Primary drive chain removal RGS

  • Thread starter Thread starter Reggie3cl
  • Start date Start date
Piet,

are you using 20/50 in the tiddlers or a single weight oil such as 30 or 40 ?

All of our 120 's suffer from sticking clutch plates, two have Penrite Tent Tenths, one has Motul 3000.  I never had the problem back in the day when running Valvoline XLD (20/50).  I think it is the fac t the bikes don't get used enough.

Interesting about the clutch plates having a shape to them, I had never noticed that one side was flat, the other rounded on the spline 'teeth', obviously caused by the stamping of them when manufactured.
 
I like to do the sharp side in with washers,just feels like they should be that way.Like lining up slots on slotted headed screws.
 
DavidH said:
Piet,

are you using 20/50 in the tiddlers or a single weight oil such as 30 or 40 ?

All of our 120 's suffer from sticking clutch plates, two have Penrite Tent Tenths, one has Motul 3000.  I never had the problem back in the day when running Valvoline XLD (20/50).  I think it is the fac t the bikes don't get used enough.

Interesting about the clutch plates having a shape to them, I had never noticed that one side was flat, the other rounded on the spline 'teeth', obviously caused by the stamping of them when manufactured.
Click to expand...

David,

Currently using a locally-brewed 20W50 that I buy in 20 litre containers.  This is used (almost) universally in the big Lavs.  The track bike and my 3C get 10W60 synthetic, usually Liqi Moly, sometimes AGIP if LM isn't available.  The Matchless and Laverda tiddler get straight 50, also from the same source as the 20W50. 

I have been using this particular source since I had my shop in Cologne, must have sold near to 10000 litres of the stuff, never an issue!

piet
 
Put the metal plates in all with the chamfered edge inwards.

Did notice that the clutch is a bit sticky now- this may be OK when the engine is running, it may have always been like that- but what bothered me a bit was that the pressure plate didn't lift off squarely which is almost certainly not helping.  Maybe there are some crappy springs in there, I know there are plenty about. 
 
Reggie3cl said:
Put the metal plates in all with the chamfered edge inwards.

Did notice that the clutch is a bit sticky now- this may be OK when the engine is running, it may have always been like that- but what bothered me a bit was that the pressure plate didn't lift off squarely which is almost certainly not helping.  Maybe there are some crappy springs in there, I know there are plenty about.
Click to expand...

Hi Reggie

last time I did the "measure, mix, and match" on a set of clutch springs, it took me about 5 full sets of clutch springs to make up one full set that were all the same length. That does not include the couple of additional sets that clearly were made of differing wire diameter.

Paul LeClair
 
Yeah, I remember Red saying that he had the same problem, even with new springs from one UK supplier.

I intend to change the set for new ones at the end of the season as I feel that the clutch as it is may get a bit sticky - it disengages OK but you can tell only just- and the pressure plate needs to be 'peeled off' like that on a Velocette because it doesn't raise squarely.. 
 
Hey Reggie, you may be able to improve matters with the springs you have. Presuming they're all the same wire diameter and spring rate, take them all out and check each one for free length. Then position them around the clutch for best balance. Arrangement will depend a bit on what results you get when measuring. For example, if you have two that are longer than the rest, put them opposite each other.
Alternatively, buy a pack of shim washers and shim the springs to get them all as close as possible to the same free length (therefore hopefully the same pre-load).
 
Reggie3cl said:
Yeah, I remember Red saying that he had the same problem, even with new springs from one UK supplier.
Click to expand...

was actually valve springs and was the last time I ever bought anything from that supplier, what we received was an absolute joke

 
Ah, so it was.

Will revisit the clutch over the winter - not much of the season left now.
 
Reggie3cl said:
not much of the season left now.
Click to expand...

Weak as piss Reggie. You need to man up. Scottish winter is just a bit of mild discomfort. I've ridden many kms on quad bikes in -20 deg C across Antarctic glaciers with fucking great crevasses in them wide enough to swallow a bulldozer without a trace. And no backup support within cooee. OK quad bikes have a couple of extra wheels on the ground it's still a bit daunting.

PS: Aussies will understand "cooee"

PPS: Yeah, OK, this is a wind-up, but it's actually true.
 
Quite right, man up :D

You could start by nipping over to Cranhill and trying a "Cooee" that would be a good test for your clutch bite.
 
Bah, I ride in the snow...

A9033.jpg
 
I did a Winter tour once through the alps. had my Jota driven by a friend, me on the 1000 SFC.

allthough we washed the bikes seriously after the roughly 400Km run that day, almost every screw, every unprotected part of the frame, springs of the center stand etc. were rusting like hell.  :-[ Simply to much salt on the roads...  :'( :'(

Am about to restor the 1000 SFC 12 years later now due to an engine issue and will fix those issues. However, I will never ever ride a Laverda in Winter time again in Germany or the Alps. Makes it age by 10 years at least...  :-[
 
Here in the Alps the snow isn't the problem. It is the tons of salt which get spread on our roads here that trash bikes in relatively short order.  Once the temperatures rise in springtime we still wait until the first good rain so the crud gets washed away. The local BMW 1200GS crowd like to show how tough they are at this time. 'Course being a BMW who cares if it rots... (bolt)
 
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