Finally...

[darthandy]

...got around to installing skydoc's clutch upgrade today. What a day I picked...it's 6:45 p.m. and the temp is still 93 F. I just had supper then went out to finish what has to be the most difficult, complex and frustrating part of this job ... getting the old gasket off the case. Naturally, it wouldn't stick to the cover, so out came the utility knife blade and away I went scraping! I needed a break to cool down (It's more than 93 in my garage - oh to be rich and have an air conditioned garage!) so I just stopped for a few minutes. I heard that the Yamaha gasket has a built-in sealant but this is ridiculous! I even had to trim the silicone-like sealant off the edge in a couple of spots! Oh well, it should take no more than 15 or 20 minutes to finish the job now that the gasket is gone. The urge to use that nice, easy to remove Loctite from-a-gasket was strong (a lot easier to remove), but heck, I've got the new gasket now anyway. The nice article with pictures in the tech library made the job go very smoothly, although finding that little wire holding the last disc was a bit tricky. I'm looking forward to trying out the bike.

 

Interesting note here: I knew that the discs should be covered in oil before installation, so I checked out the recommendations from several sources. Here"s what I got - 1) no need for any oil as they'll get covered when the bike is started (Hopefully they won't overheat and burn out first!); 2) Coat with oil before installing; 3) Soak for 10 to 15 minutes before installing; 4) Soak for 2 hours before installing, and finally 5) Soak overnight before installing.

Personally, I was taking no chances and had the plates soaking in oil since yesterday.

 

Andy

[Flyinfool]

Yup, getting the old gasket off is the hard part of the job.

 

Watching Skydoc do it, he soaks the new plate for as long as it takes to need it for reassembly. He drops it in oil then starts the job. So it gets about 15 minutes soak time.

 

Only 93 by you. you got it nice and cool down there.

[darthandy]

Didn't have time to take the bike out last night, other than to back down the driveway and run back into the garage. Had to be sure it worked! Got out on her today and immediately noticed a difference. That annoying little "grab" at the end is gone and the take up is much smoother overall. Clutch pull is a bit harder but that will only be a problem in a long, slow traffic tie up and that's what neutral is for anyway. Thanks, Skydoc, for a great upgrade, although I suppose all the new friction discs helped a bit too. I don't know how the previous owner was riding it but I had read here somewhere that the annoying little "grab" or "jerk" at the end of clutch travel was normal for the RSV. I even tried full throttle from 80 KPH in 5th ... if it was going to slip, that was the time. No way. Bike vibrated and made sounds like it was swearing at me, but it pulled up to speed, no problem. Now if only gas hadn't gone up to $1.297 / L today (About $4.95 per U.S. gallon. Oh well, some things you can't fix!

 

Jeff, I don't know what your humidity levels are like there, but here, 93 feels like about 107 with the humidity. Yuck!!

 

Andy

[Flyinfool]

 

Jeff, I don't know what your humidity levels are like there, but here, 93 feels like about 107 with the humidity. Yuck!!

 

Andy

 

Glad you got it running again. See that werent so bad.

 

We had dew points in the high 70s to low 80s to go with our 100s.

 

So yes we know yuck!!!!!