Classic Triumph Bonneville

[JackyJoll]

Ok, after fully loosening the cable, or even slipping it out of the handlebar lever, screw the adjuster in the centre of the pressure plate inward, with the locknut screwed back well out of the way. You should eventually feel it lifting the pressure plate against the springs.

Screw it out again and you can feel the adjuster screw lose contact with the pushrod. One turn out from that point of contact is where the book is saying you should fix the adjuster in place with the locknut.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Will it bump start?

Tried it in 2nd and 3rd. It just slows to a stop like you've rolled into mud.

[David]

Yes..brit bikes rarely have direct kickstarting...a few kicks with the clutch in, and then its ready to break your ankle.

[David]

Bump start? In these shoes?

[Mr. Dazzle]

When I first got it I did quickly learn the lesson of not trying to start it in trainers

Wife's uncle tells me this bike eats clutches It's got a really tall first gear so you slip it alot.

I'm gonna open up the clutch and have a look. I'll inspect the plates and maybe replace them, definitely clean them. I'll need to buy the case gasket for putting it back together, so I might as well get new springs at the same time cause they're only £1.95 each and I need 3.

New plates are about 15 quid each and there are 13 (i think....6 plate clutch with 6 friction and 7 steel?...or is it 6 and 5?) of those so I'll hold off on those for now.

[KungFooBob]

Can't you just glue new bits of cork to the plates in a 1960's stylee.

[Mr. Dazzle]

I would not be at all surprised to find that its already like that Maybe the glue has just come unstuck.

I had a look at the manual. It says plate thickness "should not have dropped more than Xmm". Dropped from what, Triumph? FFS this is why you went under

[JackyJoll]

Can't you just glue new bits of cork to the plates in a 1960's stylee.

I did that after years of slipping trouble with Surflex lined plates. It made a remarkable difference. Cork mat and Evo-Stik. I used complete circles of cork, not segments.

Cork is a really good lining material for a clutch that’s going to get oil on it.

For a quick short-term fix (talking from experience), wash the present plates in petrol. You can do that by putting petrol in the primary case and kicking it over with the clutch pulled.

[JackyJoll]

I had a look at the manual. It says plate thickness "should not have dropped more than Xmm". Dropped from what, Triumph? FFS this is why you went under

Thickness of lining doesn’t matter, if it’s not through to the metal and the pressure plate isn’t fouling the shock absorber.

[JackyJoll]

Cork mat glued to the back of the (Hayward belt drive) basket, so an extra plate could be squeezed in.

[Mr. Dazzle]

TBF I did find a load of skanky cork discs in my FiLs garage when we cleared out. He was the sort who kept everything, I also found about 40 year's worth of old spark plugs....

I'm curious to see what I've got in there now.

[JackyJoll]

Up to some time in the late 1950s, the driving plates had a ring of holes with cork segments pushed in.

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

You should only need the friction plates

[Mr. Dazzle]

You should only need the friction plates

Hopefully, yes.

Well hopefully I won't need any! But I don't know how old they are so they could all have worn teeth and who knows what else. That wouldn't make them slip though.

[Mr. Dazzle]

Why have one chain when you can have two?



The kicker drives "backwards" through the clutch and then into the crank (on the left). Or at least it's supposed to. In my case the kicker actually makes the clutch spin around pointlessly and doesn't make the chain/crank move.

So yeah...it's slipping.

[David]

Wash your plates and try again....

[Nidge]

That clutch pushrod adjuster looks screwed in quite a lot. Before taking the clutch apart I would wind it right out to see if that was the problem

[Mr. Dazzle]

That clutch pushrod adjuster looks screwed in quite a lot. Before taking the clutch apart I would wind it right out to see if that was the problem

Already tried that


I've taken the plates out now. Figured since I've come this far I might as well have a look at them (they look pretty good) and clean them up.

In hindsight it's been like this as long as I've had it. The kicker has always had times when it feels "soft", I thought this was "finding the compression" (bear in mind this is the first bike I've kicked) but it was actually slipping. Now that I know it's slipping I can connect the feeling on the pedal to what's actually going on.

Prior to the rebuild it probably actually connected half the time....now with fresh bores that actually seal, 11:1s and new vavle springs its more like 10%.

It may have also been slipping when riding, its hard to know cause it didn't run that well and the rev counter is bollox anyway.

[Nidge]

The single best improvement I did in my T140 was to fit a Norman Hyde 7 plate conversion kit. Also spending time truing the clutch adjustment (I used a dial gauge to ensure minimal run out)

[Mr. Dazzle]

I was contemplating heavier springs but the lever isn't exactly light to start with. The 7 plate is cheaper than I
thought so it's deffo a possibility. I've heard from a few places that it's a worthwhile thing to do.