Tranny grinds

[fizz]

My 45 chief now grinds going into first. Was ok before I took off the outer primary for inspection. I did take it apart again to inspect the clutch after it started grinding. I am adjusting the clutch per the manuel. What else, syncros like a car tranny?

[Dana]

Mine usually grinds a little as well, especially when it is cold. As you know, the clutch doesn't have springs to separate the plates. So, sometimes the oil will keep the plates stuck together. Well, a completely overkill would be to look up instructions for how to isolate the primary from the rest of the transmission. It involves plugging the oil passage between them and pulling/inserting a bushing and seal between the two. That way, you can run 90wt oil in the transmission and 10wt in the primary. Right now, you should have 30wt which is a compromise. Lighter than you really want for the trans, and heavy enough to cause the plates to drag in the clutch. I've not done the conversion, more than I want to get into. I have put a new clutch in, one from Todd at Jerry Greer's. I would expect a King Clutch to work as well. If you have an original clutch, the new ones are better as they have grooves cut into them to help them release. The original clutch in mine would not release at cold. So, other than making sure your clutch is not ancient, I'm not sure what else to do.

[50indian]

I have a '50 Chief which will grind if not shifted properly. Here's how I do it-before startup I rock the bike back and forth with it in gear and the clutch disengaged just the free up the plates. You can also just kick it through with clutch disengaged to free them up. Start the engine, warm it up then in one quick sequence back off gas, retard the spark ( this will lower rpm) then with vigor shift into first. There will be a small crunch but no grinding once you have the sequence down. You will also get knowing glances from those that understand the idiosyncrasies of Indian ownership
Enjoy the ride