What did you do to Your Sportster Today?
#5241
03-31-2017, 09:12 PM
Grand HDF Member
Hey guys, remember when I said that if there's a 1 in 1,000 chance something will go wrong, I will be that "1" guy? Yeee-uuuuup. I did the clutch job tonight.
The good news: the spring plate it out, the replacement plates are in. Woo-hoo!! The spring plate & rivets looked fine, which is what I was hoping for. I measured the stack of existing friction plates, they were .700". Manual says replace if .661" or less, so they're well within spec. In fact, when I measured the new friction plate and compared it to the existing, there was no measurable difference. As I hoped, this clutch pack has a lot of life in it.
OK, so disassembly. First, the bolts on the primary case were VERY tight and had thread lock on them. What the heck? The service manual doesn't spec thread lock. I had to use pliers and really pull to get a couple of the bolts out once I had them backed out of the threads. There were hard chunks of thread lock on those. This left me wondering if someone had this primary cover off before.
Next, the clutch cable was RIDICULOUSLY tight where it screws into the primary cover. Dang. Got that off finally. Now time for reassembly. I only put a few bolts in to hold the primary cover, and decided to do some of the other things, like the clutch cable...just in case I forgot something and needed to open her up. So I snug the clutch cable back on to the case, give it a quarter turn, and then it spins free! Crap!
For a moment, I thought I stripped the threads out of the primary cover. (Can you say $350?) But instead, the threaded part of the clutch cable ferrule had broken right off, and was screwed into the primary cover. I couldn't pull the clutch cable out because of this. So I patted myself on the back for only putting a few bolts in, and quickly removed the cover.
A small screwdriver, needle nose, patience, and 10 minutes later I had the broken piece out. The primary cover appears unharmed. It's now installed and torqued.
So my mission tomorrow is to find a local dealer (3 within an hour of me) that has a clutch cable. Otherwise order one and lose a week. Once I get that cable I should have it back together in 30 minutes.
WHEW. Thanks all for the advice and help. I'm really looking forward to getting this done, I've stressed about it far too much.
The good news: the spring plate it out, the replacement plates are in. Woo-hoo!! The spring plate & rivets looked fine, which is what I was hoping for. I measured the stack of existing friction plates, they were .700". Manual says replace if .661" or less, so they're well within spec. In fact, when I measured the new friction plate and compared it to the existing, there was no measurable difference. As I hoped, this clutch pack has a lot of life in it.
OK, so disassembly. First, the bolts on the primary case were VERY tight and had thread lock on them. What the heck? The service manual doesn't spec thread lock. I had to use pliers and really pull to get a couple of the bolts out once I had them backed out of the threads. There were hard chunks of thread lock on those. This left me wondering if someone had this primary cover off before.
Next, the clutch cable was RIDICULOUSLY tight where it screws into the primary cover. Dang. Got that off finally. Now time for reassembly. I only put a few bolts in to hold the primary cover, and decided to do some of the other things, like the clutch cable...just in case I forgot something and needed to open her up. So I snug the clutch cable back on to the case, give it a quarter turn, and then it spins free! Crap!
For a moment, I thought I stripped the threads out of the primary cover. (Can you say $350?) But instead, the threaded part of the clutch cable ferrule had broken right off, and was screwed into the primary cover. I couldn't pull the clutch cable out because of this. So I patted myself on the back for only putting a few bolts in, and quickly removed the cover.
A small screwdriver, needle nose, patience, and 10 minutes later I had the broken piece out. The primary cover appears unharmed. It's now installed and torqued.
So my mission tomorrow is to find a local dealer (3 within an hour of me) that has a clutch cable. Otherwise order one and lose a week. Once I get that cable I should have it back together in 30 minutes.
WHEW. Thanks all for the advice and help. I'm really looking forward to getting this done, I've stressed about it far too much.
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cvaria (03-31-2017)
#5242
03-31-2017, 09:49 PM
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#5243
03-31-2017, 10:37 PM
Grand HDF Member
#5244
04-01-2017, 11:25 AM
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....
OK, so disassembly. First, the bolts on the primary case were VERY tight and had thread lock on them. What the heck? The service manual doesn't spec thread lock. I had to use pliers and really pull to get a couple of the bolts out once I had them backed out of the threads. There were hard chunks of thread lock on those. This left me wondering if someone had this primary cover off before.
Yes, someone did. The factory only uses threadlock on a few high torque nuts & bolts, and no anti seize at all. It wouldn't hurt to put a small drop of blue Loctite on those case screws, but I don't think it's necessary with the right torque, haven't had a problem with them installed clean.
.... the threaded part of the clutch cable ferrule had broken right off, and was screwed into the primary cover. I couldn't pull the clutch cable out because of this. So I patted myself on the back for only putting a few bolts in, and quickly removed the cover.
Whoever had the cover off before probably put the cable in with gorilla torque and stressed the threaded portion too much. The oil ring is going to keep it from leaking; actually, torquing it down and squashing the o-ring could lead to an early leak. Snug should be good for that one. You're lucky the gorilla didn't strip threads in the case.
OK, so disassembly. First, the bolts on the primary case were VERY tight and had thread lock on them. What the heck? The service manual doesn't spec thread lock. I had to use pliers and really pull to get a couple of the bolts out once I had them backed out of the threads. There were hard chunks of thread lock on those. This left me wondering if someone had this primary cover off before.
Yes, someone did. The factory only uses threadlock on a few high torque nuts & bolts, and no anti seize at all. It wouldn't hurt to put a small drop of blue Loctite on those case screws, but I don't think it's necessary with the right torque, haven't had a problem with them installed clean.
.... the threaded part of the clutch cable ferrule had broken right off, and was screwed into the primary cover. I couldn't pull the clutch cable out because of this. So I patted myself on the back for only putting a few bolts in, and quickly removed the cover.
Whoever had the cover off before probably put the cable in with gorilla torque and stressed the threaded portion too much. The oil ring is going to keep it from leaking; actually, torquing it down and squashing the o-ring could lead to an early leak. Snug should be good for that one. You're lucky the gorilla didn't strip threads in the case.
#5246
04-01-2017, 03:56 PM
Grand HDF Member
I can certainly say I have never seen a buckshotted battery cover...that is definitely unque and that's what it's all about....making it your own. Hope YOU like it. Interested in seeing it on the bike.
#5247
04-01-2017, 04:37 PM
Cruiser
Figured out my electrical issue with the lights...one of the fuses must have been going bad. They all looked fine the first time I checked, but I checked them again today and one blew as I removed it. Replaced that fuse and now everything works! I'll be keeping an eye on it, though. And my new LED's look AWESOME!!!
#5248
04-01-2017, 06:09 PM
Grand HDF Member
Whoever had the cover off before probably put the cable in with gorilla torque and stressed the threaded portion too much. The oil ring is going to keep it from leaking; actually, torquing it down and squashing the o-ring could lead to an early leak. Snug should be good for that one. You're lucky the gorilla didn't strip threads in the case.
I took it for a 20 mile test ride (with tools in my bag, lol). All good! No perceptible difference in shifting, it's superb. No leaks either. I'm super happy this is done!
#5249
04-01-2017, 08:40 PM
Grand HDF Member
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IAmWoody (04-02-2017)
#5250
04-01-2017, 09:30 PM
Tourer