Greetings, Have recommissioned a 94 900SS for a friend, lot of work but now have a nicely running engine. Clutch awful, v.v.noisy, Friction plates under tolerance and basket knackered. New basket, bearings and plates all from Ducati plus an Oberon slave with spacer fitted. Original rod in good condition with new O rings. Bike is now rideable but cannot find neutral with engine running, re bled slave and master multiple times, stack is 38.3mm with 1.5mm lift on the pressure plate when lever operated, he has put a couple of hundred on it to bed in the friction plates but still the same. Remove a friction plate to reduce stack height? Make a washer to fit under the lifter to take up any initial slack? Upgrade master, recondition/replace oem slave? Would appreciate suggestions. Thanks Mike
Its usually the adjustment of the gear rod that causes neutral issues. That and/or chain adjustment. Wobbly rose joints and all that.
I would need to confirm but I always used to say that all you need is 2mm movement at the plates to disengage completely so the 1.5mm that you are achieving might be a factor. Are you happy that the system is fully bled? do you have much lever movement before you feel resistance? Another couple of things - just to make sure - you still have the problem even without the clutch plate cover fitted? also if you have fitted a 1.5mm steel plate in the pack then you could try replacing with a 1mm (if you have one) for starters.
On the old bevels you soon learn to snick it into neutral as you're coming to a stop. Even with the clutch adjusted correctly neutral can be a pig to find when stationary and what ever you do don't trust the neutral light. It's a case of they all do that sir and part of the 'character'.
My SS was easier to get into neutral while coming to a stop I found it a faff so I would stop with clutched pulled in and first gear selected Once stopped it was near impossible to select neutral
Bootsam, no problem changing once moving, chain tension correct, no play in rose joints, cush rubbers replaced. Chris, pretty much thinking not enough movement, bled multiple times and movement on lever before it resists maybe 15-20mm. No difference without the cover fitted, the only 1.5mm fitted is the dished plate, fourth out as per manual. Any idea where I can source a 1mm plate? Going to turn up a 1mm washer to fit under lifter to see if this makes it bite earlier as an experiment. Thanks for your help Mike
I take it that you didn't change your plain/steel plates? - if you did and you still have the old ones then nothing wrong with using s/hand but assuming this isn't the case. If you were nearby I would give you one. I just had a cruise on EBay for new or s/hand. They must be available somewhere? - but might have to buy a set. I can't believe how unobtainium they seem to be..
wet clutch are nearly always a pain agreed, but this is a dry one Andy and nothing like as bad and appears to be worse than std.
Fitting the Oberon, whilst making the clutch lighter, will reduce the throw on the pressure plate you get. Try reducing the clutch pack thickness a little and/or running the clutch lever at the maximum span if it's adjustable. Don't adjust the screw that acts on the pushrod on the master cylinder though. It's not a span adjuster..
I got some plain plates from JHP for £2 each about 5 or 6 yrs ago. 1.5mm or 2mm. They sold them to me individually. Edit: I called the spares dept....
Nelly, Unfortunately still the original lever ie. non adjustable. I was aware of the issue with the Oberon so I was hoping the washer under the lifter would help,tried and definitely not the way to go, so may try turning a 1-2mm spacer to fit inside it, basically try to take up the lower pressure part of the stroke? Otherwise as both yourself and Chris have suggested and fit thinner plates if I can source them. Thanks Gents (and lady) for the replies Mike ps If I can get a Velocette clutch right this damn frustrating!
Grab an ally clutch basket and a full set of Newfren platers all on eBay in Germany for not a lot of money. Can’t go wrong with them he sorts the import so no duties to pay
Turned a small 1.5mm insert for the lifter and tried it, no change so it looks like I'll have to try reduced stack height if I locate some suitable plates. Given it's already cost a fair bit I dont think he will go for another basket and plates. Will update if I get any success. Cheers Mike
I would go for 38mm pack thickness at the most. You may need to switch some 2mm for 1.5mm plain plates to get there? Not sure if 1mm plates exist though...
they do exist, but were aftermarket, and only used at the location below. I always wondered why the factory didn't supply this option. I take your point though, the more common, but still almost impossible to buy on their own, two factory options are 1.5 and 2 mm.
I’ve been using the Suzuki GS/GSX range friction plates for some time now as they are usually easier to obtain and considerably cheaper and as far as my somewhat fuzzy memory can recall it seemed to improve neutral selection when I started using them, it’s still acceptable now but not at, dare I say it, Honda level !!! If anyone does use them only the friction plates fit not the plain plates and depending on what basket you have the tangs may require dressing back as their a millimetre or so longer
