Prologue for the R3T Detent Spring Issue (PART 1)
(I hope these links work.)
I was on a ride deep in the Blue Ridge Mountains when the transmission kept popping out of gear...mostly 5th. As well, I would get false neutrals; it would take 8 downshifts to get from 5th to 1st.
I should note that I was almost exactly at 58k miles on my 2009 Rocket III Touring.
Having read about these symptoms on R3 Owners (
https://www.r3owners.net/) I immediately suspected a broken detent spring. I called a friend in Tampa who’d dealt with not one but TWO broken detent springs on his 2008 R3T (at 20k and 50k miles). He confirmed my suspicions and agreed to overnight me the entire repair kit (consisting of a new spring, the main engine gasket, a water pump o ring, some washers, a clutch stop tool and a clutch basket peen nut). I was fortunate that my friend had the kit ready and waiting and was willing to express mail it to me.
I was also fortunate to be traveling with a master mechanic. Not only was he not afraid to take on the task, he appeared to revel in it. We are pretty confident he has a brain tumor….
The three amigos working on the patient
https://photos.smugmug.com/Motorcyc...kway-/i-DwF8fNr/0/9ee1f23d/X2/IMG_7525-X2.jpg
I disconnected the battery before starting the work, generally just a good practice to be safe when getting this deep into a bike. The first order of business was to disassemble the front end of the bike including the front wheel, front fender, radiator, front engine cover and clutch basket.
As well, the antifreeze was completely drained. I raised the tank during the entire process to make access to the wiring easier.
Front end removed it can be done without taking off the front wheel but this just made the later processes so much easier to access the bolts etc.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Motorcyc...kway-/i-xKmKzD6/0/62586c9e/XL/IMG_2859-XL.jpg
All the trim pieces around the radiator have to be removed, there are three of them.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Motorcyc...kway-/i-GkK5qMF/0/a114b7bd/XL/IMG_7509-XL.jpg
Radiator trim removed
https://photos.smugmug.com/Motorcyc...kway-/i-DnLLCtX/0/94590356/XL/IMG_7517-XL.jpg
Radiator removed, it should be noted the fan plug is under the gas tank and is a pain to find but take your time following it up from the radiator.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Motorcyc...kway-/i-xKdMNmr/0/7bde353d/XL/IMG_7536-XL.jpg
Something to note is the orientation of the two dots on the clutch actuator arm they have to be put back in the same orientation when reinstalled.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Motorcyc...kway-/i-gxmPWqD/0/3723a664/XL/IMG_7522-XL.jpg
The water pump cover is removed first (three bolts) and then the 20+ holding on the main cover is next. There are dowel pins that help to align the cover so we used some small screwdrivers to help walk the cover off the main engine case. Take your time as there is a huge gasket around the entire perimeter in our case it was pretty well stuck on so took a while to get everything freed up for final removal. Note the large round chrome piece on the front cover is there for aesthetics there is nothing behind it and DOES NOT have to be removed.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Motorcyc...kway-/i-xKdMNmr/0/7bde353d/XL/IMG_7536-XL.jpg
https://photos.smugmug.com/Motorcyc...kway-/i-7zcGjtJ/0/eb73f411/XL/IMG_7538-XL.jpg
Here the backside of the cover gives you an idea of the number of bolts etc. involved.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Motorcyc...kway-/i-Wq82zvT/0/4d4fcab6/XL/IMG_7542-XL.jpg
After removing the clutch plate retaining cover (5 small bolts with springs behind them) we then removed the clutches and plates, make sure to keep them in the same order/orientation, and most importantly, the last one with the large bevel spring, if you put that back in the wrong way it wont shift right and has to come apart again.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Motorcyc...kway-/i-NjtWRJB/0/8d366792/XL/IMG_7545-XL.jpg
Here you see the cover and some of the disks and plates removed from the clutch assembly
https://photos.smugmug.com/Motorcyc...kway-/i-HWdV7qJ/0/534db6c2/XL/IMG_7546-XL.jpg
This is the doohiky that is moving the clutch when you operate the lever at the bars, note the wave washed etc, again must keep in the same orientation, it just slid out of the middle section of the clutch assembly.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Motorcyc...kway-/i-knBVF8L/0/33287bae/XL/IMG_7548-XL.jpg
Next was the removal of the nut holding on the clutch basket assembly it was peened onto the crankshaft so have to remove the peen, you can see the deformed lip in the middle of the nut, again we replaced with new and there is a specific order of assembly outlined in the manual.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Motorcyc...kway-/i-JKWWZn6/0/578829ea/XL/IMG_7549-XL.jpg
Here is a brief breakdown of what's going on once inside the front cover.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Motorcyc...rkway-/i-j676MMt/0/889e990f/XL/innards-XL.jpg
The post that is being pointed too is the other mounting point for the broken spring, the hole you see on the arm to the right is the other end mounting point.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Motorcyc...kway-/i-NCDBkst/0/0eddfb24/XL/IMG_7555-XL.jpg
And this is a picture of said spring installed
https://photos.smugmug.com/Motorcyc...kway-/i-tCSR5V3/0/8a1f4891/XL/IMG_7568-XL.png
My Triumph-owning friend had also supplied me with a cheat sheet on the entire process, compiled by a member of R3 Owners.
Disassembly went fairly quickly, though we had to improvise removing the clutch assembly nut as we hadn’t yet received the clutch stop tool. A strap wrench did the trick and we awaited the overnight package with the required parts.
We expected to lose a quart or more of oil, but hardly any at all spilled out as the front end was slightly elevated by the bike lift we used.
Once the UPS van pulled up, we immediately got to work putting everything back together.
Note: Some R3 owners commented on the photos that I posted, stating the lifter was worn and should be replaced. Well, that would have to wait as I was in the middle of a ride with no access to that $45 part.
This is the lifter in question
https://photos.smugmug.com/Motorcyc...kway-/i-mpCP459/0/e71569b8/XL/IMG_7623-XL.jpg
There were some very technical items that require special care, such as some needle bearings that would scatter if not handled properly. As well, we purchased some gasket sealer and let that set while we worked on the other items.
Specific to the needle bearings. There is a collar in the middle of the clutch basket that keeps them in place. So long as you are aware of this collar and make sure it stays put as you R&R the basket you will be fine, if it comes out and you let those needle bearing get loose get some beer your going to be there for a while fiddling with them all getting back into place, use heavy grease to keep them put if this happens, in our case we did not have this issue.
We did not get a picture of this specific part.
(Continued...)