Quaife 5 speed gear box

I have a Mick Hemings Quaife 5 speed gearbox and as discussed in other threads on this forum I’m trying to locate where I can source spare parts.
Patrick Walker of Works Racing bought up the remaining Mick Hemings Quaife parts but they are limited.
I’ve talked to Quaife and they have some stock and will supply parts but need part numbers to supply against. They don’t have parts lists or much in the way of after sales support because Mick Hemings did all of that.
So can anyone provide or suggest where I and other Quaife gear box owners might find Quaife gearbox parts list(s) and / or drawings that identify part numbers.
Thanks

rellis said:

I have a Mick Hemings Quaife 5 speed gearbox and as discussed in other threads on this forum I’m trying to locate where I can source spare parts.
Patrick Walker of Works Racing bought up the remaining Mick Hemings Quaife parts but they are limited.
I’ve talked to Quaife and they have some stock and will supply parts but need part numbers to supply against. They don’t have parts lists or much in the way of after sales support because Mick Hemings did all of that.
So can anyone provide or suggest where I and other Quaife gear box owners might find Quaife gearbox parts list(s) and / or drawings that identify part numbers.
Thanks

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That’s sad to hear. I had hoped Patrick would become the new Mr Quaife and give a viable U.K. based alternative to TTI.

He may well do that and I too hope he does, But he’s not in that position at the moment.

rellis said:

I have a Mick Hemings Quaife 5 speed gearbox and as discussed in other threads on this forum I’m trying to locate where I can source spare parts.
Patrick Walker of Works Racing bought up the remaining Mick Hemings Quaife parts but they are limited.
I’ve talked to Quaife and they have some stock and will supply parts but need part numbers to supply against. They don’t have parts lists or much in the way of after sales support because Mick Hemings did all of that.
So can anyone provide or suggest where I and other Quaife gear box owners might find Quaife gearbox parts list(s) and / or drawings that identify part numbers.
Thanks

Click to expand...

It may be worth contacting Angela Hemmings via Facebook (for example), as she may have some info., or alternatively Andover Norton who have a lot of Mick’s old documents I believe.

cliffa said:

It may be worth contacting Angela Hemmings via Facebook (for example), as she may have some info., or alternatively Andover Norton who have a lot of Mick’s old documents I believe.

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I think this is a sound idea, particularly remembering that Angie was a very significant part of Mick's operation.

Part numbers and fulfilling customer orders being a lot of that.

The Manx gear cluster in my Norton box cost $730 Australian. If I had fitted a Commando 1st gear, it would have been perfect. I did not even think of it.

acotrel said:

The Manx gear cluster in my Norton box cost $730 Australian. If I had fitted a Commando 1st gear, it would have been perfect. I did not even think of it.

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The Quaife made Manx ratio gear cluster I used in 1975 cost me £80, average £10 a gear. I struggled with that at the time, I could hold 4 gears in each hand! And I went this way on the basis of cost, I couldn't have afforded the outlay for a 5 speed. In the end, thank god, I couldn't have afforded continual repairs and replacement of blown boxes either. And this box sat behind a very strong in the mid range 850, it would have beaten a 5 speed to death. There were no easy fit gearbox outriggers around then.

I did not even consider fitting a Commando first. Probably, with the mods that made this cluster work, including modified lay shaft end and ball bearing in place of the bush in the kickstart stub, and the gear large gear of the first gear pair being cut away inside for the ratchet, it would have been a weak point in the box.

But anyway, on a usability level, it doesn't make any sense at all

The 4 speeds in a Manx cluster were the same as the upper 4 on a Quaife 5 speed race box. So in effect you just didn't have a 'first gear'. However, you push started races back then, and the guys with Quaife 5 speeds pushed off in 2nd! And off I went in first! Same ratio.

It was only ever an issue on a circuit with a tight hairpin, where the clutch did a lot of hard work!

With a Commando first gear, I would not have been able to start it in first, I would have been using the ratio of 3rd gear from the Quaife 5 speed as a starting gear, hopeless until the advent of rollers.

The 1st to 2nd ratio gap would have been huge Al. Basically unworkable without a kick-start. Lucky you didn't think of it, eh!

Just had a look and we have nothing here at AN for Quaife, so I assume it all went over to Patrick.

Thanks for all your replies.
I did contact Angie Hemmings what a lovely person, she was very helpful.
Although she didn’t have part numbers she confirmed all the paperwork went with the parts to Patrick Walker of Works Racing.
She also informed me that the cam plate fitted in the Mick Hemmings Quaife gear boxes have both standard and reverse gear change profiles.

rellis said:

I have a Mick Hemings Quaife 5 speed gearbox and as discussed in other threads on this forum I’m trying to locate where I can source spare parts.
Patrick Walker of Works Racing bought up the remaining Mick Hemings Quaife parts but they are limited.
I’ve talked to Quaife and they have some stock and will supply parts but need part numbers to supply against. They don’t have parts lists or much in the way of after sales support because Mick Hemings did all of that.
So can anyone provide or suggest where I and other Quaife gear box owners might find Quaife gearbox parts list(s) and / or drawings that identify part numbers.
Thanks

Click to expand...

There is some info on this forum https://www.accessnorton.com/NortonCommando/quaife-5-speed.20286/

My problem when racing with the Manx 4 speed cluster was I was shit-scared of spreading the gearbox in the start-line, and getting hit from behind. In the last race I had, I decided I would actually go-for-broke. The 850 motor was revving at about 6000 RPM when I dropped the clutch on the start line - the bike jumped-away from the start, easily fast enough. I reached the second corner well-up behind the 3 leaders who were all riding Wolfenden's methanol-fuelled 1100cc CB750 Hondas. I simply turned under the 3 of them and accelerated past them - more vertical, while they were all at full lean. I was well ahead when the fuel connection under the tank failed. I had them cold - there is no other way that they could ever have beaten me. However the whole thing proved the bike. For me racing is always about developing the bike. I built one bike on which I won a race the first time I raced it, so I almost immediately sold it. I sold a TZ350G to buy the 6 speed TTI gearbox, knowing full well that I might never get to use it. But the Seeley 850 is complete and proven. I never believed in it.
When that heavy crankshaft is spinning high, absolutely nothing can stop it. One day I will ride my Seeley 850 with that gearbox. I hope it is on a circuit with modern super-bikes. It is a contender. What it can do in corners, is very hard to beat.

From the first moment when I looked at the heavy crankshaft, I did not believe the 850 motor could be successfully developed. But I learned how to use it - close ratio gears with high overall gearing, combined with very lean jetting -right down the needle. My bike oversteers when I accelerate if on a lean.