Had the oppurtunity to ride my shovel quite a bit recently which is a novelty ! but this morning when out i stopped at some lights and noticed a bit of a rumbling which seems to be coming from the front sprocket area . It lessens slightly with the clutch in , the bike runs fine changes gear perfectly no clutch problems either ! . Decided to ride it back home nothing exploded ! i have checked the clutch through the cover that seems ok visably , the primary chain seemed a little slack so tensioned that but still got the rumble any ideas ?

 

Primary chain can make a lot of noise and vibration , changed one a few days ago for a bud , night and day difference in the bike . Another thing over looked on shovel is the comp sprocket and the cam lobes under it , sitting cold in neutral if you can get any movement out the front sprocket by grabbing and trying to turn the clutch pack it's shot .

 

Might think about pulling the outer primary and check the sprocket nut. Might have backed out and be bumping against the innner primary.

 

Well Twizted you got it ! did as you said there is about a 16th of an inch movement in the front sprocket when you rock the clutch basket ! . Having never pulled this apart can you tell me what parts im looking at replacing ? also checked the primary chain as pans suggested and there seems to be a lot of movement in the chain when you move it right to left but also having never messed with it before i dont know what is normal ? its a 1980 1340 fxwg by the way ! many thanks for your advice as always
gary

 

That little isn't bad really but it will be annoying with the noise thing . Gotta remember the age of this stuff and who knows what kinda mileage it really has , what happens is the big cam lobes inside have worn down and the spring has weakened allowing the cams to jump over . Makes a lot of racket as you've found . Unless you have a a pile of used parts to dig around in it's cheaper to pick up a complete compensator sprocket assy verse individual parts , just went through this a few months back with someone .

Primary chains at that age I say change it anyway , the new one should should last you the life of the bike and it will help cut some vibration too . Do not use one the cheaper ones please you can tell these by the side plates on the chain , if it has the " 8 " shape they are junk won't go 5000 miles .

 

Ok cool thanks for the prompt reply ! i have decided to replace the chain anyway as it will have to come off and will look into getting the complete assembly , on reflection i may have been closer with a measurement of movement of an 8th of an inch . I didnt think it was something that was terminal i have been unfortunate in the past and had a v max and a triumph punch holes in casing ! and this didnt feel on par with those noises ! . I have only owned the bike since march and the previous owner had it twenty years and did 5000 miles on it that i can prove with the mots but as for before that as you say who really knows ! many thanks again
Gary

 

Dont know if this helps but are some part #'s and breakdowns. http://partsfinder.onlinemicrofiche....S-W/-SPROCKETS

 

It does help thankyou although i am now somewhat confused by that exploded view and the one in the clymer manual i have ! is the retainer and cover assembley at the front or rear ? as the diagrams seem to show the cover at the front ? where as on my shovel when you look into the primary you are looking straight at the sprocket and the nut which holds it on . And also am i safe to use impact tools to remove and refit the sprocket nut ? i helped a mate rebuild his evo which he put a belt drive onto and it would have been impossible to get the torques required without an air impact .

 

If your speaking of assy #38 that is the comp at the front of the primary. #16 is your drive sprocket for the chain to the rear wheel.

I'll let twist and panz give you the down low on proper procedure. To be honest havnt been in a shovel before. What I can say is the Cymer, Chilton, and Hays have something to be desired compared to HD manuals. I've seen many things that were flat out wrong in them.

 

Ok no worries thanks anyway i just cant seem to relate whats in the diagrams to what i have on the bike ! but its been a long day at work , its pissing down with rain again and me bikes broke ! cheers