So how did your clutch upgrade go?

I have installed the clutch up grade from PCW racing.

It is supposed to be the same kit that you can now get here on VR.

I bought my kit before it was available here.

During the install I measured all of my plates. A new plate is 3mm (.118 inch) thick, the service manual says that 2.8mm (.110 inch) thick is worn out. All of my discs measured between .116 and .117 thick, the new full disc measured .118.

After the install and putting on a few hundred miles of city driving, the clutch still locks up solid with zero slip at any throttle setting at any speed. That is the good part.

The bad is, that now I still have about 1/2 inch of free play in the clutch leaver but it goes from full engage to zero engagement in the next 1/4 inch of travel. there is then about 2 inches of remaining travel that does nothing at all. This makes slow maneuvering very difficult, The friction zone is almost nonexistent.

I called PCW and they have had some customers report this issue but had no answer.

Any ideas as to what I messed up?

Jeff, I hope I am not hijacking your thread but my question is somewhat related.

You said that you installed new plates that measure .118" thick.

The service manual says these are serviceable down to .110" thick.

That is a difference of .008".

Considering that there are 8 disks in the clutch, this is a difference of .064" upper to lower limit.

Hilighted next is a clip from Skydoc 17 post concerning his vendor problem with his PCW clutch upgrade.

If you have not installed the upgrade kit yet, PLEASE DO NOT INSTALL THIS KIT UNLESS YOU CAN MEASURE THE THICKNESS WHICH SHOULD BE .070". If the spring is measuring .055 to .060" thick DO NOT INSTALL THIS KIT.

Full thread is at : http://www.venturerider.org/forum/showthread.php?t=47124

Now, to the point of my question, If Earl's spring was causing slipping due to a .015" difference, how can there not be slippage in these clutches far prior to them being at the wear limit of .064" ?

Anyone care to enlighten me ??

Gary

I found the friction zone almost nonexistent also after putting in the PCW kit. I blame it on replacing the half disc with a full one. I've had mine for a year now and still haven't gotten used to it. One of these days I will put the half disc back in.

So can one remove the cover without destroying the factory gasket?

I am thinking of just useing washers under the springs for now.

craigr

Very doubtful. Very likely it will leak. A new gasket doesn't cost that much.

I found the friction zone almost nonexistent also after putting in the PCW kit. I blame it on replacing the half disc with a full one. I've had mine for a year now and still haven't gotten used to it. One of these days I will put the half disc back in.

I put my 1/2 disc back in after about 2 weeks as I didn't like the feel of the clutch. I left the new spring in. It's been about a year now and the clutch is slipping again. I am going to reinstall the full disc to see if that stops the slipping. I wish now I had put the Barnett (Sp) clutch spring in instead. I probably should have just bought a new set of disc and spring from Yamaha and been good for about 65,000 miles.

Ain't hind sight wonderful......

BOO

I have installed the clutch up grade from PCW racing.

It is supposed to be the same kit that you can now get here on VR.

I bought my kit before it was available here.

 

During the install I measured all of my plates. A new plate is 3mm (.118 inch) thick, the service manual says that 2.8mm (.110 inch) thick is worn out. All of my discs measured between .116 and .117 thick, the new full disc measured .118.

 

 

The way I read it is he only has .001 - .002 wear from a new clutch plate ( disc ), so .008 - .016 possible of wear on the clutch plates ( discs ).

The issue with the kits Skydoc 17 was with the clutch spring itself was thin and not applying enough pressure to the clutch plates ( discs ). my take on it anyway

Very doubtful. Very likely it will leak. A new gasket doesn't cost that much.

$9.75

So can one remove the cover without destroying the factory gasket?

 

I am thinking of just useing washers under the springs for now.

 

craigr

I had both style clutches available for my rebuild and ended up using an MKII unit. It was easier to stiffen the springs up in the MKII than the MKI.

And one point to bear in mind, if you do put an MKII clutch in an MKI, you will need the MKII clutch engine cover. MKI cover does not clear the bolts of an MKII clutch.

Putting a washer in as a shim sounds like it would work but it is not that simple.

The O.D. of a washer as compared to its I.D. is going to have to be fairly close to work. Unless you have some machining capabilities available, it may be a struggle. I don't think an off the shelf washer from a hardware will work.

Attached picture shows an MKI clutch.

If washer is at bottom, it has to fit down in hole fairly precisely due to small shoulder at bottom, yet have big enough I.D. to clear tapered boss.

If it is put at top, which seems more logical place to put it, The I.D. would need to be a close match to O.D. of the top of tapered boss to hold it from interfering with movement of clutch.

Gary