Two Questions:

1.   How important is it for the pushrod to sit flat against the clutch boss when reinstalling?  (See pic & red arrows). I am asking because when I took it apart early today, I did not take out the ball and the second rod?  Hoping that I didn't cause myself an issue as when i tried to reinstall it, it would not sit flat against the clutch boss.

2.  How common is it for the shifter side plate teeth to wear down (see pic and blue arrow)?   I have one tooth that is shaved down somewhat (they are pretty inexpensive to replace) so I'd prefer to do it while I have it apart if needed.

  
 

Pushrod mushroom head doesn't sit right down, & would be out a bit before pushing on the pressure plate to lift the clutch otherwise you'd be in a clutch slip situation if it was all compressed up against the mainshaft. If i'm understanding your meaning. Think on those the ball bearing is same size of the pushrod so comes out the other end as the mushroom bit is smaller in the shaft by a little. In fact you can see the size difference in the link drawing.

With the roller arm, if you mean the rivet is touching the drum, the roller wears on the pin & we replaced them if they got bad enough & i have seen some very worn ones. This reduces the tension on the spring a little--or a lot--depending on wear. If that's not what you were meaning, sorry, start again.

www.partzilla.com/catalog/yamaha/motorcycle/1973/ct3/clutch

If those rubber rings are still between the plates--toss them out as don't help any & promote clutch slip. Not rubber but more like plastic or something. No6 in my previous link not to be confused with No15. Should be 5 of them.

OK RT325.....thank you for the information......good to know that the pushrod isn't a problem.

I will order a new plate just to be sure.


Question #3

The guy I bought this bike from put on a new shifter and I believe that the circa ring was set loose in the process.   How to do I reattach this?   Do I have to pull out the seal and then put it in place?

 

Just trying to get a handle on what ya saying so i understand it. I guess you mean circlip 8 in the link below. If you push the shaft through, there should be room for washer 7 along with circlip 8. I guess in your pic of things you have the arm pulled through a bit to show us where you've arrowed. That claw arm of course must now go back on the pins--so shaft moves through. Then washer & circlip go on the other side. If you're having a bad luck day & the shaft circlip groove catches the seal & inverts it then you'll need to hook it out & replace it. Hope you'll be ok though fingers crossed & can only try. Check out the order of things in the link & get back to us if you need to.
www.partzilla.com/catalog/yamaha/motorcy...1973/ct3/shift-shaft

That would be why washer is chewed up on end of shift drum if I understand you right.  Surprised if shifted long without clip/washer.  Usually claw jumps off drum pretty quick.

Washer and clip fit on top of shift shaft seal, not under it if that's what you're asking.Install shaft all the way and you'll see groove for clip.Sometimes groove does catch seal lip like RT325 said though.  Grease on shaft and seal lip will help. 

Other techniques are possible if you have a tough time getting groove through seal... hopefully you'll be fine.

Thank you for the advice MarkT and RT325.... I will jump into this once the parts arrive.

1. Question on replacing the circlip.........   Do I have to remove the crank cover to get to this?   (It appears so in the attached pic)

2.   The shift shaft moves back and forth about 1/4" so I am assume that the circlip is the culprit?

Yes

Next question....

I got the cir-clip back on the shifter shaft but was unable to shift gears afterwards.

I took the right side crank case back off and it doesn't seem like the dog leg / claw arm is in contact with the shift drum now.....

Any suggestions on what I might have done wrong?