- Do you wanna know how to get the most performance out
of clutch for your motorcycle or your ATV?
Well, I am Chase at Rocky Mountain ATV MC
and these are my top five maintenance tips
for your motorcycle or your ATV's clutch.
So, the clutch on your motorcycle
or your ATV, it's simple right?
You pull it in when you wanna stop or shift gears.
You let it out when you wanna get power
to the ground and you wanna go forward.
Well, I wish it was that easy.
The truth is the clutch is one
of the hardest working components on your motorcycle,
it takes all of the power from the engine
and it gets it to your transmission and to the rear wheel.
So, you don't need me to tell ya
that it's very, very important
to keep this thing in tiptop shape.
Now, even a well maintained clutch over time
is gonna lose some of its performance
and that's why it's really important
you wanna be doing your regular maintenance.
So, without further ado these are top five tips to keep
your clutch for your motorcycle or ATV in tiptop shape.
So for my first tip, this is gonna be a long one
but it's gonna be the most important in my top five
and it is having enough free play in your clutch lever.
So, what it is free play?
Well, free play is the amount of movement that you have
in your clutch lever and your cable before you actually
start to compress your springs and disengage your clutch.
So why do you need free play?
Well, when your clutch's lever is all the way out
and your clutch is engaged, it's getting all
that power to the rear wheel.
What is happening is your clutch springs
are putting pressure on your pressure plate
which is squeezing your friction and your drive plates
together which is getting that power to the ground.
When you pull your clutch in, what you're doing now
is you're essentially pushing the pressure plate
off the clutch pack which is gonna disengage your clutch
and all that spring tension is gonna be
up here in your clutch lever.
So, with all the spring tension up here in the clutch lever
that's gonna allow your friction
and your drive plates to disengage.
So, why do you need that free play?
Well, having enough free play in your clutch lever
is gonna ensure that you have the optimum
or the maximum amount of spring force on your clutch pack.
So if you don't have enough free play in the lever
well what can happen is this can cause you
to have some of that spring tension up here
in the lever and the cable and not on your clutch pack
where it needs to be.
Now, if this is the case, well what can happen
is your clutch plates can start to slip
which you absolutely do not want.
What this can do is start to fry your clutch.
Now, on the opposite end of the spectrum
if you have too much free play in your clutch lever,
well when you go to disengage your clutch
and you pull your clutch lever in, this can cause
the clutch to not fully disengage which can cause
premature wear and that also will prevent you
from shifting gears properly.
So, next question.
How do you measure how much free play
and how much do you need?
Well, there's a few ways you can measure it.
First, always look at your owner's manual.
They're gonna give recommendations on how to measure it.
Probably one of the most common ways is
to measure the amount of movement you have
at the end of your clutch lever.
So what they'll recommend is you squeeze your clutch cable
or your clutch lever and you measure the distance
that it moves here at the end of your lever.
Another way is gonna be the old nickel trick
and what you will do here
is you'll pull on your clutch lever.
And right here where your clutch lever touches
your clutch perch, if you can take a nickel
and you can fit it in there pretty easily
you're not gonna have a lot of extra room,
it's not too tight, that is a good indicator
that you have enough free play.
Now, a third way to do it.
Now this is a trick and a tip that I have for ya,
'cause they're not gonna recommend this
is actually using your cable here
where it goes into your adjuster.
So what I like to do, and I do this because my clutch setup
actually has a guard that goes over my clutch
so I can't see where it touches my clutch perch,
so what I'll do is I'll take my clutch cable
and I'll just pull on it.
You don't need to yank on it super hard,
but I'll pull right here and then I'll just sit there
and I'll pull my clutch lever.
Now, you can actually see it move right here
where it goes into the adjuster.
So, as long as I have a few millimeters of movement there
that to me is a good indicator
that I have enough free play in my clutch.
Now, you gotta remember too though when you're out riding
around when you're clutch is getting hot and cold
your free play is gonna change.
This is important that you always wanna make sure
you're monitoring that as you're riding.
And this is also the reason that I like to have
an on the fly adjuster with my clutch.
So, I've got this ASVC6 setup.
Now this on the fly adjuster's nice
because it makes it very easy to adjust the freeplay
and I can do it while I'm even riding.
So, you wanna make sure you're monitoring that.
But that's gonna be my first tip, is making sure
that you have enough free play in your clutch lever.
Okay so, for my second tip it's gonna be
inspecting your drive plates and your friction plates.
Now before we really get into that,
I'm gonna take you back to science class.
We're gonna do some anatomy and I'm gonna show you
exactly what's going into your clutch.
So, if you take your clutch cover off your bike or your ATV,
on most of your bikes this is what you're gonna find.
This is gonna be your clutch assembly.
