THE WAY TO GO COMMANDO
All in all, it was a proper pickle. Tightening the clutch hub nut had overwhelmed the retaining circlip at the back of the hub and somehow locked the gearbox. It looked as though the mainshaft had been pulled out, but that was not possible. Had I not tightened the nut securing the other end and taken its picture? No, the gearbox sprocket and sleeve gear must have been pushed back into the gearbox and that would have the same effect. In any event, there was nothing else for it but to dismantle the gearbox and primary drive, and start again.
That was easier said than done. Getting the inner chaincase over the jammed spacer meant destroying the mainshaft seal but gave me access to the circlip so I could remove it and go on to dismantle the gearbox. If nothing else, this showed the benefit of using jointing compound on one side of the gaskets with grease on the other. Not only did the covers come off easily, I could leave the gaskets in place for reassembly.
With the cogs out of the box it was clear that the sleeve gear had moved, so I drifted it back out to seat against the bearing. It was then a matter of retracing some old ground as I refitted the mainshaft and gearbox internals, taking the opportunity to put a thick washer under the selector detent nut to make gear selection easier.
The new circlip finally arrived with other parts I had ordered and reminded me that few suppliers match RGM’s typical next day service. Mindful of Einstein’s definition of a fool: one who repeats the same process and expects a different result, I looked closely at the circlip and clutch hub spacer.
