Looking for thread regarding clutch assembly & adjustmen

MB-5 Joined: Nov 05, 2008 Posts: 25 Location: Colorado

Hello

Im am looking for a past thread regarding clutch installation and adjustment.
Sunday, I was searching in the Tech forum under "Clutch". There are about...70+pages of threads. I was somewhere after page...18, when I stumbled upon a magnificent thread regarding re-building and adjusting the clutch on any metric bike.
Now this article was exactly what I had been searching for, as I am performing some clutch work on the ol gal. The author had laid out the article in about 5 in -depth paragraphs that had everything from friction plates direction in relationship to the pressure plate, to cable adjustment, and adjustments at the clutch adjuster.
It was near perfection!
Well, I didn't take notice of the exact page, the author of the article and so on.
If you know the page number, or the article/author, please be a mate and share it.

Thanks again.

Posted: Fri Aug 23, 2019 11:06 pm

Hold down Ctrl and press H for history. Find the article that way. Purple CBF should be easy to see. Then hold Ctrl again, press F for find. Type in clutch and see if something shows up.

MB-5 Joined: Nov 05, 2008 Posts: 25 Location: Colorado

cntrhub wrote:

Hold down Ctrl and press H for history. Find the article that way. Purple CBF should be easy to see. Then hold Ctrl again, press F for find. Type in clutch and see if something shows up.

Smart-ass! You could have just reposted your original post about clutches. Laughing

I did find your original post again, great article!
I did save it this time, so as to never loose it again.

However, I'm still having issues with my clutch not releasing when the lever is pulled, rear tire still spins.

Here is what I've done:
I replaced both friction and steel plates and new springs. All are EBC aftermarket parts.
I followed your clutch article for installation and adjusting, and then book for torque specs. I did not rough up the steels, but did put the sharper edge all facing the same way, towards the clutch pressure plate.

The friction plates had no identifying marks or edges, but I did keep them in the same order that they were shipped/packaged. I soaked them in oil overnight and installed them in order and in the same direction towards the pressure plate.

There are no torque specs for the lifter plate bolts, but a lot of guys say 7-8 ft. pounds, which is about the same as snugging them down. I've used both methods. I even snugged the bolts down and backed them off two turns to see if that had any different effect. It did not.

I then make adjustments at the clutch cover, via the adjuster screw and lock nut, followed by adjustments at the cable/arm and again at the clutch cable hand lever.

It's been the same result every time. Sometimes I can get the adjustments closer, meaning when I apply rear break the tire stops and the bike doesn't die. Other times the bike dies when the rear tier stops. The plates are not separating.

I've had the clutch out about 5 times, checked, re-checked, read every article and watched every video on the web, but I end up with the same issue.

I'm not going to doubt your expertise, but the last clutch i replaced I never roughed up the steels and the clutch worked fine. I don't think it's the steel. They are all new and can't imagine that they are wrapped, although I have not checked. One bad pressed plate off the assembly line could mess up the whole clutch performance as you pointed out in the article.

Springs? I believe they are a bit stiffer then stock. Could this be the problem? Have you encountered any problems with springs being too stiff and not allowing the clutch plates to separate?

Too much oil causing the plates to stick together? The dimples on the steel causing too much suction?

If I installed the last friction plate, the one with the funky grooves, would that cause too much oil in the clutch and prevent the plates from separating? I am 99.9% sure I have the plate in the proper direction, although I have not tried it the other way yet.

I have loaded the plates onto the clutch center, added the pressure plate and slide it into the basket. I have assembled the plates by adding the pressure plate into the basket, then the plates, finally wiggling the clutch center into place. Always the same result in the end, no matter how I assemble the clutch.

What am i missing?

Please Obey-Wan-Kenobi, you're my only hope.

Posted: Mon Aug 26, 2019 7:22 pm

HA! Smart Ass Says:

Can't be the springs. Once the throw creates the plate separation, the springs are as collapsed at the stock springs so no change in throw-gap.

Steel wise, lay all the steels onto themselves as like a stack of pancakes. Since you didn't stack them when new, maybe a recheck is in order. Where is the air gap? They have to lay perfectly flat and no gap between the layers. Frictions are the same way. Pancake the parts and look at the 'static' positions between themselves.

Throw wise, say the center screw or the arm that pushes the pressure plate in or out, is not moving out at its full throw. For example, if you had a lot of slack at the lever and perch, meaning, you don't feel the spring tension till the lever is half thrown, it's that other half that did not push the pressure plate away from the plates and they still drag upon each other.

So if it's not a warp, then it's the throw. Those are basically the two areas to look for. The third variable is the big outer basket forks or long tangs. As you noticed, the clutch center and pressure plate lock all the plates. This is where the pack is locked to the rear wheel. The engine is locked to the clutch outer and this is where you can see the friction tabs bang into the fork-tangs and cause a groove effect. So when you pull the lever, the pressure plate is far enough away to let the plates rattle, the plates are flat and do not touch causing drag, but the friction tangs are caught in the groove of the clutch outer, thus touches the steel plate and you more or less can't find N, and the bike creeps up to the rear bumper of the car in front of you.

Warp = Drags
Pressure Plate Throw = Drags
Clutch Outer Tang Indents = Drags

These are the places to look at to eliminate creep/hard to find N.