New member new project

[Bullfrog]

I did a quick review of your reported clutch symptoms. I am guessing that your main concern now (after the clutch rebuild) is that you have clutch drag (wants to move when you shift into 1st from neutral). That is most likely related to oil (at least I am willing to walk out on that branch). I am going to guess that you are using 30wt non-detergent oil, which is correct per the Owner's Manual and the Workshop Manual. However . . .

. . . even when I worked at PABATCO/Hodaka in the 1970's we used purpose-made oils designed for use with wet clutches. If you drain the 30wt and replace it with Silkolene or BelRay transmission oil (or other reputable brand of oil designed for wet clutches), you will be much happier with your clutch.

Ed

[MichiganBrian]

Hmmmm!! I’ll give it a try. It did it before I tore clutch apart. I have no idea what PO had in it.
Thanks

[JPark]

I think a certain amount of clutch drag is inevitable because the clutch is crank mounted and thus spinning 3+ times faster than if it were on the big gear. Being smaller diameter, the interpolate speed should be similar. There is less surface area, but also no gear up on the drag. If you've had it apart, it will take a while for the plates to settle in to each other. There's also the drag from the oil between the plates and cold oil will always be draggy; plus, it takes some running to get the gear oil up to temperature because it isn't going through the engine like a four stroke.

I've tried both synthetic ATF and Bel Ray Gearsaver. The ATF is a bit thinner and may help a bit cold, but once you've gone a mile or two it's a wash and I prefer the sound, feel, and peace of mind that the Gearsaver gives.

My clutch had [still has] a kooky cover plate with the holes drilled off center. This caused the screws to rub on the steels, and I had to do some opening up of them to let the screws not interfere. If you see any wear marks on the Vs where the screws have passed, you will need to deal with it.

I had much better success finding neutral after I totally serviced the shifter mechanism, removing all the old grease and fixing the nipple that feeds the shifter shaft that doesn't seem to fit any grease gun tip made. If there's any friction in there, the shifter will just run right past the little notch for neutral.

I don't know if it would matter, but did you replace the pinion bushing while you were in there? If you over torque the clutch nut you can swell the bushing - so I've heard - and that will lead to drag. I assume you didn't but maybe it's been off before you got there.