Also, is it important that everything stay facing the same direction, and go back in, in the exact same order it came out?  I assume so, but didn't know for sure. 

 

Thanks! 

A friend has mentioned that he used these springs but I have no first hand knowledge of the results. You could try to get a set of the washers Beta uses on the newer bikes. They are stepped and would give you a few more options as far as setting the spring preload. As for the order of the plates I don't think it is important as they will have to settle in anyway.

Edited April 29, 201511 yr by dan williams

Dan, thank you for the write up! My bike is totally different, in an awesome way!

I added a small washer, with an ID the size of bolt (I believe 6mm), and the OD was approx 10-11mm, so it fits inside spring. The red stepped washer is off my dad's 2011 evo 4t 300. I think his bike is a "factory team" bike.

I tried to get slipping in high gear by pulling clutch in, reving her up and popping clutch (at rolling speed). But she grabbed every time. It feels a bit lighter, but not crazy dramatic. I may add another washer, but I believe that will require a lower profile bolt. I'll report back if I ever get slippage.

So PRETTY! :-)

:thumbup:

Looks good to me. Thanks for the comparison shot of the washers.

You bet!

You bet!

 

Hey 19delta, 

 

Can you report back with how you find the bike after the clutch plate fix? I'm thinking about doing the same to mine soon and would love to know how it goes. Mine isn't dragging really bad but it's just enough to be annoying at certain points throughout the day, sometimes it's fine and other times it's noticeable. 

 

It's a HUGE difference! Mine was very inconsistent.... Sometimes fine, other times not. I was killing it when I shouldn't. Now it's always the same. I love it! Do it, you'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner.

It's a HUGE difference! Mine was very inconsistent.... Sometimes fine, other times not. I was killing it when I shouldn't. Now it's always the same. I love it! Do it, you'll wonder why you didn't do it sooner.

 

That's awesome! Did you also find any change in the progressiveness or weight of the clutch after doing this mod? Was it smoother? I think I'm going to buy a new set of plates and perform the mod on them as the ones I've got now are a tad old. I'll also need to order a new clutch cover as the screws have eaten into the cover as there are no washers on them  Thanks for the fast reply too

Edited May 2, 201511 yr by jml

Try the old plates first. Lightly dress the steels with 600 grit emery cloth. Polishing the fiber tabs is what makes the engagement progressive.

Bender is great.

Edited May 2, 201511 yr by dan williams

I'm with Dan, try to polish your plates first. It is a very progressive smooth engagement now.

How old is your bike?

Also, I believe there are shims for the main shaft if the clutch disk are worn. I don't know if you remove existing shims to help with worn disk? Dan?

I never quite got the whole shim thing as the actuator is somewhat self adjusting. My guess is the shims just reduce or increase the free-play before the slave starts pushing on the throw-out bearing. The first bike I did the mod to had lots of hours on it and still benefitted greatly so I'd give it a try on the old plates first. Besides if you bung it up terribly you haven't ruined new plates.

 

19Delta that's some neat work on the plates and unlike me I don't see any holes in your finger.

Edited May 3, 201511 yr by dan williams

Since I took a vacation day today to recover from the last trial here's more clutch fun though it's more to add to the general knowledgebase of our favorite Beta parts. I measured up the springs and spacers on my bike, did some math and ordered some custom washers with even less preload along the lines of the washers made by "IKB" in another thread. It'll take three weeks for them to arrive. I ordered them through a place called eMachineShop. Kind of fun to be able to design prototypes. The spacers will have an additional 1.5mm of preload relief for a total of 3mm. I also made the top plate thicker to accommodate a flat head screw. From my measurements I figured I had at least 7mm to play with. I've hopefully attached the drawings here. Oh oh apparently I'm not allowed to upload the .ems file. If anybody loads up the eMachineShop software and wants the file let me know. I also have 30 of the washers coming so I'll have a few spare sets if anybody is interested.

 

My calculation for the total pack preload was something like 159lbs for stock, 139lbs for the red spacer turned to provide a 1.5mm preload reduction and 119lbs with the 3mm preload reduction. Running with two less springs came out to something like105lbs but I apparently didn't save the spreadsheet because I'm an idiot.

Clutch Spring.pdf

Rode an event yesterday and watched a couple of new riders on older Betas suffering from BCS (Beta Clutch Syndrome) as they snatched and jerked their way through the slow parts of a section. I'd forgotten just how hard it is to ride with the stock clutch.