Clutch replacement

[81xsproject]

Real quick, when replacing the clutch, do the new plates need to be soaked or just coated in oil? The book says coated, but for some reason I remember reading here that they need to be soaked. If soaked, how long?

[DiverRay]

If you are going to ride soon, just coat. If it will be a few months before riding, I would soak for a few hours.
Ray

[Goin Commando]

Yes to what Ray said, and make sure you put all of the steel plates on the same direction, with the smooth side out.
On one side it will be kind of round[smooth] and the other side will have a sharp edge. This is the way they are stamped.
good luck
and say no to synthetic oil

[81xsproject]

I thought you were supposed to turn all the plates with every clutch-job (sounds dirty, huh?). Maybe that is just my over active imagination, about turning the plates.

[Incubus]

I'm not positive it makes a difference which way the beveled edges face, as long as all the metal plates are aligned the same way. Some folks swear they have to be one way, some are convinced the other way is the way to go.

Also, if you are going to reuse the fiber plates, put them back in the same order or your clutch will wear out quickly.

Patrick

[Ljay40]

I grabbed a complete clutch pack all within specs (2.9mm) off ebay was thinking when I tear down I was going to meausure thickness of all clutch disc's and use the best ones, and then add the extra steel plate do you think that will wear out to fast succubus beacause they're not replace back in pattern
if I mix disc's?The springs I measured are still like brand new as well I would think it would not matter long as they are in spec and all steels are flat and springs are good.
I know the best way to go is to use all brand new but im really counting on the extra steel to tighten things up .

[trbig]

I recently redid my clutch at John's house with new springs and the extra steel plate. I reused the discs. It is probably twice as stiff pulling the clutch as it used to be, but there is absolutely NO slip. At long lights, I just put it in neutral instead of holding it the whole time. I also bought a clutch cable to carry in my bag all the time... just in case the extra pull gets too much for my 25 year old one! lol. I think you'll like the results.

The only thing I see by switching the discs order, is that the disc will rub down a bit to be a mate to the new steel it's against. I don't see how it could continue to wear down at a faster pace... but I have been known to be wrong on many many occasions! lol. The extra steel will make up for a lot of disc wear... just remember to put it in the middle... right after the 4th steel.

Tod

[Incubus]

If you already have the fibers you might as well install them. Trbig is right. When you switch the fibers around they wear to mate with new steel. Since they are already worn, they will wear more. In the grand scheme of things, however, a clutch replacement is a pretty fast and easy job. You will quickly be able to tell when your clutch is going. I would put as many of the original plates back in place and replace any out of spec with the new used fibers.

I have done that with other bikes, replacing only certain disks. It worked well for a while, then I had to redo it.

Patrick

[81xsproject]

Unless you really enjoy tearing your clutch apart, just use all new disks and save youself some trouble. TRUST ME!!(This is like my forth time in there)

[Snow]

I only soaked for about 10 minutes when I did mine...ended up wishing I had properly soaked as they just would not let go for a while.

[81xsproject]

I ended up soaking mine for about 4hrs. I hope that it was enough for the long winter projects.