Legless spiders

bjork · Post by **bjork** » Thu May 15, 2008 10:43 pm

quote:
I recently fitted a new spider and rubbers. Trying to compress the thick 'uns to insert the thinnys the tool (clutch plate plus handle) just buckled and folded up. I cut a sliver off the thickys to get them in.

That's exactly what happened to my clutch holding tool as well. As a point of interest, where did you buy your spider from Alan? and was it new, or just new to this bike?

Biscuit · Post by **Biscuit** » Fri May 16, 2008 12:05 am

From JSL, new plus the rubbers.

To try and compress the rubbers I eventually had a ratchet tie-down hooked around the tool handle and around the bed of the lathe, it was when the lathe shifted, and it's a big one, that I decided to cut a sliver off of the large rubbers. Against my instincts, but what else to do?

legg · Post by **legg** » Fri May 16, 2008 8:17 am

Bolt your lathe down

Charles · Post by **Charles** » Fri May 16, 2008 8:39 am

Trace round the larger rubber with a pencil on the end grain of a piece of timber. Chisel/Stanley knife off the excess so the end is slightly smaller than the rubber.
Fit the three smaller ones
Use a widebaded screwdriver to ease in all the edges on the first large rubber.
Then use the drift with a wooden mallet/rubber hammer etc.
Curse as all stacked items on the bench head downwards in a random 'never to be found again' fashion.
Smile when you realise how easy it was to replace the rubbers.
Don't tell anyone how well this works.

Seriously, I have struggled doing these in the past but it took ten minutes, most of which was making up the drift.

GSAX1 · Post by **GSAX1** » Fri May 16, 2008 9:17 am

Here is how they did it at the Triumph factory. It's about half-way through the film, at 5 mins.

Michael

itma · Post by **itma** » Fri May 16, 2008 12:41 pm

Being a smart arse I have to say I never had trouble fitting these, and over the years I did quite a few.
I had an old clutch center with a bit of 1/4in bar welded to the back, a clutch plate with a very substantial tube handle, welded in two places to the old clutch plate.
Its necessary to have a solid work bench tho. and a pot of vaseline come in handy.
But lately the worst instance was the clutch rubbers on the lately repaired G2, which need a deft trim with a scalpel.

Oh and a 10 ton bench press came in handy

Biscuit · Post by **Biscuit** » Fri May 16, 2008 12:58 pm

Excellent video that Michael, but why do they have to drown out the natural sounds with music?. I am sure if we all had a geared down capstan operated thingy to rotate the spider it would be a doddle.

Charles, I have done several of these with no problem, but the last lot of rubbers were definitely larger or harder. It would appear that Ken had the same problem.Edited by - Biscuit on 16 May 2008 11:59:48 AM

itma · Post by **itma** » Fri May 16, 2008 1:21 pm

I'm more concerned over being kept in the dark re this B52 stuff, come on what is it?

Biscuit · Post by **Biscuit** » Fri May 16, 2008 3:27 pm

Bjork said he didn't know the answer to his clutch problem, I said B52, meaning replace the box with a Burman B52.

itma · Post by **itma** » Fri May 16, 2008 4:25 pm

and there was me thinking you had some fancy rubber compostion in mind