750 - Clutch Plates - Options

I'm searching for a lighter clutch without an extending arm sticking out of the side of the bike - it's not slipping at the mo.
 
You may be able to use Synth Oil with Kevlar Wet Clutch Disc's - But the Breganzie Clutch Disc will Slip and Rattle using Synth.

Unless it was a Honda 900 CBF. By then you thought differently about buying Laverda 3 Cly for twice the price.

70's and I was in my mid 20's.

By then I knew how to build a 70 750 SF  - 120 MPH down any straight ;o)
 
olly said:
I'm searching for a lighter clutch without an extending arm sticking out of the side of the bike - it's not slipping at the mo.

If you can get a custom clutch cable made..get one that is a longitudinally wound (LW) type. Not near as fussy and much easier to pull. Much better than a traditional design wound type cable.

The difference between the two being that instead of a single strand of wire wrapping around the inner liner and wire making up the housing as in a coil wound housing you have several strands of wire with the LW housing that run parallel with the inner wire and liner. You end up with a cable that has a smoother operation and resists housing compression over time.



41IFHSMkvzL._SX342_.jpg


I had my 3C cable made by motionpro.com back in 2008..and it still is working just fine. Much easier effort to use the clutch and near adjustment free. Add Red's Kevlar clutch frictions and the clutch is a delight to use.
 
Rusty Spokes said:
If you can get a custom clutch cable made..get one that is a longitudinally wound (LW) type. Not near as fussy and much easier to pull. Much better than a traditional design wound type cable.

The difference between the two being that instead of a single strand of wire wrapping around the inner liner and wire making up the housing as in a coil wound housing you have several strands of wire with the LW housing that run parallel with the inner wire and liner. You end up with a cable that has a smoother operation and resists housing compression over time.



41IFHSMkvzL._SX342_.jpg


I had my 3C cable made by motionpro.com back in 2008..and it still is working just fine. Much easier effort to use the clutch and near adjustment free. Add Red's Kevlar clutch frictions and the clutch is a delight to use.

Is that clutch cable gauge casing and cable? I didn't know you could get compressionless housing in moto size. I'm planning on using compressionless bicycle brake housing and cable but if it doesn't hold up, I'll certainly go for the stuff you show. All bicycle indexed gears systems use compressionless housing but it's too feeble for Lav clutch use, hence why I sourced the (rare) brake stuff. Will look into motionpro if nec.
 
I love my extended clutch arm on my 3C, and I wish I could do the same on my 600 Pantah but the lower arm is to close to the engine case. The Pantah is not as bad as the Laverda was before the extended lever, I was braking 2 or 3 cables a year and after fitting the extended lever its 1 every blue moon. I was at Gowanlochs a while back and was looking at the Pantah they raced and gave the clutch a pull and it was way lighter than mine so I asked who they did it. They used an Apilian purch and dogleg lever with much better geometry, so I bought one and it's now bearable, not as light as my Laverda but not hand craping like it was. They sell for $60 or so and have the big hole to take the big cable nippal Italian bikes use.
 
You must be buying shit cables Vince. I don't have the easy-pull gadget on my Jota so the clutch is the original "Arnold Schwarzenegger" setup. I've never broken a cable in the 10 years that I've owned the bike. I've actually been expecting it to break, given the load that's on it, so I bought a spare cable ages ago but have never used it. I don't ride my Laverda as regularly as you ride yours, but blimey - 2 or 3 cables a year?  :o

One thing that buggers clutch cables is if the barrel nipple in the lever isn't greased. If it can't rotate freely in the lever as you pull it, it'll bend the cable where it exits the nipple. Enough repeated bends in that spot and the cable filaments will start to break from fatigue. Once you start to see a few frayed filaments appearing there, it's not far off letting go altogether.
 
Cam, it was close to completely spoiling the bike for me. Not as bad as the Montesa a mate owned, that was like squeezing a brick. I tried all sorts of fixes, new cable routed as smooth as possible lubed from new, it was a HARD pull. My first long ride was a 10 day trip to the first Philips Is GP that included a 350k run via the dirt tracks past Macilops Bridge and the Snowy Mountains National Park and the Snowy River, fantastic ride but I had pins and needles in my clutch wrist for the next 2 months. I used to hear harden up, I was plenty hard enough working on the tools. It was damaging my body using the bloody thing. Best thing ever seeing Phil Tods extended lever fix in Classic Bike mag. Made my first oversea phone call getting the details from him, he deserves a Knighthood for services to my aching wrist. That didnt sound to good.



