Need more torque, keep burning up clutches.
- Thread starter Aerindel
- Start date
You're half right, it gets pushed inward at higher rpm.Well, I just test drove it with the TC.
It's interesting. It has more torque, yet also less acceleration. Its deceptive. It feels slower....but if I hold the throttle on after a little while I realize I'm going WAY faster than I'm used to.
Going up hills is interesting. The RPM stays the same hitting the hill as it does on the flat....the bike just goes slower.....I guess that is the purpose of the TC.
Speaking of RPM, I need to mess with my linkages. Before I could noticeably tell when the RPMs hit up against the governor, but so far the engine just isn't ever reving up that fast period.
It's much nicer at low speed than it was. Which is 90% of what I do...picking around trees, climbing hills etc.
Now I have to really dig into what is up with the brake. I don't know what is going on, but my brake drags...and doesn't work....at the same time. I don't even know how that is possible.
It's interesting. It has more torque, yet also less acceleration. Its deceptive. It feels slower....but if I hold the throttle on after a little while I realize I'm going WAY faster than I'm used to.
Going up hills is interesting. The RPM stays the same hitting the hill as it does on the flat....the bike just goes slower.....I guess that is the purpose of the TC.
Speaking of RPM, I need to mess with my linkages. Before I could noticeably tell when the RPMs hit up against the governor, but so far the engine just isn't ever reving up that fast period.
It's much nicer at low speed than it was. Which is 90% of what I do...picking around trees, climbing hills etc.
Now I have to really dig into what is up with the brake. I don't know what is going on, but my brake drags...and doesn't work....at the same time. I don't even know how that is possible.
No need to do anything to your linkage. If you are using stock carb, stock governor RPM, and 60 tooth sprocket you need to be well into the 30's mph before it will touch the governor under full throttle.
The belt shift is why it isn't reving up fast. Once you get rolling the belt shifts and changes the gearing.
The belt shift is why it isn't reving up fast. Once you get rolling the belt shifts and changes the gearing.
Yes, everything stock on the engine. I did remove the stop screw early on just so I could open the throttle up more when trying to climb hills but didn't modify the governor as I've never been after speed with this bike.
I will leave it alone in that case. I'm pretty happy with how much power it has now. With the studded tires I was clawing through frozen mud, ice, etc today on my test drive with little difficulty.
This is completely unrelated, but is there a gas cap that doesn't leak? The stock one always leaked, I replaced it with another one just in case there was something wrong with it, but the new one leaks too and now that I'm up an running again I'd like to take care of that annoyance if possible.
I will leave it alone in that case. I'm pretty happy with how much power it has now. With the studded tires I was clawing through frozen mud, ice, etc today on my test drive with little difficulty.
This is completely unrelated, but is there a gas cap that doesn't leak? The stock one always leaked, I replaced it with another one just in case there was something wrong with it, but the new one leaks too and now that I'm up an running again I'd like to take care of that annoyance if possible.
Well I got the brake working again.
As suggested, it was a misalignment between the brake shoe holder/cover, and the wheel. Turns out that is a super sensitive adjustment.
I figured it out by setting the brake without the cover bolted to the frame, and was easily able to get it to the point where it was just barely dragging and the brake lever would come to a hard stop halfway pulled. Then I slowly started tightening that bolt while hand spinning the wheel and in the last half turn of that bolt, the wheel started binding. If I backed off the brake far enough to stop binding, it had too much travel and almost no braking force. I never thought that such a small movement, too small to even see, would have such an effect on the brake.
I worked the problem backward, started out with the wheel loose, and the brake cover bolted tight and then played with the wheel orientation, while spinning, until I got it centered in relation to the brake cover. I had to grind the axle slot in the frame longer as with my current chain it was either too short, or too long if I added one more link.
Once I got that set, I played with the engine mount to get the chain perfectly lined up again....bolted everything down tight and test drove it (in the dark) and now i'm happy. Hopefully I can get it down on a flat road tomorrow and see how fast it will go, not that it matters, the torque improvement already meets my needs.
While I had the bike hanging in my shop, I fixed another long time pet peeve. The kickstand always seemed a little long, and the footpad was a little small, making it hard to catch sometimes with my foot. So I cut it off, ground the leg a little shorter, and welded an chunk of bar stock in its place about twice the size of the old one. Much better.
Now I just have to figure out the gas cap. It's really bad, the whole top of the tank is wet after every ride.
As suggested, it was a misalignment between the brake shoe holder/cover, and the wheel. Turns out that is a super sensitive adjustment.
