Author Topic: Terry's Cycle X Lock Up Clutch Conversion  (Read 5041 times)

0 Members and 3 Guests are viewing this topic.

Offline Terry in Australia

  • Really Old Timer ...
  • *******
  • Posts: 33,338
  • So, what do ya wanna talk about today?
Terry's Cycle X Lock Up Clutch Conversion
« on: June 20, 2010, 02:05:12 AM »
Well winter sucks, yesterday was a nice sunny day and I was driving a truck for most of the day, so today I was hoping for another fine day, but even though God loves me, obviously he'd taken the day off today, as it was cold, wet and miserable. Because of this, and my natural aversion to any kind of physical effort, I stayed inside for as long as I could, but eventually drifted out to the garage and started my lockup clutch conversion.

The clutch kit from Cycle X is quite comprehensive and includes all the gubbins required, right down to the OEM Honda dowels and 2 clutch cover gaskets. No fitting instructions though, but then again, it's so simple it wasn't hard for me to work out how it all went together. First thing to do was disengage the clutch cable, and remove the clutch cover.



The pressure plate comes off next, and the little metal bobbin that is pressed into the centre bearing needs to be carefully tapped out, and replaced with the longer Cycle X item.

 

 

Then I had to reassemble the pressure plate with the lock up plate attached, using longer (45mm) cap head screws and washers.



Once that was tightened down, it was just a case of installing the spacer plate.

 

Then I re-installed the clutch cover with the longer screws provided in the kit, re-routed the cable and hooked it all up, and installed the kick starter shaft plug.

 

I used some gasket sealant to seal the plug, and while there's no real pressure there, I think I'll machine up some sort of retainer to hold the plug in, just for my own piece of mind. I then hooked everything else up, and fired it up. I'm happy to say that there were no funny noises, no obvious oil leaks, and the clutch worked fine!



I think it looks kinda cool too............



It was too late and too cold to go for a ride, but I did attempt one quick burnout, just to make sure the clutch wasn't slipping, but had to abandon the attempt when the front wheel came up, but it was good to know that the clutch wasn't slipping.....



I love my bike! ;D




  
« Last Edit: June 20, 2010, 02:08:40 AM by Terry in Australia »
I was feeling sorry for myself because I couldn't afford new bike boots, until I met a man with no legs.

So I said, "Hey mate, you haven't got any bike boots you don't need, do you?"

"Crazy is a very misunderstood term, it's a fine line that some of us can lean over and still keep our balance" (thanks RB550Four)

Offline mick7504

  • Old Timer
  • ******
  • Posts: 3,740
Re: Terry's Cycle X Lock Up Clutch Conversion
« Reply #1 on: June 20, 2010, 02:45:41 AM »
That looks magic Terry.
A real Rip Snorta mate.  ;D
Mick
If I was you
I'd be worried about me.

Offline voxonda

  • Master
  • *****
  • Posts: 2,231
Re: Terry's Cycle X Lock Up Clutch Conversion
« Reply #2 on: June 20, 2010, 03:12:08 AM »
Looking very nice indeed!

Well done mate.

Rob
Better sorry for failing then for the lack of trying.

Offline Retro Rocket

  • Eggs are hard due too a
  • Really Old Timer ...
  • *******
  • Posts: 19,279
  • ROCK & ROLL
Re: Terry's Cycle X Lock Up Clutch Conversion
« Reply #3 on: June 20, 2010, 03:40:45 AM »
Very nice Terry......man there are a lot of goodies for our bikes these days........... ;)

Mick
750 K2 1000cc
750 F1 970cc
750 Bitsa 900cc
If You can't fix it with a hammer, You've got an electrical problem.

Offline bwaller

  • Really Old Timer ...
  • *******
  • Posts: 7,485
Re: Terry's Cycle X Lock Up Clutch Conversion
« Reply #4 on: June 20, 2010, 04:13:11 AM »
Sharp bike Terry.

traveler

  • Guest
Re: Terry's Cycle X Lock Up Clutch Conversion
« Reply #5 on: June 20, 2010, 06:54:41 AM »
What do you really gain from this conversion?

Too bad you lost the kicker in the deal. :(

~Joe

Offline Doctor_D

  • Hot Shot
  • ***
  • Posts: 722
Re: Terry's Cycle X Lock Up Clutch Conversion
« Reply #6 on: June 20, 2010, 07:05:06 AM »
So, is the bike now "push start only," or did you retain the electric-foot?  ;)
Take care,
David
___________________________________________
1975 CB 750F - Project page: http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=66026.msg725479#msg725479
1978 CX500
1971 Norton Commando

Offline Retro Rocket

  • Eggs are hard due too a
  • Really Old Timer ...
  • *******
  • Posts: 19,279
  • ROCK & ROLL
Re: Terry's Cycle X Lock Up Clutch Conversion
« Reply #7 on: June 20, 2010, 03:41:07 PM »
Quote
What do you really gain from this conversion?

