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Grauncing noise from Clutch

27K views 27 replies 16 participants last post by  oleary  
#1 ·
After 3500km my new clutch is making a horrible graunching noise when I release clutch to move off, doesn't do it all the time but seemed to happen too many times this morning around town.
It feels OK at the lever & operates properly once underway. It does feel a little grabby & sometimes causes the engine to stall.

Any suggestions please?

Craig
 
#3 ·
Pull the clutch cover off and clean out all of the dust. I personally use an entire can of brake parts cleaner. I spray it on the spinning clutch while engaging and disengaging the clutch with the bike running. You would be surprised how much black dust comes out. Make sure you buy the cleaner that says on the can that it leaves no residue. Other members use compressed air and blast away at theirs. A couple of people dismantle the clutch, clean each fibre by hand, and use fine sandpaper on a flat surface to clean the metal plates, then reassemble the pack.
 
#9 ·
Had that noise problem on my '04 Multi. Drove me nuts. I removed the pressure plate, removed and wiped off all clutch discs and spacers; douched the drum with brake cleaner and wiped it clean. Put it all back together with new springs, bolts, caps and the pressure plate I took off my 1098 when it was new and no more noise.
 
#10 ·
I had similar problems with my clutch last summer and it was caused by air in the system. So get the bubbles out and that might do the trick. I also opened the clutch and removed the plates etc, but there wasn't any crap inside it since I have open cover.

To be clear my symptons were these: Grabby clutch which didn't want to release well. Grinding noise while doing this was always there. And it caused the bike to stall.

Hope you get it sorted easily.
 
#17 ·
Ok, Saturday afternoon I pulled the plates & deglazed the steels with 180g Wet & Dry paper, & then wiped everything clean with white spirits,friction plates still look new, wiped then clean with white spirits & reassemled.
Took bike for a short ride & all seemed good, but as soon as I had to take off from traffic lights or crossings, the symptoms reappeared thou no stalling & not as severe.
Should I pull them again & re-sand, maybe a light sand on the frictions?

TIA

Craig
 
#18 ·
Do you have those curved plates there too? I think those are supposed to make the take off easier?

I also experience this noise/effect on my clutch, but I am so used to it now, that I hardly ever stall it. sometimes it is a pain to take off and a lot of clutch slipping is required to avoid stall.

next I will do is install new curved plates, (you can get them separately from the dealer, cheap) and then the grease trick TomTom mentioned.
 
#20 ·
I removed all the dished plates from mine and by swapping 2mm plains for 1.5mm got an extra friction in the pack, it still grunts and groans on take-off but works fine.

Whatever they tell you I don't think it makes much difference where the dished plates sit or even which way round - I can see no advantage in having a plate in there that does not make full surface contact with the plates either side of it, surely it will cause the adjacent frictions to wear unevenly? That's why I ditched mine.
 
#21 ·
I have no concaved plate in my clutch pack.

My problem seems to have gone away mostly, but I do get the grabby graunching noise still on down changes say from 3rd to 2nd & 2nd to 1st, so definetely think it is a glazing problem rather than air in the system.

Pain in the arse really, never had the problem before with OEM clutch.
 
#26 ·
Sorry guys but that was an A, B or C question. Let me rephase.

Lithium grease can be put on;
A. Sintered clutches
B. Other pad (organic?) clutches
C. Both types

Thanks, I just want to be sure.

Bront
 
#28 ·
And very soon we'll know if the lithium grease trick works on WET clutches.:)

I'm trying to solve a problem that only shows up on my 848 when racing - severe clutch chatter at 6-7000 RPM when doing "race starts".