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Clutch Plates for 1977 GS750

  • Thread starter Thread starter ThunderBaird
  • Start date Start date
T

ThunderBaird

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Hey guys,

My clutch has been slipping and the play has been reduced to about a half and inch of the clutch lever action- it's time for a clutch makeover. However, I haven't been able to find a clutch kit for my bike.. I'd rather replace the whole set of clutch plates, but I've really only been able to find OEM friction plates. Would it be alright to just do new friction plates and polish my steel plates, or are new steels just as necessary? If so, does anybody know where I can find a set of both friction and steel plates? Not necessary to be OEM, they just need to fit and work. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks
 
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Did you inspect the friction plates yet? You may just need to replace the springs, if you do replace the friction plates, you should replace the springs with an oem set anyway.
 
old_skool said:
Did you inspect the friction plates yet? You may just need to replace the springs, if you do replace the friction plates, you should replace the springs with an oem set anyway.
Click to expand...

I haven't opened up the side cover yet to check out the situation, but I'll do it this weekend. I should say that I don't know if this bike has ever had a new clutch... I've been riding it for about 3 weeks and it's been giving me the typical worn clutch signs. I suppose I'll just do the friction plates and springs. Thanks for the input.
 
Here's the deal, every clutch spring has sat compressed for thirty some years, it will not provide the pressure that the clutch requires. Unless the bike has 100,000 or so miles of city driving or a lot of drag race starts, the plates are not going to be worn much, if at all. 20,000 miles and thirty years of sitting will not wear out the plates.

Springs will usually be enough, and stock springs are all you need.

Of course if the PO rode along with his fingers flopped over the clutch lever, they could be ruined in a few hundred miles, so your results may vary.
 
I have at least 2 or 3 sets of GOOD 750 fibers if you are interested. All you would need to add to them would be 3 EBC or Barnett springs to stagger with 3 of your stock springs. Ray.
 
I have a 750 that was drag raced, abused and wheelied at 100+. The PO even used the bike to tow his roller car projects around the lot!

And my clutch discs are still alive...plenty of meat left on them.
 
As a counterpoint, I just went through and replaced the springs on my 20k mile 1979 750 and while they were definitely compressed, I still have a slipping clutch. I even hit the plates with scotch-brite because they seemed a little more polished than I would have liked. The fibers looked fine to me, but I guess they aren't. Best check is to measure everything with a micrometer, because it's hard to know how the PO rode the bike.
 
tkent02 said:
Here's the deal, every clutch spring has sat compressed for thirty some years, it will not provide the pressure that the clutch requires. Unless the bike has 100,000 or so miles of city driving or a lot of drag race starts, the plates are not going to be worn much, if at all. 20,000 miles and thirty years of sitting will not wear out the plates.

Springs will usually be enough, and stock springs are all you need.

Of course if the PO rode along with his fingers flopped over the clutch lever, they could be ruined in a few hundred miles, so your results may vary.
Click to expand...

That makes sense, thanks! And by plates, you're referring to just the metal plates or the fiber plates as well? I've never seen/held a fiber plate so I don't really have a good idea as to how resistant it is. (When I think fiber I think felt or something like that.) I'm not sure how many actual miles the bike has on it.. I'm pretty sure that the gauges have been replaced and it wasn't noted on the title :|
 
gearheadE30 said:
As a counterpoint, I just went through and replaced the springs on my 20k mile 1979 750 and while they were definitely compressed, I still have a slipping clutch. I even hit the plates with scotch-brite because they seemed a little more polished than I would have liked. The fibers looked fine to me, but I guess they aren't. Best check is to measure everything with a micrometer, because it's hard to know how the PO rode the bike.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm sort of in a weird situation where I don't have a garage or a lot of space to keep parts around, so I'm definitely more interested in a one-and-done solution. I'd almost rather change the fibers out as well as the springs on the first try so I don't have to waste the oil and gasket opening up the clutch cover for another fix. Thanks!
 
A few points:

1) Inspect and adjust your clutch cable and lever. You mentioned "play has been reduced to about a half and inch of the clutch lever action" -- I'm not sure what that means exactly, but it sounds like things feel different than they should at the clutch lever. The procedure is in the manual (available on Basscliff's site if you don't have one) if it doesn't seem obvious to you.

2) What everyone is trying to tell you is that the clutches very rarely actually wear out in these things. Odds are very good that you only need springs and not new fibers.

However, if the plates have been contaminated with improper "energy saving" oil or with oil additives, you may need to replace them. The aftermarket clutch kits contain new "fibers". The steel plates are only available OEM, but are very rarely needed unless the clutch has been very severely abused.

3) Put the bike on the kickstand, and you can remove the clutch cover without losing any oil at all. Once you've replaced the 35 year old gasket, you can safely remove and replace the clutch cover several times using the same gasket. So it's no big deal to go in again if you discover that new springs don't do the trick.
 
bwringer said:
3) Put the bike on the kickstand, and you can remove the clutch cover without losing any oil at all. Once you've replaced the 35 year old gasket, you can safely remove and replace the clutch cover several times using the same gasket. So it's no big deal to go in again if you discover that new springs don't do the trick.
Click to expand...

Thanks for all of your advice, I didn't know that about the kickstand bit. I ordered new springs (and bolts and washers and gasket) yesterday, I'll wait on the fibers and see if these are the only things I needed.
 
If you ordered oem springs from a Zuki dealer, install all of them, if you ordered aftermarket, install only 3 staggered every other one as the aftermarket ones tend to be way too strong, you'll see by the size as they tend to be longer with larger coils.
 
old_skool said:
If you ordered oem springs from a Zuki dealer, install all of them, if you ordered aftermarket, install only 3 staggered every other one as the aftermarket ones tend to be way too strong, you'll see by the size as they tend to be longer with larger coils.
Click to expand...

Okay cool, thanks. I ordered OEM springs, bolts, and washers from BikeBandit so I think all six?
 
Should be, but you will visually be able to see the difference if they aren't. Also, I can vouch for not losing any oil when you take the cover off with the bike on the sidestand. That's how I did it and I didn't spill a drop. Also, don't overtorque the six spring retaining bolts. They strip out pretty easily.
 
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