share Posted March 22, 2012 Are you working without a manual? Here are a couple of pages from a Big4 manual which is the same. Ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedawnpatrol Posted March 22, 2012 Author Share Posted March 22, 2012 Hello Ron Yes, i do have the manual, i have just come in from the workshop, firstly, the clutch was not working before i took it apart, there seemed to be no resistance on the clutch leaver, anyway having taken it all apart, the first one i have ever touched, i decided that it did not work because all the 5 drive rings were so worn that they were almost flat, these were the old, original ? inserts. So i ordered a set of 5 new replacement bonded rings from NORVIL, all very good, and proceeded to place then one by one in place, however when i got to the last drive ring, that just fitted on the remaining shaft, followed by the final pressure plate, again just about on the shaft, i then made a mistake, and fitted the end cap with the 3 springs and screws.........no good. so out came the manual and seeing the exploded diagram, i realised there is suposed to be a sprung retaining clip that holds all the plates in before the outer cap goes on ....................this was never on it ! so i'll have to order one, i can see the groove where it should go, with two of the rings off but i can not see how i can push it on as all the rings take to much space ? Any more advise ? Jules Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Jules that cir clip has been a matter of discussion before. It is often missing and I can't really see what good it does anyway. These clutches are fairly heavy duty as built for the WO. If your clutch basket is a bit crowded because perhaps the new plates are a bit thick. You can leave one steel and one friction plate out of the assembly. It will give you a much lighter clutch and more room for it to free off. Also your clutch push rod needs to be the right length. If it's to short you can lengthen it by cutting it in half. Then add a ball bearing of the same diameter between the two halves. Any small adjustment to the length can be carried out by removing some metal from one of the halves (harden and temper the ends). Finally turn your attention to the clutch operating lever on the kick-start side. Loosen the clamp bolt and move the lever to the correct position. Ron PS this all takes longer to write down than to do!! (one finger typing) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedawnpatrol Posted March 23, 2012 Author Share Posted March 23, 2012 Thanks Ron, thats really good news, i was about to order a retaining ring today, but wont now, yes, looking at my old plates, there are definatly thinner, so i will leave one out also the steel plate out. good idea about the push rod, can i not put in a ball baring in first, then the rod instead of cutting it ? Great..................job for tonight then ! J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Yes Jules, just stuff a ball up the tube. The trouble is, I work on so many different bikes that I forget some of the finer details. I recently rebuilt a couple of Matchless's and I had to lengthen the rod on one of them. It was only possible to do it the way I described because the ball can fall into the gearbox on a Matchless. Ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedawnpatrol Posted March 23, 2012 Author Share Posted March 23, 2012 So the ball won't on a Norton ? Ron, please confirm that, before i try..................... Again thanks for your much apreachated help J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
79x100 Posted March 23, 2012 Share Posted March 23, 2012 Jules, the ball can't go anywhere on a Norton and lots of Commando owners cut and shorten the push rod, putting a ball in the middle because it stops the rod bowing and pumping gearbox oil along the inside of the mainshaft. I believe that there should be a ball on the 16H between the push rod and the clutch mushroom. Mine certainly needed one. As Ron implies, there is room for adjustment as the system is not fussy (within reason) how far the worm is turned into the bronze nut and any misalignment of the operating arm is quickly corrected. I believe that the only purpose of the large circlip is to prevent the clutch plate pack falling out during maintenance. It can have no effect on operation. Incidentally, if you're using modern friction materials then it is no longer critical to have the oil-excluding band around the drum. As I understand it, you now have fibre plates but presumably corks in the basket itself. It's "not unknown" for these to come loose and end up jammed against each other between basket and backing plate and you may have to come up with a solution to this such as bonding a thin fibre plate to each side of the basket. If you want a really abuse-proof free and light clutch then I'd suggest contacting Ken McIntosh in New Zealand. His 'modern' set-up used on racing Manxes is superb. (A nice chap to deal with as well but not always quick to answer mails during the racing season down under). Ken has a WD 16H himself. He also supplies a sytem involving matched springs and shouldered adjusters which do away with struggling to get it lifting squarely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.