ALTERNATOR DRIVE UNIT STRIP DOWN

[MRGONE]

Hi, does any one know the hard facts on this unit's internal functionality? and i'm not talking about it's operation in conjunction with the starter clutch or driving the rotar magnet over the stator (Most seem to be guessing on how this thing works or causes the vibration / noise,)The Honda service manual explains how to dismantle and reassemble the unit,and does mention the friction material briefly.
All i can figure out is that when it's working OK the springs act as a damper and the balls balance it out under centrifugal force.
On my Aspencade 86 i sorted the engine vibration noise out that happens around 1,700 RPM and goes after around 2,400 RPM by installing a new replacement unit and setting the backlash with the dial indicator as in the manuals instructions (this was in 2004 with around just 38,000 miles) it's been running so smooth ever since,now has 84,000 miles on.
I did strip the unit down but i left it at my workplace and it got submersed in the Sheffield flood, i have cleaned it up (NOT to use just to try and get my head round it) it has some friction material on it i never noticed if the balls rattled when i took it out so i don't really know what caused it started to vibrate.

Now for this (sorry if this is long winded but there are a lot of 1200 Wingers who don't know that this is a cause of the engine vibration at these RPM's)

Well i have a GL1200 84 Standard (54,000 miles on it) and you guessed it this same vibration problem has occurred.
So the engine is now out,and so is the alternator drive unit and the drive unit now dismantled ,the balls in it were found free to rattle in the casing ,the bearing in alloy drive mounting plate/ drive shaft rotates smooth with no play.
but there are no traces of the friction material, i have read of people machining a few thou out of the ball housing case to create a clearance so the balls move as the lack of friction disc material or other cause stopped them moving :the unit was then reinstalled and the engine runs fine. (has any one installed this unit with no friction material and the ball case clearance machined ?)
or may be the backlash just can drift out from the specification of two thou at the three points 120 degree apart.
any Hard Facts or thoughts anyone ?
Regards Len

[Ernestee0]

Hi, does any one know the hard facts on this unit's internal functionality? and i'm not talking about it's operation in conjunction with the starter clutch or driving the rotar magnet over the stator (Most seem to be guessing on how this thing works or causes the vibration / noise,)The Honda service manual explains how to dismantle and reassemble the unit,and does mention the friction material briefly.
All i can figure out is that when it's working OK the springs act as a damper and the balls balance it out under centrifugal force.
On my Aspencade 86 i sorted the engine vibration noise out that happens around 1,700 RPM and goes after around 2,400 RPM by installing a new replacement unit and setting the backlash with the dial indicator as in the manuals instructions (this was in 2004 with around just 38,000 miles) it's been running so smooth ever since,now has 84,000 miles on.
I did strip the unit down but i left it at my workplace and it got submersed in the Sheffield flood, i have cleaned it up (NOT to use just to try and get my head round it) it has some friction material on it i never noticed if the balls rattled when i took it out so i don't really know what caused it started to vibrate.

Now for this (sorry if this is long winded but there are a lot of 1200 Wingers who don't know that this is a cause of the engine vibration at these RPM's)

Well i have a GL1200 84 Standard (54,000 miles on it) and you guessed it this same vibration problem has occurred.
So the engine is now out,and so is the alternator drive unit and the drive unit now dismantled ,the balls in it were found free to rattle in the casing ,the bearing in alloy drive mounting plate/ drive shaft rotates smooth with no play.
but there are no traces of the friction material, i have read of people machining a few thou out of the ball housing case to create a clearance so the balls move as the lack of friction disc material or other cause stopped them moving :the unit was then reinstalled and the engine runs fine. (has any one installed this unit with no friction material and the ball case clearance machined ?)
or may be the backlash just can drift out from the specification of two thou at the three points 120 degree apart.
any Hard Facts or thoughts anyone ?
Regards Len

Hi , I did machine the surface inside the assembly , because friction material has worn the ball get stuck , they should be moving whilst rotating in your hand ( obviously , you hear the rattle ) if this does not happen , you have to machine the housing or buy new clutch plates for the unit . But they are difficult to obtain with engines this old .The stupid thing is , Honda did try to make a smooth machine ,but if the clutch wears vibrations will occur , because the balls are not moving and there is no chance of them restoring balance. I tried to run it without the balls , seems to be no difference , just a bit more vibration on very high RPM's > 7500 . I think Honda should have used the old dampener unit with the rubbers. No problems ever.