So, you're gonna have your springs on the outside.
You're gonna have your pressure plate on the outside here.
Now on the inside you're gonna see in the middle,
that's gonna be your center hub
and on the outside is gonna be your clutch basket.
And you see the fingers coming out.
Now, in between your center hun and your clutch basket
is where your friction plates
and your drive plates are going to be.
Now, your friction plates you can see are gonna have
either usually an Aramid material fiber
or a cork material on the outside.
And you can see these actually have these teeth
around the outside and these teeth are gonna go
between the fingers on your clutch basket.
And you clutch basket is driven by your crank.
Now your drive plates are gonna be the next one in there.
You can see your drive plates are gonna be made
from either aluminum or steel
and they have teeth around the inside.
And those are gonna go on the spline of your center hub.
So what happens is these are gonna be in here
and they're gonna be alternating
so you're gonna have drive plate,
then a friction plate, et cetera.
When your clutch springs are putting pressure
on your pressure plate, your pressure plate
is squeezing your clutch, your drive and friction plates
together which is putting that power
to the gearbox into the rear wheel.
Now, the reason it's so important to make sure
these are in tiptop shape is you wanna make sure
that you have as much friction as possible
to get all that drive and all that power to the rear wheel.
I'm gonna put this here.
So with your friction plates, as I mentioned earlier,
you're gonna have two common materials.
You're gonna have an Aramid fiber or a cork material.
Now, how you inspect these and you know
if it's time to replace them.
Now, I'm gonna say about every four to six hours
is a good timeframe that you should be inspecting
your drive plates and your friction plates.
Your manual's gonna give you recommendations as well
but I really wouldn't recommend going too far past
that four to six hour window.
So with your friction plates, what they're gonna have you do
in most cases you're gonna measure the thickness of these.
So, you're gonna take a pair of calipers
and your manual's gonna give you a certain thickness
that you don't wanna go under.
If you're under that thickness then it's time
to replace your friction plates.
Another way, is you can actually just visually inspect them.
If you look at 'em, if they're glazed over
or if you have any discoloration that's a good indicator
that it's time to replace your friction plates.
Now when it comes to your drive plates,
remember steel or aluminum,
for these again you're gonna look at them visually.
You're gonna see if there's any discoloration,
any black or blue streaks,
that's a very good indicator that these are worn.
That they need to be replaced.
Your manual often suggests as well
that you take your drive plates and you put it
on a smooth surface and you're gonna use a feeler gauge
and you would see if there's any warping
with your drive plates.
And that's how you're gonna measure those.
Now, another tip that I have is when it comes time
to replace your friction or drive plates
I highly recommend that you always do the two together.
You don't wanna do just your friction plates
or just your drive plates, you wanna replace both
at the same time.
Now, at Rocky Mountain ATV MC we have a lot
of different clutch kits that we have available.
Now one that we highly recommend is our Tusk brand,
really good value, we have a couple options.
So if you're not sure which one you should get,
I actually have a video where I show you
the two different options that we have.
So, if you have questions about those
make sure you watch that video.
That will get your questions answered.
But that's gonna be my second tip is inspecting
your drive and your friction plates and making sure
those are in good condition.
Okay, my third tip is gonna be
inspecting your clutch basket.
Now, as I mentioned earlier when I took you back
to anatomy class your clutch basket's gonna have
your fingers that go along the outside.
And your friction plates that have those teeth
that go between your fingers.
Well, what happens is when you're getting hard
on that throttle and you're getting that power
to the rear wheel those teeth are gonna start
to wear notches into the fingers on your basket.
Now when you see these notches that is not a good thing
'cause when you're engaging and disengaging your clutch
these notches are gonna prevent your friction plates
from moving freely and it's gonna clutch feel grabby
and it's just not gonna perform the way you want it to.
So, if you see these notches in your fingers
it's a good indicator it is time to get this replaced.
Now, I have seen some riders actually use a file
and file these down to try and smooth it out.
I highly do not recommend that
because there are tight tolerances there
and doing that can actually interfere with that.
So, if you see these notches on the fingers
in your clutch basket it is time to get it replaced.
Now you have a couple options, you can go
with a full OEM clutch basket that we offer on our website
or what a lot of riders from weekend warriors
all the way up to your top level pros use,
is their gonna use Billet aluminum components
for their clutch.
So this is a Hinson clutch setup or clutch kit
that I have on the table.
So the Billet aluminum, it's much stronger,
it's much more durable.
It's gonna last a lot longer so you're gonna get
a lot more life out of your components.
Now, they are pricey but you get what you pay for
and they are gonna last longer.
So you can go with either just a clutch basket
or you could actually pick up an entire clutch kit.
That you can see comes with a basket, your pressure plate,
your center hub, and also your clutch cover.
