Clutch pushrod and fork interface... s*Rt the bed...

[foundationapps]

Long riding summer. The pan has been tearing up the roads. With little changes, most things are working strong and well. Last week, the primary belt shredded itself and was partly ate up by the front sprocket. Mainshaft is still true, no damage other than shredded belt. Temporarily, I have an older belt that is good, but waiting on a replacement. Reassembled everything pretty ok, I think.

There was some trouble getting a nice bit of freeplay in the clutch cable adjustment. Setup the ball bearing adjustment rod to just touch off on the pushrod. The fork on the kicker seem okay last time I looked. The unit feels a bit mushy.... today while riding to work, more and more play became apparent in the clutch. Shifting was good. Went to neutral while rolling at a light, light went green. I popped the shifter down into first gear and everything grabbed. Bike killed. I pushed it 100' to work.

As I push down on the kicker arm, it feels ratty as it goes down farther on the stroke. I figure the small tit on the end of the pushrod is chewed up a bit and maybe the fork is chewed also. Can that be cleaned up with a file until a new rod and fork arrives?

More important question, what is the difference on pre-64 pushrods? I know about different lengths, mine is 13.5". The tit seems to be narrower on my rod than what I see online. Someone help out with that please?

Respectfully,
Trig

PS, already went through one rear tire, 4000 miles this summer.

[foundationapps]

Hi all, Rode the bike home yesterday. Had to stop 3 times and reset the pushrod... I say that chewing my lip, cause that was only part of the issue. Got it home and found a welded pushrod adjuster bolt, (funny, just read about this happening to another rider here). Pulled the kicker cover and bearings fell into the oil pot. Exploded throw out bearing, pics attached.

Also, the Blue Angels were here a couple weeks ago, only in Idaho does a tractor pull an F-18, bad ass!!!

[Buddhahoodvatoloco]

Dam, never seen one like that ever. Ever. Thanks for the pics.

[foundationapps]

Most welcome. I like pictures, and providing info so that others might learn something. I'm thinking that the belt failure the other day might have caused something to go wrong, but I could have also not left enough slack in the pushrod adjustment. The little rod with the ball bearing in the end that touches off on the pushrod throw me off. It mushes a bit. I have one of the updated versions coming, with the oil slinger on the pushrod. Seems easier to install and setup than the old throw out bearing, I might be wrong.

I was just happy that it managed to get me home in some of the stupidest traffic anywhere in the US. I've taken to carrying 14" of drive chain hanging over my handlebars and a can of bear spray on the bike to ward of "tailgaters". Drivers these days around here are out to lunch and dangerous more than ever.

[PanPal]

With all those mile this year the clutch plates could have worn and taken the slack out of your adjuster bolt. Was that a OEM throw out bearing? I had a V twin throw out bearing in my hands before and the quality isn't real good. They feel like there is dirt in the bearings and the crimped over cover dragged when you rotated the bearing. Takes a bit of work to get them to feel ok.

[foundationapps]

The plates are Kevlar BDL. Greenish plate with cross slots cut into the fiber material. They have about 4000 miles and appear to be nearly full thickness. Not sure about the origin of the throw out bearing. It could be the original, it looks like one, however, it could be aftermarket. When I had the bike apart this winter and a couple times under the kicker cover since then, the throwout bearing did feel gritty. Wasn't real wild about how those bearings felt, but I wouldn't know (not enough experience) to call them bad at the time.

The fork and the fork end of the pushrod look pretty good. No damage or severe wear than I could see. I had to tap the pushrod out of the fork with a light hit tho, maybe that contributed to the problem by holding alignment out of wack?

[Bigincher]

With all those mile this year the clutch plates could have worn and taken the slack out of your adjuster bolt. Was that a OEM throw out bearing? I had a V twin throw out bearing in my hands before and the quality isn't real good. They feel like there is dirt in the bearings and the crimped over cover dragged when you rotated the bearing. Takes a bit of work to get them to feel ok.

Curious what kind of 'work' you did on the throwout bearing to get it to feel okay? The only 'okay' feeling I get with those shitty repop POSs is when I throw them in the garbage (where they belong).

[Panhead Ed]

Couldnt agree with Bigincher more ! you would have better luck with an old used BRG. than any re-pop offered today . Never saw an OEM one fall apart .

[PanPal]

The one I put in was to replace the later style dime style throw out on a shovel. Couldn't run the wiper or scraper though. I flushed out the ball bearings for a long time and tweeked the crimped sheet metal until it rotated fairly well with pressure on the center. It took an hour or so to work it in. It wasn't perfect, but it did seem better than that dime looking throw out bearing. A buddy of mine when talking about V twin parts says, "it almost works" when you can work it into service. And "it doesn't work" when it goes straight in the garbage. These almost work but are far from the original.

[foundationapps]

So is the old original style throw out bearing and pushrod setup the best and most reliable? I have an oil slinger type coming to replace this tore up one with. Anything I don't know that I need to know?

Respectfully,
Trig

[Panhead Ed]

Yes the original style would be the better choice , the dime style as you call it is prone to failure if not properly adjusted .

[Doc37W]

So, I'm trying to see if you have an oil dripper on the upper right hand screw to oil your mainshaft kick gear bushing. Doesn't look like it's there. Also, the coller holding to 2 pieces of the throwout bearing together doesn't have any divet points on the outer portion to throw oil onto the dripper or lube the throwout bearings(must have the points open to allow oil into the bearing). Look for a OEM throwout bearing to replace the POS repop bearing. These 2 things are needed to keep this from happpening again. Doc

[foundationapps]

Sheesh, you know, I took that off when I installed the Right Side Electric Starter unit last spring. That a contributor?

I may have it laying around. Is it needed with the new oil slinger type throwout bearing? That's the type I have coming now, i'll replace that when I can find a real OEM type bearing.

[Doc37W]

You need it for the "oil slinger" or any throwout bearing. The dripper collects oil thrown from the slinger (or points on the OEM bearing) and drips it onto the mainshaft & kick gear to lube the bushing. When installed, it's slightly bent up above the slinger or throwout bearing to clear it, routing the oil towards the inside and down towards the mainshaft. Without it, the bushing will wear out and gall the part of the shaft the bushing rides on. When that happens bad enough, you have 2 options : 1. Replace the mainshaft, and bushing, 2. Grind the bearing surface down evenly and replace with an oversize bushing that you have made & honed for a proper fit. Your choice. Doc

[foundationapps]

For now, I have the oil slinger type pushrod on the bike, doing well, but I couldn't find the oil dripper that I had removed this winter. Anyone know a good source for the dripper? Can't find a part # or reference for that device anywhere. New BDL 8mm x 132 belt was so short(agh!!) that I couldn't move the transmission forward enough to get a good loose belt fit. SO..... I put an old belt back on the bike that was there when I bought the bike. So far so good,

Anyone have a recommendation on a good belt? I thought BDL was a good belt, but when there is a difference in length between two belts make 8 months apart, I have to wonder. The OLD belt I put back on was a Primo.