clutches

[nmainehunter]

My clutch came apart in my 95 FX. Seems the lock nut on the pushrod backed off and somehow the lock ring for the spring plate broke the fingers of the clutch hub which allowed the spring plate to drop. The clutch hub on the 98 models changed from the fingers to a more secure bolt hold system. Are the two hubs interchangeable? All parts needed are the same.

[turboprop]

My clutch came apart in my 95 FX. Seems the lock nut on the pushrod backed off and somehow the lock ring for the spring plate broke the fingers of the clutch hub which allowed the spring plate to drop. The clutch hub on the 98 models changed from the fingers to a more secure bolt hold system. Are the two hubs interchangeable? All parts needed are the same.

The entire clutch basket & hub assembly from a '98 and newer big twin will bolt into a 90-97 inner primary. The '98 basket came with both a 37 and 36 tooth sprockets, with the 36 tooth being more commonly available in the used market. If you decide to use the 36 tooth version, the front sprocket will have to be changed to a 25 tooth.

The ring gear on the '98 and newer basket has a higher tooth count than the earlier models. adapter ring gears and pinion gears are readily available from several resellers for this conversion.

[nmainehunter]

In a previous post I said that my clutch came apart on me. I finally got all the parts to put her back together but there is one part that got destroyed. Its called a clutch spring seat, it's like a small round ring of angle iron. Problem I'm having is which way does it go and what does it do? I put everything together with it below the retaining ring with the back flange of the ( L - angle ) against the hub, and it works but I'm not sure that it is right. I can't see that it does anything in this position. As far as I can tell I have it the way the manual shows for the clutch breakdown.

[nmainehunter]

The spring seat sits with the keeper ring in the groove that keeps everything together. When I put everything back together with all parts in the right place, the clutch didn't adjust or feel right. I pulled the cover and the throwout bearing cage was laying in the bottom of the case. 

[FSG]

were all the bits there or was the retaining ring #2 missing ?

[Burnout]

#12 goes in after the spring and before the snap ring and the lip is towards you. I believe the lip fits inside the seated snap ring.

[nmainehunter]

Thanks burnout. #12 was the issue, looking at it I couldn't see that it and the keeper would fit together in the groove, it does. There's only so many ways that it can go and with me it usually is the right way that I do last 

As for the throwout bearing, all was there cept the bearing. The clip was still in place. It must have gotten really tight and hot because the rod end with the bearing and the main rod were welded together. This has me scratching my head setting the rod up is a no brainer, how it got so tight I can't say but I'm the only one spinning the wrenches.

[fleetmechanic]

I've recently had throwout bearings disintegrate on two of our police models.  One with 19K miles and 1 with 21K miles.
There's no set life expectancy on the little rollers and cages..

[motorhogman]

I don't know about today's bikes and cars/trucks so much but by every experience I ever had with a wiped out throw out bearing was usually caused by lack of lubrication or improper adjustment. On Class 8 trucks they have a grease fitting, don't lube it and it's done. Lube it and it's there for 100 or 200 thousand miles.  Or in a rare case somebody leaning a left foot or left hand on the pedal or lever. That bearing doesn't do any work unless you are shifting ?

[SP33DY]

Years ago someone (formerly a local H.D. dealer) recommended starting the day by riding the bike in a lazy but well leaned over right hand circle. That is a way to be sure that the throwout bearing has oil on it.

[kd]

    There is literally a sheet storm going on in there with centrifugal fling off from a qt of oil.  I think someone was overthinking it.   

[nmainehunter]

I posted a while back that my clutch came apart on me on my 95 FXSTS, throw out bearing and the spring keepers on the clutch hub failed. I have replaced all and have it back together but after adjusting it I'm getting a really hard resistance when I pull the lever at about half of the lever travel, like a positive stop kind of thing. Went back and readjusted things, by the book, and no change. I took about a 100 mile ride today and although it works it's like there is no "feathering the clutch" just on or off. I tried adjusting it differently with the cable and the clutch rod and I get that solid stop no matter. I'm out of ideas..

[Deye76]

The trans cover that the clutch cable enters, anything in there in a bind?

[Hossamania]

Was the ramp and clutch cable retracted all the way before adjustment? You may want to look thru the filler hole and push the cable all the way home and readjust.
When adjusting, I like to "bounce" the rod a few times, tightening and loosening, then over tightening just a bit to put load on it, then back out and do final adjustment 3/4 turn out and lock down.

[nmainehunter]

I took the cable and center stud back to zero and started over, which I did initially. I'll have to go into it again.

[nmainehunter]

I went back into the clutch on both sides, didn't really see anything wrong. The rod is free as well as the throw out. I decided to do something different putting things back together. I set the throw out bearing out just enough to get the cover on and set the rod and lock nut with a little clearance and locked it down at that point. It is spot on. The difference that stood out was the cable adjustment is about half of what it was and the clutch rod and lock nut are also different. Basically all I did was move everything to the cable side about 3/8" which is about the distance the system moves when the lever is pulled.