Clutch Basket Mod

[old son]

I am hoping to tackle the clutch basket mod this week. This mod allows more oil to get to the clutch plates and hopefully stops them sticking. If it works I'll let you know

[sirgalahad3]

I'm interested in that.
Fingers crossed!

[BBROWN1664]

I always thought it was the stiction o fthe oil that made them stick together.

[old son]

Took the clutch out but the special tool I bought to remove the basket was the wrong one!! The existing clutch was very dry. It has done 98,000 miles and the whole clutch was still in great condition. I fitted new plates and springs, I had soaked the pates for 4 days.

Bike has much smoother gear changes which proves to me the clutch pack needs more oil so I'll get hold of the correct special tool, take it all out again and drill more holes.

One thing I did find strange was that the pin that connects the lever spindle to the clutch basket was very 'floppy'. It has all gone back ok but I expected the pin to be a little more sturdy.

[sirgalahad3]

Oh what a pissa!
Could you not put it in gear and press brake lever to lock it up to get it apart?

[old son]

Tried that.  The centre nut was just so tight. Its only an hours work to strip it out again.

[old son]

Can anybody tell if the pin (with the notch at the top) that you see when you take the clutch cover off, the one held by the cover that is bolted in with the six screws and clutch springs, should be tight in its hole?

Mine was very sloppy and whilst I thought it cant be right I refitted it and the bike broke down on the way to work. There is not enough movement of the lever the cable connects to on top of the clutch housing and I wonder if the pin has moved to one side. Thanks

[old son]

It turned out to be a cable issue and not the clutch mechanism. The outer cable became compressed leaving too much inner cable for the distance involved. This resulted in no clutch lever. A new cable and all sorted. I am thinking of refitting my original clutch springs. The heavy duty ones are very heavy and I am worried the nipples on the cable will break.

[Gaz66]

Hi Matey.


Can i suggest you try using 3 new springs & 3 old springs in a Triangle formation, this will give you more spring pressure than 6 old springs but won't be as heavy as 6 new heavy duty springs... (An old racing trick) to find enough spring pressure without clutch slip at high RPM with the bonus of a lighter clutch lever feel.




Regarding drilling the basket for better oil flow, this is a free Mod that actually works wonders on any wet multi-plate clutch.


Personally I drill all my clutch baskets, I've found it works well if you get a marker pen & mark the location of the steels on the basket, then drill 3mm holes in these areas, I stagger my drilling in a spiral type pattern & slightly countersink all holes drilled, this massively improves oil flow throughout the plates & I've yet to see a dry plate after this Mod.




Hope this suggestion helps?

[old son]

Hi Matey.


Can i suggest you try using 3 new springs & 3 old springs in a Triangle formation, this will give you more spring pressure than 6 old springs but won't be as heavy as 6 new heavy duty springs... (An old racing trick) to find enough spring pressure without clutch slip at high RPM with the bonus of a lighter clutch lever feel.

Regarding drilling the basket for better oil flow, this is a free Mod that actually works wonders on any wet multi-plate clutch.

Personally I drill all my clutch baskets, I've found it works well if you get a marker pen & mark the location of the steels on the basket, then drill 3mm holes in these areas, I stagger my drilling in a spiral type pattern & slightly countersink all holes drilled, this massively improves oil flow throughout the plates & I've yet to see a dry plate after this Mod.
Hope this suggestion helps?

Thanks Gaz, I'll give the spring trick a try.

I was going to drill 4mm holes, any issues? Countersunk on what side of the basket?

I saw an American site where they cut a small trough from the existing holes in the back plate up to the lip around the edge of the plate. Looks easy and was going to do that as well.

[Dustydes]

I saw an American site where they cut a small trough from the existing holes in the back plate up to the lip around the edge of the plate. Looks easy and was going to do that as well.



Old trick used on a few bikes including the old fzr


http://www.factorypro.com/tech/clutch_y.html

[old son]

I saw an American site where they cut a small trough from the existing holes in the back plate up to the lip around the edge of the plate. Looks easy and was going to do that as well.



Old trick used on a few bikes including the old fzr


http://www.factorypro.com/tech/clutch_y.html

That's the site I saw it on. It does look quite easy to do.

[Andy W]

Hmm, free mods are def. the very best ones! 
Sounds like a few hours well spent...when you tackle it again, how about photos as you go so even a numpty like me can have a go?!!! 

[b1k3rdude]

Personally I drill all my clutch baskets, I've found it works well if you get a marker pen & mark the location of the steels on the basket, then drill 3mm holes in these areas, I stagger my drilling in a spiral type pattern & slightly countersink all holes drilled, this massively improves oil flow throughout the plates & I've yet to see a dry plate after this Mod.

So you have an FZS1000 and have done this..? got pictures as I would very interested in seeing this..

[Spannerhands]

Can anybody tell if the pin (with the notch at the top) that you see when you take the clutch cover off, the one held by the cover that is bolted in with the six screws and clutch springs, should be tight in its hole?

Mine was very sloppy and whilst I thought it cant be right I refitted it and the bike broke down on the way to work. There is not enough movement of the lever the cable connects to on top of the clutch housing and I wonder if the pin has moved to one side. Thanks

Mine is extremely sloppy. Makes getting the clutch cover back on a right faf

[old son]

Can anybody tell if the pin (with the notch at the top) that you see when you take the clutch cover off, the one held by the cover that is bolted in with the six screws and clutch springs, should be tight in its hole?

Mine was very sloppy and whilst I thought it cant be right I refitted it and the bike broke down on the way to work. There is not enough movement of the lever the cable connects to on top of the clutch housing and I wonder if the pin has moved to one side. Thanks

Mine is extremely sloppy. Makes getting the clutch cover back on a right faf

That is good news then. I thought I had issues with mine.

[old son]

Well, carried out the clutch basket mod. I drilled an extra 2 holes on the side of the basket so I now have three sets of 2 rather than the original 2 sets of 2. I also drilled another hole through the back and went up a drill size on the existing holes. I also countersank the holes of the back.


The hardest part was bending the locking snib back to secure the main nut, It took almost 30 minutes but its done now. I'll try it out tomorrow.

[unfazed]

Well, carried out the clutch basket mod. I drilled an extra 2 holes on the side of the basket so I now have three sets of 2 rather than the original 2 sets of 2. I also drilled another hole through the back and went up a drill size on the existing holes. I also countersank the holes of the back.
The hardest part was bending the locking snib back to secure the main nut, It took almost 30 minutes but its done now. I'll try it out tomorrow.

 

[old son]

Its very difficult to take pictures when you are smothered in crap and trying to get the job done. Its a very simple job, as I have already stated, the hardest part is removing and bending back the locking tab on the centre nut. The clutch basket is of sufficient depth you cant easily get anything on the tab and I didn't want to use the edge of the basket as a lever because I just know it will break.

[old son]

Had this mod in place for over a week now. Gear changes much smoother, especially when changing down. Well worth the hassle and not particularly difficult to do.