Roadster2 Jackshaft Work

[Lindy]

Bought a '72 Roadster 2 for my son and it needs a little work. Was going to replace the jackshaft bearings but they seem to be in good shape. Should I be trying to grease these bearings before I reinstall them? The bearings seem to fit a little lose and spin a little in the frame. Is that normal and if not, is there a way to correct? Or maybe I'm not installing them correctly, I thought they just slid into the frame.

Also, since I have the jackshaft out, is there an grease needed or is all that taken care of with the bearings and no addition lubrication is needed?

 

[minibikedude]

The last Roadster rolled of the floor in 1975. If there original bearings the grease is more than likely getting dry out from age. I would at least remove the bearing seals and clean the old grease from the bearings and regrease them if your keeping the old ones. Also check the jack shaft for wear where the bearing sit on the shaft.

 

[Lindy]

Jackshaft looks good. Not 100% sure if the bearings are original but I think so. Everything else on the bike is original but some parts need replaced. I'd like to keep as any original parts as possible. I guess if I mess the seal up trying to repack the bearings, I can always get some NOS or OEM replacements.

 

[markus]

the bearings are just standard ones with the c clip around them and are only about 2-4 bucks a bearing depending on where you buy them.

I just had an interesting issue with the '70 I am putting back together. It had some slop between the bearing clips on the frame for some reason. No real wear shown on it though. In fact is looks as if at the factory they zipped a tack weld on to try and correct the issue. So when I put it back together, I took the clip off the old bearing and slipped it between the housing and the other retainer clip on the new bearing. the little tack weld served as sort of a stopper between the expanded gap on the C clip that I slipped over the bearing and the spacing was perfect. It may have been a slight variance between bearings originally but the bearings I took off were identical to the new (only old) and this bike had the appearance of never being apart. First rupp I have had that is not showing slop in the jackshaft now :thumbsup:

 

[Lindy]

Thanks. Since this is my first vintage bike, I'm not sure which parts need to be original and which parts can be replaced with new parts without affecting the value. I was trying to keep it all original but maybe I don't need to worry about parts like the bearings.