[BFleming]

Will do - that's good advice.
I also read up on the clutch adjustment procedure, so I'll do that too.
Fairings are off at the moment (I was doing my K5 decals and a HID conversion) so it'll be pretty quick tmrw. If my hands don't freeze.

 

[BFleming]

Pulled the clutch today.

First view:

Close-up:

At this stage I pulled the clutch lever, and it does what its supposed to - except the outer few plates all stick together.

When I undid the 5 bolts & removed the springs, this all came away as 1 unit, i.e. those outer plates all stuck:

So basically it's these friction plates and steel plates that were stuck together. Everything else was free. They freed up reasonable easily by sliding them off each other, but face-on, they were stuck.

I checked the action of the clutch rods, and they're free moving. The bearing is good too. I took out the whole basket to inspect it, again, looked good, with good bearings.

I went against previous advice, and just threw a new clutch in there. I soaked the new friction plates in oil before putting them in, and at first appearance the clutch does what it's meant to (it's free!). No ride yet as it's sub-zero here, but it bodes well. I still need to do the final clutch adjustment too; I just set it "there or there abouts" for now

 

[TwistedMister]

is that rust?

 

[BFleming]

I don't think so, just oil staining. In response to your earlier post, I don't think it's a gasket issue. The bike doesn't smoke or use coolant, and the oil that came out was still like new (it hasn't been in there long). Even the old oil was ok looking, no mayo.

 

[TheGeek]

Looks burnt. I'd like to see what they looked like after you pried them apart.

 

[BFleming]

Looks burnt. I'd like to see what they looked like after you pried them apart.

I'll grab them later on. The friction plates are mixed up now, but I'll just photograph the lot!

 

[BFleming]

OK. I've taken some pictures before putting the old clutch friction plates in the trash. But first I wanted to address something. Rust was mentioned previously. The friction plates aren't ferrous. I assume they're aluminium (aluminum) but that's 100% not rust.

Ok the pictures:

I've seen worse clutch plates.

 

[TwistedMister]

those fiber plates look good, I think thats jsut a coating they use, otherwise the steels would be rusty as well, if you can find a true flat surface place each on on it and look for warp..

possible they just needed cleaning, it sat for a while and they got sticky, do they feel sticky? otherwise check all other components, washers bearings everything make sure nohting wore making it unable to seperate, rod and check your arm as well, those bearing get funky at times, gunky, creates stikyness

spec out everything even the basket and drum

 

[TheGeek]

^^^^ kind of thinking the same. I wonder if a few hard launches wouldn't have cleared it up.

 

[sradmad600]

Bikes was left standing, guessing on the side stand. So the oil is away from the outer plates, so what is left on them will become tacky.

 

[BFleming]

Bike was definitely on its side stand from August to November & not moved. It's been on paddock stands since then, incl recent fresh semi-synthetic oil @sradmad600 The previous owner has denied the clutch was ever sticky for him, as you'd expect (the denial that is).
The friction plates do feel a bit tacky, yes @TwistedMister
No warp on anything, except my head when my wife saw me use the kitchen counter as a level surface.
Going to get back to it on Saturday, set the clutch adjustment, and take it out for a ride now the snow has gone.

 

[TwistedMister]

I bet you can clean them up with some solvent and dry em off good then soak em again they be good as new.. hale they look new, the fibers anyways, 600 prolly right, they just got sticky?

 

[craigfer63]

Sludge deposits, collected over 17 years. Clean up should be fine.

 

[TwistedMister]

maybe run some sea foam in the crank case for a hour or so ride around?

 

[BFleming]

Went and adjusted the clutch and had a quick ride yesterday, clutch is now working perfectly, and gearshifts are much smoother (less clunky) as a result. Old clutch friction plates are junked (despite posts above saying I could have reused them, I decided to go with a known-good new setup).

 

[sradmad600]

Glad to hear you have her sorted, agree with trashing the old as could waste time & effort\parts to find out their still no good.