Slow Monster rebuild

[350TSS]

Half term and trips to see the other sprogs at university has meant no progress over the last 7 days.
First I finished off the battery tray, cutting the opening in the top and removing the half a sharps bin I used to mold the base. Then I positioned the starter solenoid and the RCD.


Next I tackled the mounting arrangement for the regulator/rectifier. I started by thinking I would use a 6mm aluminium plate but after seeing that it would have to have 3 bends in it I decided to make it out of CF. A cardboard template was made first followed by a sheet of 1mm polypropylene which was cut to the shape of the cardboard template then hot glue gunned to some 3mm polypropylene to give the mould some rigidity when stippling the resin. 5 laminations in total were used.
This is it




Next I moved onto fitting the clutch and encountered 2 problems, the first is I need to make a holding tool so that I can torque up the centre nut and the second which was a bit concerning is that the clutch push rod will not go through the gearbox shaft. inserting it from the slave cylinder end it goes in about 25 to 30 mm then hits a restriction which I assume is the small needle roller bearing inside the shaft. I cannot see inside the shaft to see what the obstruction is but I assume the cage is damaged and not letting the push rod through.
I have read these are a bugger to change and in any event the alternator case will have to come off again.
Lots of other little but time consuming jobs done but loads more to do together with the above has caused me to revise my ETTC upwards again to 135 hours

The rectifier gets really hot by itself. By mounting it above the horizontal cylinder aren't you concerned with longevity by being heatsoaked every time you stop or park the bike after ride? Maybe a heatshield that may work as a air scoop at the same time would solve that problem?

[350TSS]

Haloguy - yes you are absolutely right, it is far from an ideal positioning. My original intent was to put it under the bottom yoke, in the breeze and far from front cylinder heat, but the rectifier is too deep and will foul the front mudguard on full suspension compression. This is a "Hobsons choice" location.
I have included an additional 3mm aluminium heat sink above the rectifier and a 3mm air gap between the CF and the rectifier itself. I did consider a channel shaped duct around the bottom of the rectifier and may still make one but it is quite tight in there (throttle cables and adjusters have to pass close to the inner edge of the rectifier) and with not a lot of material to attach it to.
I will include a voltmeter on the dashboard to alert me to any failure of the rectifier so that I do not fry the battery or set light to the bike (Lithium ion battery).

[350TSS]

Lots of little jobs got done this last week, all took twice as long as estimated but that is par for the course.
My clutch push rod problem, whilst not yet completely resolved, is on the way to being resolved. I realised that since removal of the push rod only two things have changed, the alternator casing had been cracked and re-welded and the case had been powder coated. Both contributed to the push rod failing to pass through the case and the shaft.
The needle roller bearing within the gearbox shaft was also partly to blame, I think either some corrosion or a bit of detritus got into the bearing and the push rod simply would not go through. This was solved by polishing the push rod with some 240 grit wet and dry and then once I had got it inserted into the bearing spinning it in a battery drill, washing the bearing out with paraffin, re-greasing and repeating until it ran smooth with no corrugation feeling on the push rod.
The bearing should only turn when the clutch lever is pulled and given the orientation of the needles is, I believe, only there to reduce bending of the push rod when the clutch lever is pulled.
The next issue was that the two little rubber seals that sit towards the end of the push rod on the clutch slave end of the shaft were binding where they entered the alternator case, resisting both a turning and an in and out motion. I believe these seals are due to seal to the inside of the final 25mm of the gearbox shaft preventing either a) gearbox oil draining out of the shaft into the clutch slave cylinder or perhaps b) they are there to dam up a little oil so that the needle roller gets a bit of lubrication. Oddly there is no seal at the other end of the shaft to prevent any oil in the shaft from getting onto the dry clutch plates.
I spent a good hour with a 8mm bolt split at the end with strips of 120 grit paper inserted in a battery drill trying to get the hole the right size to permit the seals to operate, cleaning surplus grit out frequently to prevent it getting into the bearing. Nearly there but not quite yet.
I then fitted the rear brake caliper or rather tried to, it is clear I have miscalculated somewhere as the disc is way too far inboard of the slot in the caliper (about 6mm). Some spacers, some countersunk caliper bolts and countersinking the holes in the disc I think will work if not I will need some creative thinking.
The bike at the moment is sitting on its engine stand with the front wheel clamped at the front. The engine stand does not allow access to fit the case saver or the front anchor point for the rear brake torque arm. All my available rear stands work on the basis of platforms that engage on the underside of the swinging arm which will interfere with my chain oiler on the LH side and the brake torque arm on the RH side. So I spent a couple of hours knocking this up which should work on the fixed footrests or with a bar slotted through the rear axle. Not subtle or elegant, but it is sturdy made from 75 mm x 50 mm x 3mm box section which has been sculling round the garage floor since we moved here, so something else less to trip over.

