This is just a general Sportster question, just not the 57-69, but the 70's type.
I've been wrenching on vintage Harleys for over 25 years straight. I don't believe I can think of anything else as worthless of a design and the 70 and up clutch actuator !!! What a piece of CRAP. What was wrong with the mech that H-D had used from 1948 thru 1969?
I don't mind rebuilding the flywheels, boring cylinders, doing a valve job, but man, I sure hate putting that primary cover back on. For the last 25+ years, I have only been lucky the times that the cover went back on without a hitch. I have never "understood" why they were so hard to put back on. A customer brought in a 73 last week. Says the motor was just gone thru and it started but when ya was letting the clutch out, it would kill it. Seems like a simple adjustment. Well, it was way more than that.
I took it for a spin and the clutch was slipping, so I adjusted the center adjuster til it touched, then backed it off very slightly. Went to remove slack from the cable and noticed the adjuster had 2 nuts instead of one, but no matter what ya turned, nothing moved. So I pulled the cover. Someone had installed a 3rd nut on the adjuster inside the cover...................
So after a few minutes of removing all the nuts off the adjuster and putting the nut on the out side and reinstalling the cable into the actuator mech, I reinstalled the cover, pulled in the clutch lever and heard the "CLICK", then nothing, as I always dread.
Any way, is there someone on this forum that has been riding a 70- up type Sportster for many years that can take the time to tell me why this mech never goes back on right for me? This was supposed to be a 20 minute job, now it has turned into hours......
The mech is staked into the cover as usual, I made sure there was plenty of slack in the adjuster, that the 3 balls were in place in their pockets and the actuator all the way to the rear before putting the cover back on (3 times)
Any one willing to walk me thru this installation, before I pull what is left of my hair out of the top of my head?
Thanks
mutt