66 Triumph 650 clutch sticking

Recently rebuilt my clutch. Now I can't seem to get it adjusted to
eliminate scraping going from neutral to first. I've had the primary cover
off five times now, de-burred all the tabs, checked grooves in clutch basket
for wear[ok], adjusted clutch nuts looser and tighter, carefully checked for
even rotation, tried auto trans fluid [currently have 5w/20 oil], adjusted
the free play etc at handle and at primary inspection hole all sorts of
ways, still scraping. I can minimize by kicking thru in 1st gear with
clutch out before starting a few times. Any suggestions Greatly appreciated
!!! Thanks, BC

 

By "scraping", do you mean that you hear a a rapid gear clattering,
grinding sound from the gear dogs?

Try turning your idle speed down as low as possible, This might mean
readjusting the idle mixture as well...

My friend's Greeves wouldn't shift gears at all without grinding unless
he turned the idle down as low as possible. Every gear shift required
reducing engine RPM to idle, powershifting would not work at all...

 

I'll try that, but need to keep some rpm going to keep the battery charged.
Med. idle speed drops charging to 11.5 v. This is pretty much the sound
you'd get trying to go from neutral to 1st with no clutch. Plates are
definately sticking together. Thanks for the reply... BC

 

charged. Med. idle speed drops charging to 11.5 v.

So, don't let the engine idle. You wouldn't be riding at an idle, just
shifting gears, then you'd be riding at a higher RPM...

Your lights might get very dim while waiting for a traffic signal to
change.
Somebody was just mentioning last week that later alternators had more
windings to solve this problem. The other alternative would be stronger
flywheel magnets...

 

Adjusting the clutch nuts only affects how well the clutch grabs. This has
no affect on your problem.

Explain step by step how you're adjusting it... It'll help a great deal i
finding the problem.

Les

 

Hi Les.. I have all the manuals.. factory Triumph shop, Haynes, and the DVD
by [name I can't recall], and I've read over everything I can find online
pertaining to this, which all basically say to loosen the cable at the
lever, and back out the adjuster bolt/nut then tighten 'til the plate just
begins to lift, then back off 1/4 to 1/2 turn and lock down. I've spent a
lot of time pouring over all the manual instructions etc. and have adjusted
all this many times and many ways, tighter and looser. I have removed all
the plates several times... checking on a plate of glass for flatness.
I've carefully de-burred all the plate tabs, I've checked the grooves in
the clutch basket for wear etc. I've just read a bunch of stuff in groups
archives and British Only's archives that's leading me to think that with
stock type Barnett plates etc. that some of this problem is just inherent
and may have to be lived with, but I'm still open to further suggestions.
Thanks, BC

 

I always did this on the old brit iron I've owned.
It breaks the stiction between the plates.

Fred

 

Haynes calls for the adjuster for the pushrod to be backed out 1 full turn,
not 1/4 to 1/2. If you've adjusted it this way, my guess is you've had it
too tight, letting the pushrod spin. This will shorten the rod over time, as
well as trash the bronze bushing in the right side end of the main shaft.

Mine only does this when first started, after not being ridden for some
time. Proper adjustment and good parts will eliminate this with a warm
engine.

Les

 

Thanks Les I'll try 1 full turn out and see how it goes. BC