[MRGONE]

Hi, does any one know the hard facts on this unit's internal functionality? and i'm not talking about it's operation in conjunction with the starter clutch or driving the rotar magnet over the stator (Most seem to be guessing on how this thing works or causes the vibration / noise,)The Honda service manual explains how to dismantle and reassemble the unit,and does mention the friction material briefly.
All i can figure out is that when it's working OK the springs act as a damper and the balls balance it out under centrifugal force.
On my Aspencade 86 i sorted the engine vibration noise out that happens around 1,700 RPM and goes after around 2,400 RPM by installing a new replacement unit and setting the backlash with the dial indicator as in the manuals instructions (this was in 2004 with around just 38,000 miles) it's been running so smooth ever since,now has 84,000 miles on.
I did strip the unit down but i left it at my workplace and it got submersed in the Sheffield flood, i have cleaned it up (NOT to use just to try and get my head round it) it has some friction material on it i never noticed if the balls rattled when i took it out so i don't really know what caused it started to vibrate.

Now for this (sorry if this is long winded but there are a lot of 1200 Wingers who don't know that this is a cause of the engine vibration at these RPM's)

Well i have a GL1200 84 Standard (54,000 miles on it) and you guessed it this same vibration problem has occurred.
So the engine is now out,and so is the alternator drive unit and the drive unit now dismantled ,the balls in it were found free to rattle in the casing ,the bearing in alloy drive mounting plate/ drive shaft rotates smooth with no play.
but there are no traces of the friction material, i have read of people machining a few thou out of the ball housing case to create a clearance so the balls move as the lack of friction disc material or other cause stopped them moving :the unit was then reinstalled and the engine runs fine. (has any one installed this unit with no friction material and the ball case clearance machined ?)
or may be the backlash just can drift out from the specification of two thou at the three points 120 degree apart.
any Hard Facts or thoughts anyone ?
Regards Len

Hi , I did machine the surface inside the assembly , because friction material has worn the ball get stuck , they should be moving whilst rotating in your hand ( obviously , you hear the rattle ) if this does not happen , you have to machine the housing or buy new clutch plates for the unit . But they are difficult to obtain with engines this old .The stupid thing is , Honda did try to make a smooth machine ,but if the clutch wears vibrations will occur , because the balls are not moving and there is no chance of them restoring balance. I tried to run it without the balls , seems to be no difference , just a bit more vibration on very high RPM's > 7500 . I think Honda should have used the old dampener unit with the rubbers. No problems ever.

Hi, Thanks for the info,when i stripped my unit down the friction material had worn off but the balls still rattled, i bought a used replacement unit and examined it and gave it a bit of a clean,it had some friction material on (How much is supposed to be on i have no idear) overall the unit seemed to have little wear.
Well got everything back together and i went to work on the bike (only about three miles) and it seems to have done the trick.
I do like these 1200's But the service to the rear of the engine is a pain,ie
Pulse generators on (84's),starter clutch, clutch,stator,alternator drive unit.
In sumary on the rear engine service on my bikes

My Aspencade= Engine out Four times (three times within six months with around 38,000 miles on ,the first by some smart ass that thought he could cure this vibration problem but didn't; second by me that did , third time a few months later for the damn stator this was in 2004 when i was new to wings and before i was on line) stator went again a few years later 30 miles off of the ferry into Spain (i bought a spare battery and charger,kept charging batteries (managed to do about 200 miles and charge the battery overnight) and ran it until it died and kept charging each battery overnight , got me through the holiday and back to the UK then i did my own outboard alternator (Poorboy) and when i changed the rear tyre decided to pull the engine and fit a new stator , i hard wired stator and all wires under the dummy tank eliminating the spade connector as these are what had caused the burn out (wish i new about them before)
I could easily convert to the out board alternator if needs be.
The mileage now has just under 82,000.

My GL1200 Standard (84)= Engine out twice (first time to replace stator (around 45,000miles )
then to do the alternator drive unit and stator looked a bit cooked (i don't think i did the hard wiring from the stator under the dummy tank straight away on the first time).
The mileage now has just under 52,000
Both bikes are running fine now.
But i'm aiming to sell both now and buy a F6C Valkyrie
I've just put all this on info on in case it helps someone else out like just one sentence from somebody else has helped me solve things and get things running right,
as lets face it if you take this kind of bike into a shop for this kind of work the cost would be a few times more than the bikes worth and they are NOT going to paint your engine while it's out.
Lenny
April 2nd 2017/
Time 12:57 British summertime