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Ducabike Hydraulic clutch conversion, lessons learned

6K views 10 replies 7 participants last post by  Edufox 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi All,

I just finished installing the ducabike hydraulic clutch conversion kit on my 2017 Hyper SP.

https://ducabikedirect.com/collecti...ducts/afi06-kit-hydraulic-clutch-hyper-sp-939

This is the most ambitious mod project i've taken on.

Like most Italian mods, instructions are sparse (usually say 'have a qualified mechanic install' here and there)

A couple of obstacles that I hit, that I thought i'd share.

1) removing the clutch cover

I googled all over the place, got various tips here and there.

A gasket isn't used. liquid gasket Threebond 1215 is, and it really does its job. that thing will not come off easy.

Videos i found showed banging on the sides of the clutch cover. Not a good idea. There's a bushing that you might damage if doing so. (see the 5th pic attached)

Here's what worked for me. Obviously oil is drained at this point.

Heat. I attached my heat gun with zip ties to point it into the oil filter hole (cap removed). This allowed to get the whole assembly good and hot. This will sound crazy, but it took about 30 minutes with the heat gun running to get it hot enough to loosen up the three bond enough.

Using a putty knife, I was able to tap into the seam between the clutch cover and the engine, and loosen up the three bond and get the cover off.

2) getting the clutch plates back in.

This really drove me crazy. when removing the pressure plate initially, pay close attention to the way things look (I didn't, i was too excited about getting the clutch cover off ;), before removing the pressure plate.

When putting the plates back in, note that the outer steel gear is different (bigger) than the rest. (I'm skipping some steps here, had to install push rod adapter into bearings). It's critical that you have the gears/plates in the basket flush, and also the one larger steel gear in the teeth on the pressure plate. Here's the trick. at this point, you have to push the pressure plate in before starting the three screws. When pushing it in, based on the mechanism, it will rotate a few degrees. Hold it in, then start the screws.

3) the push rod is rounded on one end, flat on the other. Instructions don't say which way it should go. I emailed Ducabike (their instructions are lacking, but they are very responsive and helpful), and they advised that the rounded end goes into the slave cylinder.

4) it's also not totally clear on which if any ball bearings to use. you do need to put a single ball bearing into the rod adapter.

Most of this probably won't make sense without getting into the install details. I groped around on the web while trying to figure some of this out, so i thought i'd add some notes that might help others.

End result? It's sweet. Seems like clutch distance is half of what it was with the cable, and pull effort seems to be about 1/3 of what it was.

feel free to pm if questions come up.
 

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#8 ·
Yup.

One of the ~must have~ tools that everyone who does their own motorcycle work is a heat lamp. Get one of those clamp-on work lamps (see attached image) and fit it with a heat lamp bulb. Adhere to the maximum wattage spec on the work lamp, so make sure to buy a heat lamp bulb that conforms with that max wattage.

Those heat lamp bulbs may be purchased either on line, or at local Lowes/Home Depot type supply stores.

When you need to saturate some part with heat, clamp the work lamp to some type of stand or improvised/wooden stand of some sort. Even a chair leg or whatever will do fine. Place the heat lamp about 1 foot to 6 inches from whatever it is you wish to heat up, and let nature do it's thing for about 20/30/60 minutes. Obviously each situation is different, so adjust the distance and time accordingly. Some modicum of what some folks call "common sense" is required here.

The heat lamp method is an excellent way to saturate something with heat. In my repair shop (15 years owned/operated) we did warranty and service on pneumatic tools such as impact wrenches and other air-motor devices. Reassembling an air motor is nearly impossible without expanding the outer sleeve with heat due to the super-tight tolerance between the rotating "rotor" part and the "air cylinder" part without first heat saturating the air cylinder (aka "body") for at least an hour. Once the body/cylinder was heated, the repair tech would don a welding glove to pick up the body, and then drop that over the rotating assembly that was stacked up on the workbench in a vertical stack. The two assemblies would drop together effortlessly.

The same goes for various engine cases, as well as removing silicone (et al) sealant from case halves, disassembling/assembling hydraulic equipment, and many other jobs.

We probably rebuilt two hundred ~plus~ impact wrenches and other air motor equipped devices that way over the course of fifteen years. That's just one task we performed using a heat lamp. It was one thing we could not do without. That, and the $20.00 battery load tester (see image #3) .... totally indispensable tools to have on hand. And both cost so little so the return on investment is quite high.
 

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#9 ·
Hi All,

I just finished installing the ducabike hydraulic clutch conversion kit on my 2017 Hyper SP.

AFI06 - KIT HYDRAULIC CLUTCH HYPER SP 939

This is the most ambitious mod project i've taken on.

Like most Italian mods, instructions are sparse (usually say 'have a qualified mechanic install' here and there)

A couple of obstacles that I hit, that I thought i'd share.

1) removing the clutch cover

I googled all over the place, got various tips here and there.

A gasket isn't used. liquid gasket Threebond 1215 is, and it really does its job. that thing will not come off easy.

Videos i found showed banging on the sides of the clutch cover. Not a good idea. There's a bushing that you might damage if doing so. (see the 5th pic attached)

Here's what worked for me. Obviously oil is drained at this point.

Heat. I attached my heat gun with zip ties to point it into the oil filter hole (cap removed). This allowed to get the whole assembly good and hot. This will sound crazy, but it took about 30 minutes with the heat gun running to get it hot enough to loosen up the three bond enough.

Using a putty knife, I was able to tap into the seam between the clutch cover and the engine, and loosen up the three bond and get the cover off.

2) getting the clutch plates back in.

This really drove me crazy. when removing the pressure plate initially, pay close attention to the way things look (I didn't, i was too excited about getting the clutch cover off ;), before removing the pressure plate.

When putting the plates back in, note that the outer steel gear is different (bigger) than the rest. (I'm skipping some steps here, had to install push rod adapter into bearings). It's critical that you have the gears/plates in the basket flush, and also the one larger steel gear in the teeth on the pressure plate. Here's the trick. at this point, you have to push the pressure plate in before starting the three screws. When pushing it in, based on the mechanism, it will rotate a few degrees. Hold it in, then start the screws.

3) the push rod is rounded on one end, flat on the other. Instructions don't say which way it should go. I emailed Ducabike (their instructions are lacking, but they are very responsive and helpful), and they advised that the rounded end goes into the slave cylinder.

4) it's also not totally clear on which if any ball bearings to use. you do need to put a single ball bearing into the rod adapter.

Most of this probably won't make sense without getting into the install details. I groped around on the web while trying to figure some of this out, so i thought i'd add some notes that might help others.

End result? It's sweet. Seems like clutch distance is half of what it was with the cable, and pull effort seems to be about 1/3 of what it was.

feel free to pm if questions come up.
Thank you very much for your tutorial! I'm currently doing the conversion to my Supersport 939 with almost the same kit (the push rod is longer in my case).
I need to ask you about the flush of the plates. Should I remove the full pack of plates and clean it? Why is necessary?

Thanks in advance 👌🏻
 
#10 ·
Thank you very much for your tutorial! I'm currently doing the conversion to my Supersport 939 with almost the same kit (the push rod is longer in my case).
I need to ask you about the flush of the plates. Should I remove the full pack of plates and clean it? Why is necessary?

Thanks in advance 👌🏻
Is yours a 4 spring or a 3 spring clutch ? Of it's a 4 spring then you can get threaded rod and nuts to fit in the service holes and pull the entire assembly out in one shot . Makes this type of service very quick and easy. I have no experience with the 3 spring so I have nothing to share.
 
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