The Hodaka Club Forum

I need advice on clutch shims as well.

I’m assembling my Ace B motor. I have only one shim & I’m not even sure what it’s thickness is. Are they marked? Or is it something I can reasonably measure with my not very good Harbor Freight measuring tool? (Yes I know Captain Ed doesn’t like this tool).

It appears right now that I can operate the clutch lever on the side case by hand, without resistance. Would this be an indicator that I need to rebuild the clutch even tho it’s extremely low mileage? Does the Blueprint your Clutch in the Resonator cover this issue as well? Thanks! Victor

Thrown. I didn’t have a push peg for the clutch, so, I used a spare roller bearing from a 125 kick shaft bearing set. I was lead to believe they are the same animal, yes?

Confirmed with the same part number for both!!! Victor

Are you sure the pin didn't fall out? You know the amount of play you need on the clutch side cover lever. ---------Clarence

Thanks for starting the new thread - now the topic will be searchable.

Your description of the symptom sure sounds like the lever at the engine exhibits "all" free-play (never bears down on anything). As "thrownchain" mentioned, the first suspect is that the clutch pressure piece (small solid cylinder - like a roller from a roller bearing) fell out of its bore as the clutch cover was being assembled on the engine. You'll have to remove the clutch cover to check that. If you lay the bike over to "save" the oil when you remove the cover . . . it will fall out (so you may never know if that was the original fault).

But there is another factor which relates to the clutch disc spacers you asked about. When you rebuild a worn out clutch, the new friction disks are thicker than the worn out ones. When you install the "new" clutch on the crank, its "outer cover" (where the clutch disc and spacers go) WILL be closer to the center-line of the engine than the old worn out clutch was. So, you will need more spacers under the clutch disc (aka, "throw-out bearing") than before.

The spacers are not marked for thickness, but there are 0.2, 0.3 and 0.5 mm thick spacers. You can feel the differences in thickness with your fingers (and your Harbor Freight digital caliper can measure them quite accurately). Unfortunately, I can't tell you how many or what thickness of spacers you will need. That is determined by trial-and-error as you "tune" the amount of free-play of the clutch lever at the engine.
Ed

Well, I don’t believe the clutch pressure piece fell out as I used a lot of grease to hold it in place. No need to worry about losing oil because I haven’t put any in yet. Cylinder, piston & head have not been attached yet. I’ll double check it, but I’m betting it’s still in place.

I haven’t rebuilt the clutch yet. It didn’t have many miles on it. I guess I could take it apart and build a new clutch assembly & follow the blueprint instructions. But like so many Hodaka barn finds, this sat around and has less than 2,000 original miles on it.

I’ll double check the clutch pressure piece & report back.

So what are the guidelines for needing/adding additional spacers? I’ll need to order some and want to know how to determine how many & which size(s) I might need? Victor

Hmmm, order in a couple of spacers in each thickness? That ought to handle it.
Ed

I recently pulled apart a motor with near 7 mm worth of spacer rings. Big stack of them.

What is the function of the spacers? Victor

They are used to give the proper slack to the clutch, so pressure isn't riding on the throughout bearing. I am sure there is a section in the manual that covers this. --------------------------Clarence

Not only are they used to "tune" the clutch, they can be sequentially removed as the plates wear thinner so that you can get maximal service life out of the clutch before a rebuild is required.

So a new clutch would use more & and older clutch would use less???

And are the spacers what you use to adjust initial free play??? Victor

And which volume/issue of The Resonator has the article about Clutch Blueprinting? I can’t find it, and would love to be able to read it! I’m sure it will Braden my understanding of these clutches! Thanks! Victor

And the pressure piece is still in place. Rotating the lever up & down does make the bearing piece push in & out. You can see it here. So I’m guessing it’s the lack of spacers, only having one? Victor

viclioce wrote:So a new clutch would use more & and older clutch would use less???

And are the spacers what you use to adjust initial free play??? Victor

Yes, yes and yes.
The spacers are the "only" thing used to adjust clutch free play. Adjusted without any cable attached. The cable adjustment (at both ends) is to compensate for your cable length to set your handle bar clutch lever slack. Don't confuse the two.

All covered in detail with drawings Chapter V1, eight pages 31 through 39, in the Ace 90 workshop manual. -------------------- Clarence

Victor: Be sure to inspect the Clutch Disk Part #904020. They can be so worn out that the bearing balls are no longer visible. Joe.

Joe. Do you have specs for it, or is it in the manual? I have more than one. Would need to know how to inspect it for wear. Thanks!

Clarence, I’ll pull the manual & read those pages. Thanks for pointing me there! Victor

OK. I read thru the Clutch Blueprinting article. Question one is, can you buy safety wire anywhere, or do I need to get it specifically from Terry? It’s not expensive, just a time factor to wait for it. I don’t mind ordering it, but if I can find it locally that would eliminate the wait time. Or is it reasonable to safely remove the safety wire & use it again? And I’m assuming I really don’t need safety wire pliers for this job, correct?

I guess I will open this clutch up. Maybe it just needs cleaning & fine tuning? Inspection would show that. And Alan sent me a rebuild kit which he bought from Terry & couldn’t use because it was the wrong size for his 90. Victor

Have you had the clutch assembly off the crank? If so, did you put the correct washers back in the correct place? If the thick washer under the gears is not there, that would move the whole assembly away from the cover and increase the gap considerably.

Yes, clutch assembly was off crank. I am guessing you mean washer #68 as shown on the parts diagram? I will check & confirm. Victor

Yep, that's the one.

OK. You were correct, Clarence! I had put that washer outside the clutch basket instead of behind the pinion gears. Also found another spacer for the Clutch disc.

Even with one disc there’s little to no free play! Does this mean the clutch is probably worn down too much? Learning as I go.

I have 2 spacers. One measures .05 & one about .042. Even with just the .042 spacer much less than 3/32 free play. Victor

Had to turn the clutch thrust washer around as it was on backwards! Also realized I’m checking the lever clearance with no case gasket on, which, I’m sure, effects the difference.

I’m going to apply the gasket & check again.... Victor

Got it within tolerances!!! Thanks again for all the help!!! Victor