Richard Tool
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- Joined
- Aug 3, 2019
- Messages
- 1,590
Let me run this by the readership at large and have better minds than mine weigh in on this ...
Took the Commando for a short ride two weeks ago . When I went to restart at my destination to return home the kickstart felt ” different “.
When I returned home I was cleaning the road grime off the underside when I discovered the gearbox pivot stud was completely missing .
Initially I blamed my self for not tightening the nuts fully and not checking on them . I ordered a new one with nuts from RGM and put the bike on the lift to service it while I waited . When the new stud arrived I went to install it and discovered that it can only be inserted from the timing side because of the primary drive case and at that the right exhaust had to be undone at the silencer mounts in order to deflect the header pipe enough to allow the stud to enter squarely. Job done with some effort to get the holes lined up I wondered how could the entire stud have come out on its own if the exhaust system had to be moved in order to allow the stud to pass.
Chalked it up to all the dynamics involved in a running motorcycle and moved on to re torquing the barrels and head , valve lash etc. and so removed the fuel tank . That is when I discovered the Dave Taylor type head steady had come adrift from the frame because the screws to the frame clamp went missing. In hindsight I recall not using thread sealant on them during the build because I expected to be having to adjust it - my bad .
Now I am wondering ( here’s the part I need opinions on ) if the side to side deflection of the engine/ gearbox / cradle because of no head steady could have imposed a shear load on the pivot stud in some way in order to break it in two and thus have two shorter pieces that could consequently now exit in the space available.
Anyone think this is a sound theory or am I overthinking ?
Took the Commando for a short ride two weeks ago . When I went to restart at my destination to return home the kickstart felt ” different “.
When I returned home I was cleaning the road grime off the underside when I discovered the gearbox pivot stud was completely missing .
Initially I blamed my self for not tightening the nuts fully and not checking on them . I ordered a new one with nuts from RGM and put the bike on the lift to service it while I waited . When the new stud arrived I went to install it and discovered that it can only be inserted from the timing side because of the primary drive case and at that the right exhaust had to be undone at the silencer mounts in order to deflect the header pipe enough to allow the stud to enter squarely. Job done with some effort to get the holes lined up I wondered how could the entire stud have come out on its own if the exhaust system had to be moved in order to allow the stud to pass.
Chalked it up to all the dynamics involved in a running motorcycle and moved on to re torquing the barrels and head , valve lash etc. and so removed the fuel tank . That is when I discovered the Dave Taylor type head steady had come adrift from the frame because the screws to the frame clamp went missing. In hindsight I recall not using thread sealant on them during the build because I expected to be having to adjust it - my bad .
Now I am wondering ( here’s the part I need opinions on ) if the side to side deflection of the engine/ gearbox / cradle because of no head steady could have imposed a shear load on the pivot stud in some way in order to break it in two and thus have two shorter pieces that could consequently now exit in the space available.
Anyone think this is a sound theory or am I overthinking ?
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