Honda-SOHC

Just a thought..
Knocking you say.... That sounds like imbalanced carbs rather than camchain .
If the camchain is loose the sound is normally a higher pitched tinkling sound which quietens as the revs rise.

 .. Don't miss this item it out as it does a crucial job !

The thrust washer sits behind the clutch assembly and usually stays put because a film of oil will make it stick to the shoulder on the input shaft and its hole diameter fits the shaft.
I had to look for it and convince myself it was there....you'll see slight wear on each side so keep it the same way round if you take it off.

The top hat shaped sleeve in the basket's bore reacts against this washer when the clutch nut is torqued up. The washer is replaceable and cheap too, shafts are always expensive !
It will be a fairly precise ground width and be made in a specific steel grade for doing its job I would think.

Without the washer in situ, the basket would wear against the shaft as the two rotate at different speeds when the clutch disengages. The sleeve and washer provide a bearing for the basket to spin with a very slight end clearance.

 Not sure, but the basket may hit something without the washer in place - with the hex head screws used in the kit the clearance will decrease a bit.
 
btw... No big change in the sound down there on my bike but glad I did the fix anyway. One of the rivets had lost part of it's head !

The battery's state of charge makes a big difference on my 400/4..... it has Dynatek ignition which I suspect can make matters worse if the charge is low. I iused to blame the carbs or stale fuel but only use non-ethanol BP 97 now and the carb internals are spotless.
Also have an inline filter, with a removable porous core which I took out !, but this bubble trap has no effect on fuel flow here.

On Sunday, having just rebuilt the top end on mine, it was a sod to start as usual.
I think the battery voltage was a bit low and the electric starter made things worse.
It started after a few attempts but took a while to run cleanly so the carbs could be balanced.
I think that running at low revs for half an hour while getting the carbs sorted drained the battery some more.
The bike was then left for 4 days wating for weather to improve, without the Optimate charger connected (forgot ) and when I tried to start it again it took a few minutes to get all four cylinders running and then the idle was lumpy with the usual racket even though the carbs were synched.
Quick check on the battery showed 12v with no load, 11.8v with ignition on....seems low to me.
For the first few miles it hesitated at low revs but improved by the the time I returned home after some steady running above 4000 revs.
Left the bike to cool for an hour, as I wanted to check the plug colours.
 After doing the plug check it started up first time with no choke and held a fairly steady idle well under 1000 revs. Battery voltage was 12.5V with ignition off this time.

Lobo said

" Clem...I bought both carb o'haul kits from DSS (this year) - and they are Keyster, and so a little confused at your "DSS OR Keyster" comments? "

DSS list a float valve assy but I don't know if these are Keyster made or not.
The overhail kits are Keyster.
Trying to find out if the valve is from another source?.... might ring DSS to find out.

Yes, the rivet holes are being tapped.

I thought inserts might be needed too..... certainly if I mess up tapping the first hole !

A small tack weld on each bolt edge to the plate might be a belt and braces way... ??

Kevin (ttr400) says to use red Loctite to lock them for good- he has done a few.
Since the bolts (hopefully) never need to come out again this should suffice.

I'll see how the fit of the bolts "feels" ... I know a local place that just helicoiled my cylnder head (again)

First reply failed.... probably because I tried attaching too many photos.

Anyway the clutch basket rivets are all out now.

They needed some extra persuasion though...

Drilling the flat heads off freed the retainer plate.
 
Since the other end (or upset) would be gripping the hole, I drilled into that as centrally as I could (punch mark first)  with a 3mm drill about 6mm deep. Then 4mm drill to the depth of the deformed end to weaken it a bit more.

The old dampers were a lot better than I imagined. Still flexible but had shrunk slightly. Also some small cracks around the centre slot corners.
The Honda ones have an asymmetric shape with cutouts too -  the new ones are symmetrical and full form but should do the job and without the backlash. Pictures will follow.

Next comes the threading ... WD40 is recommended it seems.
The holes are already about 4.2/4.3 diameter (a new 4.2 drill is a slack fit). 4.2 is the spec for M5x0,8.
The depth of thread will be about 14/15mm ... satisfies the 3x bolt dia rule (ish).
Also have to drill out the plate holes to clear the bolts.

to be continued...

Sold on ebay yesterday