1952 & 1953 K/KK Transmission Plug

Production K Models

1952 & 1953 K/KK Transmission Plug

Postby starcain » Mon Jun 05, 2017 2:43 pm

I am curious if anyone else has come across this early K/KK transmission oil level and drain plug issue. Through the years I have picked up 4 early trany drain plugs plus the one that came with my KK for a total of 5. I can't actually remember now which one came with the bike but the point is I have two completely different lengths. Examples 1 & 2 are 1 3/8" long while 3,4 and 5 are 1 34" long measuring from the mating surface on the inside of the head. It looks like the short ones have all been cut.There are also two different mating style surfaces. One style has the shoulder that you would imagine is for the 62702-52 drain plug washer used for the oil tank and crankcase drain plugs. The diameter of that shoulder however is smaller then the other drain plugs and it lets the washer slide to one side some. The other style is just machined almost completely flat except for a few thousands. No way to use a cupped brass washer. The biggest issue is the length. If you look at the three long ones, every one of them has some damage to the top 3/8". Has anyone else ever noticed that and what is causing that damage? I ran a punch up into the drain hole quite a ways with it in neutral and didn't run into anything but when gears are shifting back and forth could one of the gears be running into the tube? The one on the very right #5 is the one I used on my bike after cutting off the top part that was damaged. I have the two pieces screwed together for the picture. Obviously shortening the tube would shorten the volume of oil in the primary and transmission if you are going by overflow alone. I didn't want to take a chance with a long one knowing that every long one I had was damaged and not understanding why. The riders hand book says 1 1/2 pints for the trany and primary so that is what I put in and didn't go by overflow. Right or wrong, I don't know but I was to worried about the long one hitting something. I am getting ready to fire this thing up again after a 12 year hiatus and after draining what oil was left in it, the issue of the oil level tube length all came back to me again. The parts books show the 34745-52 drain plug but with no sealing washer and the line drawing looks to me like #4 in the picture with that added shoulder above the threads. The flat mating surface ones look to me like there is no sealing washer used. Has anyone not used a sealing washer of some type. I would almost think it would seal as good as a washer would since it has a nice flat surface to seal on. So, the three big questions are, (1) does anyone know what the proper length of the tube should be (2) has anyone used a plug without a sealing washer and have it be OK, (3) Why are all the long ones damaged when they were apparently designed to be that long???
Stan
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