got meself a shovel

hi mart. o.k understand about the rollers and cage now. did measure the belt pitch in anticipation of ordering a spare, but forgot it's size, 8 or 11 anyway.

i havent yet pulled the outer primary case, but will have a look inside now i've put about 500 miles on the bike. to see if things look happy in there.

i've definately noticed the poor ratio you mention. town traffic riding is quite messy. exactly like you say, bit fast for second and too slow for third. those andrews gears sound interesting?

the whirring/whining noise sounds like it's coming from inside the tank. but obviously it isn't. it's coming from the gearbox, because it doesn't do it idling/reving in neutral. those experienced with old shovels have told me it it's normal noise and the bike itself sounds good, as in no nasty noises.

saying this the box warrants an inspection at the very least. some oil seals want replacing. and biggest job i reckon is new valve guides, do they have guide seals? tends to throw abit of smoke out when its restarted and stood a while hot/warm. doesn't really do it when it's cold, just abit of black smoke from being on choke.

i can see my winter job list getting bigger, and expensive no doubt.

thanks to all for their input/advice.

[Simon_Y]

The the Pre shovel machines had a total loss primary lub system hence "marking its spot" when stopped. Due to envienmenatal regs the MOCO adopted closed system for the shovels whith the oil pump supplying some oil and draining it plus all the chain swarf and clutch material back to the engine , hardley condusive to long roller bearing life!!

You may want to look at the following articles from Ron Petersen.

http://www.heavydutycycles.com/primoil.htm

and halfway through this piece.

http://www.heavydutycycles.com/beltvsdriveevo.htm

Hope this helps.

Simon

quite interesting those articles. from reading them i feel inclined to go back to a properly closed off oil bathed purely functional and reliable chain primary?

i'm thinking if you had a closed off primary with some oil in for the chain/clutch etc. the alternator components would get oil on them. that can't be a problem otherwise these conversions wouldn't happen. or does the small amount of oil stay predominately under the clutch because of the case shape type thing.

all good food for thought.

'derby' cover thats the round plate covering the clutch, yeah? why is it called 'derby' cover?

[kiwidave]

very few enclosed primary chain applications report problems. Which is why most have them. And many Shovel owners seal off the primary to avoid swarf entering the engine. that was a daft system.

The alternator is not sealed off, but it's a tight fit and there is little oil contanimation.

In the REAL olden days the clutch inspection covers were domed and did indeed look like an Edwardian gentleman's derby hat