Cush drive reassembly

[AndyH]

I took my wheels to a local bike workshop for a much needed refurb: the corrosion had got under the coating. They needed to be disassembled for this and I asked them to replace the bearings (obviously) and the cush drive rubbers.

 

The front is OK as far as I can tell but the back came back with the flange plate convex side out. I thought something looked not quite right but couldn't out my finger on it. On closer inspection and comparison with photographs in the manual, I found that the cush drive plate had not been driven in enough. The bearing on that side in its carrier is about 6mm in from the end of the splines and it should be flush. The shop had put the bevel flange on the wrong way round because the screw holes wouldn't lie flush on the carrier otherwise. They're normally pretty good but this is a blooper.

 

I tried to push the plate further in, even using a hide hammer to try and get some progress but it doesn't seem to want to go any further.

 

I know that bedding in new cush drive rubbers can be a pain - it's never particularly easy to assemble them - but have the shop made a fundamental error in assembly of the wheel or does it just require more pressure on the plate before screwing the flange down?

 

I'm going to take the wheel back and ask them to get it right as I don't want to wreck the new finish rectifying their mistake. I can feed (helpful) comments back to them to ensure they don't make matters worse.

 

Andy

[luhbo]

The cushions themselves were the correct ones?

[AndyH]

Always a possibility and it wouldn't be the first time it's given me problems on a bike, which is why I went for the cush drive rubber kit as supplied by Stein-Dinse for the V11 Sport 99-01. They are usually pretty reliable as a supplier.

 

Andy

[Tom M]

I've never heard of anyone wearing out cush drive rubbers on a V11.  In fact, lots of guys here have removed half of them and/or drilled holes in them to get more "cush" out of them.  If you search the forum there's an old thread by Greg Field on this.

 

If I'm reading it right it sounds like the the retainer plate should be removed so the bearing can be pressed all the way in.  Maybe the internal spacer isn't lined up correctly and it's preventing the bearing from seating?  In any case the shop should fix it for you.

 

edit: here's the cush drive thread http://www.v11lemans.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=11820&hl=cush

[AndyH]

I've never heard of anyone wearing out cush drive rubbers on a V11. 

The bike's 13 years old and has 30,000 mi + on it. The idea was... for the minimal cost, while the wheel's apart, to bung in a new set.

 

The bearing appears to be in its alloy carrier correctly (i.e. flush with the end of the bearing carrier tube) but as far as I can tell from the manual, the retainer plate needs to be all the way down the carrier tube so that the bearing is flush with the end of both the carrier tube and the splined spigot. Wish I'd taken more notes and pics of the assembly.

 

As so often, Luigi was having a good long sunny afternoon at the local trattoria before he wrote this bit, so apart from the photos and diagrams, that section's about as much help as "Take it apart then put it all back together". "Use two screwdrivers to prize out the retainer plate" is accompanied by "using two screwdrivers may damage the alloy". No sh*t Sherlock!

 

I'd be stuffed without it, but at times, to be honest, the manual's more use as bog paper. Not that I would of course    ...

[docc]

Andy, did you get the drive back apart for a look?

[stefano]

  glad i read this thread. 

  while i've had the rear wheel off couple times, (tires, grease driveline splines,etc etc.) i've never serviced the cush drive.

  i will for sure now, while i'm replacing wheel bearings. (thx for posting bearing #s tom m)

  saw a V11 leMans this summer at the Deep Forest rally with L rear wheel bearing coming apart (bearings dropping in the roadway) up at windy ridge/ Mt St. helens. fellow managed to ride it back into town where he left it at a someones house. 

[AndyH]

Andy, did you get the drive back apart for a look?

Actually, as I didn't want to ruin the new finish I took it back to the shop for them to fix which they did (their bad, their risk) without complaint: it looked and runs fine now.

 

Although it has all the new cush rubbers in (undrilled too!) it seems the power delivery is smooth: there are other posts running at the moment that discuss the backlash and cushioning. Mindful of this I did observe that I generally give the transmission a soft time by not dumping the clutch.

 

Even fast gear changes are accompanied by a slight clutch feathering and noticed I do this in cars too (we Brits do like our stick shifts). Must be from long habit/experience on some pretty clunky machinery over the years. (Morris Mini Van with collapsed engine mount rubbers springs to mind!).

 

The front wheel was a bit of a different story. After front wheel bearing replacement last year at the local MG dealer, they deformed the front bearing spacer enough to prevent easy passage of the axle. The pet ape in their workshop must have used a serious lump hammer to force it through, peening over the blunt end in the process. One reason why my precious ain't going back there any more.

 

Even though the new workshop use proper presses to push bearings in and out, the bearing spacer seems to have got out of shape again just a bit more and will have to be replaced along with the now mushroom-headed axle. I still blame the local shop for starting the process of deterioration.

 

.

[AndyH]

...one bit of good news though: 'while the back wheel was off' (q.v.) I checked the bevel needle roller bearing. In spite of our frankly miserable damp climate here, it showed no sign of rusting and a quick clean and lube put it back on the right track.

 

How do you guys get that bearing in such a state?