I was riding on Friday 13th and had a couple of times when accelerating quickly that the RPMs rose but the speedometer didn't. It was raining the entire time that this happened. I backed off the throttle a little and normal forward propulsion was established again. The bike has over 150k on the speedometer. This kind of came on all the sudden although when accelerating briskly through the gears it is possible to get a pulse coming back through the clutch lever. When I got off the bike some multpurpose lubricant was sprayed into the area of the clutch lever just in case there was some "junk" that was preventing the master cylinder push rod and/or clutch lever from releasing fully. What are your thoughts? Time to renew the clutch? Star spring trouble? Time to rebuild the clutch master cylinder?
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Clutch problem or Friday 13 hijynx?
- Thread starter suzukijay
- Start date
Star Spring for sure. Fairly easy fix. When you order the springs order a new gasket too. Make sure your retreive all of the broken spring "fingers" before you button things back up (don't ask me how I know!) This is a good time to also purge, clean and replace the clutch fluid. Hell even replace the front and rear brake fluids while your at it! AKA "2linby" That's 2-lin-by folks! Northwest Area Director COG #5539 AMA #927779 IBA #15034 TEAM OREGON MC Instructor 133K and counting! http://community.webshots.com/user/2linby http://tinyurl.com/njas8 (IBA BunBurner Gold Trip) http://tinyurl.com/lwelx (Alaska trip)
Xcept for the "pulse", I had the same occasional symptoms at ~130k?. Changed the fiber plates & 6 clutch springs. The star springs were hokay. I'd open it up befo ordering parts, but you'll prolly need a new gasket anyhoo. 01 Conc, Mijami Floriduh OTP 06: http://tinyurl.com/2vk9o2 route map: http://tinyurl.com/4p7pmd
Looks like I'm going to need to open the clutch cover to see if there are any broken star spring parts . If, in the case of Paulie, the star springs are OK ordering the clutch fiber n metal plates is easy. Any idea on how many different plates should be ordered? The reason I ask is that Kawasaki has a certain way to determine the "stack height" for the clutch plates and I'd hate to tear the clutch out only to discover that more parts are needed that the local shop doesn't stock in inventory. 
In the mean time I'll do a lookup for the clutch gasket, star springs, etc.
In the mean time I'll do a lookup for the clutch gasket, star springs, etc.Funny you should say that because I already started to renew the clutch fluid. On this last ride I also started to get a weird "slapping" sound in the front end when braking hard. Checked steering stem bearings on Friday for any play as well as the front wheel bearings. I couldn't get a lot of play in either so it wasn't really clear what the cause of the noise was. On the ride Saturday the weird "slapping" sound occured and it was getting harder to get a nice smooth grab on the front brakes. With another 500 miles put on the bike now the "slapping" sound was easy to hear and feel when coasting to a slow stop. Checked the front end again and it definately feels like the wheel bearings are starting to go. Front brake fluid has been renewed and the calipers have been disassembled and cleaned.
Front brake fluid has been renewed and the calipers have been disassembled and cleaned.
forego buying plates till you check the spring(s)...get the kit from Murph, 2 springs and the NEW NUT, you must replace the nut. If you are wise, also do not attempt to ride till you do this, or you WILL be needing plates. Most often just friction plates will be fine, but if you abuse it now you will neel the metal ones also, frictions will run about $90 in addition to the spring kit. I ALWAYS recommend using OEM friction plates, this insures a closer to factory stack, and if you start messing with stack height, you will be sorry. Soak the frictions in a bag with oil overnight before installing.
Thanks for the advice Rich. I have the star springs, nut, and clutch cover gasket. I'm going to take off the cover off this weekend to see what is causing the problem. If there is a broken star spring it might cause a problem for me since I don't have an impact gun. The clutch friction plates were going to be taken out and measured to see if they are within spec and the metal ones checked for warping. Do I really need to take out the clutch pack and measure freeplay like in the manual or do you think this can be done on the bike? Getting prices on the cost of an EBC, Barnett, and Ma K clutch plates. I will also talk to parts dept. to see if I order 1 of each of the THICKER friction plates from Ma K and need to return them if not needed they won't stick me with a restocking fee.
all of the times I have pulled the parts for replacements, i got away with a 30" long 1/2" drive breaker bar, with the bike in gear, and my wife sitting on the bike applying the rear brakes solidly. I do recommend grinding the end of the socket you use down, to remove all of the chamfered surfaces to give the best purchase on that thin nut. bench belt sander works well for that, giving a nice flat surface as yyou remove the 1/8" from the open end of the socket. Unless you really reafed on the clutch totally tpoasting the whole pack, you will likely get by with light scuffing of the steel plates, and simply use OEM frictions, this will preclude having to mess with the stack, if you start playing with new steel plates you will need to mic the stack, and that is a pain.
I wanted to get back to everyone and let them know how things turned out. 1) Magnetic drain plugs (Moose Racing) were installed a while ago and when removed for oil/filter change didn't have ANY metal on them. 2) Carefully removed clutch cover and didn't damage the gasket so it was reused. YEAAAH! 3) Looked at star spring assembley and didn't see any problem w/ the "fingers" breaking. Upon closer inspection it does look like one of the tangs that keep it from rotating did break off. I couldn't find the broken tab with a magnetic probe. If it is anywhere my best guess is that it is stuck in the oil pickup screen?? 4) Installed new star spring assembly. Will take a picture of broken assembly and add to forum. 1st thing I need to figure out is how to insert the picture. 5) Checked the metal plates for warping and all the plates were flat. The plates didn't show any signs of extreme slippage so I guess I got it in time. If you think the fiber plates are expensive check out the price of the metal plates! :gasp: 6) The winter snow on the roads has been clear for a couple of days so I went on a test ride the last 2 days. It has been really cold but didn't notice any slippage of the clutch of pulsing of the clutch lever. YEAHHH! Thanks to everyone for their help and suggestions with this problem. Have a Happy New Year! Daytona Bike Week is ~ 2 months away!