Clutch life?

[warp9.9]

I guess it is simple. I just wanted to know if there is a keyway on the lower clutch arm or whatever it is called. Is it adjustable?

There is a alignment mark on the lifter shaft. it should line up with the groove on the lifter shaft crank arm The arm and shaft have a spline machined on them.

Some of the older bikes also had a alignment mark on the arm also like below

 

[HowardRoark]

Have 70000 miles on my Red Rocket(not so much on my black one) I use it a lot when teaching the MSF-ARC Courses with no problem at all and yes it is all stock(clutch)

on the original?

 

[mully95]

I really don't think the clutch arm is adjustable. If it was it would be in the service manual. Actually there is a dot on the lifter shaft rod and a dot on the clutch arm that supposed to align up with each other. So that would tell me it's none adjustable. I'm guessing your clutch is toast if you have 2-3 free play and everything is hooked up properly.
I have tinkered with the clutch adjustment while changing out the levers for aftermarket levers. I found that the bike would lunge if I started up in neutral and the gears was hard to find. After adjusting to specs all the above went away. I then did some fine adjustment and it made the gear changing smooth. Cranking the bike up in neutral and taking notice on how far the lever is released before the bike starts moving while in gear had a input on adjusting the clutch to the sweet spot.
If it was bike I believe I would adjust everything via the service manual, try to fine tune it and if that didn't fix the slipping then I would service the clutch. Maybe go with MTC clutch products and stiffer springs.

 

[BigNorm]

I really don't think the clutch arm is adjustable. If it was it would be in the service manual. Actually there is a dot on the lifter shaft rod and a dot on the clutch arm that supposed to align up with each other. So that would tell me it's none adjustable. I'm guessing your clutch is toast if you have 2-3 free play and everything is hooked up properly.
I have tinkered with the clutch adjustment while changing out the levers for aftermarket levers. I found that the bike would lunge if I started up in neutral and the gears was hard to find. After adjusting to specs all the above went away. I then did some fine adjustment and it made the gear changing smooth. Cranking the bike up in neutral and taking notice on how far the lever is released before the bike starts moving while in gear had a input on adjusting the clutch to the sweet spot.
If it was bike I believe I would adjust everything via the service manual, try to fine tune it and if that didn't fix the slipping then I would service the clutch. Maybe go with MTC clutch products and stiffer springs.

Thanks. The dots line up so I guess that means stiffer springs are in order. I have used up all of my adjustment.

 

[mully95]

Thanks. The dots line up so I guess that means stiffer springs are in order. I have used up all of my adjustment.

Not to throw you to the lions but you said you was riding hard before all this happened.... was you drag racing or riding hard around curves, or whatever?

 

[warp9.9]

Norm I am not sure what has happened here but I would suspect you adjusted her wrong which took pressure of the clutch pack allowing it to slip and wear so bad that now with the clutch adjusted right she slips from the wear. Or you still have it adjusted wrong and she is pulling on the lifter piece relieving pressure on the fibers and slipping. I do not understand the statement I used all the adjustment up. How much free play is in the cable? I am thinking maybe you have none which could be off enough to make her slip. The free play is slop in the clutch linkage system so the lifter piece and lifter shaft are not running against each other. Maintaining the free play or any further adjustment to keep free play at the tolerance is do to fiber wear. This does happen over time but were talking a lot of time. Unless your burning her up at the drag strip. I would get the manual and check everything. including sheath length which is what the bottom nuts on the cable sheath are for besides just holding the cable end.

 

[EasTexRIII]

Just a small thread hijack here... Sorry Big Norm.. my 05 has about 37,000k on it. I bought it with 24,000k and it has had a small amount of slippage since I bought it. It does not slip at all while riding, or even when I take off, IF i don't turn a lot of throttle. But if I take off with a lot of throttle & let out clutch lever too quickly it will slip some. Not so much that I feel it, as much as I hear it. It's like if I wanted to launch fast as in drag from a dead stop, I'm not able to do that without gentle throttle with slightly gradual lever release & then i can get on it. more like a slow rolling start than from a dead stop. And yes, it is adjusted properly.
Anyone else get this from your Rocket???

 

[BigNorm]

I think I may have adjusted it backwards. I maxed it all the way down. The manual shows it the opposite to remove the cable which would be loosening it. My thinking was by moving the cable down it would release pressure on the lever on the case and thus take pressure off of the clutch. I can see if I adjust it back up it should give me some slack in the cable up top on the hand lever. But won't that pull the lower lever up as well? I know I've got to be over thinking this.

As far as my shinanigans, yes I did a drag race for the first time. My hole shot sucked and I lost but I beat the guy on all the roll ons we did. Yes it was a Harley. Yes he was impressed with the R3.

 

[EasTexRIII]

Norm, you have to screw the lever adjustment barrel screw in (turn to the right) to put more slack in the cable, which will allow the clutch to engage more. screwing out (left) on the adjuster puts more tension on the cable which would be needed if your shifting is hard to change gears

 

[BigNorm]

Just a small thread hijack here... Sorry Big Norm.. my 05 has about 37,000k on it. I bought it with 24,000k and it has had a small amount of slippage since I bought it. It does not slip at all while riding, or even when I take off, IF i don't turn a lot of throttle. But if I take off with a lot of throttle & let out clutch lever too quickly it will slip some. Not so much that I feel it, as much as I hear it. It's like if I wanted to launch fast as in drag from a dead stop, I'm not able to do that without gentle throttle with slightly gradual lever release & then i can get on it. more like a slow rolling start than from a dead stop. And yes, it is adjusted properly.
Anyone else get this from your Rocket???

No hijack at all it pertains to the subject at hand. It stung a little when Warp told me to read the book before I start f'n with stuff but I got over myself and realized he was right. I had a similar issue when I did my first burnout on my old bike. I was able to adjust the cable and keep on rolling but I learned my lesson. During my first bike drag race on the R3 I felt the front tire come off the ground and rear tire chirp. I need to knock it off but I am so overawed by my new power I want to show off. I don't think it will be cool if I lose my license so I need to knock this **** off. I however am considering bringing it to the track (also something I've never done) so it may be a good idea to upgrade the clutch soon anyway. But until then I hope I can figure this out.