No more slipping clutch.....ever..... ;)

Mick
750 K2 1000cc
750 F1 970cc
750 Bitsa 900cc
If You can't fix it with a hammer, You've got an electrical problem.

Offline BobbyR

  • Really Old Timer ...
  • *******
  • Posts: 12,367
  • Proud Owner of the Babe Thread & Dirty Old Man
Re: Terry's Cycle X Lock Up Clutch Conversion
« Reply #8 on: June 20, 2010, 04:39:12 PM »
Good Show, and beautiful bike!
Dedicated to Sgt. Howard Bruckner 1950 - 1969. KIA LONG KHANH.

But we were boys, and boys will be boys, and so they will. To us, everything was dangerous, but what of that? Had we not been made to live forever?

Offline fullofdays

  • Broken
  • Full Member
  • *
  • Posts: 40
  • good old age, old and full of days - Gen 25:8
Re: Terry's Cycle X Lock Up Clutch Conversion
« Reply #9 on: June 20, 2010, 05:56:36 PM »
Nice write up-

2 questions:

Where can I buy one?
Do they make a kit for a CB400F and a CB500?

Offline Terry in Australia

  • Really Old Timer ...
  • *******
  • Posts: 33,338
  • So, what do ya wanna talk about today?
Re: Terry's Cycle X Lock Up Clutch Conversion
« Reply #10 on: June 20, 2010, 06:46:45 PM »
Thanks Guys, I appreciate your comments. As Mick says, the benefit is a clutch that won't ever slip, and you can even use lighter springs (handy for old blokes like me) which apart from competition use, or carrying fat chicks, is also really handy in traffic.

This bike didn't have a kicker on it from when I bought it, and is in such a great state of tune it starts instantly, so I've never felt the need to install one, but, Ken at Cyclex can provide an extended kick start shaft at an additional cost, if you feel the need, so that's not an issue.

I don't think they do one for any SOHC's apart from the CB750, but contact Ken via their website, they're nice guys, and like us, are focused on getting the most out of these old beasts! Cheers, Terry. ;D

http://www.cyclexchange.net/
« Last Edit: June 20, 2010, 06:49:29 PM by Terry in Australia »
I was feeling sorry for myself because I couldn't afford new bike boots, until I met a man with no legs.

So I said, "Hey mate, you haven't got any bike boots you don't need, do you?"

"Crazy is a very misunderstood term, it's a fine line that some of us can lean over and still keep our balance" (thanks RB550Four)

Offline MCRider

  • Such is the life of a
  • Really Old Timer ...
  • *******
  • Posts: 14,376
  • Today's Lesson: One good turn deserves another.
Re: Terry's Cycle X Lock Up Clutch Conversion
« Reply #11 on: June 20, 2010, 08:07:12 PM »
Don't know which I lust after most, the Rocket 3 or that gold K1 with the sexy forks.   ???   ;)
Ride Safe:
Ron
1988 NT650 HawkGT;  1978 CB400 Hawk;  1975 CB750F -Free Bird; 1968 CB77 Super Hawk -Ticker;  Phaedrus 1972 CB750K2- Build Thread
"Sometimes the light's all shining on me, other times I can barely see, lately it appears to me, what a long, strange trip its been."

Offline Terry in Australia

  • Really Old Timer ...
  • *******
  • Posts: 33,338
  • So, what do ya wanna talk about today?
Re: Terry's Cycle X Lock Up Clutch Conversion
« Reply #12 on: June 20, 2010, 08:52:53 PM »
Don't know which I lust after most, the Rocket 3 or that gold K1 with the sexy forks.   ???   ;)

Ha ha, thanks mate, well the poor old Rocket III hasn't turned a wheel in weeks Ron, so as much as I love it, I guess I love my gold bike more! (which is weird, seeing how it's only cost me a tenth of what I paid for the Triumph..........) The Triumph, with 2300cc's and massive torque and BHP is good for more "Miles Per Hour", but for me, the gold Honda (with it's sexy forks.... ;D) generates way more "Smiles Per Hour"! Cheers, Terry. ;D 
I was feeling sorry for myself because I couldn't afford new bike boots, until I met a man with no legs.

So I said, "Hey mate, you haven't got any bike boots you don't need, do you?"

"Crazy is a very misunderstood term, it's a fine line that some of us can lean over and still keep our balance" (thanks RB550Four)

Offline Terry in Australia

  • Really Old Timer ...
  • *******
  • Posts: 33,338
  • So, what do ya wanna talk about today?
Re: Terry's Cycle X Lock Up Clutch Conversion
« Reply #13 on: June 27, 2010, 02:07:15 AM »
As much as I'm sure that the kick starter shaft hole plug from CycleX would stay in the hole with just a little sealant, I'm a worrier, so I decided to machine up a retainer.

