It followed me home!!

Shelby-Right said:
Does the R3 have the same quadrant as the T160 , Mines got a large thrust bearing in it , my clutch is quite light . Cheers
Click to expand...
I've converted my clutch lift mechanism to the same as a t160 by rotating the back plate 15°
That's the recommended mod that gains a bit more lift
But I'm suspecting there may be excessive wear on the clutch plate
I don't know any of the history of the bike
Coulda been to the moon and back in mileage
My t160 clutch is a lot lighter
 
Mine has this , but not sure about the rest of my clutch , it works ok , my lever is fine .
It followed me home!!
 
It seems to work ok on mine , I had to have the basket 'teeth' machined down slightly on one of mine years ago to get a reasonable pull.
 
baz said:
Managed to get a bit more work done on the r3
I have been trying to get the clutch a bit lighter to pull so I've been playing with different fulcrum point levers ranging from 7/8" to 1 1/4"
The 7/8 won't give me the lift I need despite doing the 15° conversion on the actuator back plate
And setting the large adjuster nut to almost zero
So as compromise I've used a Kawasaki adjustable span clutch lever that has a 30 mm fulcrum
With the actuator adjusted normally and the clutch lever set to no2 span it's just about ok
I also had a new venhill Featherlight cable running straight up and over the tank with a gentle sweep to the clutch lever
The heavy clutch I could normally live with but I tripped over about a month ago and bent my wrist up
I can't for example at the moment pick a dinner plate up with my left hand without severe pain
Once this has healed I'll be ok with the clutch
The other thing I have done is drill the top yoke and fit handlebar clamps and a raised set of bars
I've also had to degrease the front disc and fit new pads
This has made a massive difference to it's stopping power
I can't believe how much better this OIF handles compared to my t160
It's so flick able and the road holding is superb
It revs like hell and when it hits just over 6000rpm the exhaust note changes and it just wants to go!
I noticed when I got back today after around 40 miles that the compression has come right up
I wish I knew the history of this motor it's very quiet mechanically,it's possible it's not run in yet!!
It's also very oily around the top end mainly from the pushrod tubes and exhaust rocker box base by the looks of it
I'm really enjoying this bike but it's begging to be converted to a 5 speed
I have a compete cluster waiting to be fitted on the shelf when time allows
Click to expand...
Keith berry does lightened clutches basically machines the drum fingers so you get the optimal lift. I think it is in one of the tr3oc magazines. If I can find it I will get a pdf for you
 
Tripler said:
Keith berry does lightened clutches basically machines the drum fingers so you get the optimal lift. I think it is in one of the tr3oc magazines. If I can find it I will get a pdf for you
Click to expand...
That'd be great
I've heard of the drum fingers being machined but not seen it
Or understood it tbh
I'd love to have known more about this bike but sadly the owner had died and I bought it from his son who had no interest in motorcycles
I was a bit careful when I first took it out because of the increased offset in the yokes and decreased trail I wasn't sure what it'd do at high speed
But it's fine so far
It definitely starts to pick the revs up when you get above 6000rpm more so than my t160 does
I would love to have talked to the owner about it's spec
 
baz said:
Yep I have a feeling I may need to do that
If the clutch plate isn't badly worn
Click to expand...
Caution, an out of balance clutch makes for a bad day. It's very important to put them back together as they came apart, and if you machine them down, there's a lot to it. Worth watching:


 
I'm well aware that this could just be the honeymoon period
But last night riding this bike was pure joy
It's so well balanced
The handling really is superb
The bike is so light and flickable compared to my t160
The sound track is infectious
I could use a lighter clutch but that's about it
Of course the frame hasn't cracked around the swinging arm pivot yet and it doesn't smoke
So I may be changing my tune then 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
 
Having been riding this r3 special every day for a week or more today I took my t160 out
The weight difference is really noticeable
I'd say the 160 has a little more power than the r3 and is smoother running
But the handling really lets it down
It just wants to go straight compared to the r3
I'm guessing the extra offset of the honda yokes on the oif frame are the reason for this
But the r3 is much more of a riders bike especially on a country lane
The 160 takes effort where as the r3 just goes where you want it
The 160 picks up on white lines the r3 dosent
It's interesting comparing the two bikes
 
I didn’t take any better pictures unfortunately and the bike is long since sold.

But if you zoom in and look carefully you can see what Degens did to resolve the risk of the swinging arm pivot cracking the frame spine.

Basically, he cut it out of the spine altogether. And added a new spindle tube to the swinging arm that ran in taper rollers.

A good fix IMHO.

Nowt to a man of your fabricating prowess Bazza…


It followed me home!!
 
Fast Eddie said:
I didn’t take any better pictures unfortunately and the bike is long since sold.

But if you zoom in and look carefully you can see what Degens did to resolve the risk of the swinging arm pivot cracking the frame spine.

Basically, he cut it out of the spine altogether. And added a new spindle tube to the swinging arm that ran in taper rollers.

A good fix IMHO.

Nowt to a man of your fabricating prowess Bazza…


View attachment 115094
Click to expand...
Interesting
Percy Tait and Yamaha xs650 comes to mind
 
Out today on a club run I met up with a bloke who knew the owner of my BSA special
He told me a few more details about it but he did finish with saying the Roger the owner of this that passed away would be over the moon that someone had taken it on and had it out on the road where it belongs
I was happy with that
 

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I'm going change the transfers on the tank to BSA and make a new exhaust system etc
I have a 5 speed gear cluster to fit and original inner/outer gearbox covers
One unexpected benefit is the comfort of this seat
I had a set of JP customs bodywork on my t140 in 1984
My mate said you must like them if you keep buying them
I said yeah I'm gonna buy one every 40 years 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
 
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