Repairs Done. Finally Riding Again.

 Drinks on me (doubles for the ladies, since I forgot them last
time).

It's about time!  Like (I hear) has been the case in many parts, the
coming of Spring was really delayed this year, but I'm finally riding
the Road Glide again.

Fantastic bike still (11 years old and about the turn the odometer to
00000 for the second time).  And this year it should be even better
than previous ones, the way it's looking.  I thought I would post
something on the subject of older bike maladies, since there are
probably others whose bikes become a bit irritating as they get more
miles.  They start to get their own, unique sets of problems that
owners of younger bikes never see.

The biggest annoyance on my bike was an increasingly loud chirping...
coming from somewhere I couldn't figure out.  For the past 2 years I
actually had to resort to wearing ear plugs on long trips - the noise
was starting to drive me batty!  It was a high-pitched, very annoying
noise that would only occur when I applied throttle.  Let off (or ease
off) the throttle and the noise would go away.  The chirping often
wouldn't start right away - often beginning after an hour or so of
riding, but sometimes right away too.

Then, last fall, my transmission pulley spun off its shaft.  As
annoying as that was (having to get a buddy to come with his truck and
haul it home), it was also a much-needed answer to this dilemna, I
think.  That pulley must have been the source of the chirp!

(pictures of the repair at:
http://www.xidos.ca/Technical/RepairitYourself/TransmissionSprocketRepair/tabid/69/Default.aspx
)

Having replaced the pulley over the winter and ridden the bike for
awhile now, I am increasingly confident the problem has been
remedied.  I think the pulley had come a bit loose and had been moving
back and forth over the splined, 5th gear shaft for a long time,
resulting in a noise that only came when under load.

Replacing the pulley also gave me a chance to replace the transmission
seal once in there.  It had developed a slow leak (which is hard to
differentiate from a primary leak).  Probably not too serious in
itself, since I suspect the fluid cannot get low enough, leaking from
there, to damage the gears.  But good to have that fixed now too.

The other thing that had been a bother during the last couple of years
was my clutch.  It seemed that, no matter how I adjusted it, I could
not get the lever friction zone right.  It was either not fully
disengaging or the lever had to be released to 90% of the end of its
travel before engaging.  There was just no in-between and, engaging at
90% near the end of the clutch lever travel, it felt like the clutch
would simply fail to grab enough to move the bike someday - which
would then result in riding with the friction plates slipping and then
wearing them out (probably in the middle of nowhere).

A check with the micrometer indicated the friction plates (still the
originals) were just fine, so I went with what (had to be) the only
explanation left:  The damper and diaphram springs must have lost
their spring to press the plates together hard enough - resulting in
the tension having to be totally off the clutch cable before they
would get enough clamping force to begin moving the bike.

So I replaced those springs this winter too.  Immediate difference!

Now I can adjust the clutch to the way it should be.  So that's one to
keep in mind for anyone experiencing the same problem.  It's not a big
job and the parts involved aren't expensive.  A lot of people might
tell you that your friction plates need to be replaced when, in fact,
its just the diaphram spring that's become weak.

So, with just a little money spent and some fairly simple do-it-
yourself during the winter (when I have nothing to do anyway), I think
I've got a good riding season ahead of me with the old Road Glide.

This is posted in the hope that it helps someone else get the most out
of their bike.  I suspect that, often, people upgrade from otherwise
decent bikes due to some annoying problem beginning as their rides get
more miles, but wouldn't have done so if they had been able to resolve
the problems.

Cheers.


Home page:  http://www.xidos.ca

 a915-bffacc25de60@x1g2000prh.googlegroups.com:


A lot like women in that regard then?

<g,d&r>

--
Bob Mann

Cap'n, ah need moor pow'r.

 
Heh, heh.  Was it my mention of how the pulley's grip on the 5th gear
shaft had loosened after many miles?

 

That and the chirping getting louder.

--
Bob Mann

Cap'n, ah need moor pow'r.

 wrote:


    Thank Dog you two got back on topic, all that motorcycle crap
was gettin' on my nerve.................

Jinks ('86FXRS, '07FLTR)
#64
Remember, "No good deed goes unpunished"