I am (finally) managing to put my Commando back together, it's fair to say it has fought me all the way.
Not its' fault really but the monkeys who have worked on it I suspect.
Now, as chief ape, I have some questions; I am finally putting primary drive back together as the last task in a very long list, only to encounter an odd problem.
I have put the clutch back in, pushrod oil seal and pushrod, only to find that I have so much play at the clutch lever that ther is no clutch at all!
As I recall, when I took the primary to bits to fix all of the horrors that were in there, and there were a lot, I believe that whilst the lever was a bit "flappy" it still worked - as well as a clutch that both dragged and slipped can anyway!!.
I have checked the gearbox side and moved the detent lever up toward the top of the housing as the manual seems to suggest, inserted the push rod again only to find that it makes little difference from the detent lever being toward the middle of the gearbox case.
If I tighten the clutch adjuster screw in far enough there is a clutch, and mpvement appear normal, but this appears to put a lot of pressure on the push rod.
When I make the adjustment as per the manual, then there is very little spring plate movement when the lever is pulled in, and seemingly only about 3/8" active movement on the lever, which does not deflect the clutch spring plate very far at all.
The clutch stack appears to be the right height.
If anyone has experienced thes problems please let me know, and especially what the solution is!
I also have some questions:
> The cable has 3.5" of available inner, is that too long?
> The handlebar/lever adjuster has only 5/8" threaded adjustment length, is that enough?
> Can the ball bearing (bb) at the gear box end fall out? If so where the hell does it go, and is it anywhere potentially destructive?
> How would you know if the bb was still in there?
> What size is the bb?
> Can the bb be inserted from the clutch side?
> What length should the push rod be?
> What the hell am I doing wrong?!
Any help would be appreciated.
The wife is now petitioning to have this bike thrown into a the nearest canal, as it really has been so troublesome. I have had it nearly 3 years and I haven't ridden the damned thing since I rode it home when I bought it, but I haven't half fixed an awful lot of it...it's a long story I'm sure many of you are very familiar with.
Any help or suggestions would be truly gratefully accepted.
Thanks,
Jack
You may be able to see the…
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Previously karl_nixon wrot…
Previously karl_nixon wrote:
You may be able to see the ball with the add of small mirror inside the clutch level body (040059) if you are lucky it cannot come out as it is twice the size of the hole also this means it cannot be put in if someone did not put it in when building up the box. From memory its about 1/2 an inch so if it is not there the rod would just dissappair into the main shaft an the clutch level would not work at all.
Is the push rod seal the standard item or the after market nut on end of main shaft type as they can often be to large an the clutch adjusting screw on the diaphram spring touches the nut before the push rod.
My mk2a has new Venhill cable an there is about 9/16" of thread at the lever showing (but i know my stack hight is about 1mm in total short but it works fine an am saving for full Alton starter an belt drive so will fit new plates then) the lever adjuster is an aftermarket stainless one so that may not be much help . The push rod (again mk2a so may be differant) is 10 13/16" (249mm in french).
You might have to hold the operating lever to stop it dropping down as you adjust the adjuster on the diaphram. You could maybe get your wife to do this make her feel part of the team as it where she may think better of the beast if she is involved. I should say that me and my wife separated so you may find that advice of little help also. the bike does answer back less than she did but like yours it can still do the arguing in sillance an not doing what you want or tell ask or beg it. But wemen dont like been left in the garage to sulk when you have had enough of them for one day do they.
Thanks Karl.
I had another go last night and now have a clutch again! It appears that the cable nipple in the gear box had dropped slightly, got stuck, and was fouling the movement of the detent lever. So with some lubrication and the application of a little force (!) to re-locate the cable nipple, I got a very positive "click", the detent lever moved up further into the housing and then I was able to locate the push rod properly, which went noticeably further in.
It was properly jammed though, not obvious when you don't know the mechanism, and took a proper application of force that only a couple of pints of London Pride can help you to make...
It also seems like the cable may have stretched, and that the adjuster is too short, so a new adjuster and cable should help to make it feel less sloppy and more positive.
I'm not sure this is all sorted yet, but I at last feel like I am making some progress.
Thanks again for the help.
Best Wishes
Jack
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You may be able to see the ball with the add of small mirror inside the clutch level body (040059) if you are lucky it cannot come out as it is twice the size of the hole also this means it cannot be put in if someone did not put it in when building up the box. From memory its about 1/2 an inch so if it is not there the rod would just dissappair into the main shaft an the clutch level would not work at all.
Is the push rod seal the standard item or the after market nut on end of main shaft type as they can often be to large an the clutch adjusting screw on the diaphram spring touches the nut before the push rod.
My mk2a has new Venhill cable an there is about 9/16" of thread at the lever showing (but i know my stack hight is about 1mm in total short but it works fine an am saving for full Alton starter an belt drive so will fit new plates then) the lever adjuster is an aftermarket stainless one so that may not be much help . The push rod (again mk2a so may be differant) is 10 13/16" (249mm in french).
You might have to hold the operating lever to stop it dropping down as you adjust the adjuster on the diaphram. You could maybe get your wife to do this make her feel part of the team as it where she may think better of the beast if she is involved. I should say that me and my wife separated so you may find that advice of little help also. the bike does answer back less than she did but like yours it can still do the arguing in sillance an not doing what you want or tell ask or beg it. But wemen dont like been left in the garage to sulk when you have had enough of them for one day do they.