 
And here's me thinking about getting rid of the extended lever and going back to original. It was fitted previously before I brought the Mirage back in 85. I don't like the feel of the clutch in it's current set-up. Figure going back to standard couldn't be any worst than the SFC clutch pull. As for cables I can't remember ever breaking one on the SFC and that is fucking heavy :o
Thought I had a spare lever somewhere but haven't located it yet. When I do I'll fit it and change the clutch lever/perch and see haw that goes. If I win lottery I'll buy one of Red's Billeted clutch covers and go hydraulic.
 
I'm struggling to find a place to mount something like this - plus I'd need to buy a shorter cable
p441.jpg

1KU_ZV_1.jpg


I want to keep the bike looking as standard as possible and I have Lucas 'bat wing' switchgear on my SF1 so can't change anything dramatically at the controls end.

I had pondered some sort of cam arrangement like this
36841.jpg

....but I'd had a few beers at the time I remembered Hoyle's Law and Boyle's law are very different.

Will keep an eye out for the cable type with the different outer - though the Venhill 'standard' one on the bike is almost new :(
 
Just watching this....they really are baddly made - I might make my own.
[youtube]https://youtu.be/ELEZm0WYUIk[/youtube]

 
Blimey. That bloke in the video is a bit thick. Didn't seem to know how levers work, and it seems he has never heard of grease.  ::)

If you search "easy pull clutch" on ebay, there's a bunch of different brands of pretty much the same device. Most of them look better made than the Outlaw device.
 
I have one in the shed, tried it before Phils extended lever mod. I broke the small cable in a couple of weeks. It's way too complicated, plus you end up with 3 points of Freeplay.
It has 3 places internally you can attach to, I went straight to the max. There is no free lunch in Physics, with the light lever you get the downside, more throw in the friction point. Getting enough adjustment so the clutch doesn't drag making it hard to get neutral. Anyway, thats my experience.
 
You're quite right Vince. Any lever system will sacrifice length of travel to get an easier pull. That's why I've not fitted one to my bike. It seems to need all the clutch throw-out movement it can get.
 
First - thanks for all the info on clutch plates guys. Appreciated.

Second - to gain a more favorable lever ratio, on my Jota I wanted a neat looking solution (no case slitting etc), so tried many hand-end levers over the years and eventually settled on a Magura.  Fits well and is just the right balance between reduced pull load and plate separation.

magura_lever_in_situ_28229.JPG
 
Hi all, don't forget the other significant factor when thinking about clutch travel-and-drag.... clutch plate flatness.  If there are some bent plates in the pack, then you will always get some drag when the clutch is pulled. This may give the impression that the plates are not coming apart far enough - but they are.
 
Vince said:
Agree, wish it was around when I did mine.

Still around, Vince! I got the straight one - I LOVE hacksawing rivet perfect selector covers! I'll post my cable attachment system - I made extras and will aim to sell three or four sets - bling for bucks is what I'll be offering  :D
 
Piranha Brother 2 said:
Is that clutch cable gauge casing and cable? I didn't know you could get compressionless housing in moto size. I'm planning on using compressionless bicycle brake housing and cable but if it doesn't hold up, I'll certainly go for the stuff you show. All bicycle indexed gears systems use compressionless housing but it's too feeble for Lav clutch use, hence why I sourced the (rare) brake stuff. Will look into motionpro if nec.

Yes it is motorcycle sized LW cable. Actually a bit larger in diameter from original.  No acute bends routing a LW cable. Needs some arc when fitting. It is a very robust cable that I have had installed for many years. Compressionless/longitudinally wound is great on our Laverda clutches. Motionpro needed an old cable to make up the LW cable.  Good luck with that rare brake stuff..if your results compare with mine you will be very pleased.
 
Rusty Spokes said:
Yes it is motorcycle sized LW cable. Actually a bit larger in diameter from original.  No acute bends routing a LW cable. Needs some arc when fitting. It is a very robust cable that I have had installed for many years. Compressionless/longitudinally wound is great on our Laverda clutches. Motionpro needed an old cable to make up the LW cable.  Good luck with that rare brake stuff..if your results compare with mine you will be very pleased.

I work as a bicycle mechanic and immediately thought of my clutch cable when compressionless cables became the norm in indexed shifting systems - you beat me to it, but chuffed to hear that it's so effective. I never had any issues with clutch drag on my extended lever over the decades I've used it, but reckon this will go one better. The friction reducing neoprene linings are also essential.
 
Back
Top