Clutch cable and clutch adjusting procedures.

[tooljunkie]

what it boils down to is i was a little impatient,and of all things i should know better.
i used the exact method you stated above with my spare puller.
i have made pullers (limited to SAE threads )with my lathe,and even gone as far as hardening them.
it was a mistake on my part.
this is great advice,anybody wondering how to use the puller will benifit from it.

 

[xenodius]

Thanks for helping me out KC, got the box today =) I'll use it all!

GN, I followed your advice to the letter! I sprayed the whole thing inside and out with carb cleaner, and regreased with lithium grease. Would you believe the part I had trouble with was the center bolt? Hand-tightened it and out comes a shiny, newly-broken thread! Wish I never took it off! First row of threads on the inside of the puller are gone, next row are folded over, and I can't get the bolt threaded correctly... Any ideas?

I'm tempted to grind the folded-over thread down just enough so the center bolt can reach the good threads; there's plenty of them left. Is that a bad idea?

 

[GearNut]

Wow xenodius! That sounds pretty typical of the quality control that these engines are checked with. Too bad it also applies to the puller tool.
Your idea of grinding past the buggered thread seems to be the only choice you have.
Grind slowly, clear the chips and check it frequently. You want as many good threads as you can get.

______________________________________
EDIT: I realized that entry #1 may have been confusing so I edited it for clarity.
Sorry if it caused any issues.

 

[xenodius]

Kind of dissapointing! Thanks GN. I'm going to finish making dinner then get back to it! Fingers crossed. I'll grind VERY slowly! =)

 

[xenodius]

I might need a grinding tip with a sharper angle (the cone bit I have now is worn to more of a cylinder) but that aside, I can't get the center bolt to stick. I've still got plenty of internal thread left, so tomorrow I might nab another tip and see if I can make it work. I'm not sure I have high hopes, though. I'll probably get a can of Freeze-Off as well. To think, just last semester I was working with countless gallons of liquid nitrogen...

 

[KCvale]

Guess I should have thrown in 2 pullers ehh?
I could'a should'a since I have 3 more new ones to add to the bag today hehehe ;-}

 

[xenodius]

Naw, you packed that box full of goodies! If you don't mind though, I'd like to send another invoice your way! I think I'd have been fine if I never removed the center bolt in the first place =/

Glad business is good! =) My grandparents live in Green Valley... if they didn't already have too many motorized toys, I'd make them buy a couple motorized bicycles from you!

 

[KCvale]

I'm fine with that, I'll make you another goodie bag of different extra stuff ;-}

 

[xenodius]

I am taking this moment to proclaim your awesomeness... Ahhhhh. awesomeness.

 

[xenodius]

Thanks once again KC! While I'm waiting for a new clutch assembly, I'll switch some things out with those goodies =) Thankyou for giving me TWO pullers this time because despite all the precautions I took, I killed another one! But I have success.

What an unbelievable RPITA. Thought I was going to strip it out, so I hit it with a hammer, (not too hard) then torched it for a while, then penetrating lube'd (kroil, then "Bolt Blaster"), let it cool/creep then torched it and tried again. Somehow I didn't realize it till now, but it was WAY too far on the shaft. Only half of the large gear was hitting the drive gear anyway (!) and it was completely messed up. The clutch base was so badly bent that at least two of the bearings fell out who-knows-when, and that's why it was causing so much trouble (and noise). It looks like someone tried to pry the back open before they put it in. Definitely factory-defective. I can't believe it ever ran.

Only problem is somewhere along the line I folded the threads on the shaft over, just on one side, a diagonal stretch across the threads ~1/2" wide. (!?!) Don't have a tap and die set, but I have a small steel file that I may try to clean them up with. Probably won't be able to pull another assembly off the shaft if I put one back on, though. We'll see =)

Thanks for making it happen, guys. =)

PS: I lost my flower nut lock screw... seriously gasbike.com, $5.00?

 

[GearNut]

I did not like the way the factory screw barely caught into the notches on my flower nut so I dug around in my bin-o-screws and found one that fits perfectly.
You might get lucky and find a screw at a hardware store for 20 cents.
Most Lowes, Home Depot, ACE Hardware, and such have a small board with sized nuts and studs on it in the hardware section to help you determine what size screw you are looking for. Find the sized nut that the flower nut lock screw best threads into any you know what you need.

 

[KCvale]

Thanks once again KC! While I'm waiting for a new clutch assembly, I'll switch some things out with those goodies =) Thankyou for giving me TWO pullers this time because despite all the precautions I took, I killed another one! But I have success.
PS: I lost my flower nut lock screw... seriously gasbike.com, $5.00?

