1920 HD Sport Model Clutch Work

[LouieMCman]

Finally got of my ass and tore into the clutch on the Sport Model. I wanted brake or clutch material to replace what Harley called "Fiber Discs" but was having trouble finding what I wanted. So I bought some 3mm (.118") cork material from Grainger supply. The plates measured .080" so I figured I needed at least .010 per side for the clutch to work. I then punched out the 132 disc needed for the plates using a 5/16" punch. I took more time to punch out the discs and put in the plates then the rest of the job put together. The clutch work went good but I discovered that the mechanical oil pump was not passing much oil. I had trouble getting the pump apart, as far as I know it has never been apart since new. It took me a few hours to disassemble, clean, and reassemble the pump. All back together by 11:00 PM. Added oil and gas the next morning and fired it up. Checked the oil flow first and was working great, the next morning it had the usual puddle of oil under the motor. Next was the clutch which was not slipping but was not releasing all the way. Made slight adjustment and rode it around the hood about 3 or 4 times letting the discget lubed and seated. Overall it's working much better with the new cork discs.

[auzzie flat]

with the clutch assembled on the gearbox shaft check how much end float the clutch gear can be moved in and out of the gear box. excess movement I found on my bike caused clutch to slip at full throttle and had trouble disengaging clutch stationary. the other effect i found was bike could not be moved when clutch disengaged. I found bronze collar on gearbox shaft between first gear and bearing inner race had worn away and was hard against teeth on first gear and lock to it which is not how it is shown in parts book. on making new collar to what I believe it should be I found I had to back off the tension on the clutch plates adjust screws to disengage clutch and have not noticed any slipage on full power over bumps. end float is now only about 10-15 thou instead of 1/8" . I also found where spline on gearbox shaft had worn into first gear and into the gear connected to the gearbox sprocket.
I know my bike has done a lot of mileage between early 30's and mid 40's when my dad had it as his only transport. I would be interested if any one has rubbers for kick start pedal or even a complete kick start assembly as i had to make the whole assembly as the original had been lost back in the 50's

[LouieMCman]

auzzie flat, my bike seems to have been used very little. when I got it and pulled the motor apart I found original bore, pistons/rings, and valves. I cleaned up the bore and reseated the valves and have been riding it the last ten years or so. My problem was the original discs were still in the clutch and were brittle and glazed. Sorry I don't have any kick start parts.

You got any current pictures of your bike or pictures back when your dad rode it in the 30's and 40's ???

[auzzie flat]

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Louie
picture is of my father on my 1920 harley taken early 1930's. he was 6'3" tall. he removed original muffler and put straight pipe with fish tail to stop oil buildup that smoked with original muffler. we went back to old howestead and found original centre pipe and rear town and country shutter and rear pipe about 1980 when we started to put it back together as motor had been mounted in a timber swing saw but it would overheat . when i figure out how to reduce size of photos I will put currant condition up. tank has shield tank transfer with 20W1823 engine number and 1919 clutch pedal which is original .