Wombat shifter

[Bill2001]

I'm going through my new-to-me Wombat (94), checking it, and making a list of "maintenance items" for the upcoming year. One item is the shifter in the magneto case. Peering in the inspection opening it appears to be nice and tight with new major parts. I'll know more when I open it up. BUT the "foot change ratchet spring" (#902012) fits a tad loose on the shaft, not returning the foot lever to center and giving imprecise ratcheting. It's being replaced.

The question is "greasing of the shifter". There are a pair of grease nipples on the shaft and ratchet plunger, but do I need to grease the ratchet and the shifter arm "contact points", etc? I recall reading something somewhere about packing grease around the shifter mechanism, but can't find that advice to check it. What grease should be used? I normally use an NLGI -2 grease (the sticky red stuff), but I'm wondering if a waterproof Marine grade should be used. I also have a 60% Moly grease, FWIW.

I've loved to couple of spins I've taken in the Wombat thus far, but I'm really enjoying tinkering with it during the "rainy spells".

--Bill

[rough rider]

Hello Bill, I have also in the past used the red hi temp grease. I fill the shifter cavity with grease till it is a little below the adjustment cover. Lately I have started using Belray blue waterproof grease. Make sure you have a Wombat Shop Manual as it has alot of info on shifter adjustment too. Have fun riding that Wombat. Richard

[Bill2001]

Ah, good-- so the "pack the shifter cavity" advice is actually floating around. I hate to confess, but when I'm in the middle of a major and new project I'l have a realistic dream and "imagine" something. I'll lube the assembly before I install the magneto cover, and do a complete cleaning and lube when I replace the weak spring.

I've got the full ACE 90-100-Super Rat manual and the Wombat supplement as well as a parts manual. Wouldn't leave home without them.

--Bill

[Bullfrog]

Lubing at the supplied grease zerks would be entirely adequate for a machine used only on the street. However, if extensive trail riding is planned, then packing the shifter cavity is a very good (if messy) plan. It assures lubrication for the shifter parts but more importantly, it serves to "float" any ingested "stuff" above the workings of the shifter. Water proof grease is probably the best idea - though packing with any kind of grease is somewhere around 3,000 per cent better than no grease if hard trail use is planned.

Um, the 3,000 per cent figure is only a guess - . It is sort of like the long ago great debate as to whether removing your chain and soaking it in hot/melted grease is better tthan removing your chain and soaking it in oil. (Answer: Who cares? ANY chain lube method is better than not lubing the chain. Yes.)

Ed

[Bill2001]

That makes sense. For street use the shifter plus coverings should be quite adequate. But offroad use-- even light trail riding with stream crossings and mud holes-- needs extra protection. There are too many expensive parts to expose to grit and rust. Picked up a tub of BelRay waterproof grease today...

--Bill

[matt glascock]

What's the tactic for packing the shifter cavity? Do you hook up to the zerk and crank away with a grease gun until your hand falls off or pull the small shifter access cover and hand-pack the cavity? Do you fill the entire cavity? Any concern about grease migrating into the magneto? Thank you!

Matt

[Bullfrog]

I always filled the cavity with the inside cover (the sheet metal inside cover) removed. In this way you can assure that all the shifter parts are fully engulfed in grease with minimal or no bubbles. Then put the inside cover back on and inspect your grease packing handiwork through the control shaft hole and the inspection cover hole - add grease as the inspection indicates. A butter knife or artists palette knife is a handy utensil during all stages of the grease packing job. I've never experienced a problem of grease migrating to the magneto area.

Ed

[matt glascock]

Thanks Ed. Sage advice as always.

Best,

Matt

[Bill2001]

One of my favorite tools is a putty knife with the blade sharpened.Useful as a gasket scraper or a a "palette" to hold a blob or blobs of grease you are applying.

And I imagine you could get on of those injector tips (large diam needle tip) that fits the grease gun and use that to inject grease in, on and under parts.

