And another update........... reassembled the Comet, top and bottom links up the right way, head on, valve timing - both valves closed at TDC (was I happy?) and points opening at 34 deg BTDC with the ATD spragged at fully advanced using my timing light set-up (am I advanced or is it the ATD?). Battery refitted, lights and horn working, timing case polished, tank and seat back on. Looking good and like a MACHINE again, you might say................ except that it would now appear that the clutch has gone from being very stiff to being non-existent.
Took the Burman gearbox outer cover off and large amounts of the special grease leapt out at me. Looking at the position of the actuating arm and reading from the few notes I got with the bike I think that Mr Wonderful, the original assembler, has managed to shorten the clutch pushrod too much. In my experience, Honda clutches such as fitted to Honda motorbikes and, in this case, to my Comet, are a thing of extreme engineering beauty in terms of easy operation. The previous tit (obviously, this makes me the current tit) has managed, it would seem, to cock up the fitting of the Honda clutch. Anyway, reading the Conway notes, I am going to insert a 1/4 inch or 6mm ballbearing into the gearbox side of the pushrod tube between it and the two-diameter slotted final clutch actuating jointy thing in the hope that this will provide me with enough extra length (stop that now) to allow the clutch to operate properly. Any millennium now, I'll be starting this machine.... hope you can all hang on long enough to appreciate the moment. I had black hair when I started this........ Phil
