Weezing Sound - Clutch Drag?

Long Story so I'll try n make it short.
I've owned this 70 Commando for about 5 years now. Before that was into Triumphs. The commando is a different beast altogether so I've been doing my own work up until now.
I was jumping out of gear and has some Iso issues and the job was beyond my shop capabilities and time so I reluctantly dropped it off to a recommended mechanic. He replaced 1st and second gear (I'll address that in a different thread) Clutch plates and shimmed Iso's & swing arm bushings.

SO, I drive it home and all is well until I decide to go for a longer ride.

The Clutch cable adjuster started to pop out of the thread ( the adjuster at the lever). I attempted numerous fixes with no tools on me and each fix was temporary. On my ride I went up a steep hill and then back down the other side. NOW> when I get the bottom of the hill I here a continuous WEEEEEZZZZZZZZZ sound. It kinda seemed like it was coming from the primary side but was very hard to tell on the back roads of nowhere in PA. This continued my whole ride home until... laughably.... the battery dies and bike stalls just as I pull in

Now. My question is. Could that just be some form of clutch drag from my adjuster thread popping loose or is this something possibly related to going down such a steep decline - maybe a new issue?

You need to remove the primary outer cover and take a look inside. With the battery going dead and noise in the primary....could be the alternator was damaged. May or may not be related to your earlier issues. Make sure the primary chain isn't/wasn't too tight.

Clutch adjustment going slack can be adjuster in the center of the clutch diaphram spring is loose, circlip behind the clutch gave way, clutch operating lever in the gearbox fell out of place. None of this will affect the alternator, so you may have two issues going on.

Open up the primary and let us know what you find.

Also remove the clutch plates and check the nut for the center clutch hub. Mine came loose once and made a similar sound.
Or the weezing could be from the bike smoking. Tell it to stop!

I'll crack open the Primary and see what's goin on. Unfortunately, I had to leave the bike out of town until next week, so I'll be loopin back in at the end of the week. Now at least I have a starting point. Thanks fellas.

Brian

Ok, So I got down to work on the bike ( it resides out of state- better riding in the country) and I opened the Primary case to find no oil in the primary. The primary chain also had some brownish residue which I assume was from the primary overheating?

I replaced the above mentioned clutch cable adjuster, some other odds n ends including a new battery and I put about a 1/2 cup of oil in the primary and ran it up n down the street. After that the weezing was gone. Does that make sense to anyone?

This must have been one of many other oversights by this so called Norton "mechanic" who replaced 1st n second gear and my iso's.

Never sending the bike to anyone from here on out regardless of the job but I am going back to have him correct some things that i paid for. Before I go off on this guy -Can someone confirm that no one runs the primary dry ?

I'm also having trouble engaging in 1st and shifting at high speeds results in a brief riding of the clutch. A modified pull and release tends to fix it but its not normal riding. Probably best to create another post just on that as well as my front end wobble at low speeds.

a half a cup of oil in the primary, and this is a triplex chain primary and not a belt?

You may want to educate yourself as to what your riders or workshop manual has to say about fluid levels.

Hint, a half a cup of oil in the primary is nowhere near enough to lube the chain and remove heat.

It is possible your primary chain's slack is also not adjusted properly. Take off the middle inspection plug and stick our finger in there and push the chain up, you should feel about a half inch of slack.

Sounds like you need to get familiar with your workshop manual, Commandos need constant fettling.

Yes. This is a triplex chain. I couldn't find an exact amount in the workshop manual and have been told 1/2 cup to a cup by local shops. I did actually first put more than a 1/2 cup in and it was leaking out so I dumped it again and put a 1/2 cup. I'll look again in the workshop manual but what is the recommended?

As for the primary slack:
The manual says 3/8 inch of slack on the primary chain. I had to push it down pretty hard but it was roughly there. Should the play be relatively free or should I have to push to measure. Also, is a 1/2 inch recommended?

I'm well aware of the attention the commando needs and I'm not new to it or brit bikes but as you might be sensing I'm relatively young and I've not fully conquered it. I deal with issues as they come. Last year was electrical. This year is iso's, gears and clutch. I do all of it myself but caved this time sending it to a local guy due to the bike being 2hrs away and not having more than a few weekends free this summer. Never again. If it weren't for this forum I'd still be making my harness wire by wire so many thanks to all of the replies.

Now back to the weezing. Can we safely say that a negligent mechanic not adding oil to the primary and it overheating was the cause? I'd love to walk away with a conclusion here.

Primary chain sounds like it is too tight and that's why you are having trouble getting it in 1st gear. There is a procedure for adjusting it. Tighten first then adjust to 3/8" real flop. Recheck after running because sometimes they tighten up again.

Brown residue on chain tells me stator may have started to overheat-melt from no oil. I use 5 oz. of 10W30. Dying battery tells me pull off stator and inspect ,gap must be even all around between a good stator and rotor. Clutch center nut sounds loose too. Hey check to see if oil in gearbox too !

200cc

At the top of this page under Norton Commando click on Forum Index, then Technical, then scroll down and see tha the primary is to have 200cc of fluid in it, general consensus is to use ATF for this purpose.

As far as your primary chain goes, stick your finger in the middle hole and do not push down, but push up, there should be about 1/2 inch upward movement. If your chain is set too tight this is big trouble. Your workshop manual will tell you how to properly set the chain tension, or just ask us here for a step by step.