How similar to series C is the series A single Burman.

b'knighted

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More specifically , will the post-war gear lever and kickstart pedal fit a prewar single Burman gearbox?
 

Albervin

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Ian, I have a bit of a roundabout answer. Several years ago a rather strong person attempted to start my "A". He forgot it was slack wire advance, gave a hefty kick with good follow through and.... sheared the kickstart shaft. I was given a post war replacement shaft and the original kick start lever fitted nicely. I assume from that both kick start levers have the same spline. Cannot comment on the gear lever spline though as my friend never got around to breaking that :)
 

nkt267

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Also remember that there are 2 different size gearlever splines on a Burman box.The Comet/500 has a spline that is 20.5mm diameter,I don't have a 350 one to hand (it is buried somewhere under the bench) but it is smaller.
I have modified a 350 one, it is possible to bore it out and broach a new spline in it using an old 500 gear lever shaft..John(AKA pain in the arse)
 

b'knighted

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Thanks John. How did you sharpen the spline to make the broach?

I don't know how to broach the subject, but can we be a little more refined - I shall try to only think of you as a pain in the posterior.
 
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nkt267

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I ground down the top of the splines to make a step leaving the bottom deep enough to be just about the full depth of the lever boss.I used a diamond needle file to make the edges of the 'step' as sharp as I possibly could( I'm a bit of a backwood engineer in some respects)..I bored the hole out to 19.5 mm.
Fit a bolt in the clamp end with a bit of packing so that the lever boss can't open when pressing the splined shaft through.I used to use my big vice to do the job, but have since bought a 15 ton press(just one of these things that come in handy)I find the job much easier.
I started by having the clamp bolt a little looser than when it is fully clamped and passed the 'broach' through a few times from both sides.then tightened the bolt a little more and continued till I had a 'reasonable' splined hole.
the splines may not be as sharp as the original but the 2 I have done have been OK for the last 2 years..John
 

b'knighted

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Great description - I had visions of the broach needing multiple cutting edges gradually increasing in size but altering the degree of clamping is a nice solution.
 

nkt267

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Just had a thought..the post war gear levers are made of alloy, I don't think my way will work on a steel one..John
 

b'knighted

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I have now checked, by stealing a straight ally gearlever from a C Comet and fitting it onto the prewar Burman in my Meteor, that the the splines are the same. The A appears to have a stud for holding the gear indicator so, even though the splined shaft may be, the indicator shaft is not identical.


The start of all this questioning was my desire for a folding kickstart pedal so, as I was in the area, with spanners and motive, I whipped the fixed K/S off the Meteor and found that its spline was considerably smaller than that of the gear lever. Odd in a way as the kickstart shaft needs much more strength. I can understand that the gear lever shaft is hollow to carry the indicator but that could have been reduced. I had not really expected to be able to interchange gearlever and kickstart but thought a post-war folding kickstart to more easily found than a pre-war.

Next stage was to steal the C kickstart. Not so easy. As is my habit with tight splines, I removed the pinch bolt. I've never been confident that it didn't bind in the groove around the post war spline. I still had to lever the kickstart off as it was tight even once this groove was cleared. The A shaft does not have this groove.

The folding kickstart lever slid onto the Meteor shaft so easily that I'd expect to have to open up the gap to enable more of a pinch if it was intended to stay on. Refitting it on the C took more than just spanners but I was good and used a Thor hammer gently.
 

vibrac

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I put a folding kickstart on the cooking Comet because when it was a trials outfit grinding up a stoney section against a RH bank meant the footrest was pulled back -that just needed a kick at the top but a kickstarter at right angles was more immovable. Where did I find a folding kickstart? Sammy Miller Trial parts -somebody else does them now.
Still have it fitted as I cant stand the standard one interfering with my leg.
 
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