Clutch

October 31, 2012

The clutch was not working at all so I decided to check it out.

Had to take off the carb, and the side cover to reveal the clutch.  All the clutch pates were stuck together which according to my research is something that happens when the bike sits for a long time.  I took the clutch completely off and took some time to take the friction plates and metal plates off and separate them.

I went ahead and ordered new clutch friction plates from my local Kawasaki dealer, this is a part that is still being made so it was not as expensive as I expected.

Im picking up the clutch plates today after work and then hopefully i can get it all back together.  While I'm at it, I can replace the clutch cover gasket that was included in the gasket kit I ordered a while ago.

I bought an impact screwdriver from harbor freight that REALLY helped remove the Phillips head screws that hold the side case to the engine.  I was a great tool, just hold it and hit it with a hammer and it does all the work without stripping any heads.

November 1, 2012

I ordered 4 new clutch plates yesterday from the Kawasaki dealer by my work, so today on my lunch break I dropped by to pick them up.  I took some oil with me so I could get the plates soaking for at least a few hours before I got home.

I soaked the plates in SAE 30 motor oil which is what the Riders Handbook recommends, and a 1 gallon jug of water was perfect for this.

After work I went home and put the clutch back in with the new plates and started scraping the old gasket off the mounting surfaces, this took much longer than I thought, eventually it got dark and I could not finish putting everything back on.

Unfortunately, I lost my gasket kit that had the clutch/engine cover gasket in it. I was so angry about losing it I actually woke up in the middle of the night thinking about it. haha.

I think I will just end up making an RTV gasket instead of ordering one for $15 and having to wait a week to get it.