You're welcome xen, glad I sent you 2 pullers this time as well.
Other than the cheesey 'bolt through the frame' alternative front motor mount hardware I think I sent you everything in the Skyhawk 'goodie bag' of parts and then some ;-}

You think $5 is high for the flower nut, wait 'till you add in shipping.

BUILDER TIP:
Get a little box, coffee cup, something, and whenever you work on the bike put EVERY SMALL PART you take off (or start with on a new build) in it. Personally I like See's Candies boxes, easy to see inside and fit my hand in but anything wide and shallow works.

It is not uncommon for me to have 4 or more bikes in the shop at time so each one gets a box until it's done.
And if you drop a part find it before your proceed!

 

[xenodius]

I appreciate it KC! Tons! =) I have a little ziploc bag for all the really small stuff, and everything else (and the tools I have out) goes into a clean disposable oil pan, but I guess I must have just dropped it somewhere and not noticed! =( And since I don't have a garage, just a parking lot there are some hazards for small items. Like the storm drain that ate my 8mm bearing... I couldn't get it out when I tried, then as I'm rolling my bike back to the rack it falls out in just the worst place! Murphy's Law, eh?

I found a post on here where someone said the lock screw is an m4x7 thread, and they got an extra large screw, cut it shorter, and filed the head down to fit better. I think that's what I'll do =)

 

[GearNut]

BUILDER TIP:
Get a little box, coffee cup, something, and whenever you work on the bike put EVERY SMALL PART you take off (or start with on a new build) in it. Personally I like See's Candies boxes, easy to see inside and fit my hand in but anything wide and shallow works.

It is not uncommon for me to have 4 or more bikes in the shop at time so each one gets a box until it's done.
And if you drop a part find it before your proceed!

For years now I have used 6 or 12 cup muffin pans to put all the small bits in.
The size of the pan depends on the size of the job.
You can put the parts, or parts group relating to a sub-assembly, in each cup, in order, as you disassemble. When you get to re-assembly you have everything neatly organized to go back together without missing anything and grouped per build step or sub-assembly.

 

[KCvale]

For years now I have used 6 or 12 cup muffin pans to put all the small bits in.
The size of the pan depends on the size of the job.
You can put the parts, or parts group relating to a sub-assembly, in each cup, in order, as you disassemble. When you get to re-assembly you have everything neatly organized to go back together without missing anything and grouped per build step or sub-assembly.

What an excellent idea!
Just keeping like parts in the same place is great, especially a muffin pan which has tapered sides for every cup to make pulling them out easy.
Thanks for the tip.

 

[KCvale]

not leave a bike with the clutch pressed, weaken the spring. Right?

Naw, I intentionally keep it locked in on a new build to loosen it up, and if you have that useless little spring (not the fat heat sink one on the cable against the head) between the cable stop and clutch arm in there take it out and throw it away.

Always let the clutch out where someone may want to jump on your bike and try to ride off, it's down right comical to see someone try, but until the clutch feels easy to use leave it in while parked safely is my opinion and what do with all my builds.

 

[GearNut]

I have left the clutch locked in the pulled-in position on my Hawthorne bike for years.
It just sits in storage for the most part.
I do not ride it much as the old, original wheels are not safely up to the task of motorizing.
The few times I do still ride it for short putts around the block, the clutch has never shown signs of a weakened spring.

 

[xenodius]

So the countershaft is bent/out of balance, but I have no way of fixing that. The good news is that it IS much better, and actually has noticeably less friction while pedaling (and +2mph) and it idles WAY lower-- I could remove the idle screw entirely and it'd still idle along, clutch in or out.

Now the bad news... the clutch still has a little wobble, less than half as much as before. Like before, when I go over swells, bumps, even crest over hills... and occasionally on apparently flat ground, it squeals loudly-- seems like its from the clutch. The squealing is louder than the motor. And it's just for a brief moment. Once, it happened continuously-- a couple seconds or so-- with a significant loss in power.

Everything has plenty of grease... so without a case splitter, there really isn't anything I can do is there? If it's rubbing the case somewhere I can't see, eventually it'll either fail or quiet down... right?

 

[GearNut]

So long as the gear teeth are greased well they may just bed into each other over time and the squealing will cease. Not guaranteed, but a definite possibility.
"eventually it'll either fail or quiet down... right?"...
Exactly.

 

[KCvale]

Everything has plenty of grease... so without a case splitter, there really isn't anything I can do is there? If it's rubbing the case somewhere I can't see, eventually it'll either fail or quiet down... right?

Well, you can try to track down what IT is and fix it.
If you can't well you can get a better 'motor only' for pretty cheap and use yours for parts, a door stop, or a small boat anchor ;-}