Strada Camshaft Oil Ways

[Duccout]

Update: I have had the wheel rim moved over to centralize it in the swinging arm (luckily the spoke nipples still turned) and I've fitted a new rear tyre, but what is worrying is the width of the spacer that I've had to fit between the sprocket carrier and the wheel bearing, to take up the width of the swinging arm.

Originally I had fitted a 3.5mm spacer between the brake plate and swinging arm, but that was not acceptable because of the brake plate location in the lug, so I had the rim moved over and removed the spacer, but that left a larger gap between the sprocket carrier and wheel bearing, which is so big now that the shock absorber rubber is only half engaged with the vanes in the wheel. I hope that it will be OK; for all I know the wheel assembly could be made up of components from different bikes.

Colin

[themoudie]

My apologies Colin, I cannot offer positive advice. But,

which is so big now that the shock absorber rubber is only half engaged with the vanes in the wheel.

doesn't sound good to me!

Hope you can sort something out.

Good health, Bill

[blethermaskite]

Colin, I don't understand how you have arrived at this dilema.......if you only removed a "3.5mm spacer" from the brake plate side how do you not end up with the cush drive out of full engagement by 3.5mm on the other side of the axle assembly? surely you are just swaping the same dimension spacer from one side to the other, the way you have it set up is the chain alignment ok? I have rebuilt lots of ducati single wheels and the rim is centred to the hub flanges getting it centred in the frame is what I aim for rather than the swinging arm.......however having said all this I have never worked on a 'Strada' so I may be talking out of my a*s
Cheers,
George

[Duccout]

Hi George, I'm baffled too! When I got the bike there was no spacer between the sprocket carrier and the rear wheel, and the bike had obviously been run like this for a long time, because the cush drive vanes had worn into the wheel housing; it must have made for interesting handling. So, after getting the sprockets aligned and then aligning the wheels, I turned up a spacer to go between the sprocket carrier, but this had to be very thick to maintain wheel alignment, and put the sprocket carrier a long way out of the wheel housing, but was acceptable. This then left a 3.5mm gap between the brake plate and swinging arm, which I filled with a spacer, but this meant that the brake plate was only tenuously engaged with the swinging arm lug......

The only thing I can do now is to insert a spacer between rear sprocket and sprocket carrier which will allow me to move the sprocket carrier inboard. I have no way of knowing what, if any, of the rear wheel components are correct for the bike. The front hub is a different type, which Jon identifies as Italian, so the history is lost in the mists of time. It may be that the brake plate is a different (narrower) type, or the sprocket carrier is non-original.


Colin

[Duccout]

BTW, if anyone reading this has a close-up photo of the sprocket carrier/wheel hub when fitted which they could post, I would be most grateful! I would like to see what a standard set-up looks like.

Cheers,

Colin

[Duccout]

Just been for a nice run around the countryside, bike running really well and steering is hugely improved, having two matched tyres really helps.

Colin

[themoudie]

Bill

[Duccout]

I am wondering about why my engine does not rev (sound familiar?). This morning I gave it a bit more stick and found that it misfires if I try to get it to rev........ Seeing it was like this on the old points ignition and the new Electrex World system, and the old Amal carb and the new Mikuni, it is food for thought. The engine also has a tendency to cut out without warning at tick-over, which it has done from the beginning.......

I'm wondering if I should advance the ignition timing? In view of the soft state of tune, maybe the timing needs to be advanced by two or three degrees....... I'm also going to try dropping the needle in the carb, as when I raised it a notch I got backfires, so it may be a touch rich.

Colin

[Jon Pegler]

Colin,

Are you using the original Spanish ignition switch?
I've found that they are not very robust and can cause the engine to cut out and misfire at odd times.
I've replaced all the ignition switches on the Spanish bikes that I own after suffering with them not working correctly.
The replacement switches I have used are Lucas items, I think from a Triumph Bonneville.

Jon

[Duccout]

Thank you Jon, a very good suggestion! The switch is, I believe, the original and is a bit finnicky. I will have a look at the Lucas switches.

Cheers,

Colin