RGM Belt Illustrated Install Guide

swooshdave · Jun 25, 2010

As you guys should know by now, my guides are usually better for how "not to do it". :mrgreen: All relevant and irrelevant disclaimers apply.

Your experiences may be much different. I was not starting with a complete bike (and in fact I'm still missing parts).

Crankshaft pulley

Crankshaft pulley spacer. This apparently needs to go on correctly, with the wider relief against the hub. I'll post a better picture later.

Outer Guide, nice snug fit on crankshaft.

Alternator Rotor fits next (obviously this is a test fit without the chaincases!). The supplied rotor nut fits great (even with the Sparx :roll: )

Stock Clutch Basket. Need to remove the hub to reuse in the new kit.

Flip the clutch basket over and remove the smaller circlip.

Came out real easy.

Now press or drive out the clutch center. A press would be preferred. My vice was too small so I resorted to brute force.

Clutch hub removed.

Check for notching on the clutch center. Upon initial inspection I thought mine was ok, but once I cleaned it up it had some notching. Expect a future post complaining about the clutch not releasing smoothly. :mrgreen:

Now press or drive the old center onto the new basket. Again pressing is preferred. Make sure it's all the way on. Then replace the circlip. See below for a picture of the back.

Check belt slack. See video for more excitement!

Buttonhead bolts hit the chaincase pretty badly. See the end of the video. This is with the clutch basket not even all the way in place. Not sure why they didn't use countersunk screws. I'll have to grind the heads down or see if it's prudent to replace them with countersunks myself.

*update* I'm missing the clutch locating washer and shims. No wonder it didn't fit. Hopefully those will help some.

I'll also have to grind the lip here away. The bolt pattern is such that even if the mainshaft is centered they still hit.

I'm missing my crankshaft keys. Also the holes that hold the chaincase are Heli-coiled but one of them failed, so I need to replace it. And then there is the part about the clutch basket hitting. Oh, and I should wait until the drive chain is fit so I can set the gearbox and belt tension correctly. Not to mention I'm missing the nut that holds the clutch on and either the clutch rod seal mod or grease the pushrod. Something elegant about just greasing the SOB.

Basically some more parts and work to be done.

Here's some video I shot to go with the pictures.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJCbwq19eN0[/video]

Comments on belt tension? I didn't measure it yet. I also didn't check the runout on the basket but it appeared good and less than the stock one.

The weight savings alone is worth the conversion.

pete.v · Jun 25, 2010

Comments on belt tension? I didn't measure it yet. I also didn't check the runout on the basket but it appeared good and less than the stock one.

I had mine so loose, after my little 890 vs 920 ordeal, that when kicking it over it could skip a tooth or 2 and under curtain loading. This of course was too loose but i needed to run it to get it hot for final adjustment. When set proper, it will not skip a tooth when kicking over or hard running.
This may be the snafoo with the left hand adjuster cause when the primary inner is back on you can't get at it. I have mine facing forward and to get to the adjting nut I have to loosen the main bolt enough to loosen the left adjuster mounting bolts so I can get a wrench on the adjuster nuts.
I put a carpenter square on the clutch hub and a combo square on the driver and bring the perpenduculars to the motor sides (parallel to each other now)together to check for alignment. A 1/16 to 1/8 gap at the far end is preferred to compensate for pull in.

geo46er · Jun 25, 2010

Hi Dave,
It appears that you will not have to worry about your belt being too tight as you have plenty of slack available. If your kit has similar instructions to mine it will recommend using the rear drive chain/adjusters to pull the transmission back in order to tension your belt, supposedly that will help with tranny alignment.
The basket in my kit came with bevelheaded screws, but they came through from the inside (may be an option for you), and I still had to grind them shorter, that and a little grinding on the inner case and I had the clearence I needed, good luck.

GB

highdesert · Jun 25, 2010

Hi Dave, nice job and good looking belt set up!

Looking at your clutch hub, I am seeing the splines are pretty badly notched up from the plate teeth rattling against them.

I had the exact same look so I have ordered in a new hub and some new friction plates, will deglaze and reuse the steel plates.

