David,Hi Cobra... or anyone else interested in this subject.
I did a little research and figured a sleeve (repair sleeve) would work over the 5/8 shaft and found one which make the shaft size 16mm exactly. This would allow a needle bearing....... but..... it occurred to me. Don't needle bearings need lubrication?
I think you have nailed it with your idea but I thought I'd get some other people to brainstorm this one.
Thank you for all your good information.
I was just trying to think outside the box
No, don't use. You cant use needle bearings that use the shaft as the inner race. Only use cartridge bearings with both the inner and outer race inside the bearing itself.http://www.vxb.com/page/bearings/PROD/Kit7189
Think 2 of these would work? because then you only have to remove half a mm of material to fit them.
I'm closer to Walnut and Engle, but it's still close. Still in CA? Cross country is a bold thing to do. Are you talking coast to coast or across a State? They say to adjust the valves every thousand miles, change the oil often-I do mine every 500 because there is no oil filter. The oil still looks clean but by changing it you get the little bits out that may be floating around. (I keep a rare earth magnet on the end of my drain plug and it helps). Use 30wt synthetic. The bearing conversion really reduces the maintenance, the maintenance of having to take the clutch apart often and replacing or oiling the stupid clutch bronze bushing. Once you have bearings installed you literally just run it and forget about it till its time to replace the clutch. Never replace the clutch by driving out the pinned center of the clutch assembly. Consider the pinned center of the clutch permanent. Re-use it. Take the clutch plates off the center with the three individual bolts. Don't over torque these bolts or you will strip them! Always use loc-tite RED on every single bolt you ever use on the engine and transmission. Nothing will ever get loose if you use loc-tite. When you remove the 1mm (2mm overall) of the shaft material for the bearings remember to have the clutch already installed. The shaft needs to be reduced from the outside end just to the face to the clutch, no more. The clutch springs are the wrong tension from the factory and wont work right. If you install two washers from the hardware store to pre-load the springs (making them stiffer) they will work much much better. The problem is the clutch engages too soon and the engine isn't in it's power/torque curve and will sputter, make noise, and wear the clutch out pre-maturely. By adding two washers on each clutch bolt it usually sets the rpm speed that the clutch expands into the clutch bell just right. Remember to use loc-tite RED! The transmission belt lasts for about a thousand miles, so always carry a spare with an allen to swap it out. The tension of this belt is important. Too tight will wear out the belt quickly along with the bearings on the clutch and the transmission. Too loose and the belt will wear out by flopping around and be noisy. You want a little slack. About a 1/4" slack in the center of the belt is close to what it should be. When the belt is new it will stretch once or twice so check the tension at the first 50 miles then at the first 150 miles. One last thing. If you doubt your tech abilities to reduce the shaft size then take the engine to a local machine shop and pay them to do it for you. Cheers.right on thank bro, i seen the video you made and it was nice so i went to your Chanel on YouTube hoping to see the reworked shaft but i imagine its pretty self explatory. Anyways you got some nice videos man. i used to live on walnut and by el camino , i never heard of the crosstown bike ride , pure awesomeness.
Either way the only exp i have with motorbikes is 1 crappy nonfunctional 66cc 2 stroke i bought from motovelo for $300 ,that i never got to even use btw.
i fell for all the hype on his website to find out its purely crap. Strangely enophe i had 4 stroke in mind to begin with but i was talked down to one of those POS china motors, they look pretty nifty in picture but i always had my doubts, like how could they make a make a profit on a motor kit that they can sell for $150 with shipping and it be of any real quality. i should have trusted my gut
i just kind got the idea that im carrying on of subject but i appreciated your feedback . I am building my first kit in hopes to go cross country touring and i need to make this thing as reliable as possible i think that a lot to hope for but with the right knowledge from ppl experiened in what goes wrong with these things should keep me on the road a lot longer. sorry for probably making almost all posting mistakes possible but this is first time i have posted on anything ever. I will start a thread later about hs 4g maintenance and and tips in general for a newbie
IF YOUR GET THE CHANCE TO DO A NEW SHAFT CAN YOU MAYBE MAKE A VIDEO DETAILING THE GRINDING AND MOUNTING PROCESS
I had a 4G rear pulley adjustment bolt back out on me and it shredded one of my belts. I have since used red loc-tire on everything. I have no problems removing bolts with red loc-tite because I don't use too much of it. If its behind a screw I use blue. If its behind a wrench I use red. I just said 1000 miles because I read on the Internet that is the average life span. If it can go farther then great! Is there a local source for the 100 tooth belt like a lawn and garden center or a Honda dealership or is it purpose built just for the 4G?I don't recommend using red loctite on the 4G mounting bolts, if you must use loctite, use blue. I have never used loctite on mine and it has never come loose.
Also, if you're only getting a thousand miles out of a belt, you're doing something wrong or have defective belts. I have nearly 4000 miles on my current belt and it looks brand new. ocscully got a little over 12,000 miles out of his first 4G belt. I recommend using belt dressing or even dielectric grease to keep the belt from drying out. However, even if the belt starts cracking, it likely has a lot of life left in it. My first belt started cracking around the 1200 mile mark, I replaced it 300 miles later, now carry it as a spare.