Timbone
Well-Known Member
My clutch has been slipping a bit lately and, since I am still doing daily riding on this my motorbike, I decided to attend to a few areas that needed attention.
First, I ran to WallyWorld and got a bought a $20 white walled tire to place on the front. My knobby mountain bike tire was wearing down fast right down the middle and even with the puncture resistant tube, I couldn't take any chance of a fail. My test ride afterwords was on wet roads and the front tire is not nearly as grabby as the knobby. In fact, I was leaning a turn, caught a wet manhole cover and the front tire slipped - just enough to give me a bit of scare. It grabs well on asphalt, so I will be safe. Sure is smooth and looks good!
I have no fixed fenders and wet roads kick up a lot of spray, often soaking my shoes and lower legs of my pants. So, I picked up a $2 piece of thick vinyl wall base. I cut a length that ran a bit short of the distance of my curving downtube, drilled 6 pairs of strategically placed holes and laced the vinyl to the downtube using plastic zip ties. Success! I now have a very nice mudflap that acts as a fender. That will knock down a lot of road spray.
As for the slipping clutch: I have always been a bit concerned about those little clutch pad hockey pucks. So concerned, in fact, that a few months ago I cut up a piece of bungee cord into very close copies in case my originals wore down and no longer did their job. So, last evening was meant to be the Great Clutch Experiment to see if these rubber hockey pucks would work.
So I removed the clutch plate and what I saw shocked the hell out of me: even after the thousands of miles I've ridden on this motor, the clutch pads are incredibly thick! They are smoothed out on both sides but still very robust and clean. Nothing leaking into the clutch compartment at all, so I adjusted the clutch, set the flower nut with the little screw and closed her up. In the past two months I've had no issue whatsoever with the clutch; it's truly amazing.
I replaced one of the motor mounts with grade 8 nut and bolt and my work was done for the evening.
I had a great ride to and from work (performance wise) and this evening I finished up the fabrication on a small windscreen that I fashioned out of 3/8" rod, some split ring hangers, and plexiglass. I'll have to test the windscreen before I lock it onto the handlebars. This thing has to be as solid as a rock and equally quiet.
Soon, I hope to come up with a solid plan for a 6 or 12 volt lighting system running off a SLA battery that will be recharged via a wallcharger when the bike is not in service. A fixed taillight will mean a fixed rear fender, something that I am not crazy about. I like the fenderless look!
First, I ran to WallyWorld and got a bought a $20 white walled tire to place on the front. My knobby mountain bike tire was wearing down fast right down the middle and even with the puncture resistant tube, I couldn't take any chance of a fail. My test ride afterwords was on wet roads and the front tire is not nearly as grabby as the knobby. In fact, I was leaning a turn, caught a wet manhole cover and the front tire slipped - just enough to give me a bit of scare. It grabs well on asphalt, so I will be safe. Sure is smooth and looks good!
I have no fixed fenders and wet roads kick up a lot of spray, often soaking my shoes and lower legs of my pants. So, I picked up a $2 piece of thick vinyl wall base. I cut a length that ran a bit short of the distance of my curving downtube, drilled 6 pairs of strategically placed holes and laced the vinyl to the downtube using plastic zip ties. Success! I now have a very nice mudflap that acts as a fender. That will knock down a lot of road spray.
As for the slipping clutch: I have always been a bit concerned about those little clutch pad hockey pucks. So concerned, in fact, that a few months ago I cut up a piece of bungee cord into very close copies in case my originals wore down and no longer did their job. So, last evening was meant to be the Great Clutch Experiment to see if these rubber hockey pucks would work.
So I removed the clutch plate and what I saw shocked the hell out of me: even after the thousands of miles I've ridden on this motor, the clutch pads are incredibly thick! They are smoothed out on both sides but still very robust and clean. Nothing leaking into the clutch compartment at all, so I adjusted the clutch, set the flower nut with the little screw and closed her up. In the past two months I've had no issue whatsoever with the clutch; it's truly amazing.
I replaced one of the motor mounts with grade 8 nut and bolt and my work was done for the evening.
I had a great ride to and from work (performance wise) and this evening I finished up the fabrication on a small windscreen that I fashioned out of 3/8" rod, some split ring hangers, and plexiglass. I'll have to test the windscreen before I lock it onto the handlebars. This thing has to be as solid as a rock and equally quiet.
Soon, I hope to come up with a solid plan for a 6 or 12 volt lighting system running off a SLA battery that will be recharged via a wallcharger when the bike is not in service. A fixed taillight will mean a fixed rear fender, something that I am not crazy about. I like the fenderless look!