Do you intend to use your notched up clutch hub? Your friction plates are going to stick and rattle against those notches.

Just a thought.

swooshdave · Jun 25, 2010

highdesert said:
Hi Dave, nice job and good looking belt set up!

Looking at your clutch hub, I am seeing the splines are pretty badly notched up from the plate teeth rattling against them.

I had the exact same look so I have ordered in a new hub and some new friction plates, will deglaze and reuse the steel plates.

Do you intend to use your notched up clutch hub? Your friction plates are going to stick and rattle against those notches.

Just a thought.

Yes, I know they will. Which is why once it's all together I'll post here and complain. :mrgreen:

grandpaul · Jun 25, 2010

Remember, if you use your drive chain adjusters to pull your primary drive tight for adjusting, you need to nip up the pivot and set bolts, THEN LOOSEN THE DRIVE CHAIN.

You want the final drive chain tight ONLY at the spot where the centerlines of the mainshaft, swingarm spindle and rear axle are in alignment. Typically, that will produce about the thickness of the chain worth of "flop" at rest.

swooshdave · Jun 25, 2010

grandpaul said:
Remember, if you use your drive chain adjusters to pull your primary drive tight for adjusting, you need to nip up the pivot and set bolts, THEN LOOSEN THE DRIVE CHAIN.

You want the final drive chain tight ONLY at the spot where the centerlines of the mainshaft, swingarm spindle and rear axle are in alignment. Typically, that will produce about the thickness of the chain worth of "flop" at rest.

I'll worry about that when I get a drive chain.

swooshdave · Jul 11, 2010

I was messing around this weekend with the clutch and belt drive. I'm still missing the spacer behind the clutch but I did have the clutch retaining nut. Because the clutch pulls against the end of the mainshaft I could actually install the clutch (without the plates) and see if it worked. I also did my best at adjusting the belt tension. I'll still wait for final adjustment when I get the rear chain but I think I'm really close. I put some squares on the two shafts and they are really close.

Anyways, first up is the clutch action. I don't think I've ever seen a video of the clutch arm in action. I then screwed in the clutch adjuster until the clutch lever was really easy to pull. This is what I'll shoot for when the plates are in.

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=absPdLUgxUM[/video]

Lastly, in the previous video I showed the clutch drum hitting the inner primary cover. If you use the proper spacer and shims to move the drum out to where it should be it won't hit. I'll post a detailed picture after I get the spacer and shims.

Hobot · Jul 11, 2010

Don't get the gear box bolts and adjusters too nipped up just yet,
since setting belt tension is only half the equation,
the harder 2nd half is to get the gear box adjusters cock eyed just
right so belt stays on all by itself running.

Aim for a hard to twist belt to 90' in lower run. You should still
be able to slide belt on teeth with a good shove or pull by blunt
fingers or tools.

Once clutch pack installed and bedded in, crank in adjuster till
feel it touch adjuster rod then back off ~1/4 turn and fine
tune from there and adjust cable at lever and take off.

Might dress the clutch center splines some and the plate edge
radius to allow better opening action till replacing at some point.

hobot

hobot

swooshdave · Jul 15, 2010

I thought I had the clutch fitment sorted out. But I have a couple questions about the clutch hub.

I know there is a spacer and shims that go behind the clutch hub which move it out. When I move the basket out to where I think it appears to be too far out and the belt isn't fully seated on the basket.

Front pulley location.

Clutch basket pushed in. At this position it hits the chaincase badly. There is no spacer. Notice the splines on the mainshaft are showing.

If I pull the basket out to where I think it should be (this is the position the basket was in when I tested the clutch in the video above) then I think the belt isn't fitting right.

You can see that the belt sits off the basket by about an 1/8".

Not sure what to do here.

Hobot · Jul 15, 2010

Huh, that's what I call another Brit Iron blank staring disbelief quandary event.
guess 1. looks like crank pulley sits too far out.
guess 2. looks like your main shaft support is droopy. may be photo angle.

