lotty

Thanks. Yes, the woodruf key would have been loose, though I didn't realise it. I pretty much just took the nut to the split washer to finger tight.....it all seemed firm enough for point setting and kicking it over a few times, but when spinning fast, well, that's another thing. It was because I'd had the damn thing on and off so many times that it seemed pointless to arrest the flywheel and tighten it fully up. I'll try it all tightend up from now on. Thank you very much. I would have carried on doing the same thing. Thanks. So the thingy is the advance retard unit. I thought it would do something like that. The bike is a damn good specimen of its type, so I will certainly get it all working perfectly. Once again, thanks for clearing that up. We all have to learn, eh.

Took the dt 175 to quarry to scrub land for a quick do. The danm thing stopped. Its normally ok. I had a new plug, but nothing, just a tantalizing little rev and then nothing. I had to push it back, a steep hill which I had to tack up for a long way. It nearly put my lights out, so I quickly bought a long-overdue trailer. Got one of those that break down in mins to go in the car, can be single or double, very good. Anyway, I gets around to looking at the job. Firstly, sometimes spark then not. So whipped the flywheel off. The points were deep pitted. I trimmed em back to shape with a diamond file, getting then even, but still the same. I soldered on a new condenser. The spark seemed much better. So I whipped it in the head and it revved into life......for about 10secs. Whipped plug out and there was no spark. and on and on it went, then one time it gave a couple of backfires. I whipped the flywheel off and the first thing I noticed was the little semi-circular thingy that fit in a slot which lines the flywheel up right had......sheered in half like it was best butter! I will make one of those, no prob, and am jus about to fit a new set of points, so I'll have to see how that goes. But in the meantime I am wondering about something I saw when I took the flywheeel off. The cam is like a tube which slides onto the middle of the inside of the flywheel. and at the bottom of it there is a little slot into which fits a little arm which is fitted with a spring. All this is in the flywheel. I took it apart and cleaned it and oiled it, noticing that it was very worn through lack of oil (the bike is 1975). In fact, the pin on which it moved was so worn at one side that this 'thing' was able to wobble a bit, and so much so that it may not have been able to do its job properly. I made a very thin little washer and put it under the little circlip, and it seemed to level it up. I oiled it and it seems to move and return ok. All it seems to do is move the cam 'sleeve/tube' a tiny bit. Can anyone tell me wht this thing's function is? I just inagined that a cam would be enough to open and close points, so why this little thing, and is its unworn functioning very necessary to the job. Does it halt the points open for a moment or something. Perhaps this is the trouble. I'll know more when I've made the thing that broke and when the points are in. But what is that rocking thing in the bottom of the flywheel? The manual doesn't show the flywheel inner. The last points I set was 32 years ago on my AP 50. I think that could be done with the flywheel off. This sucker is difficult working through the slots in the flywheel. Anyway, the girlfriend has just stirred upstairs......X-Factor must have finished, so I'll be signing off for today but will look back to this and bump it up if anyone can shed any light on the matter. What is that damn thing? Puzzling.

I thought you'd know the area here by way of it being on the trail up to the dales and lakes. I have never actually been on a green lane. I had to sell my DT 175 MX when I was 18, as I'd had plenty of biking fun with my mates, but had discovered women and so needed a car and the money to buy one, so the MX had to go. Naturally I regretted it years later, as kids cost a fortune, but jokes aside, I did regret selling the MX, and also the AP 50 I had before that, but that's just all part of the threadbare, rather than rich tapesty of youth. And then grownup world got a grip of me and biking had to take a backseat as I tackled the challenges. But, now in my 40s things are a bit better and hence a DT 175 in my life again. How many blokes also have the same story? Thousands and thousands. I tend to just potter about on sunny summer days around where I live, in terms of rides. I go off road a bit on bits of land here and there, and got talking to a bloke who went on green lanes. He told me of a boozer to go in where there are bikers who do green laning, and I was all fired up for it and then within days the bike got stuck in neutral, and i just put the repairing to one side until winter as there's some summer jobs to do on the house whilst the weather is here. But the bloke did tell me the green lane was just about to be closed down to bikes, and this was why I was keen to do it straight away. In fact I'd planned to go the day after when the bike broke, and it seemed so unbelievable bad timing I wondered if a guardian angel knew was not careful enough and so saved me. Very frustrating indeed. But as far as I know there are still some green lanes, for the time being. I expect green lanes to be more of a muddy scramble, and that isn't really my bag. I just potter on tarmac doing about 25 or 40 mph max.

Colne, Lancashire. It's and old, small, cotton mill town. It's ok. Is it an area you know?

Oldgit, cheers for that, mate. Really is much appreciated. Living up here in and amongst the Pennines, it looks like I'll be checking out some green lanes this year after all. Mega.

