1942 Wlc

[dodgyloner]

Hi Graham

Ive not used Clements myself but I hear he's good for NOS parts and particularly for military HD parts and US militaria and accessories. I don't know where he sources his aftermarket parts from but I did hear a rumour from one or two of his customers that some of it might come from Eastern Europe (don't quote me on this I may need to use him in future! ).

The "NOS or aftermarket?" debate is a hot one - its about as popular as the "Which oil should I use?" debate over on the Evo section of the forum.

A lot of the NOS stuff is great (and almost guaranteed to fit) but some of it did have inbuilt weaknesses or just tended to wear out faster than other parts.

As a general rule if a NOS part is staggeringly expensive then there aren't that many left as they've all been used up. The NOS countershaft breaking at the kicker end is a known fault - hence its about twice the price of the mainshaft that actually does all the work.

When I get round to doing the other gearbox I'll be using Kurt's new made shafts, rollers, races etc.

I'm not that far from you - PM or give me a shout if you want a hand with it.

Karl

P.S. Don't pry or lever anything against the aluminium gearbox case itself to get it apart.

[45Brit]

good point about prying or levering things. One of the best tools you can have with a 45 is a good quality set of hide and copper faced mallets of various sizes.

I made a set of small copper wedges years ago for the same function, wooden ones work well as well. I have parted the gearbox before now, by tapping it gently around the shell with a hide mallet till the seal is broken and it can be wiggled loose using just your hands, then tapping 3 or 4 hardwood wedges distributed evenly around so that the leverage is applied all round and it comes up the studs square. Once it moves a few millimeters just pull it off with your hands.

works for the timing case ( cam cover ) as well

[dodgyloner]

Hi Graham

Just wondered out of curiosity whether you had an update on this thread for us?

Karl

[Fingers]

Hi Karl

The update

We stripped the bike and removed the transmission. I sent it off for reconditioning to a guy in Holland ( who Michel from Clements uses) as I didn’t fancy rebuilding the box myself. It was returned within a week complete with the new countershaft and a list of various other replacement parts.
We finally managed to build the bike back up last week. The only problem we experienced was with the clutch. We adjusted it as per the manual but it still wasn’t disengaging fully. The bike has a primary belt drive and we wondered if this altered the book specifications. Anyway we have it up and running although it’s difficult to get out of third gear if you happen to stop in third for any reason. The gears are not as smooth as they were. I don’t know if this will improve with use.

I just have to learn to ride her now!

[Limey_Dave]

Hope you're using foot clutch,hand clutch can be made to work on WLC but it's tricky.
With clutch disengaged does pedal go right forward to stop?
You should then have 1/16" clearance between release lever and sprocket cover stud,
With clutch engaged clearance should be 1/8" but up to 1/4" is ok if everything is working.
If things don't look right start again with the 1 1/32" setting for spring tension,this is not set in stone.Set with a rule then check if cluth is lifting evenly and tweak nuts as required.

With gear change,check for wear at joints and reset.
When you say gears are not as smooth I take it you mean on engagement.
If parts have been replaced that had half the dogs knocked off them then change will need more practice but it will never be slick.
With worn dogs they go in easier but have a habit of popping out again.

[45Brit]

hand clutch is ok on WLC but not using H-D parts! And then you have the clutch and the gearchange on the same side, or everything back to front... best avoided really.

You really need a new handlebar lever and a re-drilled actuating lever and new cable mount, to get the geometry right. I built a bike like this in the 70s, with a heel-and-toe foot lever which just rocked between the gears, tricky but ok once you got used to it.

but whatever you do to a WL box it will always feel as though it was designed in about 1910, because that's pretty much the case. I dumped it after a while and swapped to a British gearbox, Ray Leon did this, and it made an enormous difference. Then I had one of Ray's British-framed 45s, an Ariel as it happens, and it was an eye-opener.

[dodgyloner]

Hi Graham

Good to hear you've got it fixed.

I was just curious as to how you'd got on - I'm rebuilding another 45 gearbox just now and was going to offer to give you a hand whilst its all still fresh in my mind.

The trouble with the 45 transmission is that once you've disturbed it then you've got to check/adjust all the linkages between the gear lever and the box - anything here might affect the smoothness of the shifting. Rear chain will also need resetting too.

Primary belt should be tight but this shouldn't affect the clutch engagement. LimeyDave's right - check all the set up from the pedal right through to the lever.

Just out of interest - what other parts were replaced? And dare we ask how much it cost??

[Fingers]

The overhaul cost £289 including postage back. The parts that were changed were:
sprocket lockwasher, Locking key Mainsh/sprocket, Stud starterspring, Spring starter clutch, Shifter lever and shaft, Bushing Shifter lever Large, 1 Shifter fork, 2 shifter rollers, 2 spacer shims .007", gaskets, rubber oil seal in cover Cnt. shaft, set of Lock washers covers, 19 roller countersh./Mainsh, roller bearing washer outer, Washer bearing thrust inner, 40 Roller clutchgear bearings, Washer second gear, Washer first gear end, Collar spacing, countershaft, Thrust washer countershaft Inner Left, Thrust washer Countershaft right side, Thrust washer Left out, Bushing countershaft in side cover, Sprkt. cover studs low, Sprkt. cover stud upper right, set of nuts and washer sprkt. cover studs, mainshaft endplay Adj. spacer, Retainer bearing race.

It came back looking like new!

Yes she has a foot clutch and we did initially set the clearances to the tolerances in the book but we then had to make our own adjustments for the clutch to disengage fully and to be able to select the gears without horrible grinding. Not having riden a 45 before I don't have anything to compare her with, but the previous owner (who did most of the work whilst I looked on and helped with the simple stuff) thought she was okay.

I just need to get acquainted with her properly now and ride her.

[MacHarry]

You can practish on your way to Watford

harry

[dodgyloner]

Thats not a bad price at all Graham - I reckon about half of that is parts alone.

All those new bits will have taken up any play in the gearbox which explains why it doesn't appear as smooth as it did - but its good for another sixty years now.

Hope to see you out on the road on it - will you be taking it to Mr Scrivener's vintage do on the 20 June?

Would you let us all know who the reconditioner was? Reconditioners with 45 expertise are like rocking horse s*** here in the UK.

Thanks
Karl