VL Clutch Pedal Won't stay in the disengaged position

[loch]

Hey Guys, one more time for the clutch pedal issue and then I'm not worried about at all.

The pedal still refuses to stay in the heel down (clutch disengaged) position. I tried numerous combinations of washers without any success.

When I tighten the nut, and I can tighten it until the point the spring becomes completely compressed. The pedal still returns to the clutch engaged position.

Looking for last words of advice, wisdom, or "Oh yah, hey you forgot the..."

Pics below.

After some analysis of parts and action when the friction plate has tension on it, my guess is that something should be holding that shiny plate in place. Otherwise it just rotates with the friction plate. There's a hole in the shiny plate that aligns with the hole in the left footboard pedal mount. But nothing goes through there. Not that I can tell by any of the drawings or descriptions that I've found.

What's not in the picture is the helper spring for the clutch pedal, albeit not much good. The spring on my panhead foot clutch is much more effective. In fact the entire assembly is more effective than this one.

- Loch


ClutchPedalAssembled.jpg

ClutchPedalParts.jpg

ClutchPedalTower.jpg

[Steve Slocombe]

Dear Loch, you're missing the spring on the pedal which will help. More importantly you seem to be missing the pin/rivet which goes through the clutch rail bracket into the hole in the friction disc and stops it rotating.

[loch]

Thank you, Steve! The spring I have. The spring from the clutch pedal to the rail/bracket, that one I have. It's not in the picture. I thought there was a pin missing. It made sense that there should be something to prevent the friction disc from rotating. I'll probably have to fashion one. But at least I know now.

Any idea what the part number is for the pin?

I'm looking in the VL Spare Parts Manual. Doesn't look like there is one identified.

- Loch

Update - I did some exploratory poking around on the rail. The hole in question is threaded. So I can find an appropriate sized screw (in diameter and length) for a pin. The threads were covered over with healthy amount of powder coat.

[Steve Slocombe]

Dear Loch, the pin does not have a part number but I've used a countersunk rivet before. Also, don't foget two 0129 nuts on the pedal shaft so that the adjustment does not loosen in service.

[loch]

Thanks Steve, I gauged the threads at 1/4 -28, the side rail is a reproduction which might explain the presence of the threads and the none standard size. I didn't notice the threads before because of the powder coating. But a bolt of the same size from the hardware store fits nicely. I'm going to use allen head cap screws to thread from the inside of the rail as the hex bolt head is too large. The cap screw heads shouldn't interfere with the bulbous area that forms the support for the hole that the pedal shaft slides into. Then I'll measure and trim the end of the screw so it doesn't protrude past the surface of the friction disc. The 1/4 size of the screw fits nicely inside the orifice of the disc.

Regards,
Loch