Technical Detailing of Clutch Assistance.

So I just got done tearing down the clutch and got the plates out, sprayed inside with carb cleaner, and tries best I could to reach at the bandix clutch with the red nozzle of the spray can to hope it may potentially help with bandix clutch slippage. I'm eventually planning on rebuilding it since I want to tear the engine down and get it ceramic or powder coated black, or I might try painting it myself using some VHT high temp paint if the price difference would really be that big of a gap.

ANYWAYS, on to why I'm posting this, I just took the side over off and removed the clutch plates, I have 8 clutch plates and 7 drive plates total that I have removed, drive plates seemed in good condition, not any NOTICEABLE warping or heavy bluing of the metal to indicate heat damage from slipping.

The question is does these worn clutch plates seem like they are the main culprit as to why my clutch was slipping so bad? After I put in fresh oil upon purchasing the bike (Valvoline motorcycle oil JASO rated) the oil kinda quickly turned a deep black, still ever so semi glossy gold, and kept slipping after only 450-550 miles. I now just dumped all the oil and removed the plates, what I found is below...



I'm clearly going to be replacing these plates and re-using the drive plates..

Drive plates after a good wipe down, no scotch bright/sandpaper.


The springs measurement is as follows under no pressure:
Spring 1: 3.695in (93.853mm)
Spring 2: 3.692in (93.7768mm)
Spring 3: 3.689in (93.7006mm)
Spring 4: 3.687in (93.6498mm)
Spring 5: 3.683in (93.5482mm)

Do they need replacement?

 

Metal plates look like they have been overheated. That “glaze “ is not helping the slippage. Scotchbrite should clean that off. Reinstall and give it a try and remember free play at the lever should be 3-4mm or more

 

I meant the heat that they have experienced has not been high enough to seriously damage or warp them, some glazing can be fixed, a warp sadly cannot.

 

all the plates i've seen had a series of peen marks on them...?
just get new corks and springs and bolts

 

Are the springs out of spec? Why new bolts? How do they go bad?

 

mine were just in spec and slipped bad. their 30+ years old
new bolts? everybody says get new bolts, doesn't seem like they should go bad but you'll be really pissed if one of them does

 

They should be 1/2 this length? Did a PO substitute other springs with too soft rate?

 

You need to measure the full thickness of the friction plates. They should be no less than .11 inches / 2.8mm.

Clutch spring minimum length is 39.1mm. As mentioned, it doesn't sound like your springs are correct.

If you're painting or powder coating your engine, also consider that you probably want something that's fuel and oil proof. For powder coat, fuel proof often means not UV resistant.

 

I posted the thickness of the plates in the picture above, it was with calipers from side to side of the contact surface of the friction pads.

 

Wow guys, not gonna lie.. I really cannot believe I did not catch myself earlier when I posted this. My actual spring sizes are ONE inch, not THREE. I have no idea how that shit slipped through my brain, guess because it was so late at night I read my caliper wrong and my brain didn't catch that "hey, these springs are in no way three inches length.." ANYWAYS, the DECIMAL point on all those spring measurements is correct, but the THREE should be ONE, repeat.. My clutch springs ARE NOT three inches long hahaha! "1.683" Is a correct example of one of the sizes.

With that in mind are my springs "in spec" still since their over 38.1mm (roughly around 42-43mm) or should I still replace them just to be safe? I am DEFINITELY replacing the clutch plates, one of the friction parts actually deteriorated into my hand when I went to pick it up this morning, so yeah their gone..

 

The springs are cheap.
Stick some Barnett's in there with your new friction plates.
Below is a pic of my OEM Turbo spring compared to the Barnett.

 

You said something like .013 to .014 inches. That's way way below spec, which is .11 inches. Yours are so thin that I though you were measuring the depth of the space between the pads or something. Or am I not looking at the right measurements in your post?

 

The points I measured are using the calipers going from one side to the other, flat ends of the calipers are touching the RECTANGLE CORK PARTS THAT MAKE CONTACT WITH THE DRIVE PLATES, from one side to the other side of the friction plate is the specs I gave earlier in the pictures.

 

That's great. But your original post says .3556mm not 3mm. That's a big difference. So, IIUC, you are now saying that the values you originally posted were 1/10th of the actual values you measured? 3.556mm instead of .3556mm? That's still a bit weird, as the manual lists "standard" as 3.0mm. But, whatever.

 

I am really confused as to where we lost track of each other here with the information, the information I posted originally with the pictures is correct EXCEPT FOR THE SPRING SIZE (at the very end of the post). The only size I have attempted to correct without actually editing posts was updating this thread saying that I messed up and accidentally measured 3 inches instead of 1 inch for the CLUTCH SPRING size. The only time a 3 came before a decimal point in ANY of my posts was when I accidentally posted the incorrect information about the springs.

The information about the friction plates remaining surface material is and has been correct, half of the plates were .3556 while the other half were .3302 in milometers.

 

The only place you described what that measurement was was just now. OK, so it's remaining surface material above the wear limit of 2.8mm? So, total thickness of 3.1556mm?

Sorry, but I was very confused by your post and the away you measured these.

So, great if they're that much thicker than 2.8mm, they should be fine.

 

Here, how about I just do this.....



Okay so apparently I measured everything with an extra 0 before the actual decimal value, note to self I should not be doing things that involve measurement/number crunching while very tired since I took these measurements LATE last night. Sorry for all the confusion, THIS IS NOW the correct measurement base, the previous measurements in the picture should have the 0 directly after the decimal point removed for accurate measurement reading. (Example= 0.0115in is actually 0.115in)

 

digital calipers are wonderful things

 

Barnett springs will measure different from OEM springs as they use a slightly thicker wire, if I recall corrrectly.

 

I'm ordering the kit through you Charcoal so it's all good, I'll get the correct springs. <3

 

Maxwell - are you by chance related to a guy called Joshua in Ca?

 

Joshua in CA? I dont live in California.

 

..it was just a thought - my bad.