Hydraulic Clutch Conversion - Any Interest?

The only oil you could find was straight 30 weight? You mean on the shelf at home right? I agree with Hugh, back the screw off a smidge. But put some correct MC oil in there too. I see Penzoil is selling a MC specific oil in 10-40 and 20-50 that states it's for wet clutches. Farm and Fleet had it for 4.75 a quart.
 
Honestly, we've had a very hard time with out suppliers - I am rethinking this whole product for the new year. What we've sold in the past was great, but with suppliers that are fickle, it's just not good enough.
 
OK thanks.....

Was looking for a reason to come to the mountains.. lol I do have a front end i need to exchange... and i have a spare set that needs a home as well.... still might have to come to the mountains for the heck of it.. :)
 
Drop on in, I bet I could send you out the door with most of the parts to make one - if you don't mind "some assembly required" - and dont' mind fixing a bad cap or a poor thread here and there? I wouldn't charge ya - just drop in :)
 
So I really want this set up when will it be back in stock? Got a few items to by from you soon but want to wait until the hydraulic clutch conversion is back in stock.
 
So I really want this set up when will it be back in stock? Got a few items to by from you soon but want to wait until the hydraulic clutch conversion is back in stock.

I honestly have no plans to restock this item. We had some quality control issues with the suppliers, so bad that I could only sell about 30% of the components that cam in the door. I just won't allow my customers to have components that don't meet my standards.

I'm looking to revamp the entire system - but it's on the backburner for now...
 
I will wait also. Still trying to get money together for the rephase. I am going to build this bike one time and I want it right. Getting too old to do it again. I am excited about doing this and am ready to ride. But everything takes time.
 
I snagged a complete Magura set-up from eBay for $75, took about 30 minutes to machine the sidecover, cut a new push rod to length have it working. No drama.
 

Attachments

  • DSC00846.jpg
    DSC00846.jpg
    303 KB · Views: 303
  • DSC00852.jpg
    DSC00852.jpg
    222.9 KB · Views: 322
I snagged a complete Magura set-up from eBay for $75, took about 30 minutes to machine the sidecover, cut a new push rod to length have it working. No drama.
Yea, so how does it feel? Every hydrualic clutch I've ever used felt like poo. Almost a switch, y'know, it's either engaged or it's not, no in-between.

These things have to be engineered properly to make them work worth a shit. There has to be a proper balance between master cylinder diameter and slave cylinder diameter, as well as hydraulic line diameter. Get it wrong and the system will still ~work~ but there will be little or no linearity to it, it will provide a very exponential operating curve rather than a more linear one.

Sure, anyone can get lucky and end up with a great feeling setup. But for the most part it is something that has to be worked out. I had an 80+ HP Banshee (clocked at 107mph on the Sealey dry lake bed) that had some RD-350 clutch tricks done to it by Toomey. Even so, the cable system was fine enough for me to race that thing in AMA District 38 Desert Racing events (So Cal area). 200+ mile races for the most part.

What I'm getting at is, are the hydraulic retrofits really that much of an improvement over the stock cable system? I mean is the lousy feel an acceptable trade-off for heavly pull? I'm actually asking, not being rhetorical.

Or are the hydro-retrofits actually pretty good?
 
Yea, so how does it feel? Every hydrualic clutch I've ever used felt like poo. Almost a switch, y'know, it's either engaged or it's not, no in-between.

These things have to be engineered properly to make them work worth a shit. There has to be a proper balance between master cylinder diameter and slave cylinder diameter, as well as hydraulic line diameter. Get it wrong and the system will still ~work~ but there will be little or no linearity to it, it will provide a very exponential operating curve rather than a more linear one.

Sure, anyone can get lucky and end up with a great feeling setup. But for the most part it is something that has to be worked out. I had an 80+ HP Banshee (clocked at 107mph on the Sealey dry lake bed) that had some RD-350 clutch tricks done to it by Toomey. Even so, the cable system was fine enough for me to race that thing in AMA District 38 Desert Racing events (So Cal area). 200+ mile races for the most part.

What I'm getting at is, are the hydraulic retrofits really that much of an improvement over the stock cable system? I mean is the lousy feel an acceptable trade-off for heavly pull? I'm actually asking, not being rhetorical.

Or are the hydro-retrofits actually pretty good?

I can't really comment on alot of the other hyd clutch setups out there because I have not used any of them but with the Aprilia Hyd Clutch mod I have done it is not anywhere as bad as what you recall or have described. The lever has enough resitance that is gives good feedback and the engagement zone, although a bit smaller than the cable setup from what I can remember of my cable clutch, is nowhere near being like a switch. It feels alot like a more modern sport bike clutch (think Kawasaki zx-7r). My experience came from a condition I like to call CLSA (can't leave stuff alone). Someone else may be able to chime in here and give you the stock Aprilia master cylinder bore but what I have found to be a good pairing is a 13mm master cylinder and either a 29.5mm or 30.5mm slave cylinder that fits the Aprilia RSV's. With my current configuration with a 13mm master cylinder with 12mm travel and a 30.5mm slave cylinder (the third setup I have tried) I am getting ~2.2mm seperation at the pressure plate which is approximately the same as an OEM worm screw setup. The previous iterations consisted of a (1) 13mm master with 16mm travel and a 28mm slave yeilding about 3.4mm seperation - a little excessive (2) 13mm master with 16mm travel and a 29.5mm slave yeilding about 3.1mm seperation - still a little excessive. I did not try the 13mmx12mm master cylinder with the 29.5mm slave cylinder but the math says you would see ~2.3mm of seperation.

I hope this does more than muddy the waters for you.
 
I can't really comment on alot of the other hyd clutch setups out there because I have not used any of them but with the Aprilia Hyd Clutch mod I have done it is not anywhere as bad as what you recall or have described. The lever has enough resitance that is gives good feedback and the engagement zone, although a bit smaller than the cable setup from what I can remember of my cable clutch, is nowhere near being like a switch. It feels alot like a more modern sport bike clutch (think Kawasaki zx-7r). My experience came from a condition I like to call CLSA (can't leave stuff alone). Someone else may be able to chime in here and give you the stock Aprilia master cylinder bore but what I have found to be a good pairing is a 13mm master cylinder and either a 29.5mm or 30.5mm slave cylinder that fits the Aprilia RSV's. With my current configuration with a 13mm master cylinder with 12mm travel and a 30.5mm slave cylinder (the third setup I have tried) I am getting ~2.2mm seperation at the pressure plate which is approximately the same as an OEM worm screw setup. The previous iterations consisted of a (1) 13mm master with 16mm travel and a 28mm slave yeilding about 3.4mm seperation - a little excessive (2) 13mm master with 16mm travel and a 29.5mm slave yeilding about 3.1mm seperation - still a little excessive. I did not try the 13mmx12mm master cylinder with the 29.5mm slave cylinder but the math says you would see ~2.3mm of seperation.

I hope this does more than muddy the waters for you.
A man with DATA? Confusing? Are you kidding me? No way! Nice, very nice. Thanks. You've given me hope, I'll have to learn more of this modification you've spoken of.

Thanks for the info, great stuff!
 
Back
Top