23-02-12, 11:57 PM
since the post above i've read various internet musings on the subjects of basket springs and clutch rattles. the consensus is that these springs, when loose, cause the rattles and they can be shimmed or replaced and the rattles disappear until they wear again. however, to shim or replace the springs in a basket it has to be separated by drilling out the rivets and then tig welded back together, a job that i'll be hading over to my trusted mechanic tomorrow. i'll post back his thoughts on the matter.
apparantly there are gaps at the spring ends in new baskets, though nobody ventures any guesses as to why. not gaps like mine however, others measure their's with feeler gauges!
this is not just a yamaha design or problem, other manufacturers seem to suffer this too.
as for the spring colours it's stranger than it first appears - the yellow is only on part of the loose springs - move them round and they can be 'spring' coloured! judging from fastener heads and the like i'm first in here - so i'm pretty sure that what i've pulled out has been in the bike from new and probably done the indicated (and service history carroborated) 22k miles.
i can't believe that i'm the first gen 1 owner to walk this path? surely there's more knowledge on this available? i don't suppose anyone has (or has access to) a new basket and can post up whether the springs in it are tight? i have 2 tight and 4 with about 2.5mm movement gap.
is it clean enough?