Clutch replacement +

[BrettS]

The worn outer pressure plate seems very plausible as it does not get replaced.

Anyhooow, Got the new clutch cable today. Messed around with the bolt that I thought was a bit suss, ended up replacing with another bolt that again had a different head but feel it seated better.
Put the original bars on and I am on the road again.
Feels bloody brilliant with new clutch and cable. So easy to pull the clutch and it releases so much and then grabs so much. Bloody awesome 

[pgnz]

Jonesy the clutch springs push the plates together that's all,  a 1mm washer mightn't sound much but often there's only a gnats whisker between a clutch that slips and one that doesn't,   bretts mines had a extra plate for years,  does beef up the clutch along with new springs,  old clutches have a worn outer pressure plate from rubbing on the outer friction plate,  a extra steel plate tightens the clutch back to spec,  usually aftermarket springs come with less coils and are stiffer than stock too

[BrettS]

Hi PGNZ, I did a quick google and it seems that there may be some misconception on this spring thing and the way it was explained to me. Even more confused now I might look into it a little more.
The steel plate is 2mm and maybe that would make a difference or maybe not but there are several poeople that state this fixed slipping issues for good over a long term. I haven't heard any downfalls to it so we will see?

[Jonesy]

I still cant get my head around how a 1mm thick washer helps a tired old spring that has 15 - 20mm of crush on it anyway when its all assembled? So the spring is never at rest.

[pgnz]

  the more you compress a spring the more pressure it takes to do it,  with a shimmed spring you've got extra tension by the mere fact the spring is more compressed.,  constant rate is  constant doubling-up of power needed to keep compressing the spring.  not a single figure,  ,  progressive springs are just floppy at one end and stiffer at the other so variable rate not constant

[BrettS]

That was my thought to Pete, I was unsure enough to put the extra plate in

I am picking up the new clutch cable from the same place I got the other replacement bolt so I think you have convinced me to get that bolt out of there.
Thanks!

[petejw1966]

yeah u could only change the 1,
without any problems,

i disagree with you about the spring,
ur right in that a spring wont exert any more pressure as its compressed,
but having the washer behind the spring puts more pressure on the spring at rest
before its being compressed, ( i hope that makes sense )
but as i said earlier each to there own,
its all good.

[BrettS]

Yes I figured you would say that    I reckon it is holding 7 foot pound which is bugger all  I put it back together the same way last time when the torque wrench I bought for the job did not go that low 
I had a bolt snap on the way out last time and I managed to replace that with a nice new bolt after using an easy out on the other. I really should of done that with the odd bolt as well. I wonder if I could remove one bolt and get away with it so I could replace it??

The fact seems to be that a normal spring does not exert more pressure as it is compressed. Once it starts to be compressed it will exert the same pressure until the spring bottoms out. So putting a washer, or extra plate even, in theory will not exert any more pressure onto the plate. A progressive spring on the other hand has a varying strength in the spring coils so as the compression increases so does the force. 

[petejw1966]

u might want to be careful with those clutch bolts
they really need to be torqued to specs,
there known to break or strip, if ur not sure its in properly
id be pulling it apart and making sure everything is ok.


not sure what u mean about the washers and clutch springs not being progressive,
personally i found it to work better than the extra plate, but each to there own.

[BrettS]

Thanks Rasputin I will be sure to take some tools with me. Apart from the back pack I have not found a spot for them yet 
An option to sanding the plates would have been great but I just kept thinking about the wheel stands it would do with such a strong clutch  Jokes

Hi Pete, Recently I was advised that adding an extra spacer as in washer and I am thinking the plate does much the same is of no use as the springs are not progressive and therefore the spring strength will not increase. But I had also heard the theory that with time the XS1100 housing may have expanded and this may allow for the slipping of plates that are even in spec. I had not heard any bad symptoms from this so decided to go with it.
When doing up the star plate I felt one bolt at the end that seemed suss (it was also an odd bolt that had been replaced) and decided to stop mucking with anything more and close it up fearing I could make it worse by undoing and checking again, Fingers crossed it all goes well. I have started in Neutral and all seems well but time will tell.

Hey Scarfly, if my Misses walks out the door so does my dishwasher  So that aint gunna work   

[SCARFEY]

I have found that soaking the steel plates in E-vapo rust or something similar will take off everything with out any sanding or effort...

Years ago I bought an second hand R80 ST BMW. I couldn't get over how new the barrels looked so I found the original owner to find out if he'd put new barrels on the old girl. (you can get 1000 cc barrels to upgrade them)

"no mate I waited until the missus went out and gave em a turn in the dishwasher"

......did the trick they looked great.

[petejw1966]

ive tried both,
using an extra steel and adding washers behind the springs,
i found the washers worked best,
adding the extra steel made the adjusting rod sit in further than stock
which gave more slack in the cable.
both mods made the lever heavier as well.

[rasputin]

If all your clutch parts are up to snuff then there is no need for the extra plate. I have found that soaking the steel plates in E-vapo rust or something similar will take off everything with out any sanding or effort. Takes a 10 hour soak but they come out looking like new as long as the steels are not blued from friction heat.
If you have new frictions in the bike then please take adjustment tools with you on your first ride of 20 miles or more. You will find that the clutch will need adjustment, at least that has been my experience.

[BrettS]

LOL yes the big nut went back and the washers where they are meant to I think 
I followed this tutorial
http://www.xs11.com/xs11-info/tech-tips/repairs/34/191-clutch-plate-spring-replacement-and-extra-steel-plate.html
I don't seem to have mentioned that I also added an extra steel plate. This advice was also conflicting but I likied the sound of a heavy duty clutch and I had heard no ill effects from this mod ?

[steptoe]

Learning curves are what these bikes are all about,,   

As long as everything went back where it come from,,,,, and you don,t have a spare  large nut,,

I,ve found the sikaflex short term fix to work quite well,  as long as the surfce is very clean and dry,,

Good to see you still enjoy working on the old girl,,,,, it,s a credit to you and I sincerely hope the ride factor comes back ten fold