Rickman Kwak Rotor - Rotor/starter clutch assy slipping

[Ssnake]

Chris,

Cheers for the phottie, I've had a look at mine, it doesnt appear to be as bad as yours. Can you actually feel ridges on the boss, it looks as though its a map of the Himalayas!
If I get a chance I'll try and photograph mine and post it. It does have very faint markings where the clutch dowels have bit it but I wouldnt have thought that this would be that bad to cause it to fail, but hey who knows what really goes on inside the engine.
Cheers
Ssnake

[chrisNI]

If there's anything at all visible I'd say it was suspect. Those things exert a fair bit of pressure and the slightest hump could stop it dead in it's tracks. Especially in lighht of your problem. Just marks without it busting off I wouldn't worry about.

[Garn 1]

Ssnake & Chris, I can't help thinking it has been the damper-rubber (too thick), at the back of the starter gear wheel, not allowing the taper to seat. This would allow enough looseness on the lapped taper surface for the key to shear and cause the ground surface to chatter, albeit slight in Ssnakes case.

However, I think we would have noticed that the starter wheel would have been under constant drag, before the securing bolt loosened.

RegardZ

[chrisNI]

Garn the damper rubber would tend to shrink with age if anything. When the problem started to occur on my bike the rubber had been in there for the best part of 20 years without mishap so I don't think it could have been not properly seated on the taper. I replaced it at the same time as the other bits with a new one which if anything was a bit fatter and it has stayed there ever since. That was about 1996.

[Rich]

You've probably got more chance of the woodruff key not seating properly whilst tightening and having a worn taper not making contact allover than you have of that rubber stopping it tighten. Take the woodruff key out put some micrometer blue on the rotor taper and see what you get.

[Garn 1]

Rich, agree I'm "grasping at straws". However, Ssnake said (first post) that he had the taper bore lapped into the taper. So there has to be something not letting the taper seat! Could the phosphur-bronze washer be reversed (chamfer out)? The only other scenario, for the starter clutch to jam on, is in reverse.

RegardZ

[chrisNI]

It doesn't matter how well it's lapped to the taper if the starter clutch is worn and it jams nothing will hold it on. Short of drilling a hole in the rotor and putting an 8mm allen bolt through it that is. And I've seen that believe it or not on a Z1R this bloke I met once had bought... but it was a real wreck. I'd venture to suggest that course of action ended up knocking out the crank.

[ollie]

i too had a prob like this with a yoshi motor ,i like chris found the starter clutch was worn ,banged on a new one and end of prob,at the time i was unsure if it was that but it worked great.

[Ssnake]

Just thought Id keep you guys up to date with the progress. I priced up a replacement clutch starter ring from Z1 Power, it would have cost ?210!! so I said
b!ll*cks to that and have looked at a cheaper alternative, IM planning to have the bush on the clutch gear ring lightly reground and polished to take out any imperfections on it and buy a clutch repair kit for ?25. Hopefully this will sort it, I'll keep you posted on the bikes progess after I've finished my degree in June

Keep on ridin' Ssnake

[Pigford]

Ssnake... My Z1000 had a real bad rattle/clanging noise that turned out to be the starter gear. One of the 3 bolts holding the gear with the rollers had sheared, and the others were loose. Luckily the threads were not badly damaged & i managed to drill the brocken bolt out. Now I've locktited the b*st*rds in and also the main crank bolt holding it on! My engines a 1075 Wiseco/gasflowed/RS36's.! Be interested to hear outcome, & where u got repair kit!

[Ssnake]

Pigford, hi mate , if you look at Z-Powerweb site they do classic kwak parts, the repair kit I've found is obviously for the stock Z1000A1. Happy shopping!!
Cheers Ssnake

[Ssnake]

Well its just over a year since I last spoke, after eventually finishing my degree last summer and then helping the social secretary with her course work I have mananged to spend some time working on the bike.
I finished lapping the rotor, polished up the boss on the starter clutch gear ring and also bought a clutch repair kit.
Noticed that the new springs were a lot stiffer than the old ones and the old ones were new replacments when I bought the bike.
For good measure also bought a new M8 bolt.
Have now fitted it and it spins the engine over okay now, new problem cant get the bike started yet, have removed the carbs and given them a clean, had to buy new gaskets as the old ones were homemade rubber and kept causing the bowl(s) to overflow, also bought a new battery as the other one was kaput, there is a spark but doesnt seem to want to start up. A bit of Easy Start generates a corker of a flame from the exhaust but just doesnt catch. Just wonder if there is fuel starvation? Any way of checking if fuel is getting into inlet ports okay?

[Rich]

Just done my starter clutch - new rollers, springs and 1000wet and dry sure make a difference

While you had it to bits have you played with the coils - swapped the wiring over, greased the adv/ret cam - put it back on the wrong way round. You may have the timing 180 deg out.

[chrisNI]

If your plugs aren't wet there's no fuel - if they are there is. If the bikes been sitting a long time your pilot and starter jets could still be blocked sometimes you can have to pull the carbs down a few times. I take it you're using new fuel?