I started with a piece of solid 50mm round bar and turned it down to 12mm for the first 15mm, then faced off the 8mm thick x 50mm wide portion, and shaped it into a "cam" shape. I then bored it for the thru bolt, gave it a polish, and voila! No chance of leaking butt plug, ever! Cheers, Terry. ;D



I was feeling sorry for myself because I couldn't afford new bike boots, until I met a man with no legs.

So I said, "Hey mate, you haven't got any bike boots you don't need, do you?"

"Crazy is a very misunderstood term, it's a fine line that some of us can lean over and still keep our balance" (thanks RB550Four)

Offline garretcb750

  • Enthusiast
  • **
  • Posts: 198
Re: Terry's Cycle X Lock Up Clutch Conversion
« Reply #14 on: June 29, 2010, 03:48:40 PM »
How is the clutch for around town? usable?

Offline Terry in Australia

  • Really Old Timer ...
  • *******
  • Posts: 33,338
  • So, what do ya wanna talk about today?
Re: Terry's Cycle X Lock Up Clutch Conversion
« Reply #15 on: June 29, 2010, 07:21:24 PM »
Yeah mate, it feels no different from the standard clutch, makes no additional noise, and if it wasn't for the fact that you can see it, you wouldn't know it was there. Cheers, Terry. ;D
I was feeling sorry for myself because I couldn't afford new bike boots, until I met a man with no legs.

So I said, "Hey mate, you haven't got any bike boots you don't need, do you?"

"Crazy is a very misunderstood term, it's a fine line that some of us can lean over and still keep our balance" (thanks RB550Four)

Offline MRieck

  • Really Old Timer ...
  • *******
  • Posts: 10,577
  • Big ideas....
Re: Terry's Cycle X Lock Up Clutch Conversion
« Reply #16 on: July 01, 2010, 05:34:21 AM »
How is the clutch for around town? usable?
It really depends on how much weight the fingers carry. You really don't need much...if any. High RPM gear changes...especially first to second can be very difficult to impossible without an air shifter/ignition kill depending on how much weight is used. There is a big problem concerning the fingers and where they strike the pressure plate. Unless steel buttons are installed (like on the MTC units) the steel fingers will quickly eat into the aluminum pressure plate. And I mean quickly.
 
Owner of the "Million Dollar CB"

Offline Jinxracing

  • It's hot shit, not
  • Hot Shot
  • ***
  • Posts: 610
  • '70 CB750 K1
    • The Hairy Nickel
Re: Terry's Cycle X Lock Up Clutch Conversion
« Reply #17 on: July 01, 2010, 09:35:57 AM »
No chance of leaking butt plug, ever! Cheers, Terry. ;D

Terry, I'm REALLY hoping that you start selling those on eBay. I'm imagining leather-clad fetishists in basement dungeons all over the world trying to figure out how to use "Terry's Never-Fail Machined Aluminum Butt Plug Retainers". ;)
"Each of us can find a maggot in our past which will happily devour our futures."

–Captain Horatio Hornblower

www.thehairynickel.com

Offline BLUE71TURBO

  • Master
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,849
Re: Terry's Cycle X Lock Up Clutch Conversion
« Reply #18 on: July 01, 2010, 03:15:44 PM »
No chance of leaking butt plug, ever! Cheers, Terry. ;D

Terry, I'm REALLY hoping that you start selling those on eBay. I'm imagining leather-clad fetishists in basement dungeons all over the world trying to figure out how to use "Terry's Never-Fail Machined Aluminum Butt Plug Retainers". ;)

       :o :o :o :o :o  :D :D :D :D     looks bada$$ Terry !   8) 8)
Remember; Before you can be old and wise, you must first be young and stupid !

Offline Terry in Australia

  • Really Old Timer ...
  • *******
  • Posts: 33,338
  • So, what do ya wanna talk about today?
Re: Terry's Cycle X Lock Up Clutch Conversion
« Reply #19 on: July 01, 2010, 08:00:11 PM »
Thanks mate, and I'll keep Mike's comments in mind and keep an eye on the pressure plate for wear. I'm only "testing" it on the 836cc engine, it'll come off again when I build my RC 1060cc engine, and so if it needs an air shifter/ignition cut out I'll install the one I've got sitting in a box out in my garage, not that I'll be drag racing it. Bear's CB750 sidecar racer uses a lockup clutch, I must ask him if he uses an air shifter, or has any problems with high RPM 1-2 shifts? Interesting!  ;D 
I was feeling sorry for myself because I couldn't afford new bike boots, until I met a man with no legs.

So I said, "Hey mate, you haven't got any bike boots you don't need, do you?"

"Crazy is a very misunderstood term, it's a fine line that some of us can lean over and still keep our balance" (thanks RB550Four)