New style Grubee Clutch in Grubee III ?

ocscully

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Anyone here who has installed one of the newer style Grubee clutches in their Grubee II or III gearbox? After 6000+ miles of riding I wore out the clutch bell and bushing on my Grubee III Gearbox. The excessive play causing the gear on the clutch bell to begin to self destruct. I purchased a complete replacment clutch and bell from bicycle-engines and when I recieved it last Thursday it turned out to be one of the newer style clutches with the Type III bell, bushing, and key. When I went to install it on Friday I could not get the setup to work properly. When I would tighten the bolt on the crankshaft of the motor the bell would lock up and not rotate. Attempts to reach and talk to a knowledgeable person at bicycle-engines were not successful either Friday or today.

ocscully
 
Anyone here who has installed one of the newer style Grubee clutches in their Grubee II or III gearbox? After 6000+ miles of riding I wore out the clutch bell and bushing on my Grubee III Gearbox. The excessive play causing the gear on the clutch bell to begin to self destruct. I purchased a complete replacment clutch and bell from bicycle-engines and when I recieved it last Thursday it turned out to be one of the newer style clutches with the Type III bell, bushing, and key. When I went to install it on Friday I could not get the setup to work properly. When I would tighten the bolt on the crankshaft of the motor the bell would lock up and not rotate. Attempts to reach and talk to a knowledgeable person at bicycle-engines were not successful either Friday or today.

ocscully

Not good news.Could they have just sent the wrong one?Did you contact Terry at Blow by u? Please Keep us posted cuz I'm in the same boat.
 
Finally got thru to Jeremy at bicycle-engines and discussed the problem I was having. He wasn't able to provide any solutions other than to say no one else had reported any problems and he himself had installed one of the new clutches in a Grubee II gearbox recently without any problem. So I spent some time this morning measuring parts and pieces and checking clearances and found where the clutch bell was binding on some very small ridges that are cast into the crankcase. (See Photo #4 below) there are five of these ridges on the edge of the gearbox mount. One each at the mounting bolt locations and the fifth one at the very bottom of the circle. With the old clutch these ridges weren't a problem, but with the increased thickness of the new clutch the clearances are much tighter and they do create a problem (at least they do with my Honda motor). I'm thinking I will be able to shim out the clutch enough to clear these ridges and still keep the gears aligned properly in the gearbox. The first three photos below are to show the differences in the older style clutch and the newer style replacement. The newer style has alot more engagement surface, wider shoes and clutch bell.

ocscully
 

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Finally got thru to Jeremy at bicycle-engines and discussed the problem I was having. He wasn't able to provide any solutions other than to say no one else had reported any problems and he himself had installed one of the new clutches in a Grubee II gearbox recently without any problem. So I spent some time this morning measuring parts and pieces and checking clearances and found where the clutch bell was binding on some very small ridges that are cast into the crankcase. (See Photo #4 below) there are five of these ridges on the edge of the gearbox mount. One each at the mounting bolt locations and the fifth one at the very bottom of the circle. With the old clutch these ridges weren't a problem, but with the increased thickness of the new clutch the clearances are much tighter and they do create a problem (at least they do with my Honda motor). I'm thinking I will be able to shim out the clutch enough to clear these ridges and still keep the gears aligned properly in the gearbox. The first three photos below are to show the differences in the older style clutch and the newer style replacement. The newer style has alot more engagement surface, wider shoes and clutch bell.

ocscully

So if order just the clutch and they send me the new style. Will it work with the original clutch bell that came with the Stage II or III?? :cry:
 
ocscully i think i had the same issue ontill i flipped the clutch over the thing only works one way it will bind the other way......... and here is what happind to me after words you seen them bolts holding in the shoes on the new clutch one bolt came lose so i put loctight on all of them
 
one more thing that i had to do was run this stage 2 with new cluch and bell and bushing
in grease now they made the new bushings out of some kind of light medal or something and i was told to soak the bushing in oil over night then i filled the gears up with wheel packing grease and some oil to thin it up a bit
 
So if order just the clutch and they send me the new style. Will it work with the original clutch bell that came with the Stage II or III?? :cry:

Keith,

No you shouldn't try to mix and match parts, here in my opinion. It would be a shame to give up the extra added surface area. You Should probably order the whole package for $36.99. I'll know more tomorrow afternoon. I spent the morning working on a new turn-buckle for the left side of my Shift Kit and running around picking up the various fasteners to get everything re assembled. I'll be at it first thing tomorrow morning. I'll let you know what I figure out. I bought enough shims I should have some extras. If it works I'll throw one in an envelope and mail it to you.

ocscully
 
ocscully i think i had the same issue ontill i flipped the clutch over the thing only works one way it will bind the other way......... and here is what happind to me after words you seen them bolts holding in the shoes on the new clutch one bolt came lose so i put loctight on all of them

Thanks for the heads up about the bolts. I'll be sure to remove them and add locktite.

As for flipping the clutch, there seems to be only one way that the thing will even come close to fitting in my gearbox. So i'll just have to try out my shimming idea. I'll know one way or the other by tomorrow afternoon.

ocscully
 
Thanx...it should be interesting.I can't believe that the clutch is not just a bolt on deal.But hey whats new it's close enough...ship it!
 
i loved the new clutch rides ......it works .... better ..... hey one more thing i can tell you is that the key will push that clutch out look at the crank shaft you will see how that would happin so i put my clutch on then i keyed... file the key way down if you are to tight with the key it will push that clutch out
hey can you tell me if the shift kit is worth it and did u get more top speed to me that motor mount looks better ..is it ohh i am hill less here
 
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