Dr. Shop Teacher's - "Lil" Indian Model 600 - (Vintage Class)

[Dr. Shop Teacher]

Prepping Disc Brake Caliper

The caliper was cleaned up this afternoon. The assembly was wet sanded with 320, and then buffed with fine steel wool. I replaced the castle nut and the two mounting bolts. Pads are sitting at the post office, so I'll get them tomorrow. A surprise in the package was the correct brake cable stop, and that needs to be degreased (Thanks, Nate!).

 

[David wulf]

Looking good Pete .

 

[mrpat]

awesome work as usual.

 

[Dr. Shop Teacher]

.....may be going for a test ride this afternoon!

 

[buckeye]

Wear a helmet.

 

[chipper]

Wear a helmet.

I'm thinking full body armor !!

 

[Dr. Shop Teacher]

No test ride today....some things don't need to be so accurate

Spent half a day on the jackshaft assembly trying to get things to line up. First up, the powder coat added additional width and the two speed clutch's sprockets didn't line up with the driven clutch. So, off came the jackshaft plate and 1/8" was removed on the clutch side of the jackshaft tube. I had to tinker to get the jackshaft to slide smoothly through both bearings.

Engine and jackshaft back on the bike. Time for chains. Lots of time on chains....way too much time on the chains.

I couldn't get even tension on the chains. I tried a half link which made it worse. I tried shortening the chains which made it worse. The outer chain for the low gear couldn't be linked together....it was less than 1/8" off. Less than half of a half of a half link. Go figure.:doah:hmy::detective::mad2:

So, figuring and figuring and figuring. In the midst of writing a HELP post, I realized the problem: There is no play in the slots for the jackshaft plate: 5/16" dia. slots. No room for any side to side adjustment or slight twisting as you have with the 3/8" slots in the engine plate.

If everything was perfect, there would be no need to adjust. This is a mini bike, and nothing is ever perfect.:laugh: So, I need to enlarge the jackshaft plate slots a little more than 1/16" on the outboard sides to get the wiggle room necessary. It's the tiniest of twists. There's no way to change the angle on the jackshaft tube (nothing left to grind down).

Hopefully, pics tomorrow...I spent too much time WTF-ing to take pics.:facepalm::no::mad2:

 

[manchester1]

I feel your pain on the chain. I spent a half of day trying to get lined up with my chain on the Tom Thumb.:doah: I'm still not happy with it but I'm not taking that engine off again to work on the plate until I'm ready to paint.:laugh: Bike is looking awesome.:thumbsup:

 

[Dr. Shop Teacher]

I feel your pain on the chain. I spent a half of day trying to get lined up with my chain on the Tom Thumb.:doah: I'm still not happy with it but I'm not taking that engine off again to work on the plate until I'm ready to paint.:laugh: Bike is looking awesome.:thumbsup:

The smaller something is (standing rule #1), the tighter the tolerances. How you got that engine stuffed in there in the first place is beyond me!:laugh: If the jackshaft tube was 8 or 9" wide, this would be far less of a problem.....

 

[KMC3420]

Quit WTF-ing around, haha, never heard that one, glad to see those problem solving skills paying off. You will get it figured out, sounds like you already have. I had the same issue with my brake caliper, needed the slightest adjustment(you suggested this prior), slots, and what do you know, perfect!

 

[Dr. Shop Teacher]

A degree or two will do it...

A representation of what needs to be done to fix the problem with the chains:

This shows (1) degree of movement which should close the outside chain gap and not increase the inside chain length.

 

[buckeye]

Welcome to my world with everything.

 

[David wulf]

Pete keep at it cause you'll get her figured out , chains can be a pita .

 

[Dr. Shop Teacher]

Welcome to my world with everything.

Tom, if it weren't for these challenges, we wouldn't have anything to distract us from the day-to-day crap we all deal with!

Pete keep at it cause you'll get her figured out , chains can be a pita .

Yeah, I'm trying to develop a plan that allows me to fix it quickly and accurately. Appreciate the encouragement.:thumbsup:

 

[Dr. Shop Teacher]

We have chains....

Took a long time to get right, but the two speed clutches are connected. I opened the slots on the jackshaft plate to 3/8" so I could make the needed adjustment. Here's what I was dealing with:

Here are the enlarged slots:

And the chains installed. The high speed chain is still a little loose, but after the low speed chain stretches a bit, it'll balance out.

 

[Dr. Shop Teacher]

Gettin' Close....

Here are photos of the bike as it sat on the test stand. Still need to do the caliper and the kill switch. Installed the new decals today and corrected the placement of the Triangle Lil Indian logo. I have both style clutch guards, btw. Below is the look it would have had in 1965.

 

[Dr. Shop Teacher]

Running on the test stand

Clutch dings but that's due to the two pieces. The bell floats on the crankshaft. I was able to see the secondary clutch shoes engage at rpm, so I hope all works as intended.

The video is here: https://youtu.be/r5HpNuh7scM

 

[AJaxMini]

Absolutely awesome work Pete! It's very inspirational. I'll have to keep the plate slots in mind when I get to those bikes in my collection. Thank you for putting together such a great build guide for the Mini Magic! The bike is so nice!

 

[buckeye]

Goodness, that thing runs swell.
Looks pretty decent too.

 

[Havasu Dave]

What a quality restoration this bike is. I enjoyed the video. She runs very smooth.