Ingenuity

THAT is bizzarre...

Regards, Tony

That helps in making wheelies. :-P

Nick

Ah - my pal Jim has a Colchester Student round head that he has modified with a motorcycle clutch - very handy but rather offensive to the purist Colchester cognocenti ! Mind you he was also going to lengthen the bed with a section sawn off a scrap Student but I think he has shelved that idea!

AWEM

Seen them fitted with complete gearboxes instead of a countershaft but this looks real neat.

-- Regards,

John Stevenson Nottingham, England.

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Quite good, although I would have gone for a couple of moped brake shoes myself.

Mark Rand RTFM

Looks neat. How many burnouts can it do before the clutch starts slipping? ;-)

Haven't got a picture or drawings but I would aim for a clone of the original Myford clutch that is basically a rotating drum brake inside the countershaft pulley.

Mark Rand RTFM

The Ward capstans have a set of almost conventional brake shoes for the spindle brake, I can take a picture of that if you want. Not used as a clutch but the principle is the same. Suffolk Punch lawnmowers used a small centrifugal clutch that could probably be modified, there's a few of them in the recycling centres.

Peter

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Presumably that clutch was originally in the primary chain case so was in an oil bath - interesting to see how it gets on dry, and I hope when he fitted it he dried it out first or he'll need a new shirt

AWEM

Most older 'mechanical' marine gearboxes used a brake band for astern gear, often with a 'Ferodo' type lining. These are running in oil. If you send them off for re-lining and don't tell that to the re-lining people, you'll find they don't work at all well. The friction material is rather different. No, I haven't made that mistake, but I know others who have I wonder what are the consequences of using an 'oily' friction material in a dry environment?

Cheers Tim

Dutton Dry-Dock Traditional & Modern canal craft repairs Vintage diesel engine service

I wonder if it rattles like the dry clutch on a Ducati?

Peter

I'd bet it'll last a long time. Looks like a clutch front a fairly large jap bike.

I've often thought of doing the same thing on my little Astra 2nd op machine, as the original 2 speed clutch based gearbox is noisy enough to give me a headache! I would only use moped baskets if I ever bother.

Wayne...

I want to know how fast it does 0-60...

Regards, Tony

Is it necessary to double-declutch when changing gears?

I wonder if anyone has tried adding automatic transmission...

Regards, Tony

Why not a motorcycle clutch, I have heard of lathes with a Norton gearbox :-)

Incidentally, on Nortons the clutch can be run dry without much problem. The chaincase is there to keep the chain lubed, but if you convert to belt drive you can get rid of the oil altogether (its the devil to keep it in there anyway). As for Ducatis, the clutch makes a terrible row until you disengage it - seems the wrong way round to me. I don't see why they should rattle, cars have dry clutches and they don't rattle.

Steve

Nice try, didnt even raise an eyebrow though

Bikes on the whole have multiplate clutches, my Morini 500 also has a dry muliplte clutch and is a little noisier than the wet clutch versions, but it all goes away under load.

The gearbox on my Astra lathe has a couple of tiny clutches similar to the matrix one fitted to some colchesters. except mine is a nightmare to rebuild and adjust due to being inside a casting with a small aperature which is the only way to access it all.