Another 5 Star rateing for Jim's Clutch Kit!

[Retmachinist]

I received my clutch kit from Jim at Creative Eng. and installed it this morning. It Is Sweet! Let me tell you, that is some precision work on the fits! I wouldn't even attempt to make it for that price, and I have the stock laying around to do it. Great job Jim. I think people will love the rest of the upgrade parts you are making. I will probably be buying more, as I have decided to Keep the Schwinn Jaguar I have and completely rebuild it into something really wild.
Keep up the great work!

John

 

[MB-Monkey]

great pic of your motor setup

Where did you find the air cleaner

Always good to hear any kind of feedback on parts we buy.

Jim, you da man!

 

[Retmachinist]

great pic of your motor setup

Where did you find the air cleaner

Always good to hear any kind of feedback on parts we buy.

Jim, you da man!

You can find those little air cleaners at about any Auto parts store. They are actually valve cover breathers. They come in Red, White, or Blue. I think I paid $9.95. You will have to drill a couple small holes, and you can use the original tapped holes in the carb. I made a little spacer adaptor.

John

 

[industrialphreak]

sweet mother, i saw those breather filters at my local Oreilys autoparts store. I would have used one of those awhile ago but i lack the clearence on my frame do to the way the motor will mount on my frame. Were can i buy that custom clutch kit?

I recently took my bike out today in -8 degrees today it ran rather nice untill i got into my parking lot of my apartment, i am hopeing the clutch is just frozen and not worn out as for some reason theirs tension on the clutch cam but the clutch is not engaging to turn the engine out so its like theirs no engine drag at all.

 

[Bikeguy Joe]

I only have one word fro the CE clutch actuator-
ABSOFRIGGINLOOTELY AWESOME.

O.K., that was two, but you get the idea.

 

[jasonh]

I like the actuator too. I had some trouble getting mine set up properly, and still have a couple adjustments to make, but it works really well

 

[Retmachinist]

sweet mother, i saw those breather filters at my local Oreilys autoparts store. I would have used one of those awhile ago but i lack the clearence on my frame do to the way the motor will mount on my frame. Were can i buy that custom clutch kit?

I recently took my bike out today in -8 degrees today it ran rather nice untill i got into my parking lot of my apartment, i am hopeing the clutch is just frozen and not worn out as for some reason theirs tension on the clutch cam but the clutch is not engaging to turn the engine out so its like theirs no engine drag at all.

Wow, You went for a ride at -8. I live just east of you in a suburb of Des Moines. We had -18 this morning and it finally reached a high of -4. I am surprised the thing even started. You can get the clutch upgrade from Jim at Creative Eng. He is a member of this forum, you can probably look him up.
I would say your problem is something being very stiff from the temp. I would guess it works when it warms up. Below zero weather does some crazy things.

John

 

[Retmachinist]

I like the actuator too. I had some trouble getting mine set up properly, and still have a couple adjustments to make, but it works really well

They are kind of tricky to get set, but I think I am going to be real happy with it when I get a chance to try it out. Or I should say when My wife gets to try it out. I guess she is going to end up with the black bike.

John

 

[2door]

sweet mother, i saw those breather filters at my local Oreilys autoparts store. I would have used one of those awhile ago but i lack the clearence on my frame do to the way the motor will mount on my frame. Were can i buy that custom clutch kit?

I recently took my bike out today in -8 degrees today it ran rather nice untill i got into my parking lot of my apartment, i am hopeing the clutch is just frozen and not worn out as for some reason theirs tension on the clutch cam but the clutch is not engaging to turn the engine out so its like theirs no engine drag at all.

Industrial,
Here's Jim's information for his clutch actuator.
http://motorbicycling.com/f3/new-product-announcement-3577.html
Tom

 

[fm2200]

could someone tell what is the deal with this clutch activator and where can I get one. You guys seem to have a wealth of knowledge on these gas bikes.

 

[Creative Engineering]

Thanks Guys, I really appreciate it.

I don't know why some are such a pain to install. I've installed quite a few here at the shop, and some are finicky.

The husband and wife team at peddling motors came down from Nashville for a vacation a while back.

We installed an actuator on her bike in 10 minutes and it worked perfect the first time. The original pin was correct, and no clutch adjustment was needed.

His was an entirely different story...what a fiasco...It started with the engine casting; it wasn't flat at the surface the actuator housing bolts to. We tightened the bolts and the cam became tight in the bore. The housing was distorting while tightening the bolts. We cleaned up the mating surface on the engine and solved that problem.

His engine had a 26mm pin...it was too short, so we used the 27.5mm pin that comes with the kit.

Next problem: his had a funny step in the clutch action. It's kinda hard to explain. When setting it up it felt like the cam was at the correct stop point to tighten the nut and lock the arm, but when moved by hand you coud feel a bump in the action, (about 30 degrees), and then it would travel in to the normal range of clutch operation. After removing the arm several times and starting over, it ended up that the initial arm placement was parallel to the housing as opposed to the slight inward angle that is shown in the installaition guide.

