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entire shaft is replaced with a
shotpeened and heat-treated item.
The last replacement in the area is the
biggest. The entire internals of the clutch get thrown
out. Honda, on introduction, had a fairly decent clutch.
However, there were rider complaints about the amount of
force needed to operate the clutch.
Honda, rather than increase the length of
the clutch lever, which might have meant modification of
the internal cover, chose to decrease the number of
turns in the clutch springs, and just stretch the
springs out.
The result is a clutch which can be spun
under any kind of hard shifting, and isn't really suited
for any kind of medium-hard road usage.
Everything gets thrown away. New metal
and fiber plates - made by R.C. - go in. Over them go
the special R.C. clutch springs.
This, by the way, is an item which we
have tested separately, and found not only bulletproof
but unbeatable. We would consider this kit, at $60, a
necessary replacement on any Honda Four, stock or built,
hot-rod or touring.
All the tranny parts get nested carefully
in place, as per stock manual instructions.
Then the main bearings get checked. The
manner in which this is done is by installing stock
bearings, with plastic crush bearings on them. After
that, the crank goes into place, and the upper case. The
case gets torqued down, and the crank turned through.
Then everything comes back apart, and the
bearings get checked. There's a little tiny gauge that
comes with the bearing kit, and how much the plastic -
which looks like a small sliver of modeling clay - gets
squished, depends on what size main bearings are used.
If the clearance is more than .08mm, oversize bearings
get installed. This again is by the book.
All else being equal, the crank is
installed (Slim, by the way, uses great heaping gobs of
Valvoline assembly oil on his engines. For that critical
first few seconds, before the main oil supply enters the
engine on starting, there'll be no metal-metal
contact.), and the main bearing studs inserted. |
