Preparing to remove the cush drive

I popped the clutch back in the bike yesterday and went for a ride just to test the grinding sound one last time. It was there. What a shame to split the cases on a bike that has less than 18 miles on a full engine rebuild. Feels like a sin. Or maybe the sin is the cush drive was not rebuilt prior to assembling the motor.

I wrote my mentor Tom G. about splitting the cases and asked what short cuts I could take safely and his response was:

"You can do this work with the engine in the bike. Technically, you don't even have to remove the stator entirely either (you do have to unbolt it, so you can get at the engine nuts behind it though -- you just don't have to disconnect the wires from the junction block, or pull them through the housing. Be sure to mark the position of the stator plate so you don't have to re-time the engine (and don't move the points either.

So -- pull the shrouds first. Then the flywheel. Then remove the exhaust, head and at least the two cylinder studs that screw into the flywheel side case half. Technically, you can then just slide the cylinder up a bit, and not remove it entirely, and not remove the piston either. Remove the gearshift box. Then you can remove the case nuts and bolts (remove the stator and use some wire to tie it up out of your way. The flywheel side case half should then slide right off. Be careful not to damage the cylinder base gasket. Replace the case gasket just in case. You will also have to remove the rear wheel, and hub, and when the case is open, drive out the rear axle and the gears. Only then can you remove the cush gear.

Good luck! - Tom

As you can see I have my work cut out for me.