damn, damn.

[(RIP) pastyman]

Went out for a ride today on the RT. apart from getting its MOT and a short ride at the Wee-kend, this is the first time ive been out for almost a year due to my Chemo etc. ridding with a couple of pals , one on a blackbird and the other on a Trump sports, I was well pleased how well the old girl kept up, especially on the twisty bits, the Conti Go's really feel good. anyway all was great until we hit a main road going uphill, the other two opened up and I took a big fistful only to find that the clutch was slipping so had to feather off. I know all the adjustments were done right so the only think I can think of is that I am getting grease onto the clutch plate. I know I made a mistake when I rebuilt the bike by lubricating the gearbox spline with copperslip grease, and I know I tend to grease things like I butter my toast, ( more is better). So now it looks like I have a clutch to get out. The question for you guys is this. Can I clean the clutch or have I knackered it?
I also want to see oif I can do this without seperating the suspension, proshaft from the gearbox. Ie drop the lot back as a lump and do the clutch.

 

[bubbles]

Sorry to hear of your problems Tony. I was talking to Rob at the Wee-kend about greasing those splines and he spoke of taking the swinging arm bearing studs out and dropping the gearbox and swing arm back as a single unit, but I'm not sure if it would be possible to get the clutch plate out like that.

 

[DrFarkoff]

Yes you should be able to do that

but don;t forget to disconnect the neutral switch....

 

[brassmonkey001]

You can supposedly clean clutch & brake linings with some solvent which I rather unhelpfully can't remember but to be honest if it's brakes I'd rather not take the chance, and for the bother of taking the clutch out you might as well chuck a new one in. Make sure you clean all traces of grease away first though otherwise you'll be doing it again in a weeks time.

Copperslip is the wrong grease to use anyway and now you know that in the case of friction linings subject to centrifugal forces, less is more.

You might be able to replace a worn clutch by pulling the box and shaft back but it will probably be a pig to get the alignment right. I haven't done the job so can't say for certain. But in this case I would remove the box completely as you'll need to make sure you've removed all traces of grease before fitting a new clutch.

 

[Bill-H]

Those Turners are getting a reputation for knackering clutches

 

[ilkleyal]

Have a look first, get the starter off and have a good look with a torch. Also feel in there with your finger. is it your copper grease or oil from the input shaft rear seal? which will cause oil to be supplied directly to the centre of the clutch. If its oil from the gearbox then you probably know its a full gearbox strip as the rear input shaft seal has gone and its installed from the inside of the gearbox. If you want detailed how to for this I can assist you.

There is a fix that could work if its just your copper slip causing the problem if you are desperate enough to try and fix it without a strip down. Pull the timing mark inspection cover off (little black bung) and pour degreaser in there using funnel and a suitable tube.

Run bike stationary for a couple of mins and operate clutch lever many times.

When done, remove starter to drain degreser out. Refit it and and rinse thru from the top with hot water and washiing up liquid. go for a ride, drop starter again to drain and rinse it all thru with more hot water followed by your garden hose.

Not as mad as it may sound, the flywheel and clutch are totally seperate from engine and gearbox as you already know and as long as you are not putting pints and pints of degreaser in there you wont get any down the clutch pushrod. Even if you did, a gear box oil change would soon solve that.

Worth a try but im not responsible, It would work if done carefully and it was just your copper slip causing the problem.

If you do strip it down you can degrease everything but I would buy a new friction plate as you have it all apart anyway.

Al.

 

[(RIP) pastyman]

Bloody ell, Its amazing what comes out on here when you ask a question. I think I have already decided that I will have to take the box out and replace the friction plate. I love the idea of squirting degreaser down there and then washing it out but it does seem a bit hit and miss though I can see how it could work. The bike has only covered about 100 miles since I rebuilt it and greased the spline( and the rest of the clutch) so it should'nt be too impregnated.. Love to try it but as time is not an issue , I might as well do it properly. Great to try if you were stuck out in the middle of a holiday abroad though.
Thanks for your replies.
Now Motorworks do a BM part and also an EBC one , which is cheaper, any views on the ebc?

 

[ilkleyal]

Bloody ell, Its amazing what comes out on here when you ask a question. I think I have already decided that I will have to take the box out and replace the friction plate. I love the idea of squirting degreaser down there and then washing it out but it does seem a bit hit and miss though I can see how it could work. The bike has only covered about 100 miles since I rebuilt it and greased the spline( and the rest of the clutch) so it should'nt be too impregnated.. Love to try it but as time is not an issue , I might as well do it properly. Great to try if you were stuck out in the middle of a holiday abroad though.
Thanks for your replies.
Now Motorworks do a BM part and also an EBC one , which is cheaper, any views on the ebc?

Probably for the best. You can of course leave final drive and evenn the wheel on if you want and get it all off in one piece, You can also leave subframe on bike and tie it up out of the way to the handlebars.

Good luck, let us know what the issue was.

Al.

 

[Ogmios]

first time ive been out for almost a year ...

made me think maybe - but only a maybe it's the clutch pushrod sticking (from lack of use) and not the clutch at all.

it'd be nice to find it's an easy fix and not a hard one.*

*though this never applies on my Bikes.

Good luck.

