Replacing clutch plates, a pictorial

I couldn't remember if anyone else had put a pictorial together of clutch plate replacement, so here we go. (Copied from my flickr account)


1) Drain the oil before taking the side cover off.


2) Remove the side cover off the crankcase, remember to double-check that you've removed all bolts before trying to persuade the side cover off.


3) Remove the clutch spring bolts


4) Remove the clutch pressure disk, exposing the clutch pack.


5) Remove the driving & driven plates from the clutch. This can get fiddly, especially if your clutch (like this one) has a metal band partly around the outside to assist with ridigity.


6) With the plates removed you can see the wear marks on the outer clutch housing. The wear marks on this clutch housing are still mild enough that they aren't going to interfere with the clutch release. You'll also note that you can see some spring wear marks on the clutch spring posts. This is quite likely possibly related to spring fatigue. The marks aren't too bad, so i made do with the existing drive plate.


7) The existing fibre plates are within spec but I replaced them anyway. Some of the metal plates have some noticeable scoring, and a couple have some bluing as well.


Remember that there are different clutch plates, both fibrous and metal. Refer to your motorcycle service manual for specifics relating to yours.


9) Metal plates can sometimes get bluing due to high slippage or potentially the plates drying out due to lack of use and then the bike getting a flogging.


10) There are different thickness metal plates and they need to be put into the clutch pack in a specific order. The same goes for the fibre plates. There are 2 of these 1.9-2.0mm plates in the stack.


11) There are different thickness metal plates and they need to be put into the clutch pack in a specific order. The same goes for the fibre plates. There are 7 of these 1.5-1.6mm plates in the stack.


12) The old fibre plates are still within spec at 2.9mm, the service limit for these is 2.5mm


13) Soak the new clutch plates in clean engine oil for a minimum of 2 hours before assembling them.


14) Remove the plates from the oil and let it drain before reassembly.


15) Plates start out at 3.1mm thick prior to use.


16) Remove any plate bluing with at least 600 sandpaper, i used 800 wet & dry paper & gave them a good clean afterwards..


17) When you replace the plates for god sake don't skimp and re-use the old springs.


18) Measuring the old & new clutch springs confirms if the old springs are still within spec. I would still replace them anyway as a new set of springs only adds about $20 to the cost. These are the old springs and due to fatigue are 2mm shorter than the new ones.


19) Measuring the old & new clutch springs confirms if the old springs are still within spec. I would still replace them anyway as a new set of springs only adds about $20 to the cost. These are the new springs and 2mm longer than the old ones.


20) The old & new springs side by side shows the difference that fatigue can make.


21) Clutch pack reassembled & back on the bike.

There are some little bits & peices like clutch plate arrangement, but things like that need to be addressed on a per-bike basis like i mentioned above.

n.b. If anyone is wondering why i have the gloves on Simply put, used engine oil has been found to be a carcinogen, also tidyup is a bit easier if you wear gloves as much as possible. And yes i know nitrile gloves last longer, but i have a 100 pack of latex gloves in the garage and have been working my way through them for the past year or so.

Last edited by mike-s on Fri Mar 11, 2011 9:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Forgot to mention i got the parts off Martin@Aussieparts, fantastic guy, very helpfull & accomodating. Would happily recommend him to others on here for brake/clutch kits due to the above, and also he keeps a large variety of gear in stock, so less wait-time for parts to be sent out.

Nice writeup. I like to scratch my metal plates up on the concrete in a figure 8 pattern before putting them in. It's cheaper than sandpaper.

Thanks, i also had a small peice of w&d floating about doing nothing, so i happily used that. Have heard about the concrete thing as well. Another reason not to scratch up on the concrete was that I started doing this work at about 11:30 at night, and came inside after doing this and a couple other things at about 2:30am this morning. Less noise = happier neighbours, especially in a unit complex.

Once again very informative fun to look at , thanks mate.

Nicely pictured and written tutorial.