--Bill

[rough rider]

Right on guys, I use a plastic spoon to clean and pack in the grease. After I raced my combat wombat I would wash and clean up the bike. That always included taking off the shifter cover, for one it would allow any water or moisture to dry out in the ignition area, and two, take off the inner cover to clean and inspect. Most of the time I would just skim off any dirt off the top layer off grease in the shifter cavity, clean the inner cover, and always clean up the rubber seal that seals off the shifter rod and sprocket. Coat it with bel ray grease to give it some added water and dirt resistance. Yes, the dirt would stick to outside of the seal but it also kept it from going inside the cover, plus keeps the wear of the seal to a minimum. Even racing in the mud the shiter did great.

[MWL]

This is why the shifter case should be full of grease..... A chain guard would help too.

[hodakamax]

Yikes! --- I guess I've turned into a fair weather rider in my old age!

Max

[Bullfrog]

Rough Rider - I liked your description of clean-up/maintenance of the grease packed shifter! Spot On!

Ed
PS: Yes, MWL - you should indeed have a chain guard on that scooter.

[Bill2001]

Still, the dirt shielding on the external shifter is not a bad design, and a big dollop of grease plus periodic inspections/maintenance will keep it working a long time. I scraped the old grease out of it, gave it a cursory cleaning and an inspection and then a shot of sticky-red grease. When the couple of parts get in I'll disassemble, clean and rebuild, but it'll work fine for the time being.

--Bill


Forgot to mention-- the thread by dcooke007 on the shifter is fairly complete: http://www.hodakaforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=846

--b

[Bill2001]

Still tinkering with the Hodie and this crossed my mind the other day: The engine NEEDS to be in Neutral to kickstart. Neutral can sometimes be a little fiddly to find. At least on my Type 94 Wombat there is no neutral indicator light, though there might be on on later models. Would it be useful to add a neutral light switch from a later model, or fit any of the switches available on other brand bikes? Seems that all you;d need is a contacting pin on the shift cam and a bracket for the switch.

--Bill

[viclioce]

I've cleaned that red grease out of Two shifters packed with it. It gets hard, almost like plastic. I'll stick with moly grease. At least it can be separated easier and pumped with a gun in thru the grease fittings. And I've found that spray chain cleaner cuts through old moly grease easily as well. Just be careful using too much on a moving chain! ; D Victor

[Bill2001]

I'd suppose that the shifter lube is a yearly service item done with "Spring Cleaning"-- remove the magneto cover to check points and timing, inspect the drive sprocket, clean and lube the chain, and clean and lube the shifter. Moly grease would be good on the wear-prone contact points of the shifter, and a waterproof grease (I'm using Bel-Ray and I'd guess that a marine grease is the same thing) would be good to pack that wettable area.

I leafed through Parts Unlimited catalogs yesterday and found several neutral indicator switches small enough to fit the tight area around the shifter. I need to hit the parts schematics at SH and see what Hodaka used for the neutral switch on the later bikes. I'm making progress.

--Bill

[viclioce]

Bill. They added a small "bump" on the shifter lobe which mates with the tab the wire connects to. I don't know if the shifters are 100% swappable, but you'd need one from say a Model 03 Wombat to make it work, I'm guessing. Don't know about the switches you've found. You would need some accurate way of indicating the position of neutral for any one of them to work.

My Road Toad is what I described. So maybe the shifter lobe from a Toad would work too. But you'd need to find a way to mount the contact point inside the cover and it's just a single light green wire which powers the switch. I'm assuming it grounds directly through the motor. And you'd need a passage point for the wire as well between the cover and casing. ; D Victor

[Bill2001]

I can modify the shifter cam. It should be a matter of adding a contact or a "microswitch" that would actuate a light when the added "tit" was in position. I'll look at the parts schematics at SH.

--Bill


EDITlooked at tthe 02 Road Toad and the 03 Wombat and that is exactly how their Neutral Light is arranged-- a "tit" on the shifter cam and a contact on the shifter cover that contacts the shifter tit. I'm getting a new shift lever return spring in tomorrow and once I have the shifter apart for cleaning I'll drill and tap a place for that added piece than all I need to do is find a switch/contact and make a bracket for it.

--b

[viclioce]

Pics to show it off when your done would be great! ; D Victor

[Bill2001]

Will do.

--Bill