OK, finally got a chance to dig into the clutch this week. I had already ordered some new EBC friction disks and they had been soaking in motor oil in anticipation of the swap. I addition, I had on hand a throw-out thrust bearing and single piece push rod that I've had for a while but have been waiting to install.
Here is the bike after I opened her up for surgery.
And here you can see a comparison of the upgraded thrust bearing and the old one. There are like 4x as many rollers on the upgraded version!
I finally found out what the funky smell I experienced on my trip was: it was burning cork! Here is a look at the friction disks I pulled out from my bike, horrible! Two of the disks were completely stripped of their cork and there was burnt cork gunk all over the clutch basket. Some of the pressure plates got a bit of scoring and marking, but I am going to reuse them.
Here is one side of the friction disks:
and the other side; obliterated!
In addition, I found another problem and from this I gained a lesson in automotive bolt grading. I had utilized grade 8.8 metric hardware for my clutch spring bolts with the understanding that grade 8 was suitable for high-stress automotive applications. But when I removed them to change the friction disks I found that they were all bent! The third from left really shows it.
Well, it turns out that when dealing with metric hardware, it is actually grade 10.9 metric bolts that are equivalent to grade 8 american bolts. So, I've upgraded the hardware to 10.9 and I should be good from here on out.
While I was at it and my exhaust had to come off anyways, I decided to clean them up and go for a VHT header clear coat finish. It should have a cool brushed metal look with a slight "patina" at the welded areas..
And here she is now, waiting for the exhaust and new headlight.
I had to special order the VHT paint, so I will update with new pics once I get them done and back on my bike! until then, safe riding yall!