I figured it out by setting the brake without the cover bolted to the frame, and was easily able to get it to the point where it was just barely dragging and the brake lever would come to a hard stop halfway pulled. Then I slowly started tightening that bolt while hand spinning the wheel and in the last half turn of that bolt, the wheel started binding. If I backed off the brake far enough to stop binding, it had too much travel and almost no braking force. I never thought that such a small movement, too small to even see, would have such an effect on the brake.
I worked the problem backward, started out with the wheel loose, and the brake cover bolted tight and then played with the wheel orientation, while spinning, until I got it centered in relation to the brake cover. I had to grind the axle slot in the frame longer as with my current chain it was either too short, or too long if I added one more link.
Once I got that set, I played with the engine mount to get the chain perfectly lined up again....bolted everything down tight and test drove it (in the dark) and now i'm happy. Hopefully I can get it down on a flat road tomorrow and see how fast it will go, not that it matters, the torque improvement already meets my needs.
While I had the bike hanging in my shop, I fixed another long time pet peeve. The kickstand always seemed a little long, and the footpad was a little small, making it hard to catch sometimes with my foot. So I cut it off, ground the leg a little shorter, and welded an chunk of bar stock in its place about twice the size of the old one. Much better.
Now I just have to figure out the gas cap. It's really bad, the whole top of the tank is wet after every ride.
It is really interesting how close our perception of acceleration is tied to the sound of an engine picking up RPMs! Automakers have struggled with this for years. A perfectly tuned CVT allows the engine to rev up to peak torque, (or peak efficiency, if that is the goal) then maintains the RPMs and upshifts to accelerate. The majority of drivers hate this! Feels like there is something wrong with the engine. So then automakers start doing weird computer tricks to try and convince people their car is actually accelerating and in doing so, actually lose some of the effectiveness of the CVT.
To some degree, Comet style drivers suffer from the same issue. The Juggernaut ”solves” the issue with a narrower shift range that allows the engine to rev higher, giving a more “normal” acceleration feel.
To some degree, Comet style drivers suffer from the same issue. The Juggernaut ”solves” the issue with a narrower shift range that allows the engine to rev higher, giving a more “normal” acceleration feel.
MJL. Glad to hear that you are getting your bike set up to your liking.
As far as the gas cap not sealing, I would check the tank threads for damage and the sealing surface for any damage.
Next I would check the cap for thread damage and check the seal/gasket condition.
Take a detailed photo of the cap top and then bottom and a photo of the top of the tank threads and one of the sealing surface.
As far as the gas cap not sealing, I would check the tank threads for damage and the sealing surface for any damage.
Next I would check the cap for thread damage and check the seal/gasket condition.
Take a detailed photo of the cap top and then bottom and a photo of the top of the tank threads and one of the sealing surface.
I'd say go with a torque converter. and if you still have the stock jackshaft on the bike then it would make it way easier for you to re-use the stock steel jackshaft backing plate when installing the torque converter. by re using the stock steel backing plate, this avoids you having to use any engine risers of any sort and everything lines up perfectly. as long your belt alignment is proper and don't go through water for the belt to get wet then "burning" through belts shouldn't be happening pretty much at all or very limited, I only say this because out of all the torque converters I've ever ran I never burned through a single belt myself. plus you already ended up putting a 60t on the rear so you're geared a tag lower than stock as it is as well which will help a lot along with lowering the possibility of burning any belts.
I'm sorry I made a bad assumption regarding the the gas tank and gas cap having threads.
Now for suggestions, your gas cap seal and tank sealing surface look very dry. The first thing I would do is put a little grease on the seal, both top and bottom and also the tank sealing surface. What the grease does is it allows the seal to lay flat on the sealing surfaces. When you turn the cap on during installation, the seal can't slide, it gathers, bunches up and doesn't create a good seal. The seal material has to lay flat to do its job.
I've used this trick on cars to correct Check Engine lights.
Worth a try, if it doesent work, I would try the Duralast gas cap that DR&R suggested in his post above.
Now for suggestions, your gas cap seal and tank sealing surface look very dry. The first thing I would do is put a little grease on the seal, both top and bottom and also the tank sealing surface. What the grease does is it allows the seal to lay flat on the sealing surfaces. When you turn the cap on during installation, the seal can't slide, it gathers, bunches up and doesn't create a good seal. The seal material has to lay flat to do its job.
I've used this trick on cars to correct Check Engine lights.
Worth a try, if it doesent work, I would try the Duralast gas cap that DR&R suggested in his post above.