clutch and clutch basket

My brother's clutch disintegrated into pieces and his clutch basket also got some teeth ripped off. Is it still possible to use the clutch basket with most of the teeth, or should we replace it?
It's a 1982 Yamaha Maxim

 

Replace it, you can find them on EBAY all the time. Be sure to get all the pieces out of the engine, it would be a good idea to remove the oil pan to clean it out. There are most likley bits of clutch parts in there and you don't want them to get sucked into the oiling system.

 

Thanks.
Saw one on ebay for $20 with clutches...which I will get new clutches.
We removed the oil pan and cleaned all the clutch pieces and clutch basket pieces, etc...
How common is it for a cluch plate to disintegrate into pieces? I can see them burning out on heavy abuse, but didn't know they can break into pieces.

 

I must say, that I have never seen or heard of a cluch basket or clutch plates breaking up like that. Maybe oiling was a problem.

I just put in a Barnett kevlar clutch with new steels and new springs. It is amazing how well it holds under a load!

I was going up a little hill in gear 5 with my fat butt (220lbs) and my bride with me, I won't list her weight as I like living, and on throttle up, it pulled like a mule! No slipping! So cool.

Good luck with that though!

 

Oiling wasn't the problem.
He uses Amsoil 10w40 Motorcycle oil and is meticulous with maintenance and the like.
He did hear stuff coming from there every so often for the past two days.
It looked like it was only the 8'th or 1'st clutch, whichever direction you're counting from, but it was the first visible clutch. The rest of the clutches were perfect, with no visible cracks or the like, and the friction plates looked in good condition.
He does have a tendency to speed and wheelie all the time, and I would consider it very heavy abuse on the clutches, but it's still weird that it just disintegrated into 30 pieces or so.
I do have pictures if anyone wants to see.

 

I'd like to see em, I have abused many clutches on bikes,ATVs and cars but have never had one break. I have burned the friction material off but never broken one.

 

Obviously happened to someone else:

http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic ... lutch.html

 

Here are some of the pics...I will post pics of all the clutch and basket material tomorrow.
High quality pics are on http://photobucket.com/korg815

 

Lay every single one of the Drivers on a Pane of Glass.

If you find any that aren't laying FLAT on the Glass ... Replace it.
Any ones that are Blue have to go too.
Look very closely at the TEETH on every one of the Drivers.
If the teeth look like they are imperfect ("Hammered looking") ... Replace.

After you put-in the New Cage ...
Shoot some WD-40 in there and wipe it down with Panty Hose.
Any place that snags the Panty's ... Smooth-out with a Sharpening Stone or 1200 Wet Sanding with WD-40 as wetting agent.

 

Wow, thoses pics are awesome! That must have been one heck of a launch!

Do you think maybe there was a manufacturer flaw on that friction plate?

Well done!

 

Thanks Rick.
Will follow your advice in regards to the cage and drive plates.
If the friction plate did have a invisible hairline crack in it, it could of caused the problem, especially since the bike goes through some tough riding.
It could also explain why only one friction plate was destroyed into 30 pieces or so and the rest were left practically in impeccable condition.
Thanks Zookie400...we will be replacing the clutch basket.

 

You Can NOT run the Bike like that.
That broken part MUST be replaced.
That Bike is: OUT OF COMMISSION ... Until a New Basket is fitted.
RED TAGGED!

You dodged that bullet.
DON'T give the reaper a second shot.

 

Damn. I would replace the hub assembly too; if you get a whole assembly off eBay use both parts. That basket cannot be re-used; that's some serious damage. From the photos, the "divots" in the hub from the plain plates look a tad deep to be successfully smoothed out.

 

Rick, my post wasnt recommending that he run the basket. i was simply pointing out that the remaining fingers will hold the clutches, but the out of balance basket will rattle the engine and rider to bits. i know from experience at the races. i never suggested he run it, in fact i was trying to influence the opposite.

disagree as you always do, debate it to the moon and back, thats fine. please dont throw a tantrum like a 2 year old and delete my post.

 

By the way, I have complete heavy-duty clutch systems for use in the 650 and 750 models that can be fitted for better performance, especially useful in "high-performance" situations such as this.........

 

I saw those Shadowy Figures on that Drum too.
I couldn't tell if it was Galling or just Oil.

But, I did want him to inspect the Drivers for abuse.

 

thank you all for the fantastic advice...no wonder I check this forum on a daily basis.

What would you guys recommend for clutches/etc... which would be able to take harder abuse?

 

Thanks Korg815 for starting this thread and everyone for replying.

I have another question.... before it happend the clutch lever always had 1/4inch slack at the end, and minutes before it all went to hell, the lever was getting tighter, slowly taking away the free slack at the end of it until I the point where the clutch stayed always engauged. Before I took the clutch apart I could shift into any gear with out the clutch as if it's always engauged, and when in gear I could rev the engine with out the clutch lever beying engauged.

So my question... Should I be looking for any more problems besides the clutch basket, driver & friction plates?

I think someone mentioned accounting for all the broken pieces and not leaving any hidden in the engine/trans.... I'll go do that soon today.

 

A close examination of the photos shows that Boss and the Primary don't look like they were torqued and locked ...

(Unless you did that and put them back-on for the pics)

If you had a lot of slack and the Lever wasn't operating the Clutches, ...
(And ... You didn't leave the "Jesus-Nut" on the Boss Shaft unlocked, loose and not torqued down and locking tabs set, ...

I'd say the whole Clutch Assembly moved.

 

Good eye RickCo.. I forgot I unlocked the locking tab before taking the pic... I accounted for all the clutch basked teeth (5 missing 5 found) but for the friction plate I'm missing 2 squares from the edge, but I have the complete circle and castle edged squares except those 2 that are missing. I'll keep looking for them... you still might be right about the whole assembly moving somehow.

Tuesday stores open again, there are 2 bike salvage yards in the area I can look for a clutch basket and the friction plates will be ordered then as well...

Until then I'm gonna inspect the rest of the bike and look for anything else that could be a problem.