Just been out for a ride of about 50 miles some of it through town and across Milton Keynes's many roundabouts. I have a new clutch basket, new plates, new springs and an Oberon slave cylinder. The clutch lever is still really heavy and has caused me some pain in the carpal tunnel area and \I am struggling to make a clenched fist after the ride. How can I make it a bit lighter ?
Are you using shorty levers or long ones? I know that makes a big difference. When I changed to an Oberon slave a couple of months back, I noticed a small difference, not much but a little. Then i changed from titax shorties to evo tech long levers and that made it so much better. Maybe some other issue??? Ian
I have full length levers. I suffer from only having 2 working fingers on my left hand so am particularly sensitive to a heavy lever.
Oh well, that changes things. Ever thought about fitting a QS to help out a bit? I still have all fingers working but have have had both hands operated on for the carpel tunnel syndrome so have an idea what it must be like for you.
The Oberon slave comes in two sizes, mate of mine had one fitted to his 848 street fighter and it was a lot softer than my standard clutch. Did you get the larger one of the two?
+1 on removing a couple of opposing springs from the pressure plate. Some say ... don't do it as it has a chance of warping the plate or applying uneven pressure or fucking it up in some other as yet undiscovered way!! If it isn't slipping I wouldn't/don't worry unduly about it. It certainly makes the action a lot lighter.
Just checked the Oberon website theirs is 29mm so it should be easier to pull the clutch in. I am wondering if the springs you have fitted have a stiffer rating than the standard, so all you have done is kepth the status quo.
I have a mega-light clutch on my 999. I'm using stainless Avanti springs but they are supposed to be equivalent to oem, so that shouldn't be the reason. I have messed about with my clutch a lot this winter/spring and the reason it is now so light is that I kept reducing the stack height in the hope of curing clutch drag that was caused by something else. However, when I finally did realise what was causing the drag and managed to cure it, I found the lever was then so light that I naturally, wothout thought, found myself using two fingers to operate it and that is with aftermarket cnc levers that are longer than shorties but shorter than oem. I am using the quiet clutch mod, so I am currently running with an old friction plate first, then the thin, dished plain plate, alternate friction (7) and plain plates and finishing with a dished plain plate. This gives a very low stack height, so much reduced pre-load on the springs, giving a very light lever even with a standard slave cylinder. I get no slip and so little drag that not only can I easily engage neutral from first, I can just as easily engage neutral from second. The quiet clutch mod also gives me a quiet clutch that will last 2 or 3 times as long as standard because the clutch is no longer oscillating and bashing itself to bits...
Hang on a minute though, you're not proddieracer are you? :smile: I would say a large proportion of the aftermarket stainless steel clutch springs are far stiffer than standard and this then has the result of four springs having the equivalent strength of six standard ones.
@antonye says his springs are same spec as oem. I'm using six and the clutch is seriously light due to the reduced preload resulting from a very low stack height. Works a treat. No slip, no drag and two finger light.
Yeah but you're still missing it because we don't know what springs were fitted on Proddieracers clutch do we? First time I read your post I thought you were him!
I know they're a few hundred quid. But you could buy a larger, adjustable ratio radial master cylinder. That along with a full length lever could help.
