This is a much brought up topic, but I need some advice. I was out yesterday on the way to the Owls Head Vintage meet on my B with Mike Whitney on his D Shadow. My clutch has always acted up a bit when it gets hot, but in this case, 50 miles out, after a delightful spirited ride through the Maine countryside, we came to the first stoplight on the route, Route 1 in Waldoboro. In goes the clutch lever and I continue rolling on my way into the intersection until I give it enough brake to stall. The clutch is dragging enough that I cannot hold it with my feet, and when restarted, I cannot get it into first. After a bit of diagnosis and adjustment in a convenient gas station, we decide it is hopeless for the remaining stop and go traffic into the meet, and I wave Mike off and on his way. This was very disappointing as we had arranged to have all 4 Vincent's in Maine at Owls Head, but I wasn't going to push start it the remaining 5 miles. I worked out a return home route that would be light traffic on a busy holiday weekend, almost all right turns , no lights, and one stop sign on a not too busy intersection. Got a push from a group of friendly but amused Harley guys to get it into first and off I go. 50+ miles later I arrive in the driveway and stall it after not stopping once. Whew!
So anyway, now the advice part: I take off the clutch cover, (a new deeper one so no drag there), while things are still hot and notice that the outer plate is not lifting squarely, so I rotate the springs around until I get a better result, but still quite a bit of drag, though the bike is cooling off and the crankcase expansion that probably caused this is going away. A bit of unhurried adjustment of the cable and the new VOC Spares mod internal adjuster in the clutch cover gives a marginal improvement, but not great. I notice that the new but 30 years old clutch cable is groaning with the effort when I pull in the lever, and I can feel some sponginess. This V3 is also a very early one not used until now, and it probably has the heavier springs they first came with, so I will be contacting Steve Hamel about getting the newer 20 lb. springs that I think are now used. The other questions I want to ask is how the new VOC Spares clutch cables stand up to this use? Are they stiffer and more robust than what was available in the 80's and 90's? Should I use something like the Venhill Universal kit for added robustness and less friction? Next, my G91/1 lever is a bit worn at the tip, and its use with the new internal adjuster relies on a good tip to get the length for extra leverage. Is the G91/1 now available from the Spares Company really different, since it's part number has not changed from the ones available long ago? The advertisement in the back of MPH last year seems to indicate that it is in fact a slightly different design specifically to work with the internal adjuster.
Also, will any of this make a difference? The G91/1 lever now is coming up against the cable abutment at the same time the hand lever is meeting the thin grip I have on the handlebar. I guess the difference would be that the beginning of travel could be adjusted farther away from the abutment if there was less travel lost, and so total travel would be greater. Finally, how important is the length of the pushrod and roller? Mine is hardened and not worn. It was originally too long, so much so that I worried the adjuster would foul the kickstart lever. I had to grind the roller shorter and reharden it when I put in the new internal adjuster. The adjuster is now in the middle of its range, but perhaps a slightly longer rod length might help? This is one I can't think through as it seems that should not matter as long as it is long enough to be pushed by the clutch lifter mechanism and still have a bit proud of the shaft end. (by the way, there is no adjustment available at the clutch end in a V3). Would shortening or shimming the cable abutment help?
I have a feeling that correct operation for these clutches is not a matter of one thing, but making sure everything is just right. Very little room for compromise.
Thanks,
Ron
So anyway, now the advice part: I take off the clutch cover, (a new deeper one so no drag there), while things are still hot and notice that the outer plate is not lifting squarely, so I rotate the springs around until I get a better result, but still quite a bit of drag, though the bike is cooling off and the crankcase expansion that probably caused this is going away. A bit of unhurried adjustment of the cable and the new VOC Spares mod internal adjuster in the clutch cover gives a marginal improvement, but not great. I notice that the new but 30 years old clutch cable is groaning with the effort when I pull in the lever, and I can feel some sponginess. This V3 is also a very early one not used until now, and it probably has the heavier springs they first came with, so I will be contacting Steve Hamel about getting the newer 20 lb. springs that I think are now used. The other questions I want to ask is how the new VOC Spares clutch cables stand up to this use? Are they stiffer and more robust than what was available in the 80's and 90's? Should I use something like the Venhill Universal kit for added robustness and less friction? Next, my G91/1 lever is a bit worn at the tip, and its use with the new internal adjuster relies on a good tip to get the length for extra leverage. Is the G91/1 now available from the Spares Company really different, since it's part number has not changed from the ones available long ago? The advertisement in the back of MPH last year seems to indicate that it is in fact a slightly different design specifically to work with the internal adjuster.
Also, will any of this make a difference? The G91/1 lever now is coming up against the cable abutment at the same time the hand lever is meeting the thin grip I have on the handlebar. I guess the difference would be that the beginning of travel could be adjusted farther away from the abutment if there was less travel lost, and so total travel would be greater. Finally, how important is the length of the pushrod and roller? Mine is hardened and not worn. It was originally too long, so much so that I worried the adjuster would foul the kickstart lever. I had to grind the roller shorter and reharden it when I put in the new internal adjuster. The adjuster is now in the middle of its range, but perhaps a slightly longer rod length might help? This is one I can't think through as it seems that should not matter as long as it is long enough to be pushed by the clutch lifter mechanism and still have a bit proud of the shaft end. (by the way, there is no adjustment available at the clutch end in a V3). Would shortening or shimming the cable abutment help?
I have a feeling that correct operation for these clutches is not a matter of one thing, but making sure everything is just right. Very little room for compromise.
Thanks,
Ron
