| Author | Message | ||
     Silas_clone |
I've read about replacing a clutch plate with another friction plate. What's the reason? | ||
| Samc |
Actually, three plates. Older evo clutches used a "spring plate' consisting of two steel plates held apart by flat springs. The purpose is (depending on who you talk to) to reduce rattle and broaden the engagement. The springs break, the rivets disintegrate, the tramp metal migrates through the primary and clutch and does damage, and the clutch stops working; bad idea. The fix is to use two more steel and one friction plate in place of the spring plate. I bought a complete Barnett "extra plate" clutch from Jireh cheaper than my dealer would sell me just the three plates. | ||
| Denfromphilly |
I had to replace mine recently, the clutch feels about the same to me and works great. The replacement is not a big deal if you are mechanically inclined. If you can do a set of brakes you should be able to do the clutch. My symptom was the clutch was dragging big time. The friction plate had utterly disintegrated, there were like 4 intact rivets out of maybe 24. The drained oil looked like a prospectors pan, glittering with gold colored flakes on the bottom of the pan. I did another oil change at about 300 miles and again there was a lot of gold flakes. All in all, I conclude that the spring plate is one of the overall worst design concepts I have ever seen. The consequences of failure could be catastrophic and it seems they will all fail. HD fixed something that was not broken and it made the system a lot worse. | ||
| Henrik |
I've heard that some of those spring plate replacement kits are just a tad too thick and may make the clutch drag. Anyone heard about that? Henrik (I'll be replacing my spring plate soon) | ||
| Silas_clone |
Is my '99 grace with the spring plate setup?? What's the $$$ on a Barnett? Plus the compressor in $$$ | ||
| Silas_clone |
Are the '99's stock with that set up? | ||
| Ragnagwar |
You might want to take a look at this setup. I have one and am very happy with it. It is a measured clutch stack and eliminates the goofy center spring for $85.00. (No connection with company) http://energyoneclutches.com/sportxtra.htm | ||
| Denfromphilly |
No, I have not heard that about the kits. I got the steel discs and one friction from JackBeQuick and he bought them used on Ebay. My local HD dealer sold me 2 friction plates for $20 each to replace damaged ones. The HD parts people felt it was foolish not to replace all the plates and they had never heard of a problem nor did they ever hear of a spring plate. I ended up with three people telling me I was wrong, there was no spring plate, never was, no problem, if it's dragging there is something else wrong, and the clutch pack MUST be replaced as a set. Gawd, it's hard to deal with dealers that ALWAYS treat me like this. I went to buy 10R12 spark plugs, was told the same thing, there are none, never ever were, every sportie since the dawn of time used a 10R6. I asked the guy to just look at the plugs installed in the Buells and Sporties sitting 50 feet away, or the revolution bikes, but he did not have to, he was an expert. A few days later I was there armed with the Buell service bulletin for plugs but this time Shaun (the only helpful and informed parts person) was there and I asked for a 10R12 plug and he said "10R12A", got em. As usual the customer is misinformed and plying them with some ancient tribal knowledge based on fear and prejudice. In addition clutches are very technical and they highly recommended that I let the dealer do it. I bet they would install a brand new spring plate too, the one the parts people insist does not exist, nor would they be at liberty to discuss such parts if, in fact, they did exist. I really wish I could open a store to service Buells and Sporties and treat customers like they know what they are talking about. I would fix em, fix em right, put all the hi-perf high reliability parts on, make em scream and sleep good at night knowing I did a good job. If you need the pressure plate compression tool let me know, I bought one and don't expect to need it again until I am 70. I will let you use it and as long as it's returned and in good condition it's my pleasure. | ||
| Samc |
The Energy One kit looks like a pretty good deal. The Barnett Kevlar extra-plate kit was ~$95, as I recall. Stealer wanted $30 each for friction plates (special price for Buell owners, I guess) and $50 for the spring plate. I got the same dire warnings about not using the spring plate, although later evo big twins don't have it. The MoCo made a design change in ~96 or so, I think, on big twins to eliminate the spring plate. I had the same experience with spark plugs; parts clown insisted I absolutely must have the 10R6. This, along with the synthetic oil-bearing skate story. | ||
| Psyclonej |
I made a spring compression tool from material secured from my local hardware store for under four smackers. Think PVC and 5/16 machine thread coupler and you'll be in the berries. | ||
| Spiderman |
Oh yeah, I modded that PVC pipe a tad so changing the clip is a tad easier  I'll show ya when I shoot down... | ||
| Jackbequick |
On the used clutch plates like I gave to Den, when I bought those on eBay I got the entire clutch pack complete with the spring plate. These had been used for about 15,000 miles in a Lightning and replaced with a Barnett extra plate set when the Lightning became a drag bike. Or so the seller said. I measured the spring plate and it was .208" thick. I measured the two steel and one friction plate and they were .198". So there is .010" difference in the thickness of the spring plate and their replacements in this case. Those numbers will vary a little from case to case but the difference is of no importance at all as long as you put in a similar thickness of plates. The .010" difference here is compensated for when you get it all back together and adjust the clutch adjuster screw. At that point the .010" would account for about 1/3rd of a turn on the adjusting screw. Jack | ||
| Henrik |
Thanks for the excellent point of reference Jack. Henrik |
