Blew A Spring!!

[shlickster]

Not sure if anyone can help or not but thought I'd give it a shot. My '83 GS was having trouble shifting; just seemed like the shifter was catching on something. A buddy told me it was my clutch and that I should set it up. I took off the clutch cover and in the bottom found a spring broken in 1/2. I am very new to bikes and cannot for the life of me see where this thing came from. It is roughly 1/2-5/8" Diameter. 3/4-1" long and the wire is about 3/16 diameter. Any ideas for a not so bike smart guy?

 

[Nessism]

Post a photo. It's best to upload the photo at someplace like Photobucket.com and then link the

 

[Steve]

Looks like one of the springs on the clutch hub.

Time for a new or rebuilt hub.

.

 

[shlickster]

Is it possible that a spring can fall into the bottom of the case from the hub?

 

[blowerbike]

oh hell stock clutch baskets are fine unless your a racer.......
are you a racer?

 

[shlickster]

ME?! No racer thats for sure. Whats a basket gonna set me back? Can I not just replace the springs? Maybe this thing is better going for parts....

 

[blowerbike]

if your not a racer than your basket should not have broken...
rumor has those stats around here anyways.

ive poked my pokes about only racers need heavy duty clutch baskets.

whats your year/make/model?
80-83 1100 chain drive maybe?

 

[rapidray]

Time to send your clutch hub out & have it built! That is DEFINITELY out of the back of the clutch hub. APE, Pearson Racing, & Carolina Cycle are a few that will do it. If you need phone numbers, call me at 714-356-7845. I have a NICE hub I just pulled out of a motor but it needs the HD mod done to it too. No broken springs & MINIMAL grooving! Look at the insides of your hub where the plate tangs hit it & see if it is all grooved up. Ray.

 

[shlickster]

I will have to check tomorrow and see what shape the hub is in. What is a rebuild going to set me back? There is a complete on eBay for $100. Maybe I am going to end up with what I have all over again.
The bike is a 1983 GS1100GLD shaft drive. 66000km on it.

 

[blowerbike]

80-83 1100 chain drive baskets will fit.
also 1000 shafty baskets will fit.
i get 50-100 for good stock baskets...
i had to add that.

 

[rapidray]

If that is out of a SHAFT drive bike, I would be looking at the rear axle splines REALLY close also! Ray.

 

[shlickster]

Rear splines look OK I would say....will have a closer look tomorrow. You mean the ones on the "pumpkin" or the shaft itself?

 

[Steve]

Rear splines look OK I would say....will have a closer look tomorrow. You mean the ones on the "pumpkin" or the shaft itself?

The splines involved are not the ones on the driveshaft, they are the ones between the "pumpkin" and the wheel. The ones in question are the ones on the wheel itself. Do a search on "splines", you will see that you can't just look at the splines, you need to remove them from the wheel and inspect the side you can't see. There might even be a page on BassCliff's site showing how to check them.

.

 

[Nessism]

if your not a racer than your basket should not have broken...
rumor has those stats around here anyways.

Since this comment is clearly aimed at me I'll bite...:twistedevil:

This is the first time in the four years I've been hanging out here that I've seen a shaft drive bike spit out a clutch hub part; lots of secondary reduction gears and rear spline failures, but clutch hub failures are rare.

Even on chain drive 1100's, which tend to get ridden hard, clutch hub failures like this are rare. Yes, they do happen, but most of the time it's some guy drag racing or generally running the bike hard on a regular basis.

Rebulding a clutch hub with a HD back plate kit is a good idea of course but expensive. Last time I checked the kit itself is about $175 shipped and then you need to install it (if you can) or pay someone to do it (how much for that?).

Guess it comes down to how much money you have and what you feel the risk is. Again, these kind of failures are relatively rare, particularly on the shaft drive bikes, so it's the buyers decision. My opinion is that stock is low risk on bikes that are not ridden aggressively on the regular basis.

BTW, I have a HD clutch kit for a GS1000 and it looks like a rear bear to install. Going to have a go some day but not today.ray:

 

[shlickster]

So we know my hub is hooped; is this likely the problem with my gearshifter feeling like it is binding or sticking?

 

[Nessism]

So we know my hub is hooped; is this likely the problem with my gearshifter feeling like it is binding or sticking?

Could be the spring was getting into the shift drum mechanism, a portion of which is behind the clutch hub.

 

[Guest]

I am going to take a swing at this... If one of your springs are in the shape your picture shows, the pressure to release is not equal. That is the reason you are having shifting problems. Listen to the guys before me... if you are not racing, fix it stock... Ray knows absolute tons about these bikes. And he always(and rightfully so) thinks a bike is going to get beat on... He always overbuilds so nothing breaks... Dragracers Mantra...
Curt

 

[Nessism]

I am going to take a swing at this... If one of your springs are in the shape your picture shows, the pressure to release is not equal. That is the reason you are having shifting problems. Listen to the guys before me... if you are not racing, fix it stock... Ray knows absolute tons about these bikes. And he always(and rightfully so) thinks a bike is going to get beat on... He always overbuilds so nothing breaks... Dragracers Mantra...
Curt

That is not a pressure plate spring, it's on the back side of the clutch hub and provides some cushion effect to smooth out the power flow though the drivetrain.

The shift drum mechanism is on the engine behind the clutch hub. A chunk of that spring was most likely fouling, or has damaged, the shift mechanism thus the reason for the poor shifting.

It's always best to react to issues like this when the first symptom shows up. Not saying shlickster didn't, but this is just a reminder to not put up with problems since the underlying cause could be quite serious.

 

[shlickster]

Anyone know where i can get the parts to rebuild the hub? Or how much they cost? We carry Suzuki where I work and they show that there may be one hub left in stock. I might be better off just buying a new one if it is indeed there.

 

[BassCliff]

Greetings and Salutations!!

Greetings and Salutations!!

Hi Mr. schlickster,

It's unfortunate that we meet under such circumstances. But let me welcome you to the forum with a TON of information. The following two links lead to hundreds of other links, articles, guides, manuals, tips, vendors, other resources, and just a lot of GS lovin' in general. Let's get started.

Anyway, I just stopped by to welcome you to the forum in my own, special way.

If there's anything you'd like to know about the Suzuki GS model bikes, and most others actually, you've come to the right place. There's a lot of knowledge and experience here in the community. Come on in and let me say "HOoooowwwDY!"....

Here is your very own magical, mystical, mythical, mind-expanding "mega-welcome". Please take notice of the "Top 10 Common Issues", the Carb Rebuild Series, and the Stator Papers. Now let me roll out the welcome mat for you...

Please click here for your mega-welcome, chock full of tips, suggestions, links to vendors, and other information. Then feel free to visit my little BikeCliff website where I've been collecting the wisdom of this generous community. Don't forget, we like pictures! Not you, your bike!

Thanks for joining us. Keep us informed.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff