gizzo wrote on 03/25/15 at 00:07:16:


You funnin' us again?

Most likely it started with a previous owner using a car oil with "friction modifiers" in the oil.  Any oil that states it is energy saving or reduces friction is one to avoid.  Not sure what you are using....but in the US their really isn't any reason to use anything but Rotella T or T-6.

You can clean the metal plates off, and you may also be able to do the same with the fiber plates if they aren't burnt smelling or really dark in color.  Wash the oil off and dry the plates, lay a sheet of fine emery cloth or sandpaper on the glass and rub the plates back and forth until the shiny surface is gone, then wash them again and dry them off.  Then install them and add a bit of oil between each plate as you put them together.

Well huzzah, the clutch is buggered. there's about 8 thousandths of an inch friction material thickness left on any of the plates. I doubt that's enough to be in spec. Got the head plug out for replacement, too. So I'll go visit old mate at Suzy Parts and order some stuff in the morning. I'd love to catch up with the goose who tore into this engine last time and give him a kick in the nuts. Seems to have been a bit of a  butcher  .

Well Gizzo...at least the clutch is an easy fix and not too costly.

The good news is that most folks who abuse the bike have clutch issues before they damage the transmission (as long as they don't stomp on the pedal when shifting from neutral to 1st at a stop).

Is the outside of the rubber belt all cracked.....or was the bike converted to a chain?

Maybe the output shaft bearing suffered from too tight of a belt/chain.

Flush your engine out. If it sat around with old oil in it, especially who knows how old and how dirty old oil, there are deposits stuck to the gears, bearings, bushings, shafts, case itself...

Drain the engine. Put the plug back in the lower case, remove the exhaust pipe and insert a test plug (rubber and steel thing from the hardware store). Pop a valve adjustment cover off, fill the engine with diesel fuel, put the valve cover back on. Let it sit a week or two, drain and refill with diesel. Let it sit another week. Drain it out, put in 2 liters of diesel, remove the plug wire, and roll the bike around, occasionally trying to "pop" start it. The diesel and the sudden lurch will break loose any remaining deposits. Drain the engine, open anything you can to the atmosphere, and let it dry out. When it stops stinking, button it up, add fresh oil, and go for a short ride, planning to replace the oil within a few kilometers.

Then change your clutch plates, refill with fresh oil, and see how it does. Diesel is an amazing cleaner, and has enough lubricity to not frag the transmission guts, piston rings or valves. It will dissolve gum, carbon deposits and glaze... but it will eat your clutch discs if left in for too long.

Well, at last I have finished doing the clutch. Didn't have to replace the gasket, no oil leaks either   the clutch feels much better. No slip but also drops into gear more smoothly. So that's nice. Head plug seems oil tight and so too the rocker box. Had a look at the comedy font brake today. It makes more noise than braking effort. The pads were glazed up so knocked the shine off with a file. Took the opportunity to change thefork oil too . BBlack and stinky. Anyway, brakes back in and bedding them in,the first couple applications did very little but on the third,locked the front wheel at about 15, 20 mph  . Oops, and almost went down but got away with it. The brake feels excellent.