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[simon]

Arh immortality at last I was so pleased with the fix that I sent our hosts the specs and photos and suggested they produce it. Delighted to see that they decided to go ahead with it. Merry Christmas all. S.

[simon]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/77012441@N ... hotostream this was my final version. The message is clear chaps, if you have the space and inclination buy yourselves a lathe for Christmas. Best tool I've ever bought. Just finished rebuilding the Ducati 860 motor and instead of waiting weeks for shims to be delivered I simply turned them up. Made a blind bearing puller, a timing wheel and new crankshaft sludge plugs. It will be a while before it actually pays itself off but it's more fun than drugs and vastly improves the mental arithmetic.

[Alan R]

---------------- so, a "turn for the better" then ??

[grunda 12]

ah the photo shows the revalation !!well done simon!the lathe comment i must aggree ,also worth investment is a good mig/mag welder and a hydraulic press when mr grunda gets his windfall the said items will be installed in his palatial garage,now for the other story i i have a 2004 4 speed box on the diesel ,gearbox cover flex is noticable but up to press has not caused any problem s the old grunda 1990 350 bullet had a 3 plate clutch and much more flex but no problems clutchwise ,so the mod stops flex and improves ?as i said i,m not getting probs but would fit the mod if someone can let me into the benefits other than flex reduction ,compliments of the season paul.

[Spitting Bull]

Paul - the main benefit is that all the leverage of clutch operation goes into separating the plates and none is lost in just flexing the cover. This makes a huge difference in stop-start traffic. In traffic, my clutch starts to drag in minutes and gear changing gets very difficult. My brother-in-law has done his own version of this mod and has no problem any more. I think I'll follow suit with this ready-made part to Simon's design........... Tom

[John R]

It just occurred to me. For decades people suffer with this problem, then someone comes up with a fix that is cheap and probably easy to fit. Mr. H. makes it for us and puts it in the catalogue. When does all this happen? THE DAY BEFORE THE END OF THE BLOODY WORLD!

[simon]

Mmmmm a press yes. I've made do with old fashion arc and gas welding but a mig would also be a leap forward. Then perhaps a CNC mill and of course the new wife that would require.

[PeteF]

Paul, yes, you can set up a 4 speed clutch without sorting the flex problem but it's a damn sight easier if the flex is dealt with. Mine used to be OK most of the time but did suffer when getting hot in traffic but now that problem has gone. Also, as Spitting Bull says all your effort goes into the clutch instead of bending an alloy casting. Another thing I always worried about was eventual failure of the cover from fatique (but then, I always like something to worry about)

[John R]

My original cover did crack through fatigue at about 60,000 miles having got very flexy. It's replacement, the same part number was a much better job with thicker webs and generally chunkier, but it too tends to flex excessively now.

[Norm]

After fitting a similar design to Simons, I found that by grinding 3mm out of the clutch perch allows you to get an extra 3mm of cable travel(from 17 to 20mm) which equates to .4mm in rod travel. I have also ground the nipple off the bearing cap and fitted a push pad to that end as well.At least this way the adjuster screw is pushing onto a flat surface, not trying to push onto a rod as the pivot point changes. Seems pretty good so far and as the world didn't end I guess we have to continue trying to fix these things