Ariel Owners Motorcycle Club

Check the roller size. Should be .098". It's likely you will get some rock but the chain runs roughly in the middle of the roller position' Nev

My basket wiggles. Rollers are new. It's hard to imagine the needle roller set up working well enough to eliminate wiggle.- I can live with the outer basket wiggling. I think it only does that when the clutch is pulled. They probably all do it. However my clutch grabs really badly - so savagely I usually try to push the bike a bit from a standing start before engaging the drive to avoid breaking something. Can the wiggling outer basket cause grabbing? It's got bonded plates from Draganfly. Should I try something else? (I'd try calks if I could get them). '35 RH 500

New cork plates, plain plates, baskets, centres and springs are all available from Club spares - but you need to be an AOMCC member to access them. If you are not already a member, joining the Club would be a good investment.

All my clutch baskets waggle to some extent. A grabby clutch is more likely to be caused by wear on the clutch plate tabs or the slots they go into, or both.

Al

Is your clutch grabbing or dragging?

By grabbing I mean that the bike goes into gear easily and without starting to move forward
and that at some point as you release the clutch it suddenly and completely grips launching
everything.

By dragging I mean that the bike only goes into gear with difficulty and immediately starts
to try to move forward.

In my experience the latter is not uncommon and as Paul suggests is usually caused by
the slots in the clutch basket becoming elongated if it's not caused by mis-adjustment.

The one time I experienced grabbing it was with a composite friction material, not cork,
and was caused by some of the friction inserts being loose in the clutch plates.

Thanks heaps everybody for your instant help - you are wonderful.
My clutch grabs, it doesn't drag. All the bonded pads are in place and intact and the basket slots are in reasonable condition. And yes I've just been advised by my wise buddy (who, at 80 years of age, still races his 1926 Chater Lea 350) to go back to calk. He explained how he made his own clutch calks but if I can bypass that experience by joining AOMCC and buying some plates that seems preferable.

Thanks for the reply. Cork certainly will take up smoother than the bonded plates.

When you get corks get appropriate springs too. The springs for cork clutches are
not as strong as those needed for bonded plates and make for a much nicer
action of the handlebar lever.

I can't help but feel that there might well be something else wrong and contributing
to the grabbing. Is the engine shaft shock absorber in good order? You shouldn't
be able to turn the sprocket on its shaft by hand but do take the plug lead off before
trying.