clutch lift plate

[johnbirchjar]

Hi guys,as a bit of an experiment I changed the 3 ball bearings under the clutch lift plate from 8mm to 10mm(in the hope that finding nuteral when stationary would be easier)dosn't seem to have made much diferance ,gear changes seem to be smoother though,or could be wishful thinking . On a differant note,I was messing about with the headlights on the Classic(the old girl is due for her MOT Wednesday)and they were on for quite a while when I had reason to get hold of the wiring loom(the one on the N/Side as one is facing the bike from the front)and it was quite warm ,I have never noticed this before,but was it 'cos I had had the Ignition on all the time I was messing about with the lights?and I believe the loom on that side feeds the coils? and I am I correct in thinking they get quite warm if the ign: is left on without the engine running,and have been known to "burn out"?or could this be the sign of a "short" in the loom? evilrgds,J.B.

[fogrider]

Regards the wiring, to get warm just 'cause it's switched on is a warning to me ! It does sound like an excess current drain but I think I would look at checking what wire size is feeding that part of the loom. It's possible the wire was never heavy enough.. Maybe in the past someone has looped too many things on one feed wire ?Messy time consuming job but my reaction would be to uncover the loom and see what is going on. Overloading a small wire is how electric fires work !Regards, Terry.

[johnbirchjar]

Hi Terry,the wiring is as fitted by Nortons,(I know this 'cos Iv'e had the bike from new)BUT,umpteen years ago I fitted a Triumph 900 Triple fairing which has two headlights,could this be the reason for "power overload" ?The bike is having an MOT tomorrow,so when I get to the MOT station I'll feel the loom and see if it is warm and go from their,J.B.

[johnbirchjar]

Hi guys,returning to "The warm loom",it is definitley "lights related"(lights on, warm loom,lights off,normal temp) now I was assuming the n/side loom was getting a warm because instead of one h/light I have two,BUT,studying the wiring diagram reveiled the warm loom dosn't have any lighting wires in it!!its wires go to the engine kill switch and the lights on/off switch, the wires for the lights are in the o/side loom and that is fine, another puzzle is the "warm loom"only gets warm twix the multi pin plug and the "Main" loom(and no further)so how can this be related to the lights?(BL**DY electrics ,have allways been a "black art"to me)AAND,is this something new!!or has the n/side loom allways run warm and I have only just noticed it .anyway I feel more investigation is called for,(just for peace of mind )your thoughts on this problem will be most welcome,rgds,J.B.

[fogrider]

Have a look inside that multi-plug. If it has corrosion, that could create enough resistance to heat the wire up. This is a common problem on Honda motorbike reg/recs. Despite Honda quality.There's no guarantee the wiring was perfect from new. Less than a 1000 bikes is not exactly a Jap high spec production line ! (sorry Richard, no offence !).Regards, Terry.

[johnbirchjar]

Hi Terry,the plug sounds like a good place to start ,I shall report anon,Oh,and the old girl sailed through her MOT. I have been using the same MOT station for the past 17years,it used to be run by an old school buddy of mine,but he retired a couple of years ago and the new owners are much younger(as are their machanics)and as a result when I take the Classic in there is a bit of a "group discusion" on rotories and I was pleasantly surprised on how knowlegable they all are,the MOT station owner says he well remembers the works racers in the late '80 and early '90 AND was on "The Island" when "Hisey"won the TT ,ride safe,J.B.

[johnbirchjar]

As Terry sugested I looked at the multi pin plug and 'sho nuf that was where the problem was,I had the plugs appart, no sign of any corrosion, so I gave each wire a gentle tug and"eureka" one came away from it's prong?tang? I tried to get it out so I could solder the wire back in,no chance, (do I need a special tool to extract thees?)anyway,as a "temporary" measure I have "bypassed" the plug and all is now well,no warm loom ,so once again my old mantra that "Life is a learning curve" is just that.ride safe,J.B.