Bucking bar ball bearing lube schedule

[gearhead222]

Dear Fellow Gearheads-I packed this ball bearing once after purchasing the bike. When should I repack? She has about 200 miles on her now. I realize that too much is bad, as it can get on the clutch pads. Should I check the flywheel retaining nut, along with the drive sprocket retaining nut now? Thanx for any detailed preventive maintenance that should be performed at 200 miles. Thanx!-Gearhead

 

[GearNut]

About every 3 or 4 tankfulls I put a little grease in there as well as a peanut sized blob right where the 2 transmission gears mesh. If the grease starts to get too messy around the edge of the gear case I clean it out with a q-tip. The grease does fling off from centrifugal force. Also, do not forget to grease the little ball bearings in between the clutch ring gear and clutch hub. They need love too.

 

[gearhead222]

"Also, do not forget to grease the little ball bearings in between the clutch ring gear and clutch hub. They need love too." What do these look like and where are they? I have lubed the transmission gears, but don't know what or where these ones are-Gearhead

 

[GearNut]

part #7 in this expanded parts view.
http://www.bicycle-engines.com/2stroke-parts-clutch-assembly-c-4_7.html

If you remove #2 (outer pressure plate) and look at how the clutch is made you can see where #9 (ring gear) is attached to #13 (clutch base). The bearings are located underneath #6 (ball bearing race). #6 is really just a ring that is pressed into place to hold the assembly together.

If you push the ring gear away from the small crank gear you can usually get a peek at the bearings if you look from the rear wheel side of the clutch.
I lube the bearings with white lithium grease in an aerosol can.
Use pliers to squish one end of the red straw that comes with the can into a thin, flat end. That way you can get it into the small space between the ring gear and #6 (bearing race). Practice with varying your finger pressure on the nozzle of the aerosol can by spraying newspaper or whatever so you can regulate just a little bit of grease to spray out at a time.
If you spray too much grease in there it will fling out and contaminate the friction pads when the clutch is spinning at high speeds.
Rotate the clutch around and grease 3 different locations to help get the grease all around the hub. (removing the spark plug makes this alot easier to do) If you accidentally get too much grease in there and it gets onto the inner pressure plate (#13) Spray it and the friction pads clean with brake cleaner. Be careful to not flush the grease out of the bearings though.

 

[gearhead222]

Thanx bro'! I've used Lithium spray grease before and this whole operation looks pretty hinky! How hard is it to remove the pressure plate and just lube the bearings separately? How often does this need to be done? Thanx again-Gearhead

 

[spad4me]

Thanx bro'! I've used Lithium spray grease before and this whole operation looks pretty hinky! How hard is it to remove the pressure plate and just lube the bearings separately? How often does this need to be done? Thanx again-Gearhead

Do NOT remove the 56 tiny bearings behind the clutch.
The only shop that sold replacements and instructions. Manic Mechanic went out of business.
You will probably wind up buying another engine if you lose the bearings.

LUBE
1 The pea sized blob between the gears.
2 The spray lube behind the clutch.
3 Remove the bolt that holds the end of the clutch cable .
This is where the actual clutch spring and two bearings live.
Fill the hole with lube . Replace the bolt adjust the clutch.
Also lube the chain.

 

[GearNut]

How often does this need to be done? Thanx again-Gearhead

About every 3 or 4 tankfulls.

As spad4me said, do NOT try to remove the #6 (ball bearing race) and access the bearings directly. The race is a one time press fit. Some folks have even had issues with it coming loose, the clutch failing and all those bearings going everywhere inside the gear case. They do not play well with the gear teeth!

If that ever happens to you and you catch it in time, press the race back into place and tack weld it to prevent it from ever coming loose again.

The clutch ring gear/ hub assembly is considered a one piece unit. Some vendors do sell the parts individually, but it typically takes welding to re assemble the clutch.

 

[gearhead222]

Thanx guys! I honestly don't understand lube rule # 3 Spad4me. Gearnut, can you please e-mail me at jwaldron8715@sbcglobal.net concerning accessing the clutch bearings for lubrication? I did locate my Lithium Spray Grease and modified the tip, but am still clueless about how to access those bearings-Thanx again!-Gearhead

 

[GearNut]

Lubing the balls.

I hope this works, it was a real pain to get it to a compatible format. I am no good at such stuff.

Edit: All I have is MSPaint. I hope you enjoy the art work!

 

[GearNut]

As for Spad4me's #3:
Remove clutch cable and remove the cable housing stop from the top of the engine case. It threads into the case and is held in place with a lock nut.

After the cable stop is removed you will have a hole that goes through the case and into the clutch spring area. Through this hole, fill that area with good quality high temperature grease. There is no need to pack it in tightly though. Just get about a table spoon of quality grease in there. If you over pack it it can ooze out of the ends of the shaft and contaminate the clutch.