My clutch slipped a little last night when I was Hot Rodding

I was getting on it really good last night for no good reason.
When I shifted into third it felt like stirring a spoon through gravy.
I've read the write ups on tearing it down and inspecting the plates BUT,
MY QUESTION IS: what is the easy fix to adjust the clutch to make the thing a little more trust worthy.

 

Re: My clutch slipped a little last night when I was Hot Rod

this is what i did, way easier to adjust. your plates might be fine but the springs are sacked out

 

A "Healthy" and properly adjusted Clutch is less likely to slip.
Maybe you need a Clutch.
How you ride and how far the one you got has gone decides what to do.

Maybe your Clutch is too tight.
Possible.
Most bikes have Clutches that are too slack.

Read the adjustment procedure in the Clutch Link of my signature.
Move those Parts.
Get what will be a: "Full Through-out".
Zero Lash.

Go beyond "Zero Lash" to 1mm loose.
If it slips at 1mm loose.
Replace the Clutches.

It don't matter if its 1mm loose or more.
If it slips under a LOAD, ... its going.
It it slips more often than not, ... its shot.

There are so many deals happening right now, ... that you ought to just buy a whole new Clutch and start nest season with a new-clutched bike.

 

IF you pull the clutch to inspect or replace don't forget to replace the old springs. They get weak over time and since our bikes are almost 30 years old they are not like they use to be. Many slipping clutches can be fixed with a new set of springs.

 

Have somebody get you the whole shootin'-match for Christmas.

Complete Clutch Kit:
Friction Plates
Driven Plates
Heavy Duty Springs
Hardened Bolts.

Check with "chacal"
Surf Bike Sites, Barnett and EBC.
Get a deal.

 

Remember clutches are like a collection of tiny brake pads, sitting in oil.

Quarter century old tiny brake pads, sitting in oil.

You don't need to modify your actuating arm, you probably don't need a whole-hog rebuild. And if it JUST started slipping, now's the time to fix it.

You most likely just need a simple clutch refurb. Not too expensive, a bit messy; mechanically a piece of cake as long as you're careful.

Disassemble clutch.

Clean up plain plates with Scotchbrite; chances are they're fine. Abused plain plates will be burnt blue or warped and obvious. Like I said, yours are probably fine, and just need to have the "etchings" from the friction pads from sitting cleaned up.

Reassemble clutch with new friction plates and new springs. (Dredge or soak all new parts in oil.)

Carefully torque pressure plate bolts to proper torque and do not overtighten.

Use new gasket for cover.

Adjust and forget about it for another 25000 miles.

Or take shortcuts, dump SeaFoam in your motor, mis-adjust your cable, do everything you can to convince yourself not to fix it right and deal with it for a while. It will only get worse and eventually you WILL need new plain plates.

I prefer the fix it and forget it method myself.

I recommend chacal's "aftermarket" friction plates (K & L) with OEM springs.

 

Ok, you convinced me to do the job right.

Man these winter projects are stacking up!!!

 

It's worth it. It was the first thing I did to my '83. When I got it, it had a bent yes bent clutch basket so when I tore it down to install my eBay basket I simply replaced the friction plates and springs and cleaned everything else back up. I used the parts I recommended and it works flawlessly and has ever since. Not something I even think about anymore.

"Winter" projects are great! I got my '83 in September of 2008 and finally took an actual shakedown (more than 5 miles here or 10 there) ride on July 4, 2009. Long winter...

 

OK, I did some checking and found a site with a ACTUAL price.
Does this look like the kit i need?
http://www.lytleracinggroup.com/product ... daa6zz~r=~

 

Pretty much; I've never tried EBC's clutches, just OEM, K & L, and Barnett.

And I don't really recommend "heavy duty" or stronger springs; they really aren't necessary for everyday use and they wore my hand out.

Check with chacal too.

 

OH GOD, I scored in the forum search !!!

This is exactly what I needed to SEE the how to's of this job.


http://xjbikes.com/coppermine/thumbnails/album=447.html

 

Pretty much. I just posted this answer to your other post:

Bill; Tell ya what. I've been working on a how-to, "Clutches 101" that isn't quite finished yet. I have a couple more pictures to add; and I was going to wait and tear into my 650 first also, so I could include some pics of a "normal" clutch. (The 550 has some "differences" that aren't a consideration on the bigger bikes.)

Here's a link to the Photobucket gallery for the clutch how-to. http://s437.photobucket.com/albums/qq93 ... hes%20101/ Like I said, incomplete but you might learn some stuff.

 

Every bit helps.
I just rode it home from a friends ( i was too drive to drunk Friday nite ).
Seems ok but Im still gonna do the the clutch work. Looking at buying the $25 torque wrench from Sears and still waiting for a price quote from Barnett.

 

I found this part also but the set from Lytle racing looked to be only 3 plates... this one says 8???? http://www.maccycles-parts.com/servlet/Cart
How am I suppose to know what a kit is suppose to be?