So, you got a couple options there
as far as what route you wanna take.
Now I do recommend also, you wanna look
at your clutch basket because some are gonna have
rubber cushions that are gonna go between the basket
and your primary drive gear.
So you wanna inspect those as well, you wanna make sure
that there's not a lot of free play
and that they're not cracking.
If they are, it's time to get those replaced as well.
But that's gonna be my third tip
is inspecting your clutch basket
to make sure it's in good condition.
Okay so for tip number four,
it's gonna be with your clutch springs.
So I don't know if you've ever walked into a dealership
and you get on a brand new bike or an ATV
and you pull that clutch and just think,
man, that thing just feels really good.
It's nice and easy and smooth.
Well, I hate to break it to ya' but some manufacturers
will actually purposefully put softer springs
in their clutches to make sure you get a nice,
easy smooth clutch pull 'cause it feels really good.
Unfortunately, if you're a hard, aggressive rider
those softer springs might not be stiff enough
to prevent your plates from slipping inside your clutch.
Which we talked about earlier, is never a good thing.
So what I recommend is getting aftermarket springs.
So you can see on the table here these are our Tusk brand,
so these are gonna be about 10% stiffer
than most of your OEM springs.
And what that's gonna make sure is
that you're getting enough pressure on the pressure plate
to really squeeze the clutch pack together hard enough
to make sure you're not getting clutch slippage
and getting all that power to the rear wheel.
So, if you haven't yet, you know it might be a good idea
to look at your clutch springs and get those replaced.
Now, another tip that I have for ya' is if you feel like
your clutch pull is just really, really hard.
Harder than it used to be or maybe you've just ran out
of adjustment with your clutch cable.
Well, a culprit of that can actually be
your actuator arm and your push rod.
So the reason I say this, because I've actually got
this one pulled out of an old YZ250
and you can see your push rod is what's pushing
your pressure plate off your clutch pack.
And you can see right here with the actuator arm,
it is pretty worn out and so the rider of this YZ250
was really complaining about how hard the clutch pull was.
He didn't have any adjustment left.
So I pulled this out and you can see
just how worn out it is.
So we replaced it and right away,
he had a lot better feeling.
It was easier to pull in his clutch.
He had adjust in his clutch lever.
So again, if you don't have any free play left
or if you feel like your clutch pull is just
really, really hard this could be the culprit.
Now, if you've never done this before,
if you've never pulled one and inspected it
we have a video where we show you how to do that.
So make sure you give that a look,
'cause remember this makes a big difference
when it comes to the feel and performance of your clutch.
So that's gonna be my fourth tip,
is going to aftermarket, stiffer springs
and inspecting your push rod and your actuator arm.
Okay so, my fifth and my final tip
and this is gonna be a simple one but it's very important
is gonna be about riding technique.
If you're a rider that's prone to frying up clutches
and you go through clutches often
and you're just not sure why.
Most times it's gonna come down to how you're riding
your motorcycle and you're using your clutch.
So for example, if you're a trail rider,
you like to do hill climbs,
you know maybe ride in a lower gear.
Monitor and really pay attention
to how you're using your clutch
because once you understand how your clutch works
and the anatomy of it you'll understand why
it's so important to really use your clutch properly.
If you're a track rider, a desert rider, the same thing.
If you're a track guy, you know,
when you're out there hitting those ruts
and those corners if you're really clutching the bike,
and when I say clutching, meaning, you're lever's
not all the way out, it's not all the way in,
it's right there in the middle, you just gotta remember
that when this is happening your clutch plates
are gonna be slipping which is creating excess heat
and that's gonna fry up your clutch.
So, if you're coming into a corner practice
carrying more momentum into the corner
and exiting with more speed.
There's just a lot of techniques and tips
that you can use that's gonna prevent you
from frying up your clutch.
That's gonna be my fifth tip, is simply just monitoring
and paying attention to how you're using your clutch
and practice better technique.
Alright guys, so those are my top five maintenance tips
for the clutch on your motorcycle or your ATV.
So hopefully, some of these tips have helped you guys out.
If you have any tips or suggestions,
well, help your riding buddies out.
Comment below, that's gonna give
other people really good suggestions.
Now, I do have one bonus tip for ya'
and it is very simple.
Just make sure you are keeping up
on your regular oil changes.
Having fresh oil in your motorcycle or your ATV's clutch
is gonna help your clutch run cooler, help it run smoother,
it's gonna help prevent premature wear
'cause that oil's not gonna break down.
But there it is, those are my top five tips.
So head over to our website at RockyMountainATVMC.com
to pick up any of the parts and products
that we talked about today.
Remember guys, if you have questions comment below.
I'm Chase here at Rocky Mountain
and we'll see ya' on the trails.