Mechanical Gear box

[Iron Andy]

Hi,

it took quite a bit of time to get the gear box not to lock up when I bolted down the trap door. I must have dismantled that thing a hundred times, did nothing different to it every time but for some reason it didn't lock up on me on the last occasion.

Before my front brake locked up and threw me off my bike, the gear box worked fine. Now, the gears still select but it doesn't feel as smooth and easy as before. Neutral is impossible to located when riding.

What could be causing these problems?

Nothing is bent or broken, the gear shifter cam is a little difficult to move by hand when box is out of bike, the cam follwer and spring move easily. Could the pawl carrier and pawls cause gear engagement difficulties?

I have those Daniel Boone bolt on forwards. There is a hell of a lot of travel on the gear shifter linkage, I have to lift my foot off the peg to change gear, there's no way you can just use your toes. I have moded the f**ck out of these to get them to fit the bike and not flex when braking, changing gear, rock solid now.

I am a little confused about the 25% & 50% engagement describe in the FM.

I am so fed up with this bike, I fix one problem just to have another 10 appear.

All and any help gratefully accepted. Thanking you all in advance.


Andy.

[Urrell]

Originally Posted by Iron Andy

What could be causing these problems?

Nothing is bent or broken, the gear shifter cam is a little difficult to move by hand when box is out of bike, the cam follwer and spring move easily. Could the pawl carrier and pawls cause gear engagement difficulties?
All and any help gratefully accepted. Thanking you all in advance.


Andy.

Andy are you SURE nothing is bent or broken?
If the bike went down it quite possibly stressed something.

[Iron Andy]

Hi,

I can't see anything bent, broken or otherwise. What would cause it to be difficult to find neutral and a little difficult to shift through the gears?

If I can get this sorted and nothing else goes wrong, I should be able to take it for an MOT.

Thanks Andy.

[Iron Andy]

Hi,

could the problem be the clutch plates and not the gear box? What clutch plates would you recommened as a replacement? What would I be looking to pay for replacing all the plates and where is a good place to buy them?

Many thanks,

Andy.

[kevscrivener]

Originally Posted by Iron Andy

Hi,

could the problem be the clutch plates and not the gear box? What clutch plates would you recommened as a replacement? What would I be looking to pay for replacing all the plates and where is a good place to buy them?

Many thanks,

Andy.

Barnett plates are as good as any, THS should have 'em in stock.

Your symptoms of difficulty in neutral selection and hard to get gears sound to me like clutch drag. Ironhead clutches of that era are notoriously difficult to set up, often a case of set it to the correct spec and then trial and error.

Could be you have a burr on the plates I suppose.

[Iron Andy]

Hi all,

decided not to mess around and have ordered a new set of clutch plates. Lets wait and see if this cures the problem?

Thanks everyone,

Andy.

[Gray]

Hi Andy, don't rush stuff. The clutch plates take lots of abuse. Mine have done 134K and look fine. It's more likely to be the adjustment. Read what Kev says he knows stuff. It might be clutch drag. Start with that and adjust the bugger as per the manual. Meaning free off the cable and adjust the release mechanism through the little window in the primary case and then readjust the cable to give an eighth inch or so free play at the lever. If that don't work. Strip the plates out, clean them, check that they are flat and look OK, then stick them back and readjust the release mechanism. One possible reason for clutch drag is the transmission oil gluing the plates together. I use H-Ds Formula plus stuff. I'm told ATF works well also. When I used 20-50 or SAE 50 in the tranny I got glued up plates which were a sod to release properly. What I'm saying is don't just change stuff without trying the easy things first.
Good Luck.