RGS new clutch chatter

murphus

murphus

Senior member
Location
Lost in the Midwest
Just replaced the friction clutch discs and springs on my RGS and it chatters on take-off. Only from a full stop under load. A rolling release results in a smooth take up. A loaded release, as on a slight incline, results in chatter and a quick "shnick" noise. Hard to describe the noise. I can make it do it at will if i hold the front brake, rev and slowly release the clutch. Also having a hard time finding neutral, which previously was never an issue. It reminds me of a Magni Agusta i was lucky enough to ride that had a clutch that was almost impossible to engage smoothly. No slip, otherwise all seems good. I haven't changed a wet clutch in years, and one thing I didn't do was soak the discs in oil. Is that still recommended? I'm certain I put it back together properly. Oh, and no springs on the last two discs. I've only put about 10 miles on it and wondering if i should pull it back down. Thoughts?
Richard
 
Is it like a sort of screech?
Did you soak the plates in oil before fitting?
Was the square bar indented where the pushrod touches it? You could try turning it 90?.
 
I'm wondering if I have a friction disc that's sticking from not being oiled? It would makes sense; if one disc -- or even a few -- was sticking, as you release and take up drive, that disc or discs might then momentarily break free just as it gets loaded and as the clutch pack compresses, resulting in the screech/snatch/chatter I'm experiencing. Anybody have similar or other thoughts?
Richard
 
How many miles have you done with the new clutch?
Maybe it will ease off with use.
 
Won't do it any harm to ride it- my 180 make horrible skrrrrk (!) noises for ages  when I put in some new plates.  Tried dressing the splines in the drum which helped, but in the end just got a newer one off ebay which fixed the problem.
 
How rough were the splines on the inside of the clutch drum? I'm wondering if the new plates may be catching on the splines - they do tend to wear with use - I've used a fine triangular file to dress the splines to good effect.
It sounds like you'll need to pull it down again for another inspection.
 
Regiie's "find" is Motorworks, they sell parts on eBay occasionally but they're an established brick-and-mortar business and need to meet payroll etc. So their prices are usually quite high, although they may be receptive to negotiation if nobody bids. These things come up quite frequently, sometimes for very little money. Just remember these things do wear out, and very often you do get what you pay for :-X.
A good idea with Laverda clutches is (when you have them apart anyway) to drill a circle of ~1cm holes in the outer periphery of the outer surface of the clutch drum. It allows cooling and even more importantly oil ingress/egress. If you ever get to clean out your own crankshaft oil slingers you'll probably be horrified at the number of large (up to 1mm) chunks of metal that were floating around in your bike's oil circulation at some point. Looking at the wear patterns on the clutch splines, I think a lot of this metal does come from the splines, so getting some lubrication in there is definitely a good idea, and there don't seem to be any downsides to this modification.

Ken
 
I'm going to pull it back down tonight. I think my error was two-fold. One, I didn't dress the metal plates in any way and two, I didn't oil the friction plates before assembly. Splines on the clutch drum were okay, as was everything else. Actually, the stock plates were still well within spec. The reason for replacing them was slip at higher rpms. At almost 30 years and 67k miles, I figured it was time to fit new plates, which i got from Wolfgang, by the way.
Richard
 
Reggie3cl said:
Actually, a cursory glance at ebay revealed this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Laverda-clutch-housing-sprocket-and-cover-plate-3CL-Jota-/130666100852?pt=UK_Motorcycle_Parts&hash=item1e6c4e7874

220 sovs?   Blimey!  I'd get busy with the file these days.
Click to expand...

That clutch drum looks completely fucked. You can see the clutch plate grooves worn into the splines.
Here's a much better one at a fraction of the price http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130726229401&ssPageName=ADME:B:SS:AU:1123

Cheers,
Cam
 
Someone from Motorworks was on this forum a while back thanking one of us for pointing out his high prices, which they would address. That was on thier first toe in the water with a Laverda parted out.
As they now seem to have broken up the 2 clunkers previously advertised on Made in Italy they seem to be continuing their high price strategy.
Why don't they use ebay as an auction and let the parts find their own value, as they are clearly unable to price them reasonably as buy-it-now items.
Maybe the key word is 'reasonably'?
 
murphus said:
I'm going to pull it back down tonight. I think my error was two-fold. One, I didn't dress the metal plates in any way and two, I didn't oil the friction plates before assembly. Splines on the clutch drum were okay, as was everything else. Actually, the stock plates were still well within spec. The reason for replacing them was slip at higher rpms. At almost 30 years and 67k miles, I figured it was time to fit new plates, which i got from Wolfgang, by the way.
Click to expand...


Richard,

As others have pointed out, most probably the plates catching in the dents of the splines of either the hub or drum, or both.  The new plates will be spaced a little differently than the old ones and may be catching on the edges of the dents, thus not allowing the plates to slide smoothly along the splines.

No need to dress the steel plates, no wear to be expected, but, as suggested, do check the splines of the drum and hub and smooth them out as best as possible.  I don't bother to soak new plates before assembly, just a good dribble of motor oil over the assembled package before slipping on the drum.  The missing springs won't have any effect on the condition you mention, unless you have inserted an extra steel plate between the said friction plates.  This will cause the plates to bear on entirely diferent areas of the splines, may be good, may not.  The springs reduce clutch noise, which eventually can reach a very annoying level, I ALWAYS fit them (Ducatis can have noisy clutches, Laverdas shouldn't!).  While you're at it, do check the fit of the clutch hub on the mainshaft, this should be a firm push fit without radial play.

No NOS bits available anymore to my knowledge, reproduction will work out quite expensive so nothing on the horizon either...

piet
 
Thanks for the comments Piet. I finally had a chance to look at it again tonight. Pulled it apart and was interested to find the clutch was yet almost completely dry. Granted, I had only ridden it about 10 miles, but still interesting to me. At any rate, I went ahead and pulled everything apart, soaked the friction plates while dressing the steel plates, cleaned it all up, put it together, and it works absolutely beautifully. Somebody has been in there before, as the springs were no longer fitted. Further, the plates I got from Wolfgang were all identical, meaning there was no special 7th and 8th disc with attendant missing teeth and holes for springs. All else seemed good, no play on the hub. A bit of wear in the drum, but nothing alarming to my eye. That said, it's got me thinking I should be on the lookout for a spare setup in the event mine ever does wear out. I plan to put many more miles yet on my RGS.
Richard
 
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