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I thought it was great! There was more footage of those guys riding in their natural element than actually riding on the show. Great, mostly harmless publicity for the sport! "Uh oh! It looks like he's got a flat tire!" I chuckled when I heard this, then gawked when he claimed/confirmed that he actually had a flat tire. He probably felt it was better to make an excuse before the unknowing public, hoping to get a few extra points for riding around a 'problem'. Whatever it takes to win, eh?

I went to put things back together today to at least be able to ride the bike while I wait for parts and found, to my suprise, that THERE IS NO BOLT holding the clutch assembly together! It just is not there! According to the parts diagram, there should be a bolt and washer. Mine had none. Apparently whoever worked on the clutch last did not put it back in or decided it was not necessary. Well, the clutch works without it, but I wonder if this could be a major factor in my stiff clutch problem? Anyone know the size and pitch of the bolt so I can put one in?

I didn't realize... my garage is kind of dark and I didn't notice that... I actually read that in an old thread just last night and felt pretty dumb Thanks fellas...

Okay... I actually did end up slotting the screws and getting them out. I actually was planning on this... I guess I was just being a bit dramatic when I said I'd have to use a screw extractor. I was p****d off at the time. I'm still not looking forward to making sure all the metal filings are out of the gearbox! Anyway, I've measured my clutch with a digital caliper (10.15 mm) and with a precision micrometer in inches, which I converted online to mm (10.10 mm). The micrometer squeezed down on the plate stack more than I could by hand with the caliper, so I feel confident that my clutch pack is in that range. The clutch should be 9.75mm, and no greater than 9.85! I feel very confident that this is the reason my clutch has been so heavy (not to mention there was some interesting goop in the clutch that looked like a slurry of fiber material, light metal slough, and rubber gasket maker. Now here's the dilemma, to get the clutch to a 9.70-9.75 measurement I need to order two 1.3mm shims to replace both of the 1.5mm shims. This seems kind of drastic. I guess It's what I need to do, right? Anyone want to back me up on this? I don't know how much the shims are, but if they're not much, I suppose I could get two 1.3s and two 1.4s to experiment with. I have measured both of my stock shims and they are 1.5mm. What do you all think?

Those guys at Gas Gas sure must think their little clutch screw prank is a laugh riot Of the 10 clutch screws, I got five out using moderate to severe force (with a precision 2.5mm bit in a small socket wrench). The other five stripped all six flats out from the internal hex as soon as I put any pressure on them. They are 100% completely stuck, and totally worthless tinny metal with circular holes now instead of hex holes. I'm totally furious because my only option now is to try and use a screw extractor, dealing with all the metal shavings falling into the gearbox, the likelihood of the extractor not working or breaking off, and then, if I do manage to get the screws out, dealing with the total impossibility of finding replacements. Go to hell, Gas Gas

Thanks guys! Or as you would say, Cheers mates!

Now that I've basically figured that the clutch is indeed on the right hand side of the bike, I want to take the clutch out to measure it (for the 9.75 measurement) and possibly sand/beadblast the plates. The clutch has been pretty heavy, pumping up my arm and making my clutch finger so tired that I start getting sloppy. Compared to my friend's 01 TXT it's way heavy. Anyway, I see that the water pump housing, with the two coolant hoses, is on top of the clutch cover, meaning I have to take off the water pump housing before I can take off the clutch cover. I have the bike on its left side so I don't need to drain the new ATF I put in a couple of days ago and was hoping that this was an easy job. I don't want to crack the water pump bolts for fear that coolant will go everywhere, or worse, pour straight into my gearbox. Advice?

No Scorpas available yet, but you guys might enjoy having a go at one of these! Be prepared! They are very patience and work intensive! However, I got addicted and spent a weekend hunched over a brightly lit table, drinking Mountain Dew and fiddling with the tiny paper flaps with glue, tweezers, toothpicks, and x-acto knives! Very addictive. I got 80% complete on the R1 - unfortunately this was the weekend before I went off to college, and that 80% was as far as I got. Far more interesting things to do at college! http://www.yamaha-motor.co.jp/global/enter...stic/index.html