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What is the best way to tell if the clutch is still in good condition?

Just came back from the woods with a bad feeling.

My back tire is half worn and the trails are really muddy,wet ,soft these days.

But i can feel a little clutch slippage on the road too...

My clutch lever is adjusted with appox 5-10mm of freeplay,and cable is almost new.

Bike is a 89 200 with the original clutch.

How much cost a clutch replacement by a technician?(mecanic)

Thanks.

Salut Kdxquébec!

Do yourself a favor and check it by yourself. Clutches are a mistery until you take one apart. I am not a clutch expert but having swaped my clutch for an EFM and knowing you personnaly, I know you can easily check the condition of the clutch by taking it a part (eg. You will see evident wear marks on the pressure plate and inner hub teeth). You do have your service manual, right ?

Come on, you can do it... Take and post pictures on your msn.group site and here.

Spare your money for the ride in Saint-Michel des Saints (autre festival de bouette...)

Hi friend. Yes,I do have a manual.I went thru the clutch section several times before go sleeping and i will read it again tonight.I know i should be able to remove and inspect the clutch assy correctly but i use to destroy things these days.....


======Spare your money for the ride in Saint-Michel des Saints (autre festival de bouette...)======= (mud fest)

Yeah.....with 10 rainy days in a row and all this water comming from the snow melt!! I think i will go there with my uncle sea-doo

Replacing a clutch really isn't that difficult of a job. If you can do a top-end, you can definitely handle clutch replacement.

I would say a new clutch would probably be in order after 16 years. And I would check it sooner rather than later so you don't end up banging up the clutch basket.

Buy the manual if you haven't already done so. Get a five gallon bucket. Fill the bucket with ice and water. Install beers in ice cold water. Crack open a brew, read through the manual, take it slow and you'll do a much better job than most any mechanic at a bike shop. Because it's your bike and you know you care.

Thanks for the step by step five gallon bucket procedure!

Clutch is an easy job. I would rate it easier than the top end including kips cleaning. A shop shouldn't charge more than 1 hr. labor. So around $100US for a clutch kit and around $30-$50US labor. But your best bet is to do it yourself. Plus, if you run into any problems...I'm sure you can get some advice from the other members here.

Good luck and let us know how it went!

Later
Robb

P.S. I like the 5 gallon bucket procedure, I must have missed that section of the manual.

KDXQuebec, you fixed your forks recently, so we know you can work on the clutch. Please don't lie to us.

In my owner's manual and the service manual, both say 10mm - 20mm free play at the ball end of the lever. Make sure that is correct first. If it is correct and still has slippage, it may be time to remove the clutch and check it.

A half worn tire is 100% good for practicing throttle control.

Good luck on the clutch. You can do it.

Hey, just slightly off topic, what method do you all use to take the big nut off the transmission input shaft - the one in the middle of the clutch basket? I mean, if you don't got air powered tools?

If I've got the top end off I get three bits of wooden dowel: two go across the cases front to back (either side of the con-rod) and the third goes through the con-rod top end so that it rests on the other two dowels before the crank gets to dead bottom, thus locking everything up so I can get some torque onto the clutch nut. Sometimes I feel a bit guilty and I'm sure there's a better way... perhaps some tool to hold onto the clutch basket?

Oh yeah, the bucket'o'beers is necessity. If you run into trouble, run out of tools, or find that you forgot to order a part and the shop's closed for the weekend then you can always sit there with some brews and ponder the Green Machine.

mmmmmmmmmmm..... air!

Well, when I didn't have air (boy those were some rough times) I put a 1/2 socket wrench on it and impacted it with a 5lb. dead blow hammer. It always broke it loose... torque isn't that great on those...

The preferred method is holding the flywheel to keep the motor from spinning and just take it off like any other nut, but that's too easy!

Not to get crosswise with anyone but I would not use a hand impact driver to loosen/tighten a clutch basket nut, a flywheel nut or the main gear on the crankshaft. The reason is a significant portion of the the blow is being transmitted to critical bearings. i.e. Some of force is transmitted to the fastener with a twisting force the rest is directly transmitted (via impact) to the assembly being worked on.


Suffing a rag between the primary gears to jam them can allow you to remove the clutch nut. Stuffing a section of clean rope into the cylinder before the piston is at TDC can be used to lock the engine up. Putting the bike in gear (3-6) and holding on the brake can also be used. Electric impact driver can be rented from autozone or checker parts stores.

Best part of clutch inspection or replacement of plates though is that you DO NOT need to remove the inner nut for normal clutch service or clutch pack replacement.

IC, are you talking about a hand impact tool? I think you are, so correct me if I am wrong. I think IndaWoods is talking about using a socket and 1/2" drive ratchet handle, then hitting the handle downward with a dead blow hammer.

Your right Jason. I was talking about a hand impact tool. I assumed Indawoods was too. I reread Indawoods post and I now believe he is talking about hitting a ratchet handle. I don't see anything wrong with that. Used that method many times myself.

OK, cool.

Yes, definitely use some sort of impact device. I broke the 'stems' off my WR's clutch hub last week by not using one. A breaker bar, and pipe was not the correct tool for the job

I've removed and installed the basket nut by just putting a socket wrench on the fly wheel nut to keep it from turning. That might not be the preferred method but it worked for me.

A strap wrench around the flywheel will also do the trick.

P.S. I like the 5 gallon bucket procedure, I must have missed that section of the manual.

It was mostly implied.

Assembly of Japenese motorcycle require great peace of mind.