The very good looking 1962 650SS on our website I bought is anything but good. So Far every thing I have touched needs attending to. The latest horror is with the gearbox [which by the way had no oil in it!] and is regarding the kick start lever and kick shaft [inside the gearbox]. The bike has rear sets and what look like Unity swept back exhausts.
Firstly it took me an age to remove the lever from the shaft because the splines on both are very badly damaged, the previous owner must have used a lump hammer to make them fit.
I ordered from our NOC shop a kick start lever but a kick start shaft from ANIL [nil stock NOC shop] but nothing fits. The diameter of the splines on the old kick start lever measure 0.975" while the splines on the new kick start shaft measure 0.913". Can anyone help? Despite the difference in spline diameters will the shaft be ok to fit into the gearbox, it fits snugly on the gearbox mainshaft and inner and outer covers. The two shafts look the same but the old is very slightly shorter, the two shafts visually look the same and all other important dimensions are the same. If the new shaft is ok to use it will sit very slightly further out of the gearbox. I guess the new shaft is a pattern part.
The kick start levers are obviously different at the splines, the old is longer but the offset, to clear the swept back exhaust, is about the same. If someone can identify the correct kick start shaft [that lives inside the G.box] I might then be able to then find a suitable kick start lever.
I hope the decision is I can use the new kick start shaft.
How did I find this series of bodges, simply because the clutch operating lever was not in line the cable at entry.
One mans meat....
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Thank you Jon for a very…
Thank you Jon for a very prompt reply. Yes it is an AMC gearbox.
Regards Roger
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Even orriginal levers and…
Even orriginal levers and shafts can suffer damage if not fully tight. Some pattern levers have clamp bolts with threads that can damage the splines as the bolt is fitted , I think its worth filing away part of the bolt thread . Some also file away part of the lever spline to help the clamping effect. Some levers have bolts that are too short to usefully use all the thread in the lever. Bolts need to be high tensile steel . Our Atlas destroyed a couple of levers and now wears the orriginal fixed 99 lever from 1960 which was good steel.
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Serrations....
... I generally use an overlength bolt and add a nut as most of the threads in kickstarts of my experience have threads which are not at their best. I can often get a further half turn after a few miles of initial fitting and I think it's the fretting of a slightly slack lever on the shaft that causes the damage.
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It's a horrible design…
It's a horrible design because the parts must rotate against each other as they are tightened and the pinch gap closes, but of course the splines try to prevent rotation. I have seen levers with splines apparently removed for a short distance on each side of the split to they can be drawn together by the pinch bolt. So fewer splines might fit better...but you need to be a bit brave to do it.
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I have ordered longer bolts…
I have ordered longer bolts several times ,but have been frusrated in my efforts as the bolts either have too long a shank , too short overall and more usually the wrong thread. Ians solution is the ideal with enough thread to allow a thin nut and a washer. Somehow I keep missing the target!!.
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Give me a serrated kick…
Give me a serrated kick start shaft every day of the week over a BSA kickstart with cotter pins. We have been enemies for 50 years.
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A picture of the box just to confirm its the AMC type as should be fitted. I will be back Friday, I can check my 62 SS and if I have a spare will measure that also. If it fits its yours...
Cheers
Jon