It was time to fix the last of the gearbox oil leaks over the weekend.
I bought a new o-ring for the gearlever and the kick starter on thursday and took them home to fit. Once I took off the gearbox outer cover I thought I was rich, I had discovered gold!
It turns out that it was fools gold and it is going to cost me instead. There was a LOT of bronze in there from wear to the bushes. Unfortunately I have neither the time nor the money to do a complete gearbox rebuild at the moment so while it is still working satisfactorily I will be making do as is.
Here is the new o-ring that I bought for the gear lever below the one that came out of it. As you can see, the new one is much thicker.
This presented a problem because it was very difficult to get in and impossible to get the shaft through once it was in. I tried to press it in with my vice but snapped the spindle on the vice instead.
So I decided "in for a penny, in for a pound" and took the outer cover back to Murray at Cycle Craft for machining and fitment of a Mk III oil seal. These are supposed to be a big improvement over the old o-ring.
Below is the new seal fitted.
So now all of the seals have been replaced in the gearbox, a new aluminium washer fitted under the drain plug and some Castrol EPX 90 gearbox oil and after about 40 miles yesterday the gearbox is leak free.
While I was at Cycle Craft on friday morning I decided to grab some genuine Norton Mid-western style handlebars so I could get rid of the funny semi-chopper style ones that were on it. They made a big improvement to the feel of the bike.
Next step in the process is some new top isolastics for the head steady then it is off on some rides before the next stage in the resto begins next year. That will most likely be a frame up job with new powdercoating and paint, all the isos updated to Mk III style, engine and gearbox rebuilds and chrome and polishing of the aluminium redone.
I bought a new o-ring for the gearlever and the kick starter on thursday and took them home to fit. Once I took off the gearbox outer cover I thought I was rich, I had discovered gold!
It turns out that it was fools gold and it is going to cost me instead. There was a LOT of bronze in there from wear to the bushes. Unfortunately I have neither the time nor the money to do a complete gearbox rebuild at the moment so while it is still working satisfactorily I will be making do as is.
Here is the new o-ring that I bought for the gear lever below the one that came out of it. As you can see, the new one is much thicker.
This presented a problem because it was very difficult to get in and impossible to get the shaft through once it was in. I tried to press it in with my vice but snapped the spindle on the vice instead.
So I decided "in for a penny, in for a pound" and took the outer cover back to Murray at Cycle Craft for machining and fitment of a Mk III oil seal. These are supposed to be a big improvement over the old o-ring.
Below is the new seal fitted.
So now all of the seals have been replaced in the gearbox, a new aluminium washer fitted under the drain plug and some Castrol EPX 90 gearbox oil and after about 40 miles yesterday the gearbox is leak free.
While I was at Cycle Craft on friday morning I decided to grab some genuine Norton Mid-western style handlebars so I could get rid of the funny semi-chopper style ones that were on it. They made a big improvement to the feel of the bike.
Next step in the process is some new top isolastics for the head steady then it is off on some rides before the next stage in the resto begins next year. That will most likely be a frame up job with new powdercoating and paint, all the isos updated to Mk III style, engine and gearbox rebuilds and chrome and polishing of the aluminium redone.
