Monday, August 29, 2016

Dirty Nine...Clutching at a Solution... 1939 Knucklehead Clutch Mystery...Solved

Something just ain't right! kinda outta the blue my clutch started going away... check out the rod play!

So its been a couple decades since I been in here...everything looks great!

Original grooviness...check the felt...

So apart comes the clutch...something gotta be wrong in here....

H-D special tool baby!

So far so good...

Everything looks great...WTF is the problem?!? I push on the rod end and the arm goes back to where it should be...I keep some finger pressure on the rod end and move the arm back and forth...all normal, plenty of throw... hhhmmmmm?????

Aha! here's somethin' that looks fucked... the end of the adjusting screw looks super worn....

luckily I had a spare and compare within arms reach...

So the one I took out is 1/8" shorter than the other... that's gotta be it! (or does it?)

I just like this picture....

While aprt I clean everything up...all looks great!

Time to re-assemble...

All coming together...NOT! Fuck...it does the same fuckin' thing! I didn't take a pic of it all together cause I was deep in the throes of despair...

Well it's gotta be in the kicker cover... a throw out bearing issue? Maybe a worn or broken Clutch Release Finger? Fuck! I do not wanna take this cover off and disturb decades a fine grunge and crustiness...

Fuck! Gotta disturb the exhaust...

Off we go...

There she lays...next...

Gotta pop off the Clutch Release Lever... Wait a fuckin' minute.... what do we have here?!?! That bitch is cracked at the weld!!!!!!!

So get this people...every time I pull in the clutch under spring pressure, the crack would open up so's not to let the clutch disengage fully!!!! The rod and arm worked as normal without the pressure causing the crack to open! First time for this one! But...ain't gotta pull off the kicker cover!

So what are the fuckin' chances of this???? I dig through the drawer and come up with a spare Clutch Release Arm with the same color blue paint as the rest of the old "Dirty Niner"!!!

The Harley Gods have smiled upon me today!

Mmmmmm... encapsulated in Dirty Filthy Greasy Grime.... had to take a pic of this before I re-installed the exhaust...

And all was right with the world... back to rackin' up miles...

Oh, and I apologize for the gratuitous F-Bombing throughout this post....



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