hi all. My 999 clutch 17k miles makes a fluttery type noise when pulling away in first. I’m not even sure it’s the clutch. Almost sounds like it could be somewhere forwards of it. How long do they last for, there is no slip even at full power/torque. Any ideas what it could be? What can I check? Never pulled a clutch to bits so maybe my nice bike isn’t the place to start unless there’s anyone in west London who can baby sit this. Thanks
The noise could be caused by the plates as they start to"bite". The tabs that engage in the clutch basket could be getting worn as could the basket where the tabs engage on it. Initially if you are concerned it could be worth stripping out the plates and cleaning them with something like brake cleaner. Just make sure you note the order everything comes out in. You will find loads of clutch threads on this forum.
As said above. A simple mod that helps things is to remove the rubber gasket from the clutch cover and use 2 washers per bolt as spacers. This creates a slight gap and allows the clutch dust to escape. I've run my bikes like this for years and don't suffer from clutch graunching.
The clutch is dead easy to work on. Make sure to do something like push the cover bolts through a piece of card in the pattern they came out in, as they are all of a similar but not identical length and need to go back correctly. When taking out the plates, a dentists tooth pick helps but even better is a pair of strong telescopic stick magnets to pull them out with. As you take each plate out, hang it on the foot peg, then you can’t go wrong putting them back in. How rattly is the clutch at idle? If it’s really bad, you will need to replace the friction plates. On these bikes, the tabs that engage in the basket slots get knackered long before the friction material wears out. When re assembling the clutch, make sure to align the embossed triangular arrow cast into the pressure plate with post with a slot cut in the top and be sure to only gently nip the clutch bolts up. Just bottoming them out is enough.
Interesting. I did take the cover off and clean out the dust. There was maybe a teaspoon of it. I thought that quite a lot but I do London commuting quite a bit and with the really tall first gear it does involve a lot of clutch action.
How rattly is difficult. It’s my first dry clutch bike. It’s very certainly noisy for sure. Are there any special torques for anything. If not what you explained sounds like I can have a go. Will it be obvious if anything’s overly worn? What should I look for?
No special torques for anything with regard to plates. Just nip everything up gently. Dead easy to take a look yourself. Looking for excessive play between plate tabs and basket slots. My tabs were so bad it made a racket just riding along, not just at idle.
What can help is to de burr the tabs with a fine file. Then put a small chamfer on each edge to help them slide along the basket as the clutch engages and dis engages. The only special torque is for the clutch basket centre nut which you don't need to worry about.
Imho, if you are going to put all that work in on chamfering edges, better to do it on new plates than old ones. My experience is that loose old plates slide pretty easily, it's tight, sharp-edged, new plates that can bind
No news as yet. Been working away from home a bit and not had any time to play or worse even ride. Thanks for asking
Update and some advice needed please. I took the clutch springs out and removed the plate and rod and carefully noted where it all went. I took only the first couple of plates out as my magnets were too wide to fit. This is what I found. Is this knackered? It’s very very thin. Having put it all together again the clutch lever moves the plate but only a tiny amount and there is no pressure at the lever. What have I done wrong please.
Even new ones are very thin. Usually it’s the tabs that get knackered long before the friction material. The triangle Chris is referring to is embossed/moulded into the pressure plate and when aligned properly should point like an arrow at the post with a slot cut into the top of it. The pressure plate will not sit properly in place unless you get this right.
To get the rest of the plates out you can use two small hex keys at 3 and 9 o'clock and wiggle them out.
I think so. Like this. Slot cut post is where the triangle arrow thing is. And the rim of the pressure plate seems about flush with the tabs on the basket. I noticed two rubber washers on the spline. Are they just dust protectors.
If the basket turned when it was disassembled could this cause this. Am I right the plates can go any orientation. I tried to put them back exactly but it’s possible I was one tab out. Thanks. Bit miffed with myself. This was supposed to be easy!
Steels and friction plates can go in any rotation. Most just try to get the little cutputs in the steels in different places for every steel.
