GS850 owners - do you have a No.110 oil jet in clutch cover case?

[mikerophone]

Nothing in a google search or forum search yields anything on this...Recently pulled my burnt up clutch to find a toasted basket, primary driven gear and shredded/mostly missing #2 driven plate. Check post #14 in the link above for the pics, 81 850G with 50k miles, PO said he burned up the clutch going up a slippery, steep forest service road.

Mine doesn't have one, but I noticed that both the service manual downloaded from BassCliff's website and my Clymer manual that came with the bike refer specifically to the 81 and up 850's having an "No.110 oil jet" in the passage that leads down to the clutch release pinion:

Clymer:


Service Manual:


Yet the factory gasket (PO said he had the bike since new and never got into the clutch) has the hole blocked:


Scraping the gasket off reveals there is no oil jet below, nor is there a threaded hold for it:


Question is, should i try to source one and add it? Or just make sure at least my replacement gasket is open in that area to allow oil to trickle down the oil passage? I realize the jet will pressurize the oil by restricting it, but at least some oil down that passageway can't hurt, right? Thought from the pros - and does anyone have an 82 or newer 850 and have the jet or not?

Given that the #2 (second from the outside) driven plate was the one to fail, would extra oil have helped the clutch stay cooler and possibly help protect it from failure in the future?

[blowerbike]

news to me..
you have none...appears to have never had one.
don't create problems for yourself is what i say.

added:
the PO talked about a slick road...it wasn't the tire spinning...it was the clutch.
he just revved it and let it slip/smoke the clutch...not the sharpest knife if you know what i mean..

[mikerophone]

Thanks blowerbike, thought it seemed a little strange, I won't worry about it... I appreciate your quick help, once again.

Found a couple of other things "smoked" on this bike as well! Some wiring, and the stator seems to have gotten a little deep fried as well. Then again, it is 34 years old and likely original. I know he replaced the R/R though, wonder what else I will find.

[sinkankan]

Nothing on mine by memory, but my gasket has that hole. Does that oil channel lubricate the shifter shaft, because there's an oil feed out the main case lower down.

[Brendan W]

Had the same headscratching moment when opened mine up. Put it back as I found it. Initially thought PO may have removed it but there were no threads for a jet. Can't recall if the gasket had a hole or not.

[Steve]

I have an '80, but have never paid any attention to that little detail. Didn't even know the jet existed.
Had the clutch cover off a couple of months ago for polishing, but didn't know to look for the jet.

My wife has an '82, but the clutch cover has not been off the bike since it got polished about 8 years ago.

.

[JTGS850GL]

Looking at the part fiches it looks like the part was only applied to the GLX (1981 L) model. None of the 80 850's show it and by 1982 the part no longer shows up on either as well. Must have been an attempt to fix something that wasn't broken. Strange that they only used it on the L model since the engine should have been common between the G and the GL.

It's part number 13 in this picture:

[tom203]

image.jpgOn 650's, there's no jet but there is a downward inclined passage feeding clutch pivot with oil slung off clutch

[Brendan W]

Maybe they got worried about too much oil going that route or that the oil seal would blow off and then changed their minds when the decimal point got put back in the right place.

[Chris G]

My 86 GS850G definitely has the jet fitted, noticed it first time I removed the cover, also found it was partially blocked with a bit of crud.

[mikerophone]

It is interesting that they had the passage there all along but few of the bikes (or even gaskets) I've seen even have the jet or hole in the gasket. Can't imagine that much oil gets down there either way but maybe I'll cut the hole in the new gasket just to ease my OCD

[JTGS850GL]

My 86 GS850G definitely has the jet fitted, noticed it first time I removed the cover, also found it was partially blocked with a bit of crud.

The parts fiches I found only went to 1983 so I don't know beyond that.

[Grimly]

It is interesting that they had the passage there all along but few of the bikes (or even gaskets) I've seen even have the jet or hole in the gasket. Can't imagine that much oil gets down there either way but maybe I'll cut the hole in the new gasket just to ease my OCD

The 80-something engine that is currently apart has the hole, the gasket hole, but no jet. Come to think of it, iirc all of mine are the same.

[mikerophone]

Thinking I'll probably still carve a hole out if the gasket I order doesn't have one. It's hard to tell in most of the fiches.

It's probably not that big of a deal, but I can't help but wonder why Suzuki would design a passage, tell us about the 81 on bikes having the No. 110 jet, but the plug the hole with a gasket. Also haven't seen covers with threads machined. Like JTGS850GL stated, maybe it was attempt to fix something that wasn't broken. Or like Brendan mentions, perhaps it was concern about the seal.

[Grimly]

Now it's been brought to my attention, I think I'll punch that hole in gaskets that don't have it. Not entirely unknown for thousands of gaskets to be produced missing a hole or two, as many owners of various vehicles have found to their cost.