LCGB Forums

i have recently had the gear cables adjusted on my Lambretta for the second time in a month. Everything's goes fine for a couple of miles then the gearing goes all sloppy and misses gear. I seem to get a neutral between each gear change. Could someone give me an idea what could make this happen. I forgot to add the gears sometime crunch when going into gear.

Have you got a worn selector arm and/or linkage? Not sure that it explains the neutral gearing but certainly contributes to sloppy gear changes.

Are you sure your trunnions are not worn and slipping through after adjustment , there are some small clamps under the Allen screw if they are not in or worn cables sometime slip

Thanks for the replies guys. I'll check out all options.cheers

davla wrote:Have you got a worn selector arm and/or linkage? Not sure that it explains the neutral gearing but certainly contributes to sloppy gear changes.

if your cruciform is excessively worn it could find a neutral in a haystack; new expression

Lambretta's dont have a cruciform.

HxPaul wrote:Lambretta's dont have a cruciform.

Terminology; the four sticky out bits at the end of the selector are effectively a cruciform.

Sorry for slack language. I'll take that as a slap on the gudgeon - get it?

Dickie,

Do you mean the six sticky out bits?

There are so many places to introduce slop into the gear linkage. At the top there are a couple of sloppy areas at thenhndle bar end of the mechanism. It is preferable to use a series two type rod and wheel, as this reduces slop. If you can, weld the spade to the end of the handlebars, as this eliminates the top-end slop.

At the bottom of the cables, use a NOS set of swivels and tie rods, and weld a M6 bolt to the top of the gear selector arm, in order to ease fitting and reduce play in the linage. Fit new trunnions.

All of these the thing help improve the gear change, without delving into the gear box.

Having said that, if your gear selector inside the 'box is worn, you'll still need to replace it.

Knowledge wrote:Dickie,

Do you mean the six sticky out bits?

Aw f##k. You have me there. Nevertheless, if they're worn badly it can find false neutrals

But what about my joke?

Knowledge wrote:
At the bottom of the cables, use a NOS set of swivels and tie rods.

I bought new swivel from God-knows-where, and I reckon it has about 100microns of radial clearance
I assumed they were all like that so I was just going to fit a brass bush. Where can I get a swivel that doesn't seem f##ked before I use it?

There is a new style swivel being manufactured now. I saw a photo in a recent magazine or website. Perhaps you should start a new thread asking this very question.

Meanwhile, I'll carry on using the Spanish NOS swivel that I got from Madness, but that was some years ago.

Targaline makes a set, but the price is a bit steep @ £85, also available in various colours.