I've stripped the hole clutch out and there's no sign of wear on the disc behind it, or anywhere! I can only conclude so far that it maybe grit that's making its way out of crevices after the shot blasting and powder coating?
I bought a new friction disc set for the clutch driving gear/plate. Unfortunately the new friction sets come with 7 holes instead of 5, which means you have to re-drill the driving gear. My god it's tough metal! I've gone through about 8 drill bits so far. HSS lasts about 30 seconds, Cobalt drill bits last about half a depth of hole and Tungsten Carbide tipped drill bits have got 90% of the way through all 7 holes but I've now destroyed 4 trying to get through the last 10%!
Blimey I don't think that material is meant to be drilled after it's been hardened. Could you not just have re-drilled the friction disc to line up with the original 5 holes? I don't think the redundant 7 holes would affect the clutch working.
I've seen some terrible after effects from grit blasted parts that haven't been cleaned properly. Ron
Hi Ron, re-drilling the friction material was in hindsight a better plan. I was concerned about breaking the friction material though.
I've now drilled through the clutch driving gear and reassembled it with new friction material and new friction plates. I'm now having a problem that the clutch is not disengaging properly. I've adjusted it as much as I can, but there doesn't seem to be enough free space in the clutch to allow it to fully disengage, and hence it drags and makes it difficult to get into neutral. I read elsewhere on the forum of a similar issue with replacement BSA clutch plates being too thick.
Does anyone know of a way to resolve this? Will the clutch wear down/bed in, or will I need to put the old plates back in? (They didn't seem worn and may well have been new when I put them in, but I don't remember as it was too long ago!).
I've not tried riding the bike yet so don't know how much the dragging will affect it?
