The Clutch nut must be free, Up to 10 thou, The plungers must be touching c14 Or the shoes will drag on the drum, Cheers Bill.
Snatchy clutch or Kangaroo petrol?
- Thread starter nkt267
- Start date
I keep this in the garage, Bill.
Does Time/Trav' Still do the mod' to help the outer plate lift square ?, Cheers Bill.
Yes he does; but I am away at the moment so if anyone wants one either they will have to wait or buy one from the Spares Company. The S.C. have had about 200 off me so there must be lots of them out there now. They really do make a difference to ensuring that the outer plate lifts squarely but it is still important to ensure that both primary clutch plates are flat. I have fitted a few for chums and when the clutch is spun while the clutch lever is held at full lift the plates are moving in and out alarmingly and that will not help with a smooth take up. Cheers.
A few notes on my own experience with the clutch on a Vincent twin. (Not the multi-plate on the "A" twin.)
My basket case Rapide came with a box containing a new multi-plate clutch so I took the easy option to fit this rather than sort through the boxes to see how much of the original clutch I had. This worked quite well and was improved by the fitting of the ET27/2SS from the Spares Co which gives a little more lift to the clutch. I had a few problems with this clutch grabbing occasionally. I found that the cause of this seemed to be a build up of dust or surprisingly slight oil contamination. (Our topic here is the Vincent clutch so discussion of the multi-plate clutch should be in another thread.)
I decided to have a go at fitting the original clutch and a search of a few boxes revealed most of a clutch apart from a few minor parts such as split pins, washers, etc. Some of the parts seemed quite worn but in practice the clutch worked well.
To get it working I found:
Others may have found different factors but this is what worked for me.
My basket case Rapide came with a box containing a new multi-plate clutch so I took the easy option to fit this rather than sort through the boxes to see how much of the original clutch I had. This worked quite well and was improved by the fitting of the ET27/2SS from the Spares Co which gives a little more lift to the clutch. I had a few problems with this clutch grabbing occasionally. I found that the cause of this seemed to be a build up of dust or surprisingly slight oil contamination. (Our topic here is the Vincent clutch so discussion of the multi-plate clutch should be in another thread.)
I decided to have a go at fitting the original clutch and a search of a few boxes revealed most of a clutch apart from a few minor parts such as split pins, washers, etc. Some of the parts seemed quite worn but in practice the clutch worked well.
To get it working I found:
- It should be oil free
- The clutch nut should be shimmed to allow some play. The clearance was not critical to a few thou as long as there was some.
- The shoe lining should not be so worn that the C10 clutch link pin goes "over centre" when the shoes are forced out. (Conversely if the linings are too thick the shoes will not fit in the drum or be too tight to come out of engagement.)
- The primary clutch should be adjusted so that it does not drag. This is easier if it lifts square.
- Most important of all spring pressure of the plungers in the clutch shoes should be adjusted correctly. To enlarge on this I found that the pressure in the C7/1 shoe (the right hand one in Bill Thomas' picture a few posts above this) only needs to be fairly light so that it can be easily pushed in with finger pressure. This shoe drives when kick starting. The spring pressure in the C7 shoe plunger is the one that relates most directly to a grabbing or slipping clutch. As the primary clutch engages it moves the C7 shoe towards the drum against the spring pressure of the plunger. If the spring pressure is too great it can stop the the shoe from applying sufficient force onto the drum so you get slip. If the spring pressure is too light there is little resistance so the shoe move out suddenly as soon as the primary clutch starts to engage. This makes it difficult to control engagement, hence the snatchy "kangaroo start".
Others may have found different factors but this is what worked for me.
I have fitted new toggles and replaced the carrier bush. Shimmed the end float and repaired the worn plunger hole in C7 and replaced the plunger springs.
I have set the plungers to 10/12 Lbs at the moment which seems heavy to the touch but I think I may have to increase this a bit.
I tried the clutch in the garage and at no time did I risk flying into the opposite wall (not a large garage
). The clutch feels more controllable but a good road test is needed..John
I have set the plungers to 10/12 Lbs at the moment which seems heavy to the touch but I think I may have to increase this a bit.
I tried the clutch in the garage and at no time did I risk flying into the opposite wall (not a large garage
). The clutch feels more controllable but a good road test is needed..John