6 Speed Cluster for Road Bike

holtcorseaux

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Hi Everybody,

an article about the Schafleitner 6 speed road gear cluster. Fitted the standard shell unmodified.
It was fitted to the author's twin carburettor Domi ( 88SS I think ) for a holiday in the IOM 1963.
He was very enthusiastic indeed. A personal friend of Mr. Schafleitner as well....

Have a good evening,

Martin.
 

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Depends how you want to use your bike. If it is for the adrenalin rush, 6 speeds close ratio is good You have the right gear everywhere. A standard 4 speed box can never give you that, however if you just want to sit on the bike and let it slave away, it is all you need. I tried to race with a standard box and found it to be absolutely hopeless, so I bought a close ratio gear set - much better but first gear was too high.
 
Are you sure it fits the standard shell unmodified? My recollection (not always the best resource!) is that the original Shaftleitner design required modification by the addition of a spacer plate between the case and the inner cover to add enough room for the extra gear pair. It's possible that there was a later design that didn't require the spacer, but if so, I don't have any info on it.

Nova has produced (and might still produce) both 5 and 6 speed clusters, based on the Shaftleitner design, that will fit standard cases without a spacer, but they only recommend them for the 500 cc bikes, not 750 or 850, saying they are not strong enough. The gears are pretty narrow to allow them to fit in the standard shell.

If I'm just repeating info in the article, I apologize. I'm not up to translating the german text.

Ken
 
Hello Ken,

The spacer plate was not needed, according to the article , for the road gearbox as Schafleitner employed tight clearances between the gears and dropped the use of needle rollers except for the long shaft gear I do not know the English but it is the tall one in the last photo. His endeavour was to reduce costs of manufacturing to attract a broader range of customers, by eliminating as many special parts as he could, and making them in larger lots for economy of scale.
Pleased to help with any questions you have. If you like i can translate it all.

Have a good evening,

Martin.
 
Thanks for the additional info, Martin. No need to translate. I can manage it if I take enough time. I took two years of German in college, but that's over 50 years ago, so I have to work with a dictionary to decipher anything complicated. But thanks for the offer. I've been accumulating info on Norton gearboxes for a long time now, and I always enjoy finding something new to me.

I think anyone who wants a 6 speed for a Commando will need to choose between a Quaife (if you can find one of the 6-speeds) or a TTI, both of which are stronger than the Shaftleitner. However, both are complete units, not using the standard shell. I bought a new Quaife 6-speed years ago, but decided it was overkill for any of my bikes, so I sold it to a vintage racer for his Manx Norton. I've used either stock 4-speeds or Quaife 5-speeds in all my Commandos, both street and race. They both work well on a street bike, but the 5-speeds were much better in the race bikes.

Having said that, the Shaftleitner or Nova might also work well enough in a street 600 or 650 Norton twin, if not abused too much.

Ken
 
Good stuff, that's for sure. I'd love to be able to find a 5 speed cluster to drop into a standard box. I don't see them come for sale often, and I generally seem to not have the cash at the time. But someday, I've got to have one for a Norton I'm building.
Thanks for sharing the article. All the gearbox info, is always good to hear about.
 
My 6 speed TTI box cost $5000 AUD. A 5 speed Triumph box (pre-unit with a 70s cluster) is much cheaper and a while back Phil Pick sold two pairs of gears which move 2nd and 3rd up towards 4th - to make it close ratio. Fast Eddie told me that Tony Hayward probably sells those conversion gears.
 
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