We must be well and truly smack bang central in The Silly Season as there are so few interestin' topics for you guys to chew over, however I have an almost never-ending sourse of questions to keep even the hardiest of rubber-headed Ducatisti scratching their collective cranii...................
My present query concerns the goings-on in the right-hand engine casing, namely the Clutch Department. As I have oft-intimated, I am aiming for a hyperlighteight Pantah and thus am using the so-called Small Clutch - asuming it to be lighter that the Large Clutch - BUT I also want to make use of the famous (infamous?) Paso straight-cut primary gears. And my question is HOW?

With my Small Clutch the whole issue is held together with swaged-in-place steel pins the soft ends of which are located in a mild steel ring to the rear of the large primary gear while the heads (of the pins) sit in recesses in the base of the die-cast alloy clutch basket. Were I to grind off the ends of the pins (eight in number), I'm sure that I could separate the primary gear and the rest of the clutch, but what THEN???
My Paso primaries are not (yet) here, so how does the large primary gear normally mate to the cutch basket? I'm sure that queries of such simplicity are meat and drink to the big brains on the forum, so once I've turned-off my angle grinder, what next???????

Poison

Hi Poison,
you're funny!
For what it's worth, I read elsewhere that once you grind them off, it's a case of either re-riveting them back on or using countersunk high tensile bolts threaded in to the steel backing plate. And submerse it in loctite....
Riveting sound better. Search the world young man.....
I would wait till you have all the parts in front of your eyes... without rose coloured glasses on. hehe.

Cheers,
Steve

P.S. Once you have done yours....let me know!

Thanks for that Steve! I started this question in the hope that deep mid-summer might induce some clutch experts into parting with their knowledge plus I have only my "small clutch" with me right now..............so I'll curb my natural exuberance, and not touch my angle grinder until I have ALL parts sitting on my bench. I'm sure that what you read is more-or-less correct, but I'm still thinking that to de-head the eight rivets would just about destroy the ring-like plate into which the rivets are fixed. If its your intention to do as i am doing, wait until October when I'll be back here in Philippines, and I'll make-up (I mean HAVE made-up) a fresh fixing ring (with spare) so that you can emulate my fumblings.................

Poison

Poison,
could you not drill the existing rivets out thus saving the steel ring plate? Grinding only makes sparks....and get's in your eyes!
I do not know what diameter drill bit though.
Sorry,
Steve.

Hi Poison Primarily speaking you seem to be in the clutches of that perambulation (as many puns as I could fit). If weight is the concern the straight forward approach is drill holes like a true racer. The later dry clutches with their straight cut gears are worth the little extra weight. One option might be to convert alum late model basket to the earlier dry set-up (same bolt pattern) and using light weight clutch set. I dont kow what motor your base is but when adding the dry clutch to a wet motor I believe the trans shaft will have to be changed (longer).
-Cranky-

Swiss cheese!
Poison, that's what you need!
I think I saw one of those longer gearbox sets on ebay just the other day.
Good luck.
Steve

Thanks guys, for your perturbations to my perambulations!
My intentions were to go for a dry clutch at some later stage, once I were sure that I would save a smidgeon more weight with such a thing! i dont HAVE one yet for the simple reason that everyone and his dog has one......... Also I really have no intention of having all that oil-cooler stuff cluttering my bike up
My engine is (at least at the moment) is a normal Pantah 600TL model which has just polished ports - not my work - and slightly higher comp ratio - by dint of leaving off any cylinder base gaskets. I'll also be running 37mm carbs, but that's a different story

Swiss cheese is a better idea, Steve! However cheese with holes comes into the category of unobtainium here in the Philippines, matey, and it involves a six-hour boat ride to discover that it might be out of stock AFTER the boat-ride.............!!! I'll be back in Europe next week, so I'll take my chances with the German or French varieties

Poison