What is the expected clutch life?

[Midrsv]

I'm about to turn over 40,000 miles on my bike and I'll be leaving for a 4500 mile trip through the CO mountains in a few weeks. Is the clutch something that I should be concerned about? What is the normal life for a clutch. I do a lot of city riding so I may use the clutch more than some of you. I'll replace it before the trip if I'm getting close to the useful life of the clutch.

 

Dennis

Edited June 25, 2010 by Midrsv

[Bubber]

I'm about to turn over 40,000 miles on my bike and I'll be leaving for a 4500 mile trip through the CO mountains in a few weeks. Is the clutch something that I should be concerned about? What is the normal life for a clutch. I do a lot of city riding so I may use the clutch more than some of you. I'll replace it if I'm getting close to the useful life of the clutch.

 

Dennis

 

 

I would say it is good till it starts to slip. No Biggy!

[V7Goose]

You are at it. Some people get a bit more, some less, but it is quite common for the stock clutch to begin slipping around 40,000 miles. If you are not pulling a trailer, it probably won't be a big issue for you on the trip, even if it does start slipping; you will just have to be a bit careful about top gear roll-ons for passing.

 

But all the same, I recommend that everyone put in the PCW upgrade kit BEFORE it starts slipping. Your friction plates will be just fine (even after it starts slipping a bit), so no need to replace anything but that half plate at the bottom of the stack. The PCW kit consists of a heavier spring, one full plate and a gasket, costs about $80, and is well worth it.

Goose

[Squidley]

You are at it. Some people get a bit more, some less, but it is quite common for the stock clutch to begin slipping around 40,000 miles. If you are not pulling a trailer, it probably won't be a big issue for you on the trip, even if it does start slipping; you will just have to be a bit careful about top gear roll-ons for passing.

 

But all the same, I recommend that everyone put in the PCW upgrade kit BEFORE it starts slipping. Your friction plates will be just fine (even after it starts slipping a bit), so no need to replace anything but that half plate at the bottom of the stack. The PCW kit consists of a heavier spring, one full plate and a gasket, costs about $80, and is well worth it.

Goose

 

 

I agree 100% with Goose, which is kinda amazing if you think about it But seriously he's right on the money, do the swap and you'll be golden as I know you pull that Unigo trailer

[V7Goose]

Well Blow Me Down - Cupcake on my side in something????? Whoda thunk it could ever happen?

Goose

[clarkrcdc]

Where do you purchase this clutch kit and do you have to reuse the wire when using the full size plate?

[dingy]

Where do you purchase this clutch kit and do you have to reuse the wire when using the full size plate?

 

Skydoc 17 has them listed in the classified section.

 

http://www.venturerider.org/classifieds/showproduct.php?product=2905&title=second-genheavy-duty-clutch-spring26amp-3b-full-disc-upgrade-kit-21&cat=7

 

Gary

[KiteSquid]

Where do you purchase this clutch kit and do you have to reuse the wire when using the full size plate?

 

IIRC they come from PCW Racing. They do a LOT of work on VMax bikes.....

 

Click HERE to go there.

[Dooder1]

I just turned 43000 on my bike. I am in California for a visit just rode 1700 miles no slipping of the clutch as of yet but was thinking of doing the pcw when I get back to Missouri

[Dave77459]

I'm at 41500 and am planning on towing a trailer in a couple weeks. I guess I am on borrowed time. Never had any indication of slippage though. Does it matter if your miles are mostly long distances without clutching?

 

Dave

[V7Goose]

I'm at 41500 and am planning on towing a trailer in a couple weeks. I guess I am on borrowed time. Never had any indication of slippage though. Does it matter if your miles are mostly long distances without clutching?

 

Dave

Ordinarily I would say the type of riding would make a big difference, but not in this case. Not that you couldn't trash the clutch if you were particularly bad with it. But since every one that I have fixed showed absolutely no detectable wear on the friction plates (they all still measured right in the original spec), the problem seems to be a poor stock spring that just looses some of its temper with age. And by age, I do not mean years, but miles of hot running.

 

I do think you would run into the problem much sooner if you tend to run fast and do a lot of high-speed passing where you quickly hit the throttle in top gear around 70 MPH or like to accelerate through the gears quickly. Not that either of those will weaken the spring sooner, just that those are the conditions where the clutch slip first shows up.

 

Of course, oil is another big variable - even if one never used an oil with friction modifiers, there are so many different oils out there that it is almost certain that some will be a bit more conducive to clutch slip than others.

 

I will repeat my recommendation from above - I strongly recommend that EVERYONE who expects to put more than 30,000 miles on one of these bikes put in a PCW spring kit before then. You are gonna need it eventually anyway, and that will simply prevent any problem from starting.

Goose

[Dave77459]

Ordinarily I would say the type of riding would make a big difference, but not in this case. Not that you couldn't trash the clutch if you were particularly bad with it. But since every one that I have fixed showed absolutely no detectable wear on the friction plates (they all still measured right in the original spec), the problem seems to be a poor stock spring that just looses some of its temper with age. And by age, I do not mean years, but miles of hot running.

