Hitchcocks Forum

Started assembly of primary after new sprag clutch fitted. One thing to watch for when tapping engine sprocket back on shaft is that the gear teeth on the starter gears mesh with driven gears on sprocket. Tap sprocket on keeping an eye on the gear teeth behind.

I now have to make up a tool to hold the clutch centre so I can tighten the retaining nut. I didn`t need one to undo it because it wasn`t tight! And no, I don`t have any spare clutch plates to use for one! I do however have lots of bits and bobs of metal strip and sheet in the shed. A legacy of a working lifetime in engineering! Ray.

Forgot to add that I did a dry run with inner primary, engine sprocket and starter motor installed to test the starter, with the spark plug out and compression release......released. All working ok. I have a richer needle jet, as recommended by our hosts, to fit, in the hope, with an increased tickover, it will help to stop the engine spitting back and stalling at lights etc. this is what happened to the old sprag, thankfully without any damage!

To lock the mainshaft, use what you already have, i.e. select top gear while turning the rear wheel, apply rear brake, and tighten the nut. (Lie across the seat if you have to do it without the help of a second person)

Doh.......... Of course, I was thinking the clutch had to be assembled to lock it using back brake! It's just the gearbox through the chain. A senior moment I'm afraid, could have got it finished yesterday if brain was engaged! Oh well, we live and sometimes learn! Thanks for the wake up call, John.

Jobs coming along nicely Ray..

Tighten to around 40ft/lb, new nyloc nut is helpful.. Centre the stator/rotor gap with some 3/8” wide strips cut from a round plastic washing up bottle, just nicely curved as standard.
The reason i write is the spitback you experience on applying power.

I note your cone filter which may require richer jets, which you have in hand but also don’t forget you may need a richer slide maybe 2.5 or even 2.0 as the stutter can be due to the momentary over weak mixture as the slide opens and gulps large amounts of air through that filter..

Check that rubber manifold carefully for cracks/perishing especially under the clip..

Think i would trim down that fuel pipe just a tad as i can see an air bubble trapped at the top bend..

Not telling you what to do, its just me having a virtual lean on your garage door and chin wagging..

Nice pictures though Ray thanks for sharing and i covet your bench as well..

Hi Gwilly, all your suggestions re carb are already done, and the manifold is new. I Cut some thin aluminium into a wide strip to wrap around the rotor to centre the stator. As stated earlier I have fitted a richer needle jet as per H's reccomendations, to go with the 2.5 slide and richer pilot jet. The air bubble in the petrol pipe is simply because the tap hasn't been turned on in a while, whilst all the other stuff was done. The pipe and carb are below the tank so petrol flows down when tap is turned on.The problem I have now is intermittent loss of power/ spark, battery is at 14 volts, side lights etc working but ammeter not deflecting at all for points and coil. I supect the ignition switch. Had enough for today so will have a look tomorrow.

Oh, and I have fitted a new nylock nut to the mainshaft. As you can probably guess, this isn't the first time I've been inside these bikes!

The ignition switch give can indeed give trouble with poor connections where the wires are soldered on, my Electra suffered intermittent ignition failure with this until I fitted a replacement. A.

Looks like you're well on the way to getting it sorted.....Regarding the intermittent sparks, two further points worth checking out are the EMG stop switch and its associated wiring and connections, and also the condition of the main earth lead from battery to frame earth point, especially if this is hidden away behind the battery carrier. Checking this lead on my 500ES one day, it simply fell apart (!) and no sign of trouble at all before then........

Well, finally got to bottom of starter trouble, and it looks like I may have bought new sprag clutch in error! I found even though the battery was charged, using batt tender, and showing 14volts, it would only turn engine over with decomp engaged. If I tried it as normal it would come up against compression and stop. As a next step I jumped it from my Guzzi battery, nearly new, and it fired right up. In fact I had forgotten to put choke on and engine was churning over for a few revs before I realised. Put choke on and "vroom". Just got to find scource of intermittent ignition fault. The only thing I disturbed on that side was the coil, in fact when the bike was back together it wouldn't start, until I saw the HT lead wasn't plugged into coil. That made me think, can a coil be damaged if bike is kicked over a few times with HT not connected? I Seem to remember warnings that if you are turning engine over with spark plug out, you should earth it against engine, or coil could be damaged. What think you? I will be checking LT wiring, kill switch, and wiring and connectors generally. I am also thinking of mounting coil in off side "tool" box, now its empty of filter etc, using a couple of "rivnuts" so I don't have to get a spanner on the nuts behind the box. At moment, I have to drop rear wheel down so I can get my hand in behind mudguard to hold the nuts to put coil back. It's back on workbench again!