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STILL having clutch issues. Help!

2K views 10 replies 5 participants last post by  G-Rex 
#1 ·
I'm about to take this @$# slipper clutch and throw it in the trash! Or trade it off for a damn stocker!

Ok, so here's where I'm at. It is *still* slipping alot under load.

Surflex slipper clutch. It is installed correctly. I've spent the last 3 days emailing and on the phone with Matt at Motowheels.

The system has been bled correctly (although everyone seems to agree that this wouldn't cause it to slip if it were bled poorly).

According to what I've been told, the pack *should* be ok, as it is in good condition.

The clutch pushrod is not bent.

One one side of the bike, Surflex slipper clutch. On the other side, Evoluzione clutch slave.

I'm only getting about 1.6mm of travel. From what I can gather, I should have a bit more than that, so I'm guessing that's the cause of the slipping.

I have adjusted the set screw at the clutch lever as much as I can, and it hasn't affected the pressure plate travel enough.

I'm at my wits end. I'm ready to trade this damn thing off for a completely stock clutch setup and get it out of my hair!

Before I do that, any other suggestions on what to look at before I lose my mind?
 
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#2 ·
First off 1.6mm of travel is fine.

If its slipping when engaged, I'd start with stack arrangement and or height.

One thing that gets messed up all the time is the push rod length. This means the pressure plate bearing fitment could be off and so can the slave cylinder side. Some slaves don't go as deep (farthest out/clutch released position) as others. Surflex makes the clutch to work with standard components. So perhaps as a test you can put the stock save back.

The outcome in all of these tests is to have the pressure plate (when clutch released) to have as much pressure on the stack via the springs as possible. If the pressure plate is pushed (disengaged) 1/2 a mm (unnoticeable by the naked eye) it will slip for sure.

Finally, I couldn't ever get my surflex to work. Awesomely manufactured clutch, but if it doesn't work, well... to me its useless. I love the standard 6 ball bearing slippers, they are the best, thats why Ducati corse still makes and distributes them as DP assemblies. Motowheels has their own version which has suited me for years of racing, just swap it out... ;)



 
#3 ·
Thanks for the reply Tye.

I don't have the stock parts. I got the bike with a shelled motor, as-is. What I have it what I got. LOL

This combo worked fine before the motor shelled, so I'm at a loss for why it won't work now.

If it's slipping, then do I need to decrease or increase the clutch stack height? Seems to me I would need to remove a plate or two, as this would increase the at-rest pressure.

Back out to the garage to kick it some more....
 
#4 ·
I have been running into some similar issues while replacing the clutch components (Pack, plate, levers). I finally tracked down that my OEM master was beginning to fail. Shazam on this forum has some excellent topics about this. I am learning that these adjustments are fine-tuned to be sure.

In the future, I will go with one component upgrade at a time per system. It would make chasing these issues much more easy for my "hobby".
 
#5 ·
OK, I have a stupid question..

When I pull the clutch lever, the pressure plate releases, but the plates don't really appear to move much if any. If anything they just *unload*, but don't really move in conjunction with the pressure plate. I would think this is normal, but at this point I better ask even the obvious.

@#@#$@#
 
#6 ·
Clutches work by the pressure of the pressure plate (created using the springs) squeezing the plates as much as possible (when engaged). If you loose that squeezing by the force of a very powerful hydraulic system pushing a rod (the slave cylinder) the clutch stops working (disengages).

If the stack is too small, the pressure plate won't touch them because the push rod can only move so much when disengaged. If the stack is too high, you won't be able to disengage the clutch because again, the push rod can only move so far (based on the slave cylinder). The plates won't and shouldn't move when disengaging. The pushrod travel is dictated by the slave cylinder first and then the springs of the pressure plate travel.

If the clutch has worked before, logical deduction says its the stack order or installation that is the problem. If you have installed the plates to the surflex manual spec, umm... do the tests I said above. ;)



 
#7 ·
This ^$^$ motorcycle!

Turns out once I freed up the seized adjustment screw in the lever, and screwed it out one turn, everything worked fine. Almost flipped me on my ass when I wicked it up in 1st expecting it to slip again and it didn't! LOL

It worked fine before, with the screw in it's original position, so whatever. It works now, I'm happy, it was that simple, and I'm dumb. LOL

Thanks for all the help everyone , even though it turned out to be OE. Again.
 
#10 ·
Just to see if I'm following along correctly. When you turned out the adjustment screw it allowed the master cylinder to disengage more? So the reason it was slipping is because the MC was engaged by the lever, even when your hand wasn't on the lever?
 
#9 ·
tye,

You're talking about "Occam's razor - all things being equal, the simplest solution tends to be the best one"


Good theory! Especially for Italian motorcycles! Now, if it was German...
Oy Vay!
 
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