Topica Loopframe_Guzzi Archive


Subject: RE: Eldo Clutch-itis

Author: joe jump

Date: Oct 25, 2004, 7:19 AM

Post ID: 1717758861



Greg,
I'm with you - these clutches are a pain! I have an old BMW
(/2 conversion with a'71 R-75/5 eng) and it has a single plate clutch
with a diaphragm spring- it works great, never hangs up, never slips,
foo foo lever effort. And I only need about 1/4 of the clutch lever
ravel to engage/disengage. I really think the intermediate plate causes
more problems than it's worth. I don't think the flywheel splines will
wear-there is probably 10 times the number of teeth on it compared to
the hub. But I do think it gets gummed up or the inter. plate gets
jammed up in there, causing the drag. Another thing I suspect is that
the pressure plate doesn't lift off square, perhaps due to unmatched
springs. And I guess that plate can warp too. All I know is that it
leaves much to be desired.

Anothers phenomenon with my bike is as it heats up I get more &
more freeplay at the lever, like the transmission is growing in length
as it comes up to temp. I have to extend the cable adjuster 2 complete
turns between cold & operating temp to maintain the cable slack at a
minimum. Had the same experience with my V-7 Sport - both have 5 speeds.


I think the Ram clutch is probably the way to go. It would
be interesting to experiment with mix & matching parts from a BMW to do
away with one clutch plate & the intermediate plate - can't imagine a
double-plate clutch is really required.



Greg Field wrote:
 
Yes, try the adjustment. Also try taking all but the last essential bit
of freeplay out of the cable. This sometimes helps.

The hot grab almost always means spline-wear issues. Why the symptoms
only occur when hot, I don't know. Why the cleaning seems to help so
much (albeit temporarily) I also do not know.

Mine is starting to do this after less than 8,000 miles on a new
clutch. I always try to find neutral before coming to a stop to limit
further wear, and also because it drags just enough (even with
everything adjusted perfectly) that I can't get neutral once the bike's
stopped. This time I think the flywheel splines are the culprit, so
when I do pull it apart I'm gonna try a RAM clutch. I'm sick of Guzzi
clutches. They do not stand up to the use I give them.

GF

On Saturday, October 23, 2004, at 02:22 AM, Ian Adkins wrote:

 ---------

Adjust the clutch throw first....to make more space between the clutch
plates when you pull in the clutch lever. See what happens. The fact
that you are getting smooth movment when cold and grabbing when warm
is telling you something...



Joe in St Louis
850T-Powered Ambo

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