Holed B44 piston (follow on from tale of woe)

[Mark Cook]

From experience you only need the camplate leaf spring and the final drive sprocket tab washers.
Glue the rest, but remember you will need a washer to make the kickstart ratchet washer behave.

Mark

[beat]

with a bit if luck.

..... as a rider, - this is the stuff you need mostly I say..

[KiwiB44]

From experience you only need the camplate leaf spring and the final drive sprocket tab washers.
Glue the rest, but remember you will need a washer to make the kickstart ratchet washer behave.

Mark

So ordinary washer under the kickstart ratchet nut and loctite the nut instead of using a tab washer? That saves hassle for sure.

But jeez that makes me nervous after seeing bent mainshafts and broken gears on unit triumph engines after the equivalent nut came loose, but I will take the advice because experience is one thing I dont have with this engine, and filing a tab washer would probably take an hour, and probably not be that effective anyway

[Mark Cook]

Make sure it's a tough washer or it will get crushed like the tab washer does.

https://pesltd.uk/?product=CL09

Mark

[KiwiB44]

Make sure it's a tough washer or it will get crushed like the tab washer does.

https://pesltd.uk/?product=CL09

Mark

Thanks agin, I will.

Its still fighting me when fitting the inner case the mainshaft gets stiff, now the rough wear marks on the face of the old sleeve gear make sense, it must have been put together regardless of that and the old gear (see pic) then got the face worn away by the thrust washer. Now I am fitting a different sleeve gear I am seeing a problem.

I will have a good look at why this is happening as it looks like I might have to make a thinner than standard shim to fit between the sleeve gear and 2nd, which does not seem right to me.

[KiwiB44]

Some pics of the clutch plate stack, I was hoping to be able to fit an extra friction plate but there is no chance of that.

4 friction, 5 plain plates fills the clutch basket.

Is this “normal” if so how did oem plates, which are (i’ve read) thicker than the 0.130’ thick barnett plates fit in the basket? Have I the wrong inner/outer baskets parts for a B44?

15/16” depth on inner clutch basket, 27/32” thick clutch pack.

[FGF]

Hello ,
I 'm not a real B44 specialist ! ... only 3 years working with the B50SS.
but i think you can put 4 Barnett DRY plates and see
It 'll be better
For 5 plates , you can read the Rupert ratio book : see what you want to do after ...
Francois

[FGF]

I forgot ,
I put a PES alloy pressure plate , it can help too...

[Mark Cook]

Machine the flange of the clutch hub, then you can build the clutch as per B50.

Mark

[KiwiB44]

Progress at last….
I now have a gearbox that stays in all 4 gears for the first time since buying the bike , 5 of the 8 gears were swapped out, one fork selector swapped out, plus some mods to the index spring were made. The issue with mainshaft end float was fixed by reseating both the mainshaft bearings in their respective housings. I must have rebuilt this gearbox 20 times now

The clutch now also works fine, with just 4 friction plates (Barnett brand). I was very careful about the primary oil, and not contaminating the plates. I oiled not greased the rollers, and used m/c specific penrite oil suitable for wet clutches. It’s light, and doesn't drag or slip. New springs, spring cups and clutch nuts were also fitted a while back.

I suspect the old surflex plates (that slipped) are irreversibly contaminated with “friction modified” oil, possibly partly due to the crank oil seal popping out when the piston failed and crankcase pressure built up, engine oil (I use cheap castrol gtx) would have got into the primary. I will not use gtx any more……

I noticed the points are sparking far too much, when doing the timing for umpteenth time with a strobe, I now need to decide whether to go electronic (I have a new Boyer micro digital, used boyer mk3 and used pazon surefire to choose from) or fix the points and/or condensor.

Anyway, this particular “tale of woe” seems to be over, and hopefully I will now get some riding done.

[minetymenace]

Condenser will fix the sparking points, cheap & simple.

[KiwiB44]

Condenser will fix the sparking points, cheap & simple.