Right, mates, it's good news...........the home brew has turned out very well, and this is the main thing, but also good news is that I have sorted the 'stuck in neutral' problem. Firstly, I have to say that I absolutely detest computers with all my heart, hence all the mess with the pictures. Anyway, if you're interested in what the problem was and its solution, if you look at the three pictures I have just posted you will see two photos showing the gear selector arm and the gear selector drum, and you will notice that on one photo the arm has slipped off the drum, so that the arm's end is not able to pull and push the selector drum around, and this is what had happened. The reason why this happened is that there was some play, about 6mm, as the gear change shaft (see the third photo) was able to slide laterally, so the selector arm was able to jump off the drum. The fact that it was in neutral meant nothing, as the arm could have come off the drum leaving the gearbox in any of the gears as much as in neutral, and the cure was simply to pack the shaft, at the gear lever side, with a couple of washers. So, that's it, sorted. I would like some help, please, as to where to get gaskets for the case (or do you think I can get away with the old one and some joining compound?), and I suppose also for the cylinder barrel and head. And as for advice regarding the home brew................get some on! Cheers, all the breast, etc, etc... lotty

http://s332.photobucket.com/albums/m328/lo...nt=SV101853.jpg

http://s332.photobucket.com/albums/m328/lo...nt=SV101852.jpg http://s332.photobucket.com/albums/m328/lo...nt=SV101851.jpg http://s332.photobucket.com/albums/m328/lo...nt=SV101851.jpg

Well, I don't know why sometimes i can get a picture up and sometimes not. Anyway the other side is just the oil pump side, which you can imagine. I'm away for some kip, now. Cheers.

[/img

IMG] With a bit of luck, that should be it: the four photos I wanted to post. And if so, then has anyone any ideas on the next stage?

http://i332.photobucket.com/albums/m328/lotty_018/SV10 These two photos show either side of the engine. If they haven't come up I'll have another go tomorrow.

photobucket.com/albums/m328/lotty_018/SV101842.jpg http://i332.photobucket.com/albums/m328/lotty_018/SV

I think we've cracked it.

I have copied that from one of the photographs. It should be coming up in blue, and the cursor having a little pointing finger when placed over it.

ttp://s332.photobucket.com/albums/m328/lotty_018/. Nope, I'm affraid it's just not playing ball. I copied the URL, and then tried to paste it here (by pressing control and v at the same time, as I normally do for youtube, which always works). So I just don't know. Any ideas, anyone?

Right, so with a bit of luck four photos should pop up here, if not I'll try again, so here goes........http://s332.photobucket.com/albums/m328/lotty_018/

Cheers for that help, mates. I'll get the pics up on the workshop forum tomorrow.

Can anyone tell me how to get the photos I have taken of my dt engine onto this forum so that I can discuss a gearbox problem. I took the photos and have downloaded them into my document file, but that's as far as I can get. It has to be said that I'm very poor at computer stuff. Any help would be appreciated.

Oldgit, I shall look for a broken spring. In fact, I am all fired-up about this, so i've decided to get stuck into it this week, and I'll update here when there is any progress. Cheers.

Cheers for that, Bill. The manual has good pictures of those U-shaped selectors, so i know what you mean. Just chatting about the gearbox on this forum is making me want to get started on it because it is a big mysterty, and I don't feel so alone with the daunting task.

Oldgit, The splines are intact and the lever isn't slipping. That bit works well, and even returns to the middle position with the spring, like it is ment to.

So I was just riding along but pulling away from some lights I thought, 'Funny, that's the second time that I have just pulled away in 2nd, when I thought I was in 1st'. At the next junction I made sure that the lever would not click down anymore, but once again I had to set off in 2nd. Then I could feel that I was not fluidly going up and down the gears, and I pulled over and strugglled to get it in neutral, and when eventually I did get it in neutral I could not get it out of neutral at all.......... the lever went up and down, springing back to its middle position, but no hint of a gear could be then ever be found at all, like the gears had vanished, and I ended up having to get a flat-back waggon which was going my way to take me and the bike the few miles home for a tenner. A day or two later I looked in the manual and could see it appeared like a big job because access to the box would involve removal and dismantelling of the lot. I would tackle the dismantling and reassembly, but the problem is that I have no idea what I am looking for. Obviously there might be something out of shape or broken, which I could assume to be the culprit, but what if it wasn't so mechanically obvious? I'd just end up, well, with a zillion pieces and scratching my head. So you can see that I really do need to take some advice about this, and I would be especially grateful if someone has had exactly the same problem. The bike itself is original and only done just over 5K which is genuine because of the original tyres which I have just had to replace, and the gearbox has never given any problem before in the slightest, and has always run perfectly.

This is my first post. I tried before but it didn't work, so this is just a test. But I am going to make a post about a dread problem regarding my 1974 DT 175. My bird has just forced me to go a long walk, and I need some quick shut-eye.