Dr. Dick discussed what he does on this post:
http://xlforum.net/vbportal/forums/show ... stcount=38It is part of his great series on eliminating kicker slip:
http://xlforum.net/vbportal/forums/show ... ?t=1172767Full disclosure, I am SportsterPavel on that forum, as SportsterPaul was already taken.
One trick is to flip the thrust washer over since it wears in a narrow band on the backing washer side. Next time I get in this far, I plan to get a full set of new washers, or maybe figure things out with a washer and some platigage, bolting up the plate with screws just to check the fit. Tighter is good, but it can't bind of course.
I wonder how your setup could even work. That missing thrust washer is clamped onto the clutch gear when you tighten the hub down. Is this an electric start bike? Did someone stuff the dual-row Torrington bearing into your kick-start basket and leave out the thrust washer? Is this a basket case that never ran? Let us know if this is an electric start basket. I would drill out the rivets and then send pictures, as well as a picture of the back of the pawl plate.
You are right, you have to fix this. The manual is pretty straightforward. You drill out the rivets, push the Torrington back where it belongs, but better yet, please replace it since the needles have taken all kinds of oblique loads. There is a seal that goes on the inside of the basket. Then you need to either measure the gap or collect the whole set of different thicknesses and trial fit things, maybe with screws temporarily holding the kicker pawl plate on.
There are two washers that go in there. One is the backing washer which you may be missing 37721-54, the other is the thrust washer that comes in varying thicknesses to take out the play, 37731-52, 37732-52, 37733-52, 37735-52. You need this to be tight, otherwise the whole clutch basket will sag, especially when you apply the clutch. That means it will not engage smoothly or not disengage completely. The sag is also why my kickstart gear hung up and made my kicker slip. Dr. Dick notes that holding the clutch in at lights, like I do, wears out the thrust washer much faster. Buy the parts manual or
download it from this site. Buy the service manual for your year too, its called "the Bible" for good reason.
Needless to say, like everything in a K or Iron Sportster, you need a brain. If the back of the kicker plate (33379-57) riveted into the clutch basket is worn or damaged, you need a new one of those. Either way, you will need the 12 rivets (8215). Many folks put a miniscule dab of silicone on the underside of the rivets, so oil does not seep into the basket. Any silicone that gets into the needles will destroy the bearings. Some guys like that red stuff instead of silicone, glyptol or whatever-- the aircraft guys use it.
There are plates and kicker gears with different numbers of pawls. They inter-operate one way but not the other-- I never put much stock in any of them. More pawls never stop a slipping kicker. Getting this thrust washer right and making sure the bushing on the sliding kicker gear is nice and tight is what does it. Make sure that the gear drops all the way into the pocket where the thrust washer is and engages the pawls 100%. That is why I had to take my '62 back apart and machine down the brass bushing so it it did not interfere with the plate.
Dr. Dick bypasses all the fitting and just machines the basket so it is dead perfect. I don't have a Bridgeport. Drilling out the rivets was much easier than I thought it would be. You use a bigger drill than you think is right, since you are trying to drill out the head, not the body. Once the head is gone you can tap it out with a pin punch. Putting the rivets in I used an air chisel with a flat punch bit, it was hard to control but it sure did get the rivets tight. I am sure competent people can use a ball peen hammer and get good results. You do need the rivets, countersunk screws will not take the shear loads from kicking.