 

The 650 (as well as the 750s and 900s I do believe) uses 8 friction plates and 7 free "plain" plates in its clutch. There is an additional, special plain plate that is part of the hub assembly but is rarely necessary to replace (or even disassemble.) Like I said, plain plates rarely need to be replaced except in cases of abuse or really high mileage.

So for your bike a "kit" would be 8 friction plates (and 5 springs.)

 

awesome

 

First appeared:
Fri Mar 02, 2007 11:46 AM

Old School Method
"The Lipstick Trick"
by: Rick Massey

The biggest expense for doing your own clutch is the Clutch Case Gasket. You'll want to cry when the Parts Guy tells you how much it is.

The heck with that.
Make your own out of some high-quality gasket material.
All you need is a roll of masking tape, a sheet of some top-shelf gasket material, sharp scissors, razor cutting tool with new blades and, ...
one tube of your Old Lady's finest lipstick.

You remove the moving parts from the cover so it will lie flat when the time comes.
Clean-off the mating surfaces where the gasket needs to go.

Cut-out and tape-down, on a clean FLAT surface, a section of gasket making material large enough for the whole Clutch Cover.
Tape-down a sanding block (screwdriver, or any other object) to the outside of the cover to use as a temporary little "Handle".
Pop the top off the lipstick and put a real nice coat of lipstick on the Clutch case's mating surface, all over the edge where the gasket needs to go.

Hold-on to the "Handle" you made, and carefully set the Clutch Case straight-down onto the surface of the taped-down gasket making material. Then, put a little pressure on the case ... giving the gasket material a really nice "Kiss". (Don't smear the lipstick)

Lift-off the case and you'll have a --> PERFECT <-- pattern on the material to follow for cutting-out your own (good-as or better than) new, Clutch Case Gasket.

Kiss the Dealer good-bye!

 

Thats money Rick.
Thanks for the great tip! Im all about saving a dollar even if it costs me a few hours of my sweat. : )

 

From Len's catalog:

HCP1025 OEM main clutch cover-to-block paper GASKET, for all XJ650, XJ700 non-X, XJ750, and XJ900RK models. $ 12.50

Sounds to me like a heck of a lot of work to save $12.50 minus the cost of the gasket paper.

Sounds like a really lot of work to save $9. Sorry, but I bill myself out at $75/hr. and that sounds like about $130 worth of work.

Although the "lipstick trick" is a valid, old-school method of duplicating intricate or oddly shaped gaskets, especially if they aren't readily available.

 

spring 2$ for a hole punch at Staples, bolt holes are hard to cut out

 

I agree...don't forget the costs of using gasket material. The lipstick (if you think your SO will let you use hers for this you got another thing comin'), hole punch, gas, time getting the gasket material, and the sharpening of the blade to get a nice cut of the gasket.

Granted, some of these will be one time purchases, but that's a big gasket, it's gonna mess with a lot of that material.

Besides, when I finally got all that old gasket material off mine, last thing I wanted to do was cut out another f***n gasket.

 

I agree $12.50 is a reasonable price.

But, I faced paying much more than that.

I got quoted nearly $40-Bucks.

 

Scraping-Off Gasket residue and baked-on portions from Cylinder Head Mating Surfaces and Engine Cover and Plates is a time-honored, ... "Rite of Passage".

I like the jobs where the Gasket comes-off so nice; you hang it on a nail in the garage as a trophy and a reminder of the big job you tackled.

But, we don't appreciate having to make progress in tiny chunks using a razor blade and lacquer thinner on a Head or a Cover that took plenty of time just to get the Part removed with the baked-on gasket seeming like Hell's fires cooked it on.

 

That does sound like $130 worth of work.

 

Rick,
Chacal did not give you the family forum moderator discount?

 

This is the quote I received from Barnett.
Below is the pricing and part #s we have available for your model:

301-90-10025 $14.62/each (you weed need 8)

401-90-063015 $6.33/each (you would need 7)

501-50-05042 $17.71/set of 5 (you would need 1 set)

Total, before shipping would be: $178.98

Depending on where you are having us ship, there might be tax, and shipping would be about $10-$15, as long as you are inside the US.

If you have any other questions or would like to order, please let us know. Thanks!

 

The clutch is a breeze. I am on #4 now, I ride a little hard maybe.

 

Im still price shopping the friction disks.
I should new springs on the way by tomorrow.
Where did you buy your disks?

 

Boats.net is a good resource for parts too. Just search the part number and your on your way.

 

Boats.net carries very few parts and what they do have, they want Yamaha MSRP for.

Chacal (XJ4Ever) carries OEM, "aftermarket" (K & L) and Barnett clutch components. Have you checked with him yet? I got my K & L stuff from him, as well as OEM springs.

And like I said, unless your clutch has been abused, you probably don't need "plain" plates; your originals will likely clean up fine.