Pulled my clutch out this morning

[s.ga.rider]

The 2014 started off perfect but at 6000 miles she started shifting rough so after having the same problem with my 07 I pulled the plates out.

The first 2 plates came out stuck to the front cover plate.

Atleast half the friction plates looked like this. Completely dry and a few already had some of the black sludge build up.

I pulled them all out except for the last 2 behind the ring since I didnt want to fight with it. I dipped them all in rotella and put them in the same order as they came out. Took about an hour then washed and waxed her. No test ride yet but have a 2 hour trip planned tomorrow. You think they would have this figured out on the gen3s by now...

 

[08FJR4ME]

Since the Gen4 will be a 1500 CC and a whole new design I believe Yamaha will wait on fixing Gen2 & Gen3 clutches.

Dave

 

[El Toro Joe]

At just over 100k miles on my 06, I've never experienced this issue.

 

[gixxerjasen]

Last 2 behind the ring?

 

[garyahouse]

I've often wondered why Yammie didn't design the engine to direct just a little bit more oil to the clutch plates. We fuss and fume over putting the wrong oil in these engines because it might cause the clutch to slip. Ha... that's funny. Ya gotta actually get oil ON the clutch plates for that to happen...

Gary

darksider #44

 

[Mr. BR]

It does seem strange that many find their clutches rather dry upon disassembly. The spinning crankshaft is literally an inch away spewing oil but at a low volume admittedly. Looking at the oil system schematic in my oh-fishal Yamaha shop manual, the transmission main-shaft is fed oil pressure and it has several holes to feed the transmission gears, the last one (closest to the clutch) feeding the large needle bearing for the clutch basket. I would think some of that oil pressure would squeeze through along the clutch actuation rod to the inside of the clutch for the benefit of the clutch plates.. perhaps it does but the volume is very low.

Regards,

Mr. BR

 

[SouthernCruizer]

uninstall your side stand, put it on the right side of the bike so that when it's parked the oil will drain in the direction of the clutch..EZ peazy.

ekoj.

 

[mcatrophy]

Last 2 behind the ring?

Held in by a wire spring, not too easy to get out without damage (so I'm led to understand - my YCC-S variant doesn't have the wire spring).

(click on image for larger view)

 

[gixxerjasen]

Last 2 behind the ring?

Held in by a wire spring, not too easy to get out without damage (so I'm led to understand - my YCC-S variant doesn't have the wire spring).

Not in the YCC-S? Aha, hence my confusion.

 

[s.ga.rider]

I must say after a few hours in the saddle the shift was the best I remember it being.Hopefully it will last but if not its less than an hours work the second time. haha

 

[garyahouse]

uninstall your side stand, put it on the right side of the bike so that when it's parked the oil will drain in the direction of the clutch..EZ peazy.
ekoj.

Cruiz, you hit it. Amazing idea. Wondering when was the last time a manufacturer made a right side... side stand???

 

[gixxerjasen]

Did KTM put a right side kick stand on the LC4 bikes? Oh wait, never mind, didn't matter, the bolt would break anyway rendering the bike kickstandless.

 

[Queensland Ken]

I thought the old Honda agriculture bikes had both left & right side stands ???

 

[NHredliner]

My 07 is having shifting issues as well. Bought it last fall from the original owner with 5k on the clock. Just turned 20k. Our riding season in this part of the world is winding down. I leave the mechanical work to the pros, but do my own oil changes and just did the final drive with the last change ( easy enough for me ). Is this really only an hours worth of labor or just put the side stand on the right side and problem solved? Sorry to even ask, but I am not very mechanical, but boy do I love to ride this bike and have already been looking at 2014 & 2015's. My main shifting problem is going into first and often I hit N when upshifting but often other shifts are noisy. It will shift but sometimes I wonder. Even felt the shifter whacking my foot a few times when it was grinding while trying to engage. The clutch issues I had on BMW's were so bad ($1500 - over $2000 to repair & 12+ hours of labor ) that after the 3rd time I gave up on BMW and bought the FJR. Love this bike but hope I don't run into major repairs with this one too. Thanks for the info and I am pretty much reading everything here on the forum.

 

[gixxerjasen]

Clutch is easier than you'd think. Off with the cover, keep track of which bolts go where, I draw a diagram on cardboard then stick the bolts in the cardboard where they came off the bike. Off with the bolts on the pressure plate. Take the plates out and keep em in order with zip ties or something. Get them all oily, then reassemble with a new gasket. So easy even a six year old can do it.

And yea, he pretty much did everything. I pointed and he did the work. I made sure the bolts were torqued properly but he did all of the work on an actual full clutch plate replacement.

Mcatrophy has a good post on how to do it that I followed when I first got my 2007 that you should look up. Perfect for one of those mid winter in NH jobs. You might even buy some beer and entice some fellow locals to come stand over your shoulder and tell you what you are doing wrong.

Here's my thread on the stuff I did when I got my bike including the clutch soak.

https://www.fjrforum.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=145160

 

[s.ga.rider]

I dont bother with keeping bolts in order but take the cover off, the few bolts under the cover and take the plates out. I marked them with a carpenters pencil so I could put them back in the same. Just be sure to stuff a rag in the hole in case you drop something and the 2 pins in the cover/block. Fairly simple job though.

 

[NMRoadRunner]

This common problem lies in the assembly grease they used, it would "stick" the plates together. But everybody with this problem would dis-assemble the clutch, clean, soak in oil, re-assemble. Which is fun and easy to do, but time consuming. Me, I did a bunch of "drag bike starts" burned the sticky stuff off the plates, changed the oil and it's been perfect since. And the "jack ***" mechanic I delt with at the dealership I bought the bike from back in 07, who tried to tell me I didn't understand how a hydraulic clutch worked, still hates me for the *** chewing he took, punk *** kid anyway. Go out and take care of business "drag bike style" and quit wasting your time.

 

[gixxerjasen]

Just be sure to stuff a rag in the hole in case you drop something

Oh yea, and this!!!

 

[roger dodger]

If you haven't done the clutch soak yet, try this....

I told my son (new to my '03 FJR) to pre-pressure the shifter BEFORE you touch the clutch.

Then just touch the clutch lever and the shifter simultaneously.... SNICK.... smoooooth!