My Suzuki 1402cc turbo

[Shifty]

I agree on the not engaging vs actually slipping thing.

It definitely disengages perfectly, I can get gears etc no problems at all... perhaps it is just a problem with it not engaging properly. It is enough to get the bike to take off and move, but you can't give it any more than 10-20% throttle without it 'slipping'

[BigMuz]

Is there an adjustment on the pushrod thingo? Might be on the other side of the engine to the clutch.

[Gammaboy]

Was there any notchiness in the fingers of the clutch basket when you had it apart?

[Shifty]

definitely nothing on the clutch end, and 99.9% sure nothing on the other end but I'll have a look tonight. only adjustment i'm aware of is just the hand-lever position.

basket looked fine - by fingers I assume you mean the parts where the drive plates & driven plates are seated. I did not specifically look but everything was a snug fit and nothing looked out of place.

It's a low k bike and has never had any hard treatment, except a few dyno runs.

[edo]

Yep, torque of the average Kenworth...thats not hard treatment for a clutch.

[Shifty]

Fixed.

Fast!

Fark

The initial clutch slip was the springs.

The second clutch slip was due to following a 'tip' from someone. From factory the outermost clutch plate is rotated one notch in the basket. I was told that rotating the second-last one as well improves bite so I did that when I reassembled it.

Pulled the bike apart last night and noticed that this actually stops the clutch from engaging properly, as the next notch in the basket isn't deep enough so it doesn't allow enough travel... hence it working without any real load, but the second the throttle was opened it slipped - it was basically running on the oil between the plates rather than the spring pressure.

Excuse me while I go back to the other forum and tell the bloke off

[Spoonfed]

Nice work.......
Doesn't such 'special' advice that's wrong just shit you. He probably heard it from a mates uncles inbred cousins friend who works for Team Homo. .

Maybe I should charge a fee for people to ride it lol

Yes...... I will pay you 1 or even 2x riders on said Gixxer!

[Shifty]

Nice work....... Doesn't such 'special' advice that's wrong just shit you. He probably heard it from a mates uncles inbred cousins friend who works for Team Homo.

I'm just glad I didn't bend, warp, or burn out the clutch plate! As it slipped SO badly it wasn't subjected to any load, head or spring tension so it still looks like new.[/QUOTE]

Here's the advice:

Shifty - when you do the clutch plates: all the plates go into the basket except the last one (outer one) which goes one turn round (also different part number). Before you fit that one take out the last 'basket' one and also put it one turn round, this will give a lot harder / more decisive bite. Did it on my last modified GSX1400 and never had it slip, although town riding would be a bit hard on the fingers / grip.

There isn't enough room in the basket for two plates to be rotated, only one. The only thing I can assume is that he doesn't know what he is talking about (unlikey, he is probably one of the more techo guys on there), OR that he actually has a taller aftermarket clutch pack and/or an extra clutch plate, and neglected to tell me.

By eye if you added another plate, you could have it rotated as well. I assume the logic is that the same clutch force is applied over less plates so it bits harder... and having the extra plate in there also increases spring preload so the clamp is more convincing too.

Anyway problem solved, and I politely told him that it was his advice that cost me an evening's work, and a day's stressing/sweating over what the problem might be.

[piss98]

So skid and wheelie pics will be loading.......when? :D

Good work man - glad it's looking like it's now going to start to be as fun as you hoped rather than pissing you off with these niggles!!!

[Gammaboy]

So how heavy is the clutch?
Good to hear it's sorted.

[Shifty]

Yeah I was starting to get the shits with it! Very annoying.. first dyno came back ok but too lean to mess about with over ~6800rpm, so i did the injectors, got it back from the dyno again and then the oil return was leaking and the clutch started slipping. Did the oil return (got raped $$$) and the clutch, but the clutch still slipped. Was starting to sound like my supra lol!

Still some niggles (blowing fuses & taillight globes, see thread in electrical) but startign to get to a point where I'm very happy with it. I would like to fit a set of cams at some stage, that should stop the midrange hitting so hard and also get me closer to the 200rwhp mark, but that's $$$/time/effort and I want to enjoy it for a while first

At the point it's at now it makes financial sense. Anything more and it starts to get a little silly, also starts to spend more time off the road than on it!

[Shifty]

So how heavy is the clutch?

As I expected, not too bad. Definitely heavier than it was before but I rode it to work in Brisbane's shithouse traffic this morning. Traffic was particularly bad today, and was all below clutch-out speeds so it was in/out/partway the whole trip... I put it in neutral a few times when I was stopped, which I wouldn't normally have, but nah it's fine.

[demuire]

With the fuse blowing, could you have an intermittent short happening somewhere? I had a loose unterminated wire left over (which I didn't notice at the time) when I built my Corolla, and every couple of hours/days/weeks it would short out on the body and blow one of the engine fuses. Annoyed the crap out of me and left me scratching my head as to why that fuse kept randomly fusing, and then when my radiator broke and I had to remove it I noticed the culprit wire, fixed it and it hasn't happened since

[BigMuz]

The more plates the less bite actually.. Pressure (divided by) surface area. That is why a button is the most brutal clutch. You add more plates AND add more spring to keep the clamping the same.

However the more plates the smoother it will apply and the longer it can cope with slipping cause there is more are to absorb the heat.

[Shifty]

That's what I was saying brudda

If you rotate the plate, it locks in place and therefore is no longer part of the torque transfer, so you have less plates involved = more clamp.

Adding a further plate in, locked into the basket by the same method, does not increase the number of friction surfaces (because it is locked in), and really the only effect is has is to increase preload.

By eye if you added another plate, you could have it rotated as well. I assume the logic is that the same clutch force is applied over less plates so it bits harder... and having the extra plate in there also increases spring preload so the clamp is more convincing too.