cafe PITA is alive and I have questions.

[trbig]

AND... as to the original question,

1st and 2nd gear problems is a gear skipping problem, not a slipping thing. When it's the gears, you'll feel like you're sitting on a machine gun.. until it gets so bad that when you simply click it into gear, it sits there and grinds the gears and won't go anywhere. So your deal is clutch slippage as the others have stated.


Tod

[Pat Kelly]

I laughed my azz off at this. Especially the last sentence.. since most springs are going to fail "Many many thousands of miles later.."

So you smash a spring in there with the stock setup.. but adding just one little slim stock steel is going to be the straw that broke the camel's back and collapse the spring, huh? Do you have any proof for this statement? Have you run springs with an extra disc until the clutches failed.. then measured the springs... then done it with a stock setup and run it until fail.. then measure those same exact type and brand of springs?

Many people on here are running the setup with an extra steel plate, and we'd love to see your research. In the mean time.. those with this mod that go many many thousands of miles with no problems and a better stiffer clutch... then finally starts slipping... a new set of $16 springs and 20 minutes gets you back and running.

I will admit that mine has started slipping again, and I do actually wonder if it's caused by a case of the steel plate against steel plate thing, but I was racing guys and doing many many launches and wheelies with the 750 final drive when it started slipping finally. BUT.. I thought I'd just pull the extra steel plate out and put it back together before I came on here and told of my experiences.. instead of making a bold statement on opinion. Especially when many many others find something works just fine...


Tod

There can be no slipping between two steel plates against each other. They are both riding on the same splines and are essentially one thick disc.

[trbig]

They are both riding on the same splines and are essentially one thick disc.

And the dim light bulb fizzles to life and blinks a couple times..

You're right Pat. Didn't think of that. Thanks.


Tod

[oldyam80sg]

Just curious-where are your foot pegs?Also the back brake does have a function as you may know.Most of my stopping is done with the front brake but i also have the rear in case i need it.Also what is that- it appears to be a stick by the kick start lever?

[MeatTooth]

Foot pegs are in the original location they just have the rubber pulled off of them.....(not my doing PO was missing about 2/3 of the rubber) The stick you're refering to is a piece of copper tubing and it houses all the wiring comming from the engine.

I'm going to have to wait to see if the oil swap works since it's raining today and I really don't want to ride it until I get my air filter, and back brake setup.

Here's an older pic with so you can see the copper tubing.

[XSokieSPECIAL]

The stick you're refering to is a piece of copper tubing and it houses all the wiring comming from the engine.

[/QUOTE]

Nope! that IS a kick starter----I don't care what you call it!!!!

Ain't no copper tubing.

[stoked]

I'm liking what you've done with the bike a lot. I've been wanting to find a standard and do something similar for a while. Unfortunetly my special has been requiring a lot of special attention lately. It stranded me last night and in the process of getting it on a trailer it fell over and crushed the brake lever,

Anyway, I've battled the slipping clutch issues. I put new springs and the originals were pretty wore out. But honestly I've noticed the oil used makes the biggest difference. I would think syth would be a no no. But what do I know.

Hopefully I'll see your bike around town. I'm interested is seeing how it's wired up without a battery.

[MeatTooth]

in the process of getting it on a trailer it fell over and crushed the brake lever,

I'm not sure it will fit but you can have the brake lever off of my standard.

Here's some pics of the wiring.....it ain't pretty but functions. The bike will start cold with a few kicks so the started won't be used that much (knock on wood) I'm using a smaller agm batter mounted underneath the rear cowl and a ford bronco starter solenoid ($14) autozone.




P.S. the battery is a 220 CCA battery......does anyone forsee any problems with CCA this low compared to stock.......It cranks just fine when I use the starter and I'm using all led lights minus the headlight.

[Ivan]

Clutch Slippage

I have used synthetic oil with no slipping clutch, then returned to the cheap stuff that comes in a five gallon bucket from Tractor Supply Co. and got slippage. I was confused and stayed that way for quite some time. Then the other day, I remembered putting some of that Lucas Oil snot in the oil when I first got the bike, just for a pit of insurance against any thing stupid... So, I ran down to AutoBone, and got some more, put some in the oil, and no more slippage. I am still baffled, since this stuff is supposed to make your oil "slicker". However, it makes it more sticky. They used to have a small plexi-glass box with gears in it that were turned by a small crank. The regular oil would stay in the bottom, and the treated stuff would "climb" up the gears. So I guess, the sticky helps. Just a suggestion, YMMV.

[stoked]

I remember that box Ivan. You know that's not a bad idea. I tell you something else I've used that is sticky and thick as syrup. I used the Harley Davidson oil in my old Buell. That stuff reminds me of chain saw oil. I bet it'd be good for the clutches. Not sure about rest of engine though.

[MeatTooth]

I remember that little gear thingy too! I could never pass an oppurtunity to give it a whirl when I was checking out! LOL

I'm going to focus my attention on building an airbox similar to xschop and oldyam right now.

[XScafe]

220cca should do it. My old 24 series orig battery was only throwing 160cca and turned my 110 over with no prob. I did recycle it 2 weeks ago for a smaller 16 series DEKA AGM that throws 460 cca. Darned near twists the starter off now and it was only $82. Nice to see anothre cafe bike. I'm hoping to finish mine within the next 2 weeks. It snowed here so I'm in no real hurry anymore plus I'm buying a house so all extra money is being diverted.

[trbig]

I have seen actual demonstrations on that Lucas oil, and they say it's really bad about getting foamy?? Said this was a bad thing, but can't remember why? With the way our cranks/rods whip through the oil, if anything will make it foamy, it would be our engines.


Tod

[Ivan]

Generally, foaming oil shows its ugly head as oil pressure fluctuation. I suppose if you over did the lucas stuff, you'd have something that looks more like chocolate mousse than oil, but I only use about 1/2 cup of the stuff in an oil change. To this point, I havent had any troubles. Might be that STP or any of the plethora of engine snot out there could work the same way.

Strange that it would foam up, usually the thinner stuff like hydraulic fluid and such are the ones that foam. Interesting

[XJOK2PLAY]

"P.S. the battery is a 220 CCA battery......does anyone forsee any problems with CCA this low compared to stock.......It cranks just fine when I use the starter and I'm using all led lights minus the headlight."





MeatTooth,

One thing I was always told about batteries is, the bigger the cca capacity # is, the thinner & more fragile the plates are. Higher CCA batteries are sometimes shorter life-spanned due to the thinner plates breaking / shorting due to shock, bumps, & jolts.
So, if this is indeed true & not just an old SWMBO's tale...
for once, bigger is not always better! (Go figure...)