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Clutch Removal

Submitted by lance_crossley on Wed, 25/05/2022
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Heavy Twins

Hello Fellow Noccers.

I wonder if any of you clever people can offer a solution to my problem? I'm trying to remove the clutch of my 1966 650SS and have encountered an issue I wasn't expecting. I've removed the centre nut and locking washer with no problem but the clutch hub is refusing to slide off its splines. I've bought the appropriate puller from RGM (thanks Roger for your usual prompt service) but no matter how much force I apply to the puller the hub remains firmly attached and isn't moving at all.

Searching this site to see if I can find an answer hasn't shown up anything positive though I did come across an old post by Robert Tuck commenting that if the centre moves further towards the gearbox then it can be a B****r to remove. That's certainly the case with me but unfortunately he didn't suggest any solution! At the moment I've given up and left the puller attached as firmly as I can in the hope that leaving it for a while under pressure might produce the right result, though from experience so far I'm not too hopeful.

Can anybody come up with any alternative suggestions as to how to get the centre off?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Submitted by tony_gill on Wed, 25/05/2022

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Tighten center bolt on the puller as tight as you can get it , Then a few shocks with a hammer. Then  try to tighten  bolt a bit more. and shock it again. You can heat the hub with a blow lamp . It will submit in the end 

Submitted by robert_tuck on Wed, 25/05/2022

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Hi Lance , I had the same problem , In the past the clutch would come off without any puller ,so when  i noticed that there was no clearance between the back of the clutch (spider) and the box sleeve gear I guessed that the poorly made (possibly orriginal) spider had spread and climed up on the box shaft spline. The register in the spider then behaves a bit like a collet and tightly grips the spline. The harder you tighten the puller the tighter it gets !.  I just kept on going till it gave . You will definately need a new spider ,hopefully the box mainshaft will survive as its harder than the spider. There are new spiders around that are poorly detailed and if you look hard enough you will spot the difference, I bought one from RGM and it was good.  I guess if you strip out the center you may be able to weaken the spider at the register with a few cuts from a Dremel to help it to disintegrate ??  ,can't visualise if this is practical. May just have to Gorrilla it as tony suggests. I am using less torque on the nut now plus some nut lock and a very close fitting washer to give support to the end of the new  spider.

Submitted by tony_gill on Wed, 25/05/2022

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Remove the puller . and heat the spider . I have found people use lock tight on the splines . ie On car drive shafts gear box out put flanges. The heat softens it. and expands the spider it will come off as Robert says

 

Submitted by lance_crossley on Wed, 25/05/2022

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Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I'll give heat a go next and see where it gets me.

I was beginning to think that would be necessary but was worried about it affecting the cush rubbers, though I suppose I could always renew them. Might need to do anyway as they've been in over 40 years! I even wondered about removing them first and then using heat.

I can't put any more leverage on the puller than I've done and I've tried using a hammer but perhaps it needs a bigger blow. Will have another go shortly and hopefully report back having been successful.

Submitted by tony_gill on Wed, 25/05/2022

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As Robert has mentioned , It would be good practice to renew spider . So the rubbers can be renewed (. that,s a fun job )

Submitted by robert_tuck on Wed, 25/05/2022

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Whatever you do ,  SCRAP the spider ! ,  The further it goes up on the shaft the harder it gets to pull off once it creates ridges on the splines, Guess how I know. RGM  about £70  much cheaper than a box shaft.

Submitted by lance_crossley on Sat, 28/05/2022

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Greetings Everybody.

Well, the answer to the above is - me!

Whilst stripping the primary drive I'd already removed the clutch plates then realised I needed to rotate the chain to get the chain's split link to where I could get at it. Alternator and rotor were already off so I therefore refitted the plates and centre nut so I could use the back wheel to rotate the chain round. And then completely forgot that I'd refitted the nut! So there was no way the clutch spider was coming off with that in place, no matter how hard I tried to use the puller. I happened to take another peek up the clutch centre with my torch and couldn't believe it when I saw the nut in there! At first I thought I must have fitted two nuts the last time I had the clutch off 20 years ago but then realised what I'd done.

The good news is that the spider looks to be fine and came off easily once I realised my mistake and the only damage I can see is to the end of the puller's centre bolt. Getting the cush rubbers out was fun though. I couldn't get the cover plate off after removing the screws (this was before I'd realised my mistake and was thinking of getting the rubbers out so I could properly heat up the spider). The manual suggests using a screwdriver to prise it off but the illustration shows the clutch centre minus the studs for the springs, so much more access like that. And I couldn't remove the studs whilst the clutch was in situ. I managed to move it almost off but final release was hampered by the rubbers sticking to everything. Once the centre was off the bike I could drift the spider out with no problem to reveal rubbers which are about 42 years old but in better condition than the 14 year old ones I replaced back in 1980! New ones now on order from RGM and things back to normal.

Thanks again to everyone who tried to help and apologies for wasting your time with my memory lapse. I did remember taking the nut off originally but forgot about its temporary replacement.

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Submitted by tony_gill on Sat, 28/05/2022

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You know Lance. A man that makes no mistakes . Is a man that dose nothing . I am glad all is sorted 

Submitted by robert_tuck on Sat, 28/05/2022

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Now its all to bits its a good time to check the clearance between rollers and drum.  If you can lose some of the clearance  it makes a significant  improvement to reduce clutch wobble , drag  and the clutch heating up in traffic.

Submitted by ian_soady on Sun, 29/05/2022

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... gets to us all. I have more than once not been convinced I tightened the mainshaft nut on my Commando gearbox - each time after I'd filled with oil of course. On both occasions it nagged at me so much that I removed the end covers to check and of course the nut was tight both times.

The worst thing is being interrupted during a process and not being sure where you'd got to when you resume.

 



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