Well I'll be darned, the bearing was free.
The clutch cable itself was toast though. It was about frayed in half at the lever.
No biggie, I had one.
That is the 1st BFD motor I worked on, I like their clutch cover arm cable hold, much easier than Grubee's little brass screw on hold.
Have you guys that have built a few start noticing other things when you work on ones you didn't build?
His dad mounted the motor but the kid did the rest.
To his credit he didn't use a chain tensioner but the drive chain was way too loose. With horizontal dropouts a quick fix.
The throttle didn't feel right either and he mentioned it stuck wide open and the kill button didn't work. (scary 1st ride thought)
The carb barrel wasn't in right.
Again, no biggie, a quick fix and cable and idle adjustment.
The kill button just needed a wiring change too, but again no biggie.
The carb on it only had a screen as an air filter too.
Dandy for racing but not riding around in the desert on the road or not so I put a thin foam one in with it.
So then when it came time for me to test it I went to pedal it up and it was in highest gear (5th or 6th) and the motor chain slightly hits the tread nubs on the side of the dirt bike tire.
I tried to shift it to 1st but there was no shift lever, he cut the cable off at the derailer and took it off.
He'll need to fix that but a clever zip-zip placement got it to stay in 2nd gear, easy enough to pedal start now anyway.
The HD 410 chain will have to just rub those sidewall tread nubs off until he buys a new back tire. At least the chain is tight enough now and lined up very well. It didn't jump or anything on my short test run in the dark.
It took a little longer and way past my work hours especially after starting at 4:30 AM today but hey, a local kid that built his own first MB with his own money and it just needed a little help is all, I couldn't say no to the time his dad had to bring it by, and he'll be grinning from ear to ear tomorrow when it's light enough to ride ;-}
Michael (the kid)...
If it feels like the clutch is slipping a bit in the next few days open that right side big round clutch cover, remove that little holding screw and back that 'flower nut' I showed you off (counter clockwise) a 1/4 to a 1/3 of a turn and try it.
As long as the bike will roll free with the clutch locked in you are good.
Keep and eye on that drive chain and get a new back tire soon, one without sidewall nubs! hehehe
Good luck with it kid and ride safe ;-}