Sad day in mudville

Well, ok, the rains came late enough to not really affect much, and even then it was not any kind of flood, but how can I pass up a great title like that?

There was a bit of disappointment. We got up Saturday morning and met up with Roundman, planning for breakfast. With Toni on Gilbert and me on the as yet unamed* yellow trike, we went from the hotel into Davis proper for breakfast, then back to the hotel, then on to Turner Falls Park. As we approached the entrance, I was having trouble downshifting. Once I was stopped, I realized that the clutch was not disengaging and that it felt wrong, with no "step" between free play and actually pushing against the clutch.

While looking at the cylinder and working the pedal, the hydraulic line popped out of the fitting on the clutch master cylinder. When working on the clutch bracket Thursday night, the slave cylinder end came loose. While I attributed both breaches to installation error, it is apparently fairly common. I got more than a couple of suggestions that I should change the lines to steel because the plastic, while the material can handle the pressure, is subject to enough distortion that it can slide out of a compression fitting. Changing them to steel will not be particularly difficult, requiring only that I bend the tubing and add a flexible piece for the clutch slave cylinder.

In any case, the problem appears to be related to the throwout bearing and/or the cross shaft that actuates it. While the actual replacement of those parts is not particularly difficult, it *does* require pulling out the engine and while it's out, we may as well clean/paint/replace all the tins, etc.

As for the rest of the trike-in, I proudly rode bi*&h with no loss of manhood and we towed the yellow one around behind my truck for those who wanted to see it.

While we missed taking a lot of pictures, at least we took a few, mostly of trikes that caught our interest for one reason or another.

We dropped the trike off at the clubhouse last night and are definitely planning to be there tonight to tear into it. Toni may even get a throwout bearing and cross shaft today. They should usually be replaced any time they are exposed, just because they are cheap parts that are hard to get to.

* concerning a name, one that we really hope doesn't catch on occurred to me. "Sponge Bob Square Trike"