Barnett clutch disc & spring question

Fabricator

Fabricator

XS650 Member
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I'm suffering from clutch slippage in top 2 gears around 4-5k rpm then it hooks back up.
Sounds like a common occurrence for these old bikes.
Upgrading to Barnett discs & springs
In my 1980 bike.
My question is.... will I be able to pull
The clutch lever ? I don't want to waste my time doing all that work
If I need a tractor to pull the lever.
Thanks
 
You will be able to pull the lever but it is going to be stiffer of course. Yes, clutch slip is common on these and it's usually because the old stock springs have gotten weak. Most of us start by just replacing them, only moving on to more replacement parts (plates) if need be. The spring fix is cheap, whole clutch replacement not so much.

You must be sure your clutch cable is lubed well and routed properly or the pull will be hard regardless of what springs you're using. I lube mine once a season. And you must lube a new cable, most come practically dry.
 
I switched to a Barnett clutch some 20 years ago and had the shop keep the original stock Yamaha springs. I have carpal and did not want to deal with the heavier pull. Seems to work but i am pretty easy on the throttle.
 
Thanks for the feed back Gentleman!
I love this forum... there are so many
Knowledgeable people here.
Confucius Says " grasshopper.... always ask questions & wait for answers before ordering parts "
I already ordered discs too ;-(
Thanks all !
 
Hey Fab
I did a heavier spring upgrade to mine but was worried about clutch pull. A friend suggested to just upgrade every secong spring to the heavier one and new standard springs. Make sure you mark the heavy ones with a good paint marker or a small mark and do every second one dont put them all on one side. I tested mine with the new cable and was tight but lubed it up and so much better. As the cable points down the do leak out and dry up but easy to lube.
My clucth is great now and no slipping with a nice pull.
Get the upgraded basket allen head screw set the JIS screw are a PITA!
Cheers
 
Hey Fab, just went through some clutch work on my 77D. I installed EBC CSK014 stiffer clutch springs as per 5twins recommendation. I installed all 6.

I was also concerned about tougher clutch pull due to a weaker rebuilt left hand as a result of accident injuries. Have to say the tougher pull was easily forgotten after about 5 minutes or less but the clutch action and smoothness is remarkable. This is a no brainer must do upgrade in my opinion.

Also do the basket allen head screws and spacers as OzBoy mentioned above. So much nicer.
 
Sorry boys, :rolleyes:
Madness 750, breathed on, was slipping clutch after about 5K RPM 3 heavy springs didn't stop the slipping. So went full monte, did the ippytatoo 8 alto plate conversion and all 6 barnett springs, I use an oil - tungsten disulfide cable lube, rebushed the lever and made a new pivot bolt. It's a heavier pull but going through a medium sized down town, stop light every block, after 11 hours straight riding wasn't an issue. NO slipping, no drag, great smooth release. After riding that for a week when I rode a "normal" but well fettled cable and perch XS650 the lever pull was so easy I thought the clutch was broke. :smoke:
I won't say where but an XS rider was whining up a storm about how hard his clutch and throttle were. I tried and he was right they were awful! After questioning he had installed new cables but hadn't lubed them. I got some motor oil, pulled the cables lubed them up and the next day's ride was a huge improvement. :bike:
 
Who carries the upgraded Allen head screws?
I already went through that with the stator... I replaced with Allen screws.
 
My clutch would slip when passing 4000 rpm in 4th so I installed the EBC CSK014 springs. I honestly did not notice a change in clutch stiffness even though the advert said "Heavy Duty".
 
Most of the aftermarket springs aren't much stiffer than stock, only like 10 to 15% according to their claims. In most cases, this seems to be enough to cure the slipping without increasing the lever pull very much.

I can't stress enough the importance of keeping the cable well oiled. Not doing that will result in a harder lever pull than stiffer springs.
 
Pressure plate springs play a large part in clutch performance. Condition of the fiber plates are sometimes overlooked. Fiber plate thickness and condition is important. We also have to be careful with synthetic lubricants that may contaminate or glaze the surface of the fiber plates enough not to have correct adhesion to the mating steel clutch plates. When installing the high performance spacers that will increase pressure plate tension, do not over torque the fasteners. These are M6 x 1.0 threads, torque accordingly. Another feature MikesXS offers is the clutch actuator. https://www.mikesxs.net/catalogsearch/result/?q=Clutch+Actuator. This item has a slightly longer arm to increase leverage to assist with clutch lever tension when using stronger pressure plate spring rates.
MikesXS Tech Team
 
I have the Mike's actuator, it does have a longer arm. It also has two holes to attach the cable. The hole toward the outer end does give slightly less lever effort. I use the inner hole, the lever effort is a bit more but this position opens the pressure plate farther. This improves the clutch action much more the outer hole eases lever effort.
I also have upgraded to new plates, I used Ferodo plates. I also replaced the springs with 70lb springs, Stockers are somewhere around 45-50 lb springs. With a well lubed worm and cable I have a two finger lever pull.
I did do a bit of work on the steel plates as well as the fiber plates. On the tabs that fit into the basket I removed the burrs on the tabs. If you look at the tabs there is a rounded edge on one side and a sharp edge on the other. I used a medium grit paper to sand off this sharp edge. Just enough to break the edge. This prevents this sharp edge from digging into the basket as the plates slide in and out.
I al;so used the sandpaper to remove any color from the steel plates. This slightly roughed up the steels to provide a bit more grip.
Leo
 
I think 2M also discovered the angle of the swirl grooves differs slightly as well. I think he found it a bit less than stock. Now, while this may also ease the lever pull some, it won't move the worm as far. You'll get less pushrod travel which means less plate separation. It also means you can't mix stock worm parts with the MikesXS ones, they won't screw together.
 
Thanks for all the input.
Today I installed Barnett friction plates & springs... I lubed Sh*t out of the cable & rerouted it and straightened
The sleeve.
The lever is easier than before !
Guess it was a little bound up.
No more clutch slippage!!!
Thank you gentleman.
 
Glad you got it sorted out. I second and third servicing the clutch cable every time. I had slippage, put in heavier springs, lubed cable, gear/ push mechanism, and still had slippage, just at a higher RPM. Bought new cable and no slippage at all plus easier pull.
 

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