Gunner Asch wrote:
Many English motorcycles have a seperate transmission that is simply
bolted to the backside of the engine and is operated via a primary drive
chain.


Ive been pulling down the engine of my 61 Indian Chief for cleaning, and
a general checkout and ran across an issue Im a bit concerned about.
After pulling the side cover and loosening the timing chain..I noticed
my clutch basket was wobbling..so took everything down and apart and
discovered that the nut holding the center of the clutch was loose.

Not a good thing but at least the splines are still there.


There is some wear on the splined shaft from the transmission and the
clutch basket is wobbling on it with that loose nut. The center of the
clutch is a three lobed gizmo with a splned female center and I havent
measured anything yet to find out where the actual wear is..but based on
looks..its on both parts. It still has semi-decent splines..but they
are fairly loose.

It appears that the clutch center is the most worn part.

Whats the fix for this? New guts for both? Steel epoxy with release
agent on one half? I dont think there is more than .010 wear..but there
is wear and the basket rocks significantly.

Steel epoxy applied so it is on the low pressure side of the splines
should be fine.
I've done that on a couple items that have the same type problem.


Simply tightening the nut in the center of the clutch secures
everything..but since its a heavily loaded part..it drives the
transmission which then comes back out and drives the sprocket.

I would look at a different nut or make a staking device to lock that
nut in place.


When I put the splined parts together..I get about 5-10 degrees of play
when rotating the clutch parts on the splined shaft.

Just to clarify this is NOT the sliding section of the clutch correct?
I know some of those bikes had clutches like the typical Harley while
others used movable baskets instead of a pressure plate design.



Need photos or any of you English bike guys may know

Any ideas or suggestions would be great!

Gunner
"In the history of mankind, there have always been men and women who's goal
in life is to take down nations. We have just elected such a man to run our
country." - David Lloyyd (2008)


--
Steve W.