Here's a no spills, no drips, no leaks way to change the front sprocket on a Shiver. At least it worked for me!

Here's the tools I used, you won't necessarly need all those shown in the photo above, but you will need at a minimum:

• 8mm socket (sprocket cover) • 12mm socket (counter shaft sprocket bolt) • 32mm socket (rear axle) • 10mm open-end wrench (axle adjusters) • 13mm open-end wrench (axle adjusters) • 4mm Allen (clutch cylinder bolt)

• LocTite (blue) • Tape measure to adjust the chain slack

Here are the bolts you will need to losen or remove. First remove the two 8mm bolts marked by the green arrows which hold on the plastic counter-shaft sprocket. Don't try to remove the cover, just leave it loosely in place. Next just barely loosen the nut pointed to by the red arrow. All you want is enough looseness so you can rotate the braided clutch line out 30mm or so from where it is tucked away. It may take only 5-10 degrees of movement with the wrench. Without doing that, you can't get to the 8mm bolt behind it. See photo below. Next remove the two 8mm bolts shown by the upper and lower blue arrows, and the 4mm Allen bolt pointed to by the 3rd blue arrow. Leave the other two clutch cylinder bolts alone — you don't need to remove them.

Tighten the banjo bolt you just loosened after you get the clutch line moved out about this far.

Here's why you need to do that: the 1/4" drive 8mm socket lines up exactly with the clutch hose, so you need the room. My short extension has a 15 degree "wiggle" built in, so I was able to get the bolt out without having to remove the clutch line completely. Note the extreme length of the 4mm Allen bolt at the bottom of the clutch cylinder. The other 4mm bolts stay in place!

After you get all the bolts out, pull the whole assembly out as shown in the photo above. Don't pull too far, as the wire bundle my finger is on loops over the bottom left edge of the assembly and prevents it from pulling straight out.

Next remove the black plastic cover, revealing the counter-shaft sprocket. I suggest using a small container to hold the bolts, as losing one will ruin your day. Then move the assembly out until you feel it tugging on the wire (shown by the yellow arrow in the photo below) and then move it up towards 2 O'Clock and pull it away from the bike.

Then just let the clutch assembly hang there, it won't be in the way. The two bolts on the clutch cylinder keep the seal, so if you haven't loosened the banjo bolt too much you won't lose any fluid or introduce any air into the system.

The yellow arrow above shows the O-ring'ed projection which fits into the hole visible in the photo below at about 8 O'Clock using the counter-shaft sprocket as a clock. The spooge is grease that got flung off the chain during break-in. I scraped most of it off, but didn't bother cleaning it as it will just be dirty again in a few hundred miles.

I'm holding the 12mm bolt and two washers that keep the counter-shaft sprocket on. To remove it, I put the bike in 1st gear, stood on the right side of the bike with my right foot on the rear brake, then leaned over the seat and used a 6-point 12mm socket wrench to remove it. A piece of cake.

Next I backed off the chain adjusters all the way, but with the OEM chain and rear sprocket having only 750 miles on them, there wasn't enough slack to get the chain off the front sprocket. So I put the bike on a rear stand and removed the axle. Then it was easy to slip the chain over the front sprocket teeth and remove it. It could be a really worn chain would have enough slack to avoid removing the rear axle, but if it did IMHO you need a new chain.

Stock 16-tooth on the left, 15-tooth from AF1 on the right with spacer washer placed in position.

Notice the odd wear pattern on the inside edge of the OEM sprocket. I saw a photo here on the forum of a much worse example (this sprocket has 750 miles on it). I'm thinking perhaps the Shiver has, or some units have, an alignment problem as delivered.

The 'spacer' ring that came with the AF1 15-tooth sprocket to obtain the same spacing as the OEM 16-tooth sprocket.

The sprocket retaining bolt, with two OEM washers plus the 'spacer' ring that came with the

AF1 sprocket. You can see the blue LocTite I applied to the bolt.

The reassembly is pretty much the reverse of what I described above. Don't forget to adjust

the chain slack — you should have about 25mm of play if you lift the bottom of the chain

mid-way between the sprockets.

When you replace the clutch assembly, if you can see that the two 8mm bolt holes (marked by

the upper and lower most blue arrows in the 2nd photo on this page) are lined up, then just

firmly push the assembly in until it mates solidly. The resistance is just the clutch cylinder

'giving' against the rod that runs through the engine to the clutch (which is on the other side of

the engine).

Double check to make sure all the bolts are tight. I couldn't find the torque value for the

counter-shaft sprocket rataining bolt but I've stripped enough bolts in the last 50 years of

motorcycle maintenance that I got it plenty tight, but not too tight. The 32mm rear axle nut

takes 88 ft/lbs, or 120Nm.

Postscript

Of course I had to take it for a ride, and the improvement is well worth the $25 or so that the

sprocket cost. It's much easier to launch from a stop (less clutch slipping required) and it just

"feels" like the gear ratios are more approriate to a street bike. On the track, the OEM gearing

felt fine if a wee bit tall, but I don't ride on the track but a few percent of the time.

An excellent modification. And the gear indicator still works correctly! I'm guessing my

speedo (and odometer) are now about 6% optimistic, so at 70mph indicated I'll really be doing

just 65-66mph. And for every 100 miles I travel the odometer will register 106. But I may try

a Speedo-Healer. The US Distributor is only a 90 minute ride from my house, so I may pay

them a visit soon...