I may even paint it.

Good work! I've found hollow back axles very convenient for supporting bikes with odd swing-arms, so long as you can find a strong enough rod to go through and your stand has appropriate ends. Obviously, a stand with wheels and a long lifting arm is ideal. How are you raising the bike onto your creation?

Nick

[350TSS]

I have a few rear stands with long handles and wheels that you can "cam under" but they all rely on an uncluttered lower portion of the swinging arm which I do not have, also the bench on which the bike is perched is only just long enough and the long lifting arm only just rests on the "deck" and extending about 600 mm off the end of the bench is liable to be knocked banged /into causing precious bike to fall over and off the bench.
As for lifting the bike onto the new fabricated stand that is me straining (I am hoping to get this bike under 150 kg so only a 75kg or so lift of 75mm or so) and No 2 son positioning said stand underneath the bar passing through the axle (5/8" solid steel bar).

[350TSS]

Clutch holding tool made today out of 4 old (2 driven and 2 fibre coated plates). It took a lot longer than anticipated (as always) because the alignment of the 4 plates altered slightly as I drilled them and when I tried to insert them into the basket they would not slide in nicely. About half an hour with a crisp file got them to work.

I attached them to the same handle I used for the flywheel holding tool. I wanted to use 8 mm bolts (the clutch centre nut is c 150 Nm torque setting and I was worried that 2 x 6mm bolts would just bend) but there was just not quite the room for an 8 mm bolt head to sit between the clutch centre and the outer basket. (Pictures to follow).

On the other 4 x 6 mm bolts, I used 50 mm bolts spaced back to the base of the basket so that the holding tool would not twist as the full torque was applied.

The clutch plates were then fitted.

Each driven plate needed to be rubbed down to get rid of surface corrosion, which took the best part of 2 hours.

In the spare parts I got with a scrap S4 I bought, I got a clutch spring centre "spider" which does away with the individual spring caps and logically should provide a more even release of spring tension as the clutch is engaged. I will post a picture tomorrow. The problem I have is that with the spider fitted, it is possible to continue to wind the clutch springs in until they are coil bound which is obviously not right as when you pull the clutch it will not move ( the spring coils will hit each other and the clutch will not disengage).
In theory the spider should be better (as the engagement of the clutch should be smoother and more even because the spring pressure across all parts of the biting face should be even) than separate spring collets but it appears to be impossible to work out when the springs are sufficiently tightened to stop them undoing without being in danger of being coil bound.

[Luddite]

Originally Posted by 350TSS

...it appears to be impossible to work out when the springs are sufficiently tightened to stop them undoing without being in danger of being coil bound.

It's been a long time since I worked on a dry clutch, but shouldn't the spring retaining screws first bottom out to limit spring compression? Perhaps the screws are not original and are too short?

[Mr Gazza]

Yep. They screw right up to the hilt and then just stop screwing.. No torque setting, as I doubt they will ever come undone under spring pressure.

[slob]

almost no torque pressure! the posts on the hub will snap of really easily if you overtighten them. i don’t fathom how a spider would make any significant difference to the pressure the individual springs apply to the pressure plate, maybe a photo will make me understand.

[Darren69]

A spider spring is used in a slipper clutch to keep the 2 part drum under pressure. It's not one of those is it?

[Darren69]

I just did a search I know which one it's one of these:-

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ducati-Cl...oAAOxydlFSyd25

Not one of these:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ducati-Cl...wAAOSw0ildrsjk

[Luddite]

Originally Posted by Darren69

I just did a search I know which one it's one of these:-

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ducati-Cl...oAAOxydlFSyd25

Not one of these:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ducati-Cl...wAAOSw0ildrsjk

My money was on one of these.



Put us out of our misery, Richard! (I think Darren's guess may be correct though...)

[350TSS]

Here you go a 6 legged spider


and the clutch holding tool made yesterday

[slob]

still don’t see how it evens up spring pressure