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Possible Grabby clutch fix !
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Roy Harvey
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Oct 25, 2009 09:43 PST
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I may have fixed or at the least - temporarily extended the life of this
clutch.
Ole #7 had a very grabby clutch. The clutch did not slip at all,
shifted through all gears wonderfully, except from stop. It lurched and
grabbed into gear trying to kill the engine in the process. So, I tried
the old trick of washing out the clutch cavity with mineral spirits.
Hey, this worked great – for about 100 miles. After 100 miles the
clutch became stickier and stickier until it was as grabby and bad as
ever. Hum, I washed it out with mineral spirits again – It worked Again
and the clutch engaged with the smoothness of a brand new bike – for
about 100 miles. Yeap, the grabby sticky clutch action returned just as
before. All the folks I told about this problem said that my only
answer was a new clutch. ARGH; I really didn’t want to do that. (I had
to replace a clutch at the ’99 New Mexico rally – Greg Field helped me
tear down in-frame and with clutch parts borrowed at the rally we got
the Ambo-WA-ttitude running again!). Ever since that, I hate doing the
clutch job.
So, stubborn person that I am, I stayed awake one night pondering on:
Why the mineral spirits wash did fix the clutch action, even if it was
for a limited time. It did work; for a time.
The clutch really feels strong, except for getting off from a start. It
was like the mineral spirits cleaned and “Lubed” the clutch action. I
believe the mineral spirits lubed the moving parts of the clutch action
until the mineral spirits totally dried up. Probably after about 50
miles, then I started really feeling it get stickier for sure about 100
miles.
Okay, If that is true, all I need to do is get some lube onto those
parts like the mineral spirts wash – but not On the clutch plates.
Ever heard of HSS 2000 spray lube by Worth? This is some fantastic
stuff. Can’t find it at auto parts stores. (can buy it online) It is
a spray lube used at higher end mechanic shops. I called my local
Mercedes Benz shop and went down to buy a can. Surprise – the fella
Gave me a can from the shop that was ¼ used, so it didn’t even cost me
anything. Bonus.
HSS is a fast drying silicone spray lube. Spray it on liberally, allow
time to dry and it coats anything with a sticky “water proof” silicone
lubrication.
I opened that little black inspection hole on the side of the tranny
where I earlier poured in mineral spirits and I sprayed around inside.
I tried to aim it so it would drizzle down to the working parts – like
the mineral spirits must have done. I ran the engine and sprayed a
little more. Let it set for an hour and took off on a ride. YeeHaw!
It worked just like the mineral spirits trick. My clutch engagement was
just perfect, smooth, and steady.
I came home, did a few other things and took it on another ride. I got
just about 100 miles on it and it is still as smooth as ever. Then, I
tried to fix a leak in the head where the exhaust nut locks the pipe to
the head. Dang, I should have left well enough alone. The previous
owner JB welded the nut into the head. Now that I got it apart – the
bike is sidelined until I get that fixed.
So, I won’t know for sure if the HSS spray is a cure or if it is a fast
temp fix you could spray every so often or if it is no better than the
mineral spirits fix until I get this exhaust nut repaired and continue
riding.
I was so excited about all this HSS fix I had to tell ya.
So, I promise to post again later – after I fix the exhaust nut to get
the bike running again and put some more miles on the HSS clutch fix.
See Ya,
Roy
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