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Gearbox ... snot?

I opened my gearbox tonight and found this, which looks bad and smells worse:

From M20_87115


I feel this needs to be cleaned out a bit. What's the best way? I will admit that I'm mentally challenged when it comes to putting gears back into a gearbox in a moving configuration! So something not requiring complete disassembly would be best

tanks!
Chris

email (option): chri@classicbikebooks.com

Re: Gearbox ... snot?

OMG!!!! I'm rolling on the floor. "Calcutta Motorcycle Works" eh?

I'm sorry Chris, but this is hilarious. Does it run quietly? How about shifting?

What you could do put a clothes pin on yer nose, scrape out as much as you can, add some diesel fuel to swish around and let soak, drain, repeat until most is gone. Then fill with regular oil and flush frequently until all comes out clean they way it is supposed to.

I use diesel as a parts cleaner. Bio diesel is a great cleaner too. The stuff will remove road tar, oil base paint (if wet), thick oil in an old motor, sludge in a oil pan, rotten gas. The beauty is, it has some detergents in it. And, it gets along well with other lubricants.

Cheers

email (option): britool51@hotmail.com

Re: Gearbox ... snot?

Thanks Robb, and yes I had the same reaction too when I saw the label! My first thought was of course "Black Hole" followed by "this looks like that butter stuff called Ghee that's used in Indian cuisine..." I didn't taste it, but it has the odor of a long gone animal fat.

I haven't actually had this one running, although the previous owner said it ran when he parked it 10 years ago. (yes, I know!)

I have the gearbox out because the kickstarter was making lots of interesting crunchy noises and I wasn't able to kick it into life. It has spark & good compression though, so I think my issue is in the kickstart mechanism somewhere (clutch was not slipping, but when I took off the basket it's missing a rather large piece of metal)

I've never seen so much crud in a gearbox. I'll drop some diesel in there and see if I can get it cleaned out. thanks for the suggestion.

email (option): chri@classicbikebooks.com

Re: Gearbox ... snot?

Hey Chris, thats best quality curry grease, you need to add olive oil, some herbs an cayen pepper. The smell will make you feel hungry every time you go for a ride!
Seriously, you could try adding some engine oil, it might mix with it and make it runnier. I use a grease/oil mix in all my gearboxes, it tends not to leak out.
Cheers, Mick.

email (option): mick@motorbikemike.org.uk

Re: Gearbox ... snot?

Thanks Mick - I guess I've seen a runny grease/oil mixture done before (in a gearbox as well as on the kitchen table!), this one seems not to have any of the oil component though. And too much curry grease!

Other interesting finds inside the front cover of the gearbox are that the cotter pins on the gear shifter assembly were missing
From M20_87115

- apparently there wasn't enough clearance for the bolts to wiggle out but there certainly is a lot of wiggle in the whole shifter assembly.

And the clutch basket...
From M20_87115


But so it goes when buying another 70 year old motorbike. Its funny how the ones sold as mechanically sound often don't measure up to the ones sold as old clunkers.

email (option): chri@classicbikebooks.com

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