Quaife 5 speed

Albervin

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Can anyone out there with a Quaife gearbox give feedback. There is one on e-bay and I have been considering placing a bid BUT am unsure what advantages it will bring. I have a B Rapide with 8:1 pistons, BT-H ignition and home-made cams that have more overlap than a Shadow but less than a Lightning (similar to 105 cams ?). At the moment I have a 48T rear sprocket to cope with the local hills but would like to fit a 46T and still have the "grunt" for the hills.
 

vibrac

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On the road in the alphabet twin (No slouch) I found the higher bottom gear the best feature of the box
It only really came in to its own racing on the Egli with a top quality clutch + Newby belt drive and some careful selector /actuator tuning then to quote Ben "What you mean I was not supposed to change up without the clutch?"
certainly it made cutting a crankcase and fitting a 50's pattern norton box a sign of vintage thinking
also search for 'Quaife' on this forum
 

vibrac

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Didn't they have trouble with early ones ? Cheers Bill.
yes something to do with a spacer in the wrong place or lack of (there is only one as I remember)
mine was ok (by 1999)
may be on forum somewhere certainly deep in my jtan archives
 

roy the mechanic

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Going by the ratios Quoted by Mr Surtees, (the source) both third and top are the same. Do you need an extra gear between 3+4 versus a standard 'box? seems a waste to me on a road bike.
 

greg brillus

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Also Alyn, you will almost certainly have to split the cases to get more rotational travel out of the G39 AS as the five speed cam plate needs a lot more travel to pick up the extra gear......i know cause i tried it on Glen's B Rapide, ended up going back to a new four speed cluster instead........darn it...Greg.
 

Bill Thomas

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I have to agree with Roy, 4 Good, 5 too many, Had a BMW 1000 Brick, With more power than a Vin,But was forever changing gear, Drove me Nuts. Cheers Bill.
 

Howard

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I have to agree with Roy, 4 Good, 5 too many, Had a BMW 1000 Brick, With more power than a Vin,But was forever changing gear, Drove me Nuts. Cheers Bill.

I've got 6 on the Fireblade ............ as Mike the Bike once said, I don't know which gear I'm in, I just keep changing until there are no more.

My 4 (Rap ratio) gears are plenty on the road, but on the occasional track outing I was aware of gaps - probably better with Shadow gearing.

H
 

Bill Thomas

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We will have to swap bikes one day Howard, I must have a go on one of those Fast things befor i die, Maybe it will be just befor !! Cheers Bill.
 
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