I took my bike to a place it wasn't meant to go. Deep into a forest surrounded by landslides and boulders i had to cut down trees and lever the boulders out the way. Very hard terrain for even the most skilled of riders never mind a novice like me.

Burnt out my clutch and left my bike stranded in the middle of nowhere. Then I had to walk 9K to the nearest country Road over the same terrain. Hitch a ride home. Next day, Went to the nearest bike shop some 80 K away from my home on my road bike. Clarified that the most likely part that needed to be replaced was the clutch. Then ordered new plates and springs. The next day I repeated the same journey to the bike shop and collected the parts. Today I took the journey back into the forest with the new parts and fitted the new clutch plates etc, Taking care to put them in the right And using the right torque setting etc And Of course change the oil. By the way the clutch was very Badly burnt.

Ok. Turned the bike over put it into first let the clutch out and nothing but the smell of fresh burning clutch once again.

Oh no.

Somebody, anybody help. The guy at the bike shop seems mystified by this problem.

Heres a quick run down of the symptoms.

Badly burnt clutch with particles stuck onto the metal plates from the friction plates.
One friction plate was totally smoothed.
Careful replacement of plates, springs and oil following torque settings.
Then on the center stand, slightly revving for less that one minute in first gear several times resulting in the slightest of power. I could rev the engine and stop the wheel with a finger. All this accompanied with the smell of fresh burning clutch.

Apology for long story

Bad news.

Can't help with a solution, but if no-one can help then post in the Ask Kev section, I'm sure Kev will have a solution.

Good Luck,


Nick.

Did you put the new friction plates in dry? its a wet clutch so needs oil on the plates for them to operate properly, try wetting them with oil before starting bike up, also metal plates could be warped, you can check them on a flat surface for visible distortion, I once put a new clutch in and filled the engine with car oil because it was all I could get and the clutch did the same until I drained it , cleaned the plates off and used proper bike oil, the car oil had additives that made the plates slip because car clutches are dry, bike oil is designed for wet clutches, also tighten opposing spring bolts to equalise pressure, and operate clutch to check its function before starting up again.
Good Luck,
Jim

It’s difficult to say what is the actual cause of your problem is, but it sounds to me like something hasn’t gone back quite as it should?

I can give you an idea of some of the things that have gone wrong for me (speaking from bitter experience) during clutch reassembly (which may or may not help you isolate your problem)…

1) Did you get the anti-judder spring round the right way? One side has “outside” marked on it, which should face you when you look at it.

2) One friction plate has a larger internal diameter than all the others (easily overlooked). This one must go in first.

There are actually three types of friction plate in the clutch pack: 4x Type 1 (notched tabs), 3x Type 2 (colour coded) and the Type 3 (the one with the larger internal diameter). They must be fitted in the correct sequence and be soaked in engine oil first. The sequence is (from first in to last in with a plain plate between each): T3|T1|T1|T2|T2|T1|T1. The T1 plates notched tabs should fit into the right hand one of the two slots marked with triangles (the clutch housing should be rotated to get these slots at the top before you start).

3) If there are gaps between the plates after reassembly it could be that the pressure plate wasn’t located properly in the castellations on the housing. Also make sure the clutch spring bolts were tightened a little at a time in a diagonal sequence and then torqued correctly.

4) When you put the clutch cover back on the release arm will move. It is crucial you get this in exactly the right position to allow for this movement when you push the cover home. If the release arm is in the correct position (before you connect the cable), you should be able to push it forward (until it won’t go any further) to align with the two punch marks (one on the arm and one on the cover). If these do not align when pushed fully forward you will not be able to get the clutch adjusted properly. So take the cover off and rotate the release arm a bit further round and try again until you get it right.

Hope this is of some use to you…

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Re point 4

The clutch lever punch points need to align when the handlebar lever is activated or pulled in.
NOT when the handlebar lever is disengaged

Which is the complete opposite of what i have done.

When set up correctly the release arm should physically come to a halt at the point where the two punch marks align (all the slack has been taken up) when you push it forward (toward the front of the bike) with your finger. Note: No excessive force is required - you are not disengaging the clutch at this point.

The two punch marks should be aligned (after the cable is fitted) when the clutch is engaged, in other words not squeezing the handlebar lever.

Sounds like you might have the release arm set so the clutch is nearly completely disengaged all the time??


Hell - it's hard to explain this without using your hands and a blackboard!

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