- Joined
- Sep 15, 2020
- Messages
- 505
Well, one thing leads to another. My clutch was the original from '66 and all I did was clean it and it worked fine - for a while. I stupidly put oil in the chain case after reading the manual. Up to then it had ATF but I was out, so off I went like a fool and then it slipped. I drained it out, cleaned again but slipping continued after a bit.
I got new friction discs and Type F ATF and set about changing it, but as I did, I saw the primary case had a lot more oil vs ATF than it should, given my cleaning. My bike wet sumps badly, and I saw oil drooling down from the seal behind the main sprocket. I drained the oil from the sump and it stopped. All this stuff adds up. I never could get the centerstand to work worth a damn, and gave up on it, and the side stand is too short - it is correct but Norton didn't see fit to extend it for the N15's extra suspension travel I guess. So it leans way over and sumps badly, which seems to be dousing the clutch with engine oil, at least that's my current thought. It all adds up to a very precarious situation with the old (but quite 'pumpy') oil pump possibly being the start of the chain of events.
My clutch springs and its other parts besides the new friction plates are servicable, but with the new friction plates being .17" or so, vs my old oil soaked originals being .14", and yet again, it all adds up to a nuisance. The very last plate hardly engages the splines due to the added thickness. I have to screw in the adjuster so far to get the lever/cable to disengage that the nut won't bite on the adjuster screw. The last 'half' plate looks like it will just spin outside the splined basket, the stack is too fat for the basket. I am wondering if I should pull out a plate/disc or what. What a pain. Riding the Norton is fun but working on it is tough, taking 27 things apart to try to fix one problem.
I got new friction discs and Type F ATF and set about changing it, but as I did, I saw the primary case had a lot more oil vs ATF than it should, given my cleaning. My bike wet sumps badly, and I saw oil drooling down from the seal behind the main sprocket. I drained the oil from the sump and it stopped. All this stuff adds up. I never could get the centerstand to work worth a damn, and gave up on it, and the side stand is too short - it is correct but Norton didn't see fit to extend it for the N15's extra suspension travel I guess. So it leans way over and sumps badly, which seems to be dousing the clutch with engine oil, at least that's my current thought. It all adds up to a very precarious situation with the old (but quite 'pumpy') oil pump possibly being the start of the chain of events.
My clutch springs and its other parts besides the new friction plates are servicable, but with the new friction plates being .17" or so, vs my old oil soaked originals being .14", and yet again, it all adds up to a nuisance. The very last plate hardly engages the splines due to the added thickness. I have to screw in the adjuster so far to get the lever/cable to disengage that the nut won't bite on the adjuster screw. The last 'half' plate looks like it will just spin outside the splined basket, the stack is too fat for the basket. I am wondering if I should pull out a plate/disc or what. What a pain. Riding the Norton is fun but working on it is tough, taking 27 things apart to try to fix one problem.