 

I do think you would run into the problem much sooner if you tend to run fast and do a lot of high-speed passing where you quickly hit the throttle in top gear around 70 MPH or like to accelerate through the gears quickly. Not that either of those will weaken the spring sooner, just that those are the conditions where the clutch slip first shows up.

 

Of course, oil is another big variable - even if one never used an oil with friction modifiers, there are so many different oils out there that it is almost certain that some will be a bit more conducive to clutch slip than others.

 

I will repeat my recommendation from above - I strongly recommend that EVERYONE who expects to put more than 30,000 miles on one of these bikes put in a PCW spring kit before then. You are gonna need it eventually anyway, and that will simply prevent any problem from starting.

Goose

Thanks Goose. There are several things that you mention that applies to me. If you live in Houston, you really can't ride your motorcycle and avoid hot running.

 

I've ordered the clutch kit. I may not have time before my trip, but I'll take it with me and do a field dressing if necessary.

 

Thanks again,

 

Dave

[Squidley]

Well Blow Me Down - Cupcake on my side in something????? Whoda thunk it could ever happen?

Goose

 

 

Stranger things could happen

[MopedDAN]

Is the clutch repair very complicated or could the layman figure it out?

[Sylvester]

Is the clutch repair very complicated or could the layman figure it out?

 

Not only a layman but a caveman could do it!!!

 

[Bummer]

Oh man, that caveman guy's gonna have a snit if he sees that. They seem to be a sensitive lot.

 

The clutch job is pretty easy. You don't need to remove the oil, just leave it on the side stand.

 

Remove the cover. Take out the bolts. Remove the parts keeping them together, in order, and facing the way they came out. (The world won't end if you mix and match, but everyone says to keep 'em in order, so...) Remove the wire and the half disk set at the bottom of the basket and put those parts somewhere to get old enough to throw away.

 

Soak the new friction plate in some of the oil you use for the engine. Scratch up the metal disks with sandpaper on a flat surface, then clean them well. Put it all back in order using the new friction plate. MATCH THE NOTCHES TO THE DOTS. Be careful about tightening the bolts. They don't take much torque and can break easily if you go all caveman on 'em. (woops) Put the cover back with the new gasket.

 

It's a couple of hour job if you take your time.

 

There's a write up here. Just remember that the dots on the basket wind up where they wind up. That part turns.

 

You can also get the shop manual here to use as reference.

[Brad]

i got 42,000 from mine and I only replaced the spring plate with a aftermarket spring clutch which is much stronger - the disc where ok and i got it on line

[V7Goose]

Remove the cover. Take out the bolts. Remove the parts keeping them together, in order, and facing the way they came out. (The world won't end if you mix and match, but everyone says to keep 'em in order, so...) Remove the wire and the half disk set at the bottom of the basket and put those parts somewhere to get old enough to throw away.

 

Soak the new friction plate in some of the oil you use for the engine. Scratch up the metal disks with sandpaper on a flat surface, then clean them well. Put it all back in order using the new friction plate. MATCH THE NOTCHES TO THE DOTS. Be careful about tightening the bolts. They don't take much torque and can break easily if you go all caveman on 'em. (woops) Put the cover back with the new gasket.

 

It's a couple of hour job if you take your time.

 

There's a write up here. Just remember that the dots on the basket wind up where they wind up. That part turns.

 

You can also get the shop manual here to use as reference.

I gotta slightly disagree with a few points here.

 

First, I have never found any need to sand the steel disks. Won't hurt none if you want to, but just make sure you properly clean them. And don't forget to remove that thin steel disc under the wave washer that sits against the bottom of the clutch basket - not needed with the full size friction disc.

 

Second, I would NEVER do this job without an inch-lb torque wrench to properly torque the spring bolts. Guessing with a calibrated wrist is just begging for trouble, especially with bolts that are torqued to only 5.8 ft. lbs.

 

Third is the amount of time it takes - you would have to stop every 5 minutes to call your mom for advice for this job to take a couple of hours! Other than scraping the old gasket off, the rest of the job generally only takes 10-20 minutes!

 

My final comments are just a couple of cautions - DO NOT touch your clutch lever while the bolts are out! But DO test the operation of the clutch after you torque the bolts and before you put the cover back on. When putting the pressure plate on, be sure to align the punch mark with the one outside one of the bolt holes, and wiggle the plate to ensure the splines mesh together. This is really the only place you can get surprised; if the pressure plate isn't actually seated down in the splines, the clutch will not operate when you bolt it all together. If all is done right, you will see the pressure plate pull back when you test the clutch lever just before you bolt the cover back on.

 

It is actually a VERY easy job - just follow the one sheet of instructions included with the PCW kit.

Goose

[Eddie Fulmer]

There he goes again .....I'm outta here........