My Rattling GS 1000 Clutch Basket.

[Anonymous]

My 1978 GS 1000 had the noisiest clutch basket in the world. Until today.
I had the fine people at a machine shop replace the old tired clutch basket shock springs and had the rivets replaced.
Wow what a difference.

Roman

[Anonymous]

Did they think that kind of job was a big deal? I need this done before I will start riding my 1100 and I can't afford to replace the basket. Were they able to get the springs or did you have them?

Thanks, Steve

[Anonymous]

Hi Steve.

Sorry that it took me so long to reply. I was doing all that Easter family fun stuff.

The clutch basket was a breeze for them to fix. I took it into Leitner and Bush Performance Engineering two days later I gave them $180.00 and it was done. I believe that they actually made up the necessary springs and rivets. Their phone number is 905-731-7026 and their address is
93 Green Lane, Thornhill, ON L3T 6K6. North of Steeles and East of Bayview Ave.

Roman.

[terry]

Hey Steve, don't be too concerned about that clutch rattle, it's common in all old GS bikes with a few miles up, I had the one on my '79 GS1000S "reconditioned" and it's nice and quiet, but the engineer who fixed it told me that there's no chance of the old one "letting go", so really if you can put up with the noise, (winding the idle screw up to about 1100 RPM should just about get rid of the noise) the bike won't let you down.

The clutch on my "hopped up" '81 ST has always rattled like a bastard, but after many hard launches (chasing modern "pocket rockets") and 120 mph (plus) runs, it's no more annoying than it was when I bought the bike stock 5 years ago. Take that bike for a ride mate and stop worrying! (of course if it explodes I'll be as surprised as everyone else........):twisted:

[Anonymous]

That's good news Terry,
I've heard of so many of them breaking apart that I didn't want to risk going out for the odd grocery run. Maybe I'll just let it go until I have the crank welded and go for straight cuts...not to mention the big bore kit and lumpy cams.

Steve

[Anonymous]

Hey Steve, don't be too concerned about that clutch rattle, it's common in all old GS bikes with a few miles up, I had the one on my '79 GS1000S "reconditioned" and it's nice and quiet, but the engineer who fixed it told me that there's no chance of the old one "letting go", so really if you can put up with the noise, (winding the idle screw up to about 1100 RPM should just about get rid of the noise) the bike won't let you down.

The clutch on my "hopped up" '81 ST has always rattled like a bastard, but after many hard launches (chasing modern "pocket rockets") and 120 mph (plus) runs, it's no more annoying than it was when I bought the bike stock 5 years ago. Take that bike for a ride mate and stop worrying! (of course if it explodes I'll be as surprised as everyone else........):twisted:

It certainly is nice to have a quiet clutch again. In my case the work was necessary. The clutch basket is riveted to the drive gear, the holes in which the rivets go through have been getting larger which means the drive gear and the clutch basket no longer had a solid connection. There seemed to be more play this year when compared to last year (any amount of play is a bad thing). I know that these rivet connections in my particular bike (78 GS 1000) has had a history of being weak and this has been a concern for me. Eventually this connection would separate causing havoc in my old motor. For the cost of $180.00 I could ride peacefully. The quiet clutch basket is just an added bonus. My suggestion is that you verify if there is any amount of play between the clutch basket and drive gear connection.The machinist who did the work told me that he was surprised that mine was in such good shape. Quite often the clutch basket or drive gear is cracked.

Roman

[skip]

Hey Steve, don't be too concerned about that clutch rattle, it's common in all old GS bikes with a few miles up, I had the one on my '79 GS1000S "reconditioned" and it's nice and quiet, but the engineer who fixed it told me that there's no chance of the old one "letting go", so really if you can put up with the noise, (winding the idle screw up to about 1100 RPM should just about get rid of the noise) the bike won't let you down.

The clutch on my "hopped up" '81 ST has always rattled like a bastard, but after many hard launches (chasing modern "pocket rockets") and 120 mph (plus) runs, it's no more annoying than it was when I bought the bike stock 5 years ago. Take that bike for a ride mate and stop worrying! (of course if it explodes I'll be as surprised as everyone else........):twisted:

I disagree totaly, the most common faliure of the 1100 and 1150 at the dragstrip is the clutch basket! I have seen personally at least five let go and three of them took outt the motor with them. If the basket comes apart at high rpm you will regret not getting it strengthed, Pay a little now( $200) or pay alot later!