749 Ironing Faults

And?

 

The main faff is in removing the fairings and cover. Using an electric screwdriver and some magnets, I can whip the plates out in a few minutes.
Therefore, the thing to do is to check the clutch out before putting the cover and fairing side back on.
As with your bike, I found my plates bound badly when they got hot, so I ran it up to temperature and checked for drag there and then in the garage.
I found that replacing some of the new friction plates at the top of the stack with some of the old, ones cured the drag completely.
Before I realised it was the new plates binding that was causing the drag, I removed all the doubled up plain plates in an attempt to reduce the drag.
Doing that isn't what cured the drag but I did find the reduced stack height and therefore reduced preload on the clutch springs, gave me a super light clutch lever and as it didn't cause any slip, I've left it that way.
So now I have a one-finger light clutch that doesn't slip, doesn't drag and will last for tens of thousands of miles because I too am running the quiet clutch mod.
Win/win/win

 

Gosh, ok.
It relies on the happy circumstance that the way the basket slots are machined leaves them with a curved or rounded bottom to the slots. The hub slots are square ended and not as deep, so when a plain plate goes in first, as in the standard arrangement, the tangs of the bottom friction plate cannot drop down into the curved section and remain above the bottom plain plate in the parallel sided section of the slots.
However, if you put a friction plate in first, the tangs jam down into the curved section at the bottom of the slots and that bottom plate cannot oscillate within the slots as it can normally. This has a knock-on effect on the whole stack, so the stack is no longer free to chatter and oscillate within the slots, which makes the clutch much quieter. The lack of noise translates into lack of wear and the tangs are no longer getting bashed narrower and the basket is no longer getting notches bashed in it.
This in itself will not mean lack of drag with new plates but it does mean you can get away with using old friction plates for at least the top third to half of the stack, which will eliminate the drag.
That is what I have done and it works a treat. The idea was to replace the old plates with newer ones from the bottom of the stack once they have bedded in and the sharp edges have worn off and then put completely unused plates at the bottom of the stack where it doesn't matter too much if they don't move as freely and clear as well. It's at the top of the stack that you really need the plates to clear properly to prevent drag.
For the quiet clutch mod, it is normal to use an old, additional friction plate at the bottom of the stack but I am now convinced this is entirely unnecessary and you can simply re-order the existing normal stack so you have a friction plate at the bottom.
In fact, I have even fewer plates than normal in my stack and the clutch is all the better for it because the reduced pre-load on the springs makes for a really light lever.
The main thing is to start with a friction plate at the bottom and end with a plain plate at the top. I think I have removed all my doubled up plain plates, so I just have alternating friction/plain, friction/plain etc. You may not want to go that far but you really need to avoid overfilling the basket so the top plain plate can jump out, so go for a lower, rather than higher stack.
To avoid drag, use several of your old, loose friction plates at the top end of the stack, rather than your new, tight, sharp-edged ones. The quiet clutch mod will mean that the loose fit of the tangs in the slots will allow the plates to move in and out freely as you operate the lever and thus give no drag but without the chatter you would otherwise get.
If you don't like the idea of having old plates in there for long, you can always swap them later as I have described but my clutch is working so well that I haven't bothered so far.

Try it - i think you'll be pleased.

 

My clutch lever is now two-finger light and I even found myself using only one finger for rapid up-shifts on Sunday.
Not only that but I can also tap down into neutral from second gear, at rest, as easily as tapping up from first.
So, light lever, no slip and no drag

 

If you're getting drag, best thing is to make the top few friction plates old ones that won't bind in the slots, then, once the new plates at the bottom have bedded in a bit, whip the lot out again and put your unused new plates at the bottom and your bedded in plates at the top as they shouldn't bind any more once the sharp edges have worn off a bit

 

When the lights go green, absolutely.
When they are red and there's a truck right in front of you, less so... :/

 

He's describing the problem of clutch drag when it prevents you from getting into neutral when the lights go red and is trying to stall the engine if you let it slow but you can't hold it on the brake cos it's trying to wheelie - not nice... :/

 

Haha , for 40 years I've alwaysthought the engine cut off switch was a waste of time , until this happened to me a few weeks ago in traffic ..... Never been so pleased to have that kill switch and good brakes !!!

 

Why did it happen and what have you done about it?

 

OR,,thats an excellent discription and explanation, ( i even think i understand ),,, but would it not be possible to grind / file / shave off the bits that catch before fitting , thereby negating the need to strip down later ?,,, my clutch is really noisey, works well and not too heavy, but yours seems real nice..

 

bled the clutch 1st ..no change , stripped it down and a couple of plates have stuck together and 2 are stripped of friction material , so ive ordered new steels and plates from Moto Rapido today , hope that cures it .

 

Far more time consuming than dismantling the clutch.
I can strip the clutch in a few minutes.

 

ok, thank you, ( wish i could take my fairings off in a few minutes )

 

Easy peasy on a 999

 

just same as 749 ( i believe ),,,takes me 30 mins,, guess i need a bit more practice,,, looking at the clutch i can see there are a lot of little bits that would need filing,, long job i guess..