Yes it is. In fact, I swapped one of these later clutches into my '78. It engages smoother because of the bottom steel damper plate. Nice upgrade in my opinion, not only for the smoother engagement but because I'm thinking it's easier on those cush springs in the back of the hub.
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Why are our clutches so troublesome, a theory.
- Thread starter kevski
- Start date
Thanks , what luck 
Well I better disassemble and store with care then. I’ll bet those screws loosen with one solid impact driver blow each.
From what i have gathered both styles are a pain in the A*se at times, and after delving into it more i can see some of the reasons main one i think would be lack of R&D leading to inconsistent and poorly performing parts, another would be the left hand casing needing a bridge between the sprocket and clutch operating parts as well as being heavier gauge to help with over expansion, the list does go on.
An evening follow up on an earlier observation of cover casting differences by year is now verified.
I put both a 78 and a 81 left side cover on the floor to compare. It is true that the 81 cover which is seemingly the same part by # is actually cast with thicker features in at least two areas.
The “rib” in the counter sprocket area is at least .160” thicker at the base. It also has a more angled or triangular shape. The cover itself it perhaps thicker as well as seen clearly on the flat above the counter shaft area.
This extra material may be for just added strength or even perhaps to better control heat expansion. Clutch action related ?
Pics-
I put both a 78 and a 81 left side cover on the floor to compare. It is true that the 81 cover which is seemingly the same part by # is actually cast with thicker features in at least two areas.
The “rib” in the counter sprocket area is at least .160” thicker at the base. It also has a more angled or triangular shape. The cover itself it perhaps thicker as well as seen clearly on the flat above the counter shaft area.
This extra material may be for just added strength or even perhaps to better control heat expansion. Clutch action related ?
Pics-
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I'll buy that, have had my suspicions.
Been thinkin' on making some sort of fixture to measure that sidecover's flex. It's subjected to about 400 lbs of pushrod force...
Yesterday i replaced a leaking shock under warranty while that was out i took the scabby chain guard off completely cleaned rubbed down and gloss blacked it, put it all back together this morning, when i finished work i took it for a 20 mile shake down, clutch is much better no miss shifts flicking through the gears up and down nice and slick, still reluctant to shift from 1st to neutral while static, but a quick blip of the throttle and flick of shifter and she goes in, another thing i have done is mixed up clutch springs when i got it, it had blue springs still on spec, i bought some performance ones from Heiden and i have mixed them, the reason being the blue ones are much harder to compress so i guess they are heavy duty, so i now have a combination of heavy and regular duty springs in there, the clutch pull is pretty easy, no clutch slip or snatch, when my mo-pro cable gets here i will slightly adjust its route as the present cable has a curve under the tank area which i can dispense with, i will also move the hook up for the cable on the actuator to the hole closer to the centre giving me a little more pull, these little things i have done have made it a lot easier to use, things that should of been ironed out before production, still i get a great deal of satisfaction from it, i guess that's why we all do it anyway.
Make some mental notes on your oil. I and others have noticed variations in clutch disengagement due to oil age/mileage and oil brand...
I always use semi synthetic motorcycle specific, in the recent past I have used stuff like Castrol gtx mineral and suffered clutch slip, they must be adding stuff that doesn't like wet clutches, 1000,1500 mile changes.
Mo Pro cable arrived Saturday afternoon, so i put it on and tidied up a couple of bits, this morning took her out for a blast and the clutch is as good as it will ever be, flicks into neutral when on the last part of rolling to a stop, a bit of cam adjuster rattle and a slight tappet cover oil leak then the job is complete, these are a blast to ride with their low down torque and delayed steering, may make some solid bushes for top triple tree in the future, but it's get on and ride time now.
