clutch problems

[powerhouse]

had a major problem with my clutch on both start lines at mallory.every time i revved the engine to go the clutch momentarily engages then disengages in a millisecond causing the bike jump and stall,this is all with the clutch lever in.
we stripped it down and had the clutch out and found no play in the shaft at all ,but where the clutch springs go in the inner basket cover there is considerable wear in the tubes as if the springs are vibrating inside there tubes.ive fitted a new clutch and inner basket anyway and bled the hydraulic clutch incase it could be that.anyone had simalar instances with a thundercat?

[Lumley32]

as i said ducatis do the same when the plates start to jam in the groves in the basket

[craig hauxwell]

If none of the plates are sticking in the grooves on the basket(check none of the steels are warped) then it is more likely to be the master cylinder passing fluid back through the seal.Hence the clutch engages with the lever pulled back.

Advise.....dump it and fit a cable back on.

[tufty113]

we ran a cable clutch as per the original......we never ran a hydraulic one but every one that did seemed to suffer with issues....make sure that you have clearance between the end of the rod and the actuator ....cable or hydraulic....the thundercat clutch suffered with it getting hot and snatching...try very hard to push when possible and not to hold in the clutch lever...select neutral when ever possible.....

[powerhouse]

makes sense that matt as i have always suffered from a slightly dragging clutch as its always been difficult to select neutral when running,but even with the possible slight dragging ive never had sutch a violent clutch,all plates and steels were not distorted but as i said ive changed them.i dont want to simulate a start in my garage as itll burn a new clutch, so hoping its ok for cadwell on weekend.

[tufty113]

if it drags then thats caused by a few things ..the main one is bucked steels...but if its hard to get neutral then your outed basket needs facing....send it to me and i will be happy to do it if your not sure....ta matt dix

[powerhouse]

cheers matt i dressed the outer basket and ill fit it before w/end and ill try and get a cable system for stock

[tufty113]

also make sure that the outer and inner plates are the dark ones.....

[lee eastell]

Always used to oil the plates before every race, using a syringe through the oil fill hole just put into gear hold in clutch and turn the rear wheel whilst oiling you will instantly feel the difference to the drag on the clutch.

[powerhouse]

cheers lee ill do that anyway. i thought as with all motors the clutch is fed from the mainshaft with oil,do thundercats maybee not do this as well as other engines? thus does the clutch is get dry?

[hasbeen]

We had the same trouble with our cat and did the same as Lee which did help a lot
I think your convertion to a hydralic clutch was to try to cure this problem
evryone who ran a cat seemed to suffer the same problem. Peter Williams tried everything
to cure his but still had to oil the clutch just as Lee discribed.
Between meetings we stripped ours and soaked the plates in oil for a couple of days.
and only put them back in the night before a meeting
hope this helps.

[tufty113]

i ended up being able to do a whole season without strpping or oiling the plates...i just learnt to put it into neutral and made sure not to hold the clutch lever in unless i had to .......the outer baskets suffered too with knotching if you banged the clutch out of corners , so avoid it also....

[graham0763]

depends on which hydrolic one youve got we had one from bike shop which was rubbish got one off paul biggs who made them, most of superside were useing them one r1s never had a problem with it used it for five seasons it was better than cable there must be some still about somewere