An hour later we finally had his installed and working properly.

One of the engines I bought recently was the same way. I also had one that the internal spring was adjusted to max tension from the factory.

These engines are all over the place in terms of finish, and dimensional consistency. I love it! Keeps me on my toes.

Jim

 

[industrialphreak]

Wow, You went for a ride at -8. I live just east of you in a suburb of Des Moines. We had -18 this morning and it finally reached a high of -4. I am surprised the thing even started. You can get the clutch upgrade from Jim at Creative Eng. He is a member of this forum, you can probably look him up.
I would say your problem is something being very stiff from the temp. I would guess it works when it warms up. Below zero weather does some crazy things.

John

Actually John when i got back i went in to warm up then i came out drained my tank and carburator bowl as well as the fuel lines before i brought it into the apartment to work on, The scary part was when i was psyphening my tank the dam house froze/stiffened. Anyway praise to the gods after a little investigation i turned out to only be i needed to replace the clutch cable/longer cable.

One thing i found that helps with replacing cables is to use your soldering gun on it and it tends to keep all of the strands together. Visit MDKLEGIN ONLINE

 

[jasonh]

Jim -

Mine was a bit finicky too. With my stock pin I had no free play, and then I couldn't get the whole thing to work properly. So I swapped out for a shorter pin. Then I still had issues.

Turns out the small return spring that goes on the cable was the culprit. it was compressed with the clutch released, and because it was compressed it made kind of an S shape. So when you pulled the lever in, it would just take up slack on the cable to straighten the spring before it would move the arm. Took forever to realize that's what was happening. Currently with the shorter pin the clutch doesn't fully disengage, as the tire will spin with the clutch in locked position if I lift it off the ground. Not enough drag to keep it from idling though. I am going to try reinstalling the stock pin and see what happens. I may have to grind a tiny bit off of it to get between the 2 pins.

 

[Pablo]

I had to grind a tiny bit on my pin to make the action dead centered if you know what I mean. Big Whoop, works fine. The castings on these engines are so terrible we probably have over .25" amongst us. Mine was so whacked the chain touched CE's cover, 1 minute with the mototool, ready to go. That's how these rigs are. It's part of the adventure!!

 

[jasonh]

Yeah my chain actually hit the back of the cover as well. No biggie. Kind of to be expected with these motors. They're like snowflakes

 

[industrialphreak]

Yeah my chain actually hit the back of the cover as well. No biggie. Kind of to be expected with these motors. They're like snowflakes

Pretty much they are, i was disappointed to find out you cant bore the cylinders out and add a new lining down the line. but for $50 a engine who can complain... One thing i remember from a few month's ago i had to get my friend to Mig weld the clutch arm to the cam do to the texturing becoming striped out i distinctly remember the grinding click click click sound that made my heart jump up into my mouth thinking something catastrophic happened to my engine, boy oh boy was i relieved when i found out it was such a easy fix. Now on the subject of replacement aftermarket parts.... What and how would you go about machining something like the clutch cover assembly? Would it not be the easyest way be by sand casting, or machining. I do understand theirs going to need to be some machine shop work to clean it up a little after casting the cover. And the cam well you wouldn't want to cast that it would be more of a job for a Gingery Engine Lathe.

 

[Creative Engineering]

Pablo...Jason:

Thanks guys! You are both motorbike hall-of-fame members!

Jim

 

[huckersteve]

I received my clutch kit from Jim at Creative Eng. and installed it this morning. It Is Sweet! Let me tell you, that is some precision work on the fits! I wouldn't even attempt to make it for that price, and I have the stock laying around to do it. Great job Jim. I think people will love the rest of the upgrade parts you are making. I will probably be buying more, as I have decided to Keep the Schwinn Jaguar I have and completely rebuild it into something really wild.
Keep up the great work!

John

That motor looks amazing, did you machine the covers on the side of the motor yourself? I can see the actuator kit comes with a nice cnc'd cover for it, so did you take inspiration from it and go one step further or is it a product from another aftermarket source?

I love it, pod filter too. I'm going hunting for one of those valve cover breathers..

 

[Retmachinist]

That motor looks amazing, did you machine the covers on the side of the motor yourself? I can see the actuator kit comes with a nice cnc'd cover for it, so did you take inspiration from it and go one step further or is it a product from another aftermarket source?

I love it, pod filter too. I'm going hunting for one of those valve cover breathers..

I just did a little polishing work on the covers. I hated to do it to the nice cnc'd cover, but I needed to match it with the rest of the covers that were already done. You can find those little breathers in most auto parts stores.
I was stationed across the water from you in Bremerton for about a year when I was in the Navy. Spent many a wild night in Seattle back in the early 70's. Loved that city.

John