Clutch issues

[drewMember]

no worries Syco, happy to share my knowledge where i can,

now i’ve shared all the knowledge i have :huh:

i believe with oil weight you need to be more courteous only when you step up the ‘w’ by 10 or more. so with going up by 5 should not pose any drama,

the only time you would need to take care is if you are in a colder than normal, say 10ºc.
and all you would have to do is pay a little more than normal attention to warming her up before riding as per your usual climate/conditions. and loading the engine- revs, heat and the like.

so not starting her up and tarring off like a lunatic cold.

drewpy

[timMember]

yep I would think that oil will be ok, just warm her up a bit as XY has said, I ran Delo 400 truck oil 25-50 in my 550 Berg for 200hrs with no problems, also be best to wait for the right part but maybe one of the XR boy’s on here may know of another washer that would fit

[CarlMember]

Thanks again every for your help it is greatly appreciated. I will wait till thursday for the thrust washer then put her all back together again. I’ll then dump the oil and put the new oil in and hopefully it should be all fixed. Would you recomend firing the bike with the old oil first to see if any thing I have done has actually fixed the problem or just dump the old oil and throw the new stuff in before firing her up? Also should I wait till I have dumped the oil to put the new oil filter in or can I do that while the case is off and not get it too contaminated with the old oil?

[DeanMember]

hey Syco, mate drop all your oil first and let it drain overnight,throw in your new filter, wait to your thrust washer arrives and then fit her up when she does throw in the correct amount of oil and start her up. keep a log on how many k’s she has on the clock and drop it at whatever distance you feel safe at. (id recommend approx 500k’s)less if you ride in a lot of dust and flog it thru single trail,more if your a twin trail or main road type of guy.

Hopefully this has your clutch problems sorted

Ollie

[timMember]

yes I say dump it also as it will have metal in it,change the oil filter now also, at least you now know both have been done correctly, if all is how you described I am confident you have fixed it, let us all know how you get on
also once back together you still may have to adjust the clutch cable as things will have changed, just do it as the manual says leaving a bit of cable free play

[CarlMember]

Thanks again to the both of you. Ollie would it be recomneded to install an hour meter or just go by the kms? Could I just stand her up with the side cover off still to drain it that way? or should I bolt the cover back on first? Tim I was actually shocked at how clean the internals looked. I thought that would have shown at least a bit of ware but seariosly it all looks near new. Like you said at least I know it is all done properly. Is there any thing in the actual lever that goes into the box that could be worn and give me this issue? I’ll let you all know how I get on tomorrow when I put her back together.

[DeanMember]

Mate if your speedo is hooked up just use that if not yeh why not grab an Hour meter you can get em now for about $60
you can drain your oil with the case off just make sure youve got something to catch it all in.

Ollie

[timMember]

yep bike internals normally look good, you really need to know what and where to look to see any wear and XR’s are built strong that’s why they last so long (and so heavy :laugh: ), i doubt you have any other problems, what you found would have been causing your issue, any wear on then actuating arm could be adjusted out with the cable I would imagine

[CarlMember]

Ok thanks again. I stood her up and drained a bit from the right then drained the rest through the oil res drain hole and sump drain hole. Pulled the filter also. Oil is slightly dark but still see through but does smell a bit burnt. Filter looks clean though. My speedo works ollie so I’ll just stick with that. I mainly do road riding around town at the moment with only a little dirt so would you be opting for 550 – 600 for oil change or more? Do you generally change the plug then also or do they last longer on the bikes, clean and regap maybe? Hey Tim is there any thing I should be looking for while the cover is off that could be worn? Bloody thrust washer isn’t here this morning either so I have to wait till tomorrow now.

[DeanMember]

Id be opting for more,try 800 ks plug doesnt generally need to be done on the 4 strokes probably check it now and then.

[CarlMember]

Cheers Ollie.

Well I got the thrust washer today and put her back together. Once the clutch was done up I tried the lever a few times and still seemed to be sticking in the clutch. I noticed that if I held my clutch lever in and then played with the fibre plates with my free hand they would free up and then the bike would move, they were kind of stuck to the steel plates with the suction from the oil. Any way I adjusted my cable so that there was a little play in the lever and bolted the cover back on. Put 1L of oil in and ran her for a few minutes then added the extra .95L, Then ideled her again for a few minutes and killed her. Then I put her in 1st and give her a push forward and the same shit. She is still having the same bloody issue. If you give her a big heave backwards the clutch seems to free up then you can easily push her but the minute you let the clutch go and squeeze her again the same problem. Thought maybe that I just needed to do it a few times while she was running so I fired her up again and she still clunks into 1st. I’m stumped. Would I need to take her for a big ride to get oil through the clutch plates better? I don’t know what to do exept order a new clutch kit, but shouldn’t have to as every thing is still in spec.

[alanMember]

all the bikes i have had go clunck when put them in gear and are hard to push in gear with the cluch in with the moter off (thats what nuetral is for)?try someone elses bike may be nothing wrong with yours

[CarlMember]

Thanks WR. I have been reading all day on the net and have actually come across that a few times now. The funny thing is last week it never had an issue at all. I would pull the clutch in and you could wheel her around and she was always smooth into first. I haven’t onwed a bike before and as soon as this happened I assumed something had gone wrong and wanted to get it sorted before doing any bad damage. Maybe she is just going to be like this from now on.

[CarlMember]

Well I took her for a 10 minute run and not sure if I’m hearing things but there seems to be a slight swiring noise coming from the clutch area and an occasional clicking kind of noise from the same area. Not sure if it is just me trying to here things as I don’t trust my mechanical abilities. Also when slowing down I here a sound that sounds like a semi truck dropping down a gear behind me by a 100 metres or so, actually looked behind myself a few times before I realised it was my bike. Not sure where that noise is actually coming from, might be the rear drum, going to back it off a few turns and go for another ride after tea and have another listen.
Also if the oil is warm on the dipstick it means that the oil pump is working ok doesn’t it? It is still near on 38 degrees so she seems a little warm, not sure if it is an engine issue or just the heat. Bloody paranoid bugger when it comes to busting things on vehicles, don’t want to harm the poor old girl.

[timMember]

sorry mate I am going to be blunt, but holy crap this is getting hard to help you find a fault!
bike clutches always drag when in gear especially when cold and yes they sometimes clunk when you select a gear.
I would imagine the bike would have sleezed if there was an oil pump problem, they don’t last long without it, also the oil does get bloody hot.
If you are sure you put it back together correctly she should be ok, most bike engines have there own little noises, hopefully that is all that you are hearing from the clutch area but as far as your truck noise goes we need some more info to help with that one, if you suspect the brake drum perhaps pull it apart and lightly sand the pads and drum surfaces my old Yammaha TT’s use to squeal there heads off when the brake pads were dirty

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