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I've been having a problem with my 1999 KDX 200 that has left me scratching my head and wanting to put a wrench through the wall.

I opened up the clutch side of the bike after I saw an excessive amount of aluminum in the oil. It appears that the bolts that the clutch spring holder (13091A) came loose and caused the assembly to hit the clutch cover. I took the clutch out, cleaned up the new grooves made into the clutch cover, put it back on, and cycled a ton of old diesel 15W-40 (I know, probably not great, but didn't want to waste new oil) to flush the aluminum out of it.
After I cleaned the transmission out best I could, I reassembled the clutch. I put the first shim washer onto the shaft (shim washer thickness was .090"), then the assembled basket (8 clutch plates, 7 steel plates), then the rest of the components in order as shown in the manual. spring bolts torqued to 72 in-lb, center nut torqued to 65 ft-lbs, made sure both shim washers and the conical washer were in the correct location and orientation.

After assembling everything and starting the bike up, I couldn't get the clutch to disengage (as in, clutch always pulled in, can't get the bike to move). Also, the clutch basket tips started making contact with the clutch cover and wore a groove into the clutch cover causing more aluminum flakes (ugh). It almost made me think that the shim washer behind the basket (the one that goes against the bearing inside the case) is too thick and pushing the basket out causing the contact. On the plus side i guess, I could tell that there was not any contact on the 4 inner bolts that holds on 13091A.

Obviously something is wrong but I am really baffled by the the fact that the basket is now hitting the case. If anyone has any insight into how and why this is happening I would appreciate some feedback. I want to fix it right and most likely look into a bottom end rebuild but I want to figure out the why and how's before I rebuild it all and run into the same issue.

Additional information: I run a quart of 15W-40 or 10W-40 for transmission oil and my clutch springs are on the low side of the spec. I plan on replacing them, but I cant imagine that them being a half .mm out of spec would cause it to interfere with the clutch cover somehow.

I’ve never experienced that but after you take off the engine cover and while the clutch is still bolted tight…

Wiggle the basket up and down and then side to side
Pull the basket away from the engine and then push back in

Is there excessive play? Makes me think the trans input shaft might be moving.
Damaged needle bearing on the left side
Damaged large bearing on the right side behind the basket
Broken circlip on the shaft

I like this video and the way he assembles everything loosely. It’ll save you a lot of time if you’re having to take the clutch in and out while you’re troubleshooting the problem. It sure beats sliding the frictions and steels on one by one while on the bike.

Pay close attention to 0:50 - 1:10

Then instead of grabbing the sprocket like he mentions we would rotate the rear wheel a little while sliding the clutch pack in.

I’ve seen this before. The input shaft may be moving. If those two bolts that retain the bearing behind the basket are missing or broken, the whole shaft can move in and out when the clutch is actuated.

Slick_Nick wrote: ↑10:19 pm May 14 2022 I’ve seen this before. The input shaft may be moving. If those two bolts that retain the bearing behind the basket are missing or broken, the whole shaft can move in and out when the clutch is actuated.

I checked the two bolts retaining the bearing behind the basket and they were tight. The bearing itself is sitting proud of the casting approx. .042". The shaft itself has .040" of play axially without a basket installed. Once the basket is installed, the axial play is reduced to .002" and I can't feel any side to side play. I also ensure the basket and outer piece were meshed correctly this time but I ran out of time to tonight to put it back together and test. Does the play w/o a clutch installed sound too excessive?


Thanks for both of your guyses suggestions .

i had this problem as well.IIRC the hub and the basket were not indexed correctly with each other.

Its very easy when reassembling the clutch in the bike to not get the hub and basket fully seated, as mentioned above. The difference is difficult to see, but enough to cause the problems you are reporting.

I got everything back together late tonight and took it up and down the driveway - everything appears to work as expected which is a major plus. I'm going to do a lap or two around the neighborhood tomorrow and check the oil to make sure that I'm not getting the same aluminum flake in the oil this time. Thanks for everyones help. I imagine my issue originally was those 4 loose clutch bolts, but not having the basket properly aligned and improper torque spec on the clutch main bolt is what caused the other couple problems I had.