Clutch cover

[mayantiger]

I want to take some external components to the chemical stripper, and I am having trouble removing some rubber from the clutch cover.

The clutch cover has a capped slot for a kick that I can't seem to hammer out. (notice 2 dents from my chisel). My bike is an 81 so I believe the case is not original.

The other piece is a glass peephole which looks like it is used to check oil level. Again, tried some gentle hammering but don't want to crack the glass.

Reasonable sure that both need to be pulled before taking the cover to get stripped. Any tips?

[crazy steve]

All the XS/XJ bikes had that 'kickstarter' boss on the cover, but only the '78-79 bikes had one fitted; all the rest got that plug.

To get the plug out, use a blunt-ended drift as close to the size of the hole as you can get and give it a whack. That seal is glued in there...

The oil level sight window is another matter. You have to gently pry the 'toothed' retaining spring inside the cover off. Ticklish business; it's very easy to break the glass, and there's been reports that it's also very hard to re-seal once removed. Good luck with that...

I'm curious; why do you feel you need to chemically strip this?

[mayantiger]

The components are all painted black (literally everything), but it's very weathered and spotty now. I think it will look nicer as bare metal. The fins have a lot of build-up, that is the only *need* for a stripper.

Thanks for the tip, mate. Happy to hear that the clutch cover is correct for the model year, I was worried the bike had been dropped badly.

[petejw]

fwiw, ive used paint stripper to remove
the black paint without removing the site
glass or bung plug without any issues.

[kwats]

I've had good luck with my soda blaster getting rid of old paint and corrosion. Just another option.

[mayantiger]

Nice! Definitely easier to work with. Soda blasting would be nice, I really need to get an air compressor. Thanks for the help guys.