 

[(RIP) pastyman]

Well, got the gearbox out this arvie, good news is that the gearbox oil seal is not ics 1 and 2( not very good pic but you can see the "fling " of grease.)
Ive ordered a new friction plate as the old one is about half worn so I might as well save meself the job of having to do it in the future
I put the last pic on as in the haines manual it speaks of balancing marks on the flywheel, pressure plate and cover plate. I can see a bit of white paint on the cover plate and a slight smudge on the pressure plate but buggered if I can see anything on the flywheel. any idea what it should look like? Is is also paint or a stamp or notch etc.
I also wondered if I should give the various bits a bit of a clean up and paint. All the bits are quite rusty( surface) and would look much better painted and it would reduce dust as well. ( I know no one can see it) and I would use a heat resistant engine paint...... Wotcha think.

 

[VAL. H.]

Have a look first, get the starter off and have a good look with a torch. Also feel in there with your finger. is it your copper grease or oil from the input shaft rear seal? which will cause oil to be supplied directly to the centre of the clutch. If its oil from the gearbox then you probably know its a full gearbox strip as the rear input shaft seal has gone and its installed from the inside of the gearbox. If you want detailed how to for this I can assist you.

There is a fix that could work if its just your copper slip causing the problem if you are desperate enough to try and fix it without a strip down. Pull the timing mark inspection cover off (little black bung) and pour degreaser in there using funnel and a suitable tube.

Run bike stationary for a couple of mins and operate clutch lever many times.

When done, remove starter to drain degreser out. Refit it and and rinse thru from the top with hot water and washiing up liquid. go for a ride, drop starter again to drain and rinse it all thru with more hot water followed by your garden hose.

Not as mad as it may sound, the flywheel and clutch are totally seperate from engine and gearbox as you already know and as long as you are not putting pints and pints of degreaser in there you wont get any down the clutch pushrod. Even if you did, a gear box oil change would soon solve that.

Worth a try but im not responsible, It would work if done carefully and it was just your copper slip causing the problem.

If you do strip it down you can degrease everything but I would buy a new friction plate as you have it all apart anyway.

Al.

Probably for the best. You can of course leave final drive and evenn the wheel on if you want and get it all off in one piece, You can also leave subframe on bike and tie it up out of the way to the handlebars.

Good luck, let us know what the issue was.

Al.

Hey Al, Your thinking of the Oilheads here. Pastymans bike is an Airhead. The starter is on the top and you'd need to seperate the gearbox to let the Degreaser etc out the bottom. Once the gearbox is free one might as well remove it and do the job properly

Still; on the plus side. It's a darn site easier job all round





-----------------------------






Well done Tony Would you like someone to send you a fingerful of Graphogen to do the job propperly this time?


Val.

 

[(RIP) pastyman]

Val, Ive got graphogen, but isw this suitable for this job or will it just melt like the copperslip and do the same again. Motorworks recommend LM grease. Got some of that too

 

[ilkleyal]

Hey Al, Your thinking of the Oilheads here. Pastymans bike is an Airhead. The starter is on the top and you'd need to seperate the gearbox to let the Degreaser etc out the bottom. Once the gearbox is free one might as well remove it and do the job properly

Still; on the plus side. It's a darn site easier job all round





-----------------------------





Well done Tony Would you like someone to send you a fingerful of Graphogen to do the job propperly this time?


Val.

Ah, Yes I had assumed it was an oil head. Last RT I did was an 1100 and the input shaft rear seal was gone. Ended up putting new seal in and even replacing pushrod for the later one with felt seal.

The pics here show rather too much grease on the splines but friction plate looks clean. Is your spring worn out? Lucky its an old airhead. An 1100RT takes a whole lot more time to rip apart than one of these.

Al.

 

[(RIP) pastyman]

Its why I posted this on the Airheads section......

 

[ilkleyal]

Its why I posted this on the Airheads section......

Subtle...............

 

[toadjam]

white spirit

you can use white spirit to clean brakes with so it should degrease a clutch plate

 

[Kenny]

Clean the whole lot up with a can of brake cleaner, bung in the new plate and don't you dare paint anything in there !!!

ilkleyal, to save you massive MASSIVE piss taking and sheer embarassement, would you like me to delete your posts on this thread?

 

[VAL. H.]

Val, Ive got graphogen, but isw this suitable for this job or will it just melt like the copperslip and do the same again. Motorworks recommend LM grease. Got some of that too

The way I understand it, is that you should use a very high melting point grease. Proff says Graphogen is the way to go and there dosen't seem to be any argument against it.

However it's expensive stuff so good reason not to go slopping it around like your buttering your toast. Just enough to cover the spines should be fine.


Val.

 

[ilkleyal]

Clean the whole lot up with a can of brake cleaner, bung in the new plate and don't you dare paint anything in there !!!

ilkleyal, to save you massive MASSIVE piss taking and sheer embarassement, would you like me to delete your posts on this thread?

Nah, no need for that. If they are taking the piss out of me they are leaving someone else alone

I have a good use for and old washing machine as wel to clean bits of engines.

Al

 

[Rob Farmer]

Proff says Graphogen is the way to go and there dosen't seem to be any argument against it.

It's too wet and will fling out onto the clutch plate just like the copperslip. You need a hard paste with a high melting point.