Not so cheap in NZ! 20gbp is cheapest so far. I have a couple of car type condensers of unknown provenance and while both reduced the sparking, it’s still not good enough and I would not trust it not to burn the points and leave me stranded, It starts and runs ok, odd thing is that the sparking is intermittent which would possibly indicate a wiring fault but I have checked all the connections etc.

Edit: I also noticed the plug is suppressed type (actually measures about 30k ohms not the 12k marked on it) so I would need to replace that if I keep the points, again not so cheap in nz. I have a 5k for use, if I fit electronic ign.

The condenser is mounted next to the coil under the tank, is that standard?

I’ve just fitted a pazon regulator, nit tested it yet, the oem unit under the headlamp was letting the charging voltage rise to 15v with headlight off, and will see if the pazon helps reduce that, if not then I will give the Boyer digital a try……I can still go back to points if there is no performance benefit. I’m pretty quick at getting the covers off and back on with sealant etc now

[KiwiB44]

Pazon regulator didn’t work out so reverted to std OEM rectifier and zener arrangement, but that only appears to give 8 amps max.

Fitted the boyer microdigital, used pazon coil, new HT lead and cap, a bit more involved with wiring that than expected (I left the original points wiring in place, just in case) but it will get a test ride once the weather improves. The pick up wires inside the points cover are not easy to arrange to avoid sharp bends or rubbing, but I did my best.

[KiwiB44]

Test ride all good except it STILL very occasionally can jump out of 2nd gear, not under power, but after transitioning between off load and in load eg changing into 2nd when slowing down, then coasting around a turning, then powering on in 2nd it sometimes jumps out at low revs, which I think is probably an indexing issue, given all 3 gears on the layshaft are new. I can live with it for now though.

Tickover is great, and having a slow tickover will take some getting used to, as I keep thinking it will stall….

Starting is ok, not always first kick, but with practice of the different technique with electronic ign I might get a first kick hot or cold.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/uaXZ28Q4VbPAKd3v8

[beat]

is the red box in the foam the ignition box

beat

[KiwiB44]

is the red box in the foam the ignition box

beat

Sure is, apparently its “normal” to have them rattling around somewhere on the bike, rather than rigidly stick them to the frame or tool box.

I searched for pics of other peoples electronic ignition installations but didn’t find much. If someone can suggest a better way of mounting the box please do also of fitting the pick up plate/wiring.

[beat]

hi kiwi

I searched for pics of other peoples electronic ignition installations

mine, well, a bit luxury maybe:

the ignition box

the tray with a rubber strap ( from my wife's hair )

and in place

beat

( the tray for your battery seams to be a bit short at the lower left edge. what about a bit of a rubber from a wheel tube around the corner )

[Ubert767]

On my B44VS I installed my Vape ignition electronics box in some foam and securely wedged between the two reinforcement fillet flanges at the junction of the steering head tube and the frame down tube. Seems to me to be a neat solution, it being close to the h.t. coil and being well protected.
Rob

[KiwiB44]

hi kiwi

I searched for pics of other peoples electronic ignition installations

mine, well, a bit luxury maybe:

( the tray for your battery seams to be a bit short at the lower left edge. what about a bit of a rubber from a wheel tube around the corner )

Yes beat i could bungy the box onto the battery, it actually comes with a sticky pad to stick it onto something, but i decided to guve it a bit of vibration insulation from a bit of the wifes yoga mat

[KiwiB44]

On my B44VS I installed my Vape ignition electronics box in some foam and securely wedged between the two reinforcement fillet flanges at the junction of the steering head tube and the frame down tube. Seems to me to be a neat solution, it being close to the h.t. coil and being well protected.
Rob

Thanks I will look into that once I’ve decided the boyer microdigital is a good option, i have a spare mk3 boyer box which i can carry around in case it dies, and i will see if that cab be simply swapped in if the worst happens, in which case I would want the box and connectors easily accessible.

[beat]

vibration insulation from a bit of the wifes yoga mat