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Look what we have here:


A friend's FZR, also undergoing clutch replacement goodness:


Soaking clutch discs:


Bad Rad:


Magic!


Out with the old:


In with the new:


Patched back together:


She gets the test-ride tomorrow before work. I hope all goes well or I'm walking!

I have the same engine (FZ600) and my clutch gets slippery. So I have a few questions for you.

How much time did it took you?

How much does the clutch plates costs you?

Why do you soak the plates before installing em ?

Besides that ... any tips for me ?

BeerBaron

beerbaron wrote:I have the same engine (FZ600) and my clutch gets slippery. So I have a few questions for you.

How much time did it took you?

How much does the clutch plates costs you?

Why do you soak the plates before installing em ?

Besides that ... any tips for me ?

BeerBaron

Grand total for time was probably about three hours, including helping my friend with his bike and general messing around/getting stuff to drink.

Clutch kit was $100 (friction plates with the steel plates), then a set of shims ($0.35). Gasket was $5. My friend's FZR was $90 plus $30 for the friction plates and a $5 gasket. My clutch setup is a custom one made by Barnett clutches for the Radian.

You soak the clutch plates before installation for the clutch material (carbon fiber, in my case) can soak up the oil and become saturated with it before installation. Since it's a wet clutch, this is necessary for proper operation.

As for tips, just make sure you allot much more time than you think it will take. Also, if you give Derek at motolab a call, he can set you up with the correct kit and answer any questions you have. Great price and Derek is a stand-up man. http://moto-lab.com/

(edited for correct prices)

Thanks Skier, but woudln't you just buy the plates. But there's something I don't quite understand.

Why would I buy a whole clutch kit, woudln't it be fine if I just changes the clutch plates and the springs? After all slippery cluth is mostly due to a lack of friction ?

Thanks
BeerBaron

Nice pics Skier! Very illustrative and shows that this is a fairly easy job for the DIY'er


Beerbaron -
The Fiber plates drive, the steel plates are driven.

You can usually get by with purchasing the fiber plates and installing them.

The stell plates usually are 'pock-marked' from the factory - they have little indentations in the steel. Sometimes after severe clutch slippage, these intentations will rub off and the steel plates will be rubbed clean and shiny. In this case most people just throw in new steel disks as well - but the really cheap types rough up the plates with a scrubby and reuse them. You also have to be sure that the steel plates are not warped. You can use a sheet of glass, granite, or marble (Something that doesn't warp!!) to check to make sure that the disks lay perfectly flat or are within the range specified in your manual, which can be checked w/ feeler gauges.

Other things you need to check for is that the clutch basket is not showing any wear, and the springs are still servicable. (You can check this by using a set of calipers to check the unsprung length of the springs) usually the springs don't need replacing.

This is one of those jobs where it would be good to have a torque wrench to set the bolts to the proper specs, and I always use some BLUE loctite on the threads as a security measure.

Wait a minute.... So what does the "clutch-kit" contain? Shouldn't the plates be included in the kit??

the steel plates dont come with clutch kit--if they aint slipped until they turn blue you can glass bead them and reuse them.

kar_the_terrible wrote:Wait a minute.... So what does the "clutch-kit" contain? Shouldn't the plates be included in the kit??

My friend's FZR kit from Barnett came without the metal plates, but with the carbon fiber clutch discs as well as new springs.

beerbaron: replacing everything was kind of a "while I'm in there" thing. The gasket was such a huge pain in the neck to clean off, I sure wouldn't want to do it again! Might as well make sure everything's all nice and new before slamming it all back together. For $30 it was well worth the new parts.

(edit) I was corrected on the prices for the clutch kits. The Radian clutch kit price included the friction discs as well as the metal plates.

Thanks guys. Changin my clutch will be in my todo list

BeerBaron