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Best clutch mods for GS1100E

crag antler

crag antler

Forum Mentor
Past Site Supporter
Charter Member
Well, since winter is here. :x I have decided to look into my clutch rattle.
Seems to be the "normal" :evil: rattle at idle that the 1100's have.
I spoke to an old trusted mechanic in Fla. and he recommended sending the clutch out to be welded?
I know Vance and Hines in California, Star Racing in Georgia and Falicon in Florida do this type of work.
My question is for a stock bike, with only slight :twisted: mod's :twisted: planned in the next year or so, what and how much do I get done?
I also plan on new springs,plates and all, what would be a fair estimate on the total bill ?
I have read about straight cut gears over the stock helical-cut. Would it be a good idea to do this work also?
Thanks :!:
 
APE (www.aperaceparts.com) sells heavy duty clutch basket assemblies for $200 plus a good basket/gear assembly from you, that's the welded clutch you referred to. If nothing else get their catalog, it's full of gofast goodies.
A clutch kit with plates and springs is about $100. It's also a good idea to replace the hub nut, that's $13, add $10 for a gasket and that should do it.
I'll presume you're providing the labor.
Straight cut gears refer to replacing the gears on both the clutch hub and crankshaft and that means removing the crank. It's usually done on big HP engines only.

bill
 
billp said:
APE (www.aperaceparts.com) sells heavy duty clutch basket assemblies for $200 plus a good basket/gear assembly from you, that's the welded clutch you referred to. If nothing else get their catalog, it's full of gofast goodies.
A clutch kit with plates and springs is about $100. It's also a good idea to replace the hub nut, that's $13, add $10 for a gasket and that should do it.
I'll presume you're providing the labor.
Straight cut gears refer to replacing the gears on both the clutch hub and crankshaft and that means removing the crank. It's usually done on big HP engines only.

bill
Click to expand...

Do they replace the basket for the $200 or use your existing basket and replace and weld the rivets, and springs, ect..?
Seems to me the basket is the thing that's going to show wear first or fail first.
 
Do they replace the basket for the $200 or use your existing basket and replace and weld the rivets, and springs, ect..?
Seems to me the basket is the thing that's going to show wear first or fail first.

They just replace the back plate, springs and rivets. They'll only perform this mod on GS1100/1150 and KZ1000 baskets. To quote them, "All other models have baskets too weak for any kind of high performance use. See billet assemblies below."
$360 will get you your gear on their billet hub with their kit.

bill
 
Thanks. Thought you'd found a great deal. I'd talked to another shop. Star I think and they wanted @350 for a basket replacement and the machine/welding work.
 
There are several levels of upgrade available for your clutch basket (includes all GS1000, 1100 and 1150) depending upon your intended usage. But only 2 modes of failure that I'm aware of. Failure Mode 1: lateral forces applied to the clutch hub gear due to its helical design. This is the most common failure and the rattle experienced at idle by MANY GSs indicates wear as a result of looseness here. Ultimately this is corrected with the straight cut gear conversion but only in very high load cases is this really necessary. High loads are generated by increases in HP and increases in traction at the same time; a 200hp engine that smokes the stock tire at will won't load the clutch nearly as hard as if a slick were installed. Failure Mode 2: indentations in the clutch hub "fingers" where the plates tranfer the power. This can be a factor of mileage or a result of the thinner contact surface resulting from the hi-performance extra plate kits (thinner plates allow room for more of them and the resultant increase in clutch plate contact area).

The pieces to consider replacing are the clutch hub, the backing plate, the six clutch hub springs (not to be confused with the six pressure plate springs) and the three rivets. The clutch hub fails due to Failure Mode 2. The remaining components fail due to Failure Mode 1. Note that either failure can damage all of these parts, plus more, before it all comes to a halt. Very chaotic.

So, what do I need? Below are my thoughts, based on personal experience and that of others. Prices are ballpark only; don't get cheap on this! Insert appropriate legal disclaimer here, blah, blah, blah, etc.......

Levels of reinforcment:

Level 1: Install six stiff clutch hub springs (stock has 3 soft and 3 stiff), three HD rivets and weld rivets to the stock backing plate (approximately 1/16" thick). Parts are about $25 and labor is $75. Corrects rattling and works for most street bikes (no nitrous or turbo, street tire, no wheelie bars, no drag racing). Note: Balancing can not be successfully argued against in any of these applications, but most of mine weren't and I never noticed the lack of it.

Level 2: Install six stiff clutch hub springs, six HD rivets and weld rivets to a HD backing plate (approximately 1/8" thick). Parts are about $100 and labor is $75. Works for most street and strip bikes ( low levels of nitrous, 18" slick or all street tires, wheelie bars, regular drag racing in high 9 second elapsed times). Recognize that racing applications warrant regular inspections for wear and fatigue.

Level 3: Install six stiff clutch hub springs, six HD rivets and weld rivets to a HD backing plate (approximately 1/8" thick) plus include the billet clutch basket. Parts are about $300 and labor is $75. Works for most strip bikes (turbo and nitrous, 15" slick (with alot of inspections), 18" slick or all street tires, wheelie bars, regular drag racing in high 8 second elapsed times).

Level 4: Install six stiff clutch hub springs, six HD rivets and weld rivets to a HD backing plate (approximately 1/8" thick) plus include the billet clutch basket and straight cut gears. Parts and labor are about $600+. Also the crankshaft must be removed (complete engine teardown) and mating gear installed on it. Additionally you must also account for your oil pump gear, final drive gearing and lockup clutch setings. It doesn't get any beefier than this. As much HP, nitrous and boost as your wallet can support.

Once this is done, you can select the plates and clutch pressure plate springs you want and reassemble. Some folks add lockups as well for high HP or continuous high speed use.

These Suzukis are great bikes with only 2 flaws when it comes to performance. A weak clutch hub (see above) and a crankshaft that twists (weld it). Kawasakis share the crank problems but trade weak transmissions for the clutch hubs. I've always preferred the Suzukis.

APE, Falicon, Star Racing and many others can provide this service. I have had nothing but good experiences in my dealings with Jay Regan of MRE.

These are my learnings. Let me know yours. And have fun.
 
Say Bill I was wondering what slight mods you are planning. Maybe you will be throwing your money away by using a HD basket.
 
Slopoke,

Quite right that the HD basket is unnecessary, I was just throwing out options.
I had the HD kit put in my stock basket and that's good enough for me.

Bill
 
Does anybody know of a Canadian shop that strengthens clutch baskets? I just picked up my 1100 and it is making a good amount of noise at idle. :x I'll pull it apart tomorrow and decide whether I need a basket too but I doubt it will need one at 77 000km. On the plus side I had the bike up to 160km/h within the first kilometer of ownership :) :) :)

Merry Christmas, Steve
 
I agree with the level 1 etc comments above. I had the equivalent of level 1 done years ago, perfectly ok for a street bike unless you plan on hammering it a lot. One the rivets and hub springs go you know about it!!
There is still some "normal" cluth rattle noise, but this is due to old age
 
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