Vacuum gauge readings

[davelb]

.......and just spotted Barry's post on correct assembly of enrichening device as I crawled around the forum....

[montmil]

... The only thing is that with my head against the engine for so long I have noticed a slight rattle from what I think is the clutch release bearing. It goes when the clutch is pulled in. Is my diagnosis correct or is it likely to be anything else?

Odds are pretty good that what you're hearing is not unusual. A bit of a jingle is common with the Airheads single plate, dry clutch.

[davelb]

Thanks Monte, that puts my mind at rest. I will be checking it all out properly at the end of the season when I take it all apart.

[Ed Miller]

Snowbum mentions a slight rattling sound from our transmissions at idle.  I've never noticed it.

[Bob_Roller]

These airheads make a few unusual noises, if you just came from Asian bikes .
The transmission noise in neutral is normal, my '81 has done it from the day I got it, coming up on 35 years, had the transmission rebuilt in '07, noise never changed after having that done either .
From what I've heard, one of the major issues with airhead gearboxes, is getting water into the transmission through a degraded speedometer drive cable boot, where the speedometer cable goes into the transmission .
I had bearing damage due to water contamination of the transmission oil, found this in '87 .

[Barry]

Snowbum mentions a slight rattling sound from our transmissions at idle.I've never noticed it.

I've never noticed it either.  It will likely depend on flywheel weight and smoothness of idle.

[nhmaf]

Various parts of the carbs are "sided", ie the left and right are mirror images of each other, not the same.   We always recommend that folks work on the carbs one at a time, so as not to put the wrong "sided" part in the carb, or to get it turned round.   It is a common mistake.

If it is a slight rattle in the gearbox area that goes away when you pull the clutch lever in, it is quite likely the 'normal' rattle of these gearboxes - there are some straight cut gears and no synchros in these things and most all airheads have a bit of gearbox rattle anytime their input shaft is left to spin in neutral.