Full size view shows Peel's ~1/4" away from clutch edge.
http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2575376 ... 1179BADEfi

hobot

swooshdave · Jul 15, 2010

hobot said:
Huh, that's what I call another Brit Iron blank staring disbelief quandary event.
guess 1. looks like crank pulley sits too far out.

Crank pulley is not tightened down. But when it is drawn inward that will just exacerbate my issue.

hobot said:
guess 2. looks like your main shaft support is droopy. may be photo angle.

Yeah, but I've got a blue pill that helps that.

hobot said:
Full size view shows Peel's ~1/4" away from clutch edge.
http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2575376 ... 1179BADEfi

hobot

So the clutch retaining nut doesn't sit against the splined part of the mainshaft? Interesting...

Hobot · Jul 15, 2010

opps, never mind, I just had my own BI blank stare to see your belt
over hangs inside not out side of clutch teeth. ugh.

So you need clutch to sit closer to the gear box &/or crank
pulley further out, huh.

hm, reminds me of the time or two I've had the RH main shaft
fixing nut back off to let it shift m-shaft too far to LH.
This m-shaft slack also took up clutch cable range to open plates.

The main shaft splines should not stick out beyond the center hub.
A washer bares against the hub center so the nut can snug clutch
against the stepped washer and shims on the wimpy circlip behind.
If this bore on the spines it could not clamp clutch solid.
Likely the most important nut to get torque right, next to rod nuts.
Too loose comes off in primary too tight bends the circlip over.

Basic clutch position is determined by main shaft extension
out the gear box, then fine tuned by what's stacked on the circlip.

hobot

swooshdave · Jul 15, 2010

hobot said:
opps, never mind, I just had my own BI blank stare to see your belt
over hangs inside not out side of clutch teeth. ugh.

So you need clutch to sit closer to the gear box &/or crank
pulley further out, huh.
hobot

Crank pulley can't go further out, it's on a taper.

Not sure why the clutch needs shimmed. It seems that the location in relationship to the mainshaft should be constant. The hub should always sit flush with the end of the splines, no?

Hobot · Jul 15, 2010

Gotcha on the crank taper determining its pulley distance out.
Should be made right from the start, especially hi end products.

Shims behind clutch are only for the anal to fine align the chain run
or keep clutch form fouling the inner case. Its much more vital
on belt drives, in fact nothing short of perfect will allow belt
to live very long. You want the belt as close to gear box as
possible for less leverage to bend main shaft and load its sleeve
gear bushes.

So what could move clutch towards the TS?
step circlip space missing,
main shaft mounted too far to DS
something missing in clutch center bearing or race that butts on step spacer.
weird shoe elves re-cast gear box bolt boss faces towards the TS.

hobot

Keith1069 · Jul 16, 2010

You can see that the belt sits off the basket by about an 1/8".
Not sure what to do here.

The 1/8"+ spacer with recess for circlip is missing from last pic, well I can't see it in place.

britbike220 · Jul 16, 2010

Dave, nice post thanks. Will be good for future use.

swooshdave · Jul 16, 2010

Keith1069 said:
You can see that the belt sits off the basket by about an 1/8".
Not sure what to do here.

Click to expand...

The 1/8"+ spacer with recess for circlip is missing from last pic, well I can't see it in place.

Yes, it is missing. I'll wait until I get the spacer and see what happens. Need to wait until Fred and Ella get back from Lumby...

Hobot · Jul 16, 2010

CanukNortonNut · Jul 21, 2010

Swoochdave
Keith is right. You need the cir-clip then the 1/8th recess spacer 06-747 and you might also need some shims: 06-0894 or 06-0895.
They are 0.036" and 0.048" thick. I bought a pair of each just to make sure.
I am doing the same thing that you are with a belt drive except I got mine from Clubman’s. I also had the clearance issues at the inner primary and used two 06-0894 shims to get it to not scrub the inner case. BTW 06-0665 is the shim for the rotor and it is the same ID/OD @ 0.010” as the Clutch side if you want to fine tune it.... FYI. 8)

Regards
CNN

RGM Belt Illustrated Install Guide

Similar threads