Hydraulic clutch conversion. Has anyone done it?

http://m.ebay.com/itm/310392594974

So these little pit bike conversions look to be Chinese made, but a ton of people have used them on XS650s after purchasing longer hydraulic lines.

It seems to me like it might be the way to go.

Any thoughts? Maybe I'll guinea pig this and see how it goes...

 

Well I ordered one...We'll see if the 34" is long enough, although I doubt it...

 

It's not a true "hydraulic conversion" more a "hydraulic elimination of part of the cable."

I'm willing to bet that the slave cylinder and line with fittings and full of fluid weighs more than the original cable; plus it's quite obtrusive by comparison.

My primary concern would be whether or not the little thing provides enough "throw" to properly disengage the clutch.

Sorry, not seeing an improvement here...

 

but it's trick as hell

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like this works in a push-when-activated direction where as a stock clutch cable is a pull-when-activated direction. That means you would need to fabricate additional linkages or new attachment points 180deg from stock....

EDIT... never mind... I see it now, the attachment for the hose is at the head of the 'cylinder ' rather than the tail.. that is pretty cool... now my brain is thinking of different applications for that... hmmm...

 

That appears to be a knockoff of this:
http://www.magura.com/en/powersports/products/80-2012/clutches.html

My main concern is that the knockoff will be poorly constructed and leave you without a working clutch at an inoppertune moment.
Have you considered what you will be doing about the clutch safety-switch?

The Magura kits are well thought of, and have helped a lot of people with arthritis keep riding their favorite motorcycle.

 

http://hughshandbuilt.blogspot.com/p/xs ... n.html?m=1

So the above link is for this guy who has upgrade kits for the pit bike clutches. It seems like it would be a good idea to upgrade, especially since the hydraulic line should work just as well for the XJ.

If the seals suck, they suck. Worst case scenario I switch it back out.

It would be nice to have an easier clutch pull. I rode my buddies beemer a couple weeks ago, and the damn thing had a clutch like butter. One finger pull. It's hard to go back after that.

 

You'll get no argument from me about that. Even so, the stock arragnement is not very heavy, unless the clutch cable is old/ not lubricated. One thing that you may find is a pronounced difference in feel when working in the friction zone.

 

Yeah, that's true. It's about equal with my KLR as far as pull, and it's pretty smooth through the throw.

Worst case scenario, I need to bring the old cable, 2x12mm wrenches, and a 10mm socket on my next trip incase it craps out.

That and being down ~70 bucks.

 

what about the choke control and switches

 

According to that XS website, after a bit of trimming, the levers don't interfere. I'm almost positive XS' have the same exact switch setup, according to the sites picture.

I'd be down a mirror, but at be able to drill and tap a mount. I always wanted bar end mirrors anyway.

The only problem is the neutral safety switch. It may have to get lost, and I'll have to make sure I'm diligent about not starting in gear. I hope I can handle that after all this time.

 

Be interested to see if this works, something tells me the bore on that itty bitty aster cylinder is too small to handle a heavy duty cutch, but I could be wrong. As to the neutral switch, who starts a bike without the clutch pulled in anyway? I've been riding for over 20 years, and its a habit I learned from my first MSF course.

 

Hi, I have also considered buying this, to try to get a lighter clutch, on my XJ 600 cr project. I found a similar one, but have a longer cable and a switch.

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Hydrauli ... 50260.html



Niclas

 

I think that one is more promising only because it includes the clutch switch. I need to get another sensor if I want it to work.

 

Here is another idea using factory parts.
http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13345

 

that is genius! I like the "hillbilly lathe"!

CN

 

This is the route I plan to try if I ever get around to doing the conversion.

 

I was going to try it also...if I ever get around to it.

 

mlew, that is amazing. Brilliant.