Need to replace the clutch here pretty soon

I haven't needed to replace a clutch since my '90 1100 and that was pretty straight forward. I don't remember the steps but I know that I just jumped in to it and it was easy to figure out. I think I had to soak the fiber plates in oil over night or something like that.



Is the clutch on the 6G model about the same? I'm not going aftermarket, and based on lever feel and lack of slipping, I think the springs are good. Is there anything special or to look out for when tackling this?



Thanks!

 

I did my 5G last year, and that was pretty easy. You need a new gasket, and need to make sure the judder spring/washer go in the right place/orientation. The first disc in has a bigger ID to fit around the judder washer. And don't over-torque the spring bolts, the aluminium hub is pretty easy to damage. You can do this on the sidestand without dropping the oil out.

 

Ordered plates today with a gasket. Should be here next week. Then, I think that is all that it needs. The rest is play things.

 

What's the status of your VFR's hydraulic clutch control?

You list your bike as an '03 which makes it nearly 15 years old. If you haven't done a full clutch system cleaning/refurbishment, on both the Master and Slave cylinders, now might be a good time to do it.

Owners of VFRs have sometimes misdiagnosed odd clutch behavior as being caused by the clutch itself (the plates and springs), but it turned out to be a symptom of poor hydraulic clutch control operation.

When I bought it last December, my 5th Gen ('99) had a weird clutch engagement issue, it would judder and shake for a moment after I'd released the clutch lever. Felt like it was very slow to engage. I discovered that both the master and the slave cylinder were in really bad shape (clogged and gooey) which was causing a bit of a delay when my hand would release the clutch lever. Apparently the clogged up condition of the hydraulic master and slave was causing a delay in the bleed-off of the clutch's hydraulic line pressure (a non-linear response between my hand position of the clutch lever and the actual position of the clutch plates).

 

I have a peculiar issue, ( my wife probably just started laughing without know why).

My clutch slips when cold and only under heavy throttle. Once it's slipped, it's fine and works fine. Even with the engine at temp, it will usually slip once, or twice if it's sat for some time. I've bled the heck out of it, got all the mud out, but I haven't refurbished anything. New fiber discs, but not steel plates. They seemed to be in good shape. EBC clutch with heavier pressure springs, still does it. There was some grooving on the clutch basket, but it didn't seem too bad. What do you think?

 

My guess (and it is just that) is that your clutch is perfectly fine but the slave piston is a bit sticky, so the first few times you release it, it hangs up a little and the plates slip. After a bit of use/heat it frees up and works fine. I suppose a test for that would be to pump the clutch a heap of times before taking off and see if that makes it behave normally from the off.

 

That's a good test. I'll look into it once I get her put back together

 

Good info! My clutch feels fine, no slipping, chatter, or any ill feeling at all. It just engages WAY LATE in the lever throw. An example, if the lever has 2" of travel between against the grip and fully extended, the clutch starts to engage and apply movement to the rear at about 1.9" from the grip. Once fully out, it's fully engaged.

I have taken the mud out of the master and cleaned out the little covered hole that seems to spurt etching fluid on the before flawless windscreen and pushed lots of new fluid through the system. Not saying that the master or slave doesn't need attention, but now that the plates are coming, I'll start there and see what happens.

Tell me this, back in the day, I was told or instructed to soak the fiber plates overnight in oil before installing. Is that still the practice?

 

Yes; the service manual says to "coat the clutch discs and plates in clean motor oil". Not sure soaking would change anything.

 

I got the plates and gasket today. Anything I need to be aware of going in? Does the gasket need sealant on one side? I'll research it, but if anyone knows off the top of your head any important torque numbers...

 

Hopefully I'll get a quick response as it's apart and ready to put back together.
The guy at the dealership did Honda had different part numbers for outer plate, inner plate, and the rest in between. The EBC kit I got, they are all in there. I visibly see a difference in the outer most Honda plate from the rest (pictured) but I also noticed that when I removed it, the outer one was not positioned in the same slots of the basket than the rest. Is this correct and necessary?

Finally, if the rod in the middle pushes outwards to disengage the clutch, and there's no threaded adjustment, how does one adjust where in the lever throw where it engages? Short of shortening the rod, I don't see anything.

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When I did my clutch plate replacement last winter I remember being warned to make sure to keep the steel plates oriented the same way (they are stamped out of sheet steel with a die-cut, which leaves one edge softly rounded and the other edge sharp-feeling to your finger). So I was advised to make sure to note the orientation of the sharp-ish feeling edge when removing the old clutch plate package so I could re-install the new set with all of the steel plates set to the same orientation.

 

All of the clutch discs (the ones with the wear surfaces) go into the same slots of the clutch outer basket (I really don't think there's any other way of getting the clutch to assemble completely).

 

The only method for adjusting the VFR's hydraulic clutch is the little wheel on the clutch hand lever. I haven't adjusted mine at all but I think if you're interested in fine-tuning the action of the lever you are meant to experiment with the pull (to see where the engagement occurs) then adjust the lever for the minimum amount of pull (that achieves full disengagement of the clutch pack, and doesn't leave it dragging even a little at stops).

I suppose this might be worth doing after installing stronger-than-stock springs in the clutch.

 

Checking the service manual, the outer disc is meant to be installed in the "shallow slot on the clutch outer". Found the same on my VTR1000 when I redid the clutch on that.

Hopefully you will find (as I did) that with new friction discs the engagement band becomes much wider than before, so no adjustment within the clutch is necessary.

 

Didn't notice but they are all still together as they came out. Thanks.
Found the answer about the out plate using the shallow slots. Anyone got anything on the adjustment? So many years riding with the clutches adjusted to my liking and this bike has nothing? Hard to believe.

 

Yes on the outer. Shame about the adjustment. on the GSXR750 there was a way to adjust within the clutch pack to move the engagement point. I'll suck it up for now. I somehow managed to leave the key on or something, and therefore drained the battery. I'll have to wait for a charge before trying out the new plates.

 

You will need new levers to get that adjustment.

 

I think you're right. New clutch is in and yes it is an improvement in the sense that it grabs a little earlier but still finishes off near the end of lever travel. Tool the wife to SF yesterday for Fleet Week and it's a noticeable improvement. Levers are already making their way on to my wish lists. My other bikes have been fitting with Pazzo levers (like CRG) and I'm looking for that style.

With budget in mind, anyone see any issue with something like this set up?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LA8UTDI/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I1SD9X7A1E5OU6&colid=KXFSVTJY5PUR

 

I'm not sure I want a master cylinder that cheap !!!!! lol

NO, all you need it the actual lever - i wouldn't put them on my bike...