Topica Loopframe_Guzzi Archive
 

Subject: RE: The clutch mystery continues

Author: Ian Adkins

Date: Oct 20, 2003, 7:15 AM

Post ID: 1714926341


No but I will thouroughly check again. The more I look at this I am starting
to think that the problem may not lay in one area. I was trying to think
like a clutch assembly and imagining the spinning components coming
together.

Pressure plate and intermediate plate spinning with flywheel. When engine
was running either in gear (with clutch pulled) or in neutral no indication
of binding or problems.

Obviouisly when bike is in gear with clutch pulled the clutch plates are
floating...connected to the tranny input hub. No problem there because when
I spun the rear wheel (with either the bike idling with clutch pulled,
engine off and in gear with clutch pulled, or in neutral) everything felt
tight and smooth.

Problem occurs when plates come together. I noticed that pressure plate was
not making even contact around the disc....appeared to be three high spots.
Hard for me to imagine that this is the problem in itself but then I started
thinking. What if during the contact on those high spots there is a
resonance set up where the plates start to "bounce" causing the vibration.
Now I know I am grabbing at straws here but I am trying to think of
everything since there is nothing obvious.


 -----Original Message-----
From: Robert Hawkes [mailto:3haw-@bluefrog.biz]
Sent: Sunday, October 19, 2003 11:32 AM
To: Loopfram-@topica.com
Subject: Re: The clutch mystery continues


Ian, Possible worn out carrier bearing? Bob
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ian Adkins" <ianad-@linkamerica.net>
To: "Loopframe" <Loopfram-@topica.com>
Sent: Sunday, October 19, 2003 10:03 AM
Subject: The clutch mystery continues


 Well folks....instead of riding in this beautiful fall weather Ed and I
decided to pull the engine from the White Eldo and see what we
could find.
 The grabby clutch was back and now a new twist...a binding sound coming
from
 the rear end (or transmitting to the rear end).

Of course as we pulled the tranny from the engine there was no
indication
of
 anything drastic. Everything looked as it should. Clutch
assembly was nice
 and tight...no metal bits and pieces. No indications that anything was
wrong.

We pulled the ring gear and subsequent plates. Again....all looked ok.
Splines good....no indications of wear.....certainly it looked no
different
 than the previous time...about 300 miles ago.

I looked at the pressure plate and intermediate plate. The only
thing that
 gave me an indication of a problem area appeared to be that there were
shiny
 spots around the surface of the pressure plate...indication
that the plate
 may not be contacting the clutch plates evenly. I sprayed some graphite
grease on the surface and proceeded to turn a clutch plate on the suface
by
 hand...then another plate. Sure enough three spots of wear
appeared. Could
 this be the problem?? Hard for me to believe that something so
small could
 be the culprit. Nevertheless this appears to be the only anomoly in this
whole ordeal.

I called Mark (MGClassics) and he was kind enough to spend some time
offering advice and suggestions. Good to have an expert to bounce ideas
off
 of. I sure wish he was local....I would love for him to see the bike in
person and look at the bits and pieces.

Ed and I decided to have a look at the rear drive while we were in
investigative mode. Pulled the pinion and it looked great.
Bearings rolled
 true, drive gear was good and the sump in the rear drive was free of any
metal. Nothing....perfect.

OK....so where am I with all this you ask? Engine is good and strong. I
won't touch it. I will replace springs and clutch plates. I
will have the
 pressure plate, intermediate plate and ring gear checked and
resurfaced/replaced if neccessary. Ed and I will pull the tranny back
plate
 off and have a look next weekend. Swing arm, carrier bearing,
Ujoint will
be
 reinspected.

I thought I did this the last time.....I guess I was mislead by the
simplistic nature of these bikes and thought that there had to be
something
 visually obvious to have a problem such as the one I experienced.

Hopefully this will be the last time I have to pull the engine for a
while.
 
Thanks for listening.

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