Any Mousetrap aficionados here?

[CDeeZ]

Any mousetrap gurus here?

I have adjusted mine on my UL per the manual, and several youtube videos. Seems to work ok, but it doesn't snap back firmly like I see in some youtube videos....... Does that matter???

Thoughts?

Several theories:

1.) Booster spring is weak and needs replaced (25yrs old???)
2.) Vtwin (garbage) repop mousetrap finally is sloppy and worn out enough it just doesn't work (25yrs old???)
3.) There's a reason why mousetrap eliminators exist....... I know these mousetraps can be fairly tricky to setup right. But even when this one did work last, the clutch pull was absolutely no easier than the mousetrap eliminator setup on my Panhead. Far as I can tell, they both have the same clutch springs too.....

This mousetrap has been on here for 25 years or so, and it did work once upon a moon. But like I say, I never really remember it working all that well. My dad wasn't impressed by it either, and he's the one that put it on here when I was too young to responsibly hold a wrench and know what to do with it.







I'll keep fooling around with this mousetrap. But I'm at the point where I feel like I have done my due diligence in setting it up and adjusting it correctly. And after that, it doesn't seem to snap back like I think it maybe should???? Maybe that doesn't matter.

Going to test it again here soon and I'll know. Future plans and/or option B is slap a suicide pedal on it since all I have to do is shorten the mousetrap clutch linkage and connect it to the foot shifter and voila. Would give me a good reason to turn one of the cool ass old door knobs I have laying around into a shift knob. Which is the whole reason I scrounged said door knobs to begin with.

Also, considering a mousetrap eliminator setup in the future as well. May have to pull the oil tank to get that little U shaped bracket in there......

[JBinNC]

The mousetrap arm stop is probably the most important and most misunderstood adjustments on those things. Getting the spring to go over center at the right moment is paramount to the mousetrap's proper function. But there lies the rub. Modern clutch packs don't have the outer half plate with the spring fingers, and it is those fingers that push the spring back over center as you engage the clutch. So, the 1/8" travel to overcenter spec has to be fudged, and then the mousetrap doesn't quite work as designed.

I encountered one today that was so out of whack that the spring did not go over center until over half the lever travel. So the operator is fighting the clutch AND the mousetrap spring. But a funky aftermarket cable prevented the correct adjustment of the arm stop.

And around and around we go.

Jim

[CDeeZ]

What part is the arm stop?

I feel like the mousetrap was an afterthought when it was a brand new idea, using new and genuine HD parts. Seems to be even more of an afterthought now. I mean, they do look cool and all.... But whatever.

What you say about the older outer clutch plate having spring fingers to push the mousetrap back home makes perfect sense. I'm assuming no-one is really running that style of clutch pack anymore.

I think I'll probably just shorten the mousetrap clutch rod and connect it to my shifter pedal for now. If I hate it, option C could be the mousetrap eliminator.

It LOOKS like I can sandwich the U shaped bracket for the eliminator in between the lower oil tank mounts and the corresponding mount points in this UL frame.

[JBinNC]

Screw #3, and its locknut #4, in your manual diagram, is what I'm talking about. The 1/8" over center is also illustrated in the diagram. These things do work, and it is worth some of your time to work with it and get it adjusted. I've ridden a couple of bikes with mousetraps that are butter smooth.

Jim

[CDeeZ]

Hmmmmmmm....... I have fiddled around with that screw a fair bit. I used Pacific Mike's video as my main reference point to try to set this thing up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L8sLjkwnJ60

At 12:12 or so, you can see how firmly his mousetrap snaps back when he releases the clutch lever. Mine doesn't do that. It will sometimes snap back all the way, sometimes about halfway, and anywhere in between. No amount of adjusting anything has fixed it this far.


Starting to lean more towards the mousetrap eliminators.

I just now discovered that there are two length mousetrap eliminator "U" brackets. I was only aware of the shorter one. Any advantage to the longer bracket????

The clutch springs are blue which I presume to be "standard" duty.

[JBinNC]

Blue Barnett springs are hand clutch springs for use with the "eliminator" style clutches. The red or orange springs are the foot clutch springs, and are also correct for use with a mousetrap. That may be part of your problem.

The long eliminator brackets DON'T WORK AT ALL. I don't even know why they make them. The geometry is all wrong on those.

Jim

[Nanonevol]

[QUOTE=

The long eliminator brackets DON'T WORK AT ALL. I don't even know why they make them. The geometry is all wrong on those.

Jim[/QUOTE]

I don’t think I’ve seen one of these (sounds like a good thing) I’m dealing with this issue at the moment. Thanks.

[CDeeZ]

Blue Barnett springs are hand clutch springs for use with the "eliminator" style clutches. The red or orange springs are the foot clutch springs, and are also correct for use with a mousetrap. That may be part of your problem.

The long eliminator brackets DON'T WORK AT ALL. I don't even know why they make them. The geometry is all wrong on those.

Jim

I'll try some of the stiffer springs and see what that gives. Thanks. Good to know about the longer bracket as well.

I don’t think I’ve seen one of these (sounds like a good thing) I’m dealing with this issue at the moment. Thanks.

Would you mind posting up some pictures and/or P/N's for the parts you're using for your mousetrap eliminator?

Most of the brackets state: "Allows use of 1968-84 style Big Twin clutch cables on early models"

We put one on the Panhead, but that was at least 2 years ago and I have forgotten what all parts we used.

Now I just measured the housing end of the cable on the Pan, the part that goes into the clutch lever. It measures about .350".........

I also looked up the lever that we used on that one, and, it is a Taiwan-Ted 26-0950. The barrel hole size is listed as .25 which is the old style clutch cable size... We must have drilled it out to accept the larger barrel of the newer big twin clutch cable.. I can't remember for sure though.



68-84 clutch cable barrel measures about .350" ?????

[CDeeZ]

I finished setting up the mousetrap eliminator and it's so much better than the mousetrap.

Combination video here where I talk about the mousetrap eliminator a bit in the beginning. Till about the 2:40 mark or so.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfJmv4rk-c0