Subject: RE: Grabby clutch reappears
Author: joe jump
Date: Sep 8, 2003, 6:58 AM
Post ID: 1714439344
Ian,
I have the same problem with my V-7 Sport. I replaced
the clutch hub with the 4mm spline unit & replaced the friction plates
with the Sureflex items, all sourced from MG Cycles. I also changed out
the springs. My bike doesn't lurch forward like the clutch is either off
or on, but when warm it hooks up pretty fast & sort of shudders, not
smooth & progressive. My pressure plate, intermediate plate, & ring gear
were smooth, and I took great care to clean the splines inside the
flywheel spotless-no notches there either. I lightly lubed the hub &
flywheel splines with BMW spline grease & made sure there wasn't a trace
of contamination on the friction surfaces. I have no trouble with
disengagement-I can easily slip into neutral when stopped & it will
easily go into 1st hot or cold. The only thing I can think of is the
friction charicteristics of the driven plates. I look forward to hearing
what the list has to say.
Ian Adkins wrote:
Hey All, Well....after 200 miles, and what I thought was a good fix to my grabby clutch woes on the White Eldo, the problem is reappearing. The good news is that I now have some experience with the progression of this problem and can come to some concrete answers. Let me know if you folks agree with my hypothesis. When I first bought the bike the clutch was VERY grabby...almost unrideable. As I would ease out the cluth, trying to feel for the plates to make contact, nothing would happen and then all of a sudden it would grab and lurch forward (hey...maybe the bikes new name :-)). This problem was less evident when the engine was cold. The bike operated fine once rolling. I pulled the engine but there were no noticable indicators of something wrong. The splines of all components looked good....the clutch plates had lots of thickness. There was a fair bit of clutch dust in there but nothing gummy. I replaced the clutch plates....realigned the flywheel (it was off), lubed the splines and bolted everything together. When I first ran the bike everything was nice and smooth. Clutch plates engage evenly and the bike worked like a dream....until 20 miles ago. After spending a good day with my buddy Ed....riding about 80 miles the grabbiness is reappearing...getting progressively worse. I can feel the uneveness of the plates making contact as I engage the clutch. The grabbing appears to be consistent with engine rotation. The clutch operates smoothly so I don't think there is any binding in the cables. If the problem was with the tranny I think it would have been evident as soon as I ran the bike after the apparent fix. I don't think the problem is in the splines of the tranny hub. I replaced the clutch plates but not the intermediate plate..... My thinking is a warping intermediate plate as it gets hot. I have yet to retest the bike when cold but will do that sometime today. Any thoughts? ...Ian |
Joe in St Louis