So I signed off saying that the clutch centre nut wouldn’t move. An internet search revealed that back in 2014 I asked the Paul LeClair Forum if this was a left hand thread and Tom Eatman confirmed it is. So armed with this information I was far more confident with the big hammer… I tried to hold the clutch locking tool I’d made up without success so eventually came up with wedging an axle stand up it, sitting on the bike to apply pressure and the 30mm nut gave way 🙂
With the old clutch off I was expecting to simply replace the light scissor spring – I have quite a few spare ones. Unfortunately it turned out to be the heavier spring that you can just see in the top right of this picture. So no point contacting OCT for a €20 spring post Brexit so next step was to ‘rob Peter to pay Paul’ and set to my spare engine. The engine is on a bench and I didn’t want the hassle of getting it down etc so after a couple of attempts with the locking tool I had a brainwave and used the slot in the handle and locked the clutch using the crankshaft. Worked a treat 🙂
So I could’ve just used the spring off the spare engine but I decided to see if I could find an alternative replacement. It seemed impossible to get a spring based on dimensions so I just looked at a selection of images. An early Kawasaki Z1 (Z1/Z1A/Z1B 92083-021P) had the same three coil spring so I gambled my £13.05.
The spring looks okay except that the ID is larger. I looked at this and figured this wasn’t a big deal – the spring would end up a bit compromised but probably work. What I needed was a spacer to go inside the spring to pack it out. The solution turned out to be a large cable tie that I cut down and sleeved the gearchange shaft. I’ve installed the Kawasaki spring – could’ve put a Laverda one in but I want to see if my bodge works 🙂
So to button up the primary case and remembering the pain in the arse problem the bike seems to have developed with allen bolts sticking in the cases I’ve added a copper washer along with copperslip to each bolt. Hopefully when I have to dismantle the bike next time (probably to replace the Kawasaki spring…) it won’t prove so much hassle.
Finally my waiting game paid off and I stumbled across the original Jota petrol cap 🙂 It’s not very shiny but it won’t jam like the rubbish I got off ebay. Must get back to the Jota project…
Nick 🙂
Bent screwdrivers, big hammers and old Laverdas 