Clutch xs650 SE

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JLeppinen

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Hi,

Couple years ago, i noticed my xs650 clutch worm gear has no ball in it so i bought one, but it never fitted there. Ball was right size but there was no slack at all with it. Clutch worked quite well so i drove that summer with smaller worm ball. Now clutch has started slipping and i decided to make some fix. I orderer clutch repair kit, needle bearing, 6 socket spring screws and sleeves. Also cushion springs behind the basket were broken so i bought repair kit and long type pushrod. When i swapped those short and long pushrod, i noticed there was all three bearing ball inside the engine. One was behind push crown rod and two was between the short rods. Also needle bearing was not between the washers. There was bearing against basket, thin and thick washer on it. I installed everything according this:


CLUTCH RE-ASSEMBLY SCHEMATIC.png

I adjusted clutch cable and worm and smoothly tested it without motor oil (friction plates were in bath) but it does not disengage. The clutch boss is moving when pulling lever. I guess i should not do that without oil..am i right? Anyway im wondering now did i do everything correctly..
 
Last edited:
Yes, needle bearing and thrust washer are "F" and "E" in that drawing. Don't forget to remove the thrust washer that is in there originally with the old needle bearing.
 
Yes, i left out old bearing and washer. Im a novice with all motors (and english, sorry), but here are lot of instuctions and pics, so im convinced that my clutch is reinstalled according that pic. Whats your opinion of that disengage thing? Should it work after oil filling? Clutch moves about 5-8mm when pulling lever. I cant move my bike at all with gear on..
 
JLeppinen said:
Yes, i left out old bearing and washer. Im a novice with all motors (and english, sorry), but here are lot of instuctions and pics, so im convinced that my clutch is reinstalled according that pic. Whats your opinion of that disengage thing? Should it work after oil filling? Clutch moves about 5-8mm when pulling lever. I cant move my bike at all with gear on..
Click to expand...

Normal clutch plate separation is only about 2 mm ( 0.080").
 
These clutches have a lot of drag when the motor isn't running. I think putting it all back together and running the bike will be the only way to tell.
 
Ok everything is now back on. Clutch plate separation is indeed 2mm. Measured without beer :) Also clutch seems to disengage correctly. Only thing that bothers me is the basket which feels little slack. Is that common? Worn spacer shaft?
 
I came in late on this thread. You got a lot of good info.
Now back to when you installed the missing ball. You say this had no slack. When you change anything on a clutch you should go through the adjustment procedure.
I think that is why it started to slip to begin with.
Leo
 
XSLeo, I installed that 5/16 ball in the worm, but could not have any slack with it so i changed it to smaller one which worked. I did adjustments following Grizlds guide:

"On your left engine cover there's a round chrome plug. Pry it off gently and you'll see the clutch wormgear adjustor--a nut securing a phillips-drive rod. Slack the clutch cable adjustor on the handle bars all the way. Hold the rod with a phillips screwdriver and back off the nut. Back the rod out a few turns, then run it in until you feel light resistance. Then back it off 1/4 turn, hold it in position, and secure it with the locknut. Turn the handle bar adjustor out until there's about 1/8" of clearance or a little less between the outer corner of the lever and the lever perch when the lever takes the slack out of the cable"

When i assembled long type pushrod i noticed that
PO had worked with clutch and assembled parts in next order from left side:
pushrod-ball-ball-pushrod-ball-crown. So any ball was not missing..

I dont know but been suspecting slipping was caused by wrong motor oil. Slipping started very soon and from memory it was this:

0000-motul-7100-synthetic-oil-4t.jpg

"fits dry and wet clutches"

Maybe i could just wash those plates but.... just want my clutch work.
Leo, do you know about that clutch housing, is it common to be little slack?
Clutch center nut tightened 54-58 ft-lbs

Here is a clip:

 
Moro Leppinen

Try the Motul 20W50 Mineral oil. Apparently synthetics are not good for these old engines.

(ja tervetuloa tonne xs650.fi palstalle kans... :D)

Pekka
 
Fyi, last year i ran the cheapest motul synth in my xs and kz. No slippage. Man that stuff makes these old clunky transmissions work like a dream. Went back to rotella...5 motorcycles. All can use it.

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In the push rod line up two balls should not be next to each other. One of the two that were next to each other probably was the one missing out of the worm.
Line up should be adjuster screw, ball, one rod, ball, rod, ball top hat shaped rod that pushes on the pressure plate.
If using one long rod, Adjuster screw, ball, long rod, ball, top hat rod.
Any oil you use, read the bottle. On the back there should be a list of ratings. At the end is a JASO M or JASO MA rating. This means the oil was tested and approved for wet clutches.
These engine can benefit from Synth oil as much as any engine. Just use the proper weight. I've heard a lot of myths about synth oil. Like not good for clutches or old engines. Both are wrong. My Harley has been running synth oil in the engine, primary and transmission for over 50k miles. No oil related issues yet.
Synth oil draws away more heat from engine parts, mostly because it lubes the parts better. Better lube = less friction = less heat.
I don't use synth oil in my XS650's mostly because of the 1000- 1500 mile oil change intervals get to costly.
Leo
 
Yes Leo, balls and rods are installed that order. That little slack seems to be gone after i oiled the sleeve which is center of basket. Side cover and oil installed and motor ran normally. The clutch should work now like a dream. I cant wait to get on road..

Thank you all!

Janne
 

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