Hitchcocks Forum

Hi there. Alarmed by a strange noise, I checked the primary side internals and found that the clutch assy was loose, wobbles. I found that the clutch centre/hub was loose or not fully engaged in the shaft splines, respectively. But the nut and washer on the shaft were fully tightened! I feel that the spline portion of the shaft projects over (juts out) the hub stub. This means the nut and washer can´t press the hub fully onto the shaft. Do you have any idea to solve this and/or hints regarding the cause? Bullet 500 kickstart w/5 speed gear box. Thank you very much, regards, Peter

Seeing how nobody has replied, i'll have a go..

It may be worth checking the M12 or M14 nut on the other end of the mainshaft, probably left hand thread, the new ones have a nyloc insert to help prevent loosening..

Only other thing i can think of is maybe the rear of the clutch hub has worn or been over tightened causing it to ride back too far..

Its only alloy and softer than the steel shaft..

Let us know what you find..

Tippi. I hope you find a solution to it. I don’t have a solution for you but I have the same problem with my 1996 500, so it is not so rare. The nuts on both ends of the mainshaft are tight and correctly positioned. The clutch works fine so I continue to ride it but there is enough play on, I think, the “clutch sprocket ball cage” (PN 111155) to allow me to fit another “circlip, clutch retaining” (which looks like a piston ring from a 350) and which is PN 111143 but I haven’t gone down that road yet. Let us know if you find a solution and good luck.

Cheers, ChrisD

Thank you - I am currently waiting for a new clutch centre to be send from our host to Germany. Hopefully the new one will fix the problem; to be honest I can´t see real wear on the old one, but as per all info I gathered so far, the "shaft to centre spline design" combined with manufacturing quality (India?) can be the only weakness. My initial feel was that some kind of distance piece is needed to act as counterpart when the centre backplate is mounted onto the splines and pressed inwards by means of the nut/washer on the shaft. I will let you know ... Regards, Peter

Hi tippi.our hosts sell a spacer that fits on the main shaft behind the clutch basket.part number 92826.

Hello ceb. This spacer seems to be for 4-speed boxes only (as per the part#), I have a 5-speed one. Regards, Peter