What's up crew,

Well, I read DMAG's post and decided to replace my clutch plates as well. I like the idea of these Kevlar plates that engage more aggressively and it sounds pretty easy to do.

My questions are as follows:

According to the EBC website, they highly recommend against using fully synthetic oil. What are your thoughts on this? I currently use Shell Rotella-t Full Synthetic and I want to continue doing so.

Do I need to remove the exhaust on the right side, and if so, do I need to replace the crush gaskets or any other parts? Part #'s and/or suggestions anyone?

Thanks guys. I will let you know how this job goes. If I think of it (I'm absent minded) I will take some photos and post them.

Adam

1985 VN700 w/18,600 miles. :motorcycl

I dont see what harm full synthetic motorcycle oil will do. I run Amsoil in my 750.
Im not sure if you have to remove the right exhaust or not. But if you do, then you need a new crush gasket. Dont waste you money with the Kawi gaskets, Harley gaskets work much better. Im sorry but I dont remember what the part number is though. You can do a search for that.

My questions are as follows:

According to the EBC website, they highly recommend against using fully synthetic oil. What are your thoughts on this? I currently use Shell Rotella-t Full Synthetic and I want to continue doing so. :motorcycl


The Shell Rotella was made mostly for heavy duty items like desiels and 3/4 ton and up trucks... weather it is synth or dino... and uses need additves that work well in our bikes ( and guessing all bikes ) for wear protection. Standard "automotive" oils do not have the same wear additives..... they use , I believe, Moly that will build up on the clutches and make them slip.

Some one can correct me here, but I seem to remember that Rottela has two types... and it has been said that you don't want the one in the "blue" bottle.. !?

I hope this does not spark another oil debate..... people can be so touchy on this one!!:BLAM:

So feel safe in your choice to use the Rotella! IMOA

http://www.vn750.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1144 has part numbers for the crush gaskets (harley).

I can't say how well they work yet, should be able to by the end of the day (85 700).

If you have stock exhaust chances are you will not have to remove the right exhaust. You will have to take off the heat shield of course. All you have to do is get to the round cover on the right side.
You will need a new gasket for this cover also and be sure and clean the old off of both sides (engine and cover).

Parts found with Part Number: 11060-1088
Description GASKET,CLUTCH OUTSIDE
Price $6.14

Pre soak the plates in oil before putting them in and pay attention to the order of the plates when you take them out
8 friction plates, 7 cluch plates. You will start and end with a friction plate
I used a dental pick to "catch" the last few plates to slide them out.
When putting them back the last plate is also offset from the others. There is a seperate little notch for it.
If you are using the Kevlar racing clutch kit you will need to adjust your clutch afterwards since ythey have beefier springs

Thanks for the advice guys. Dianna, as usual, you are a wealth of knowledge. I ordered the gasket and also 2 new exhaust bolts just in case I need to take off the pipe. I can get the crush gaskets for the HD store down the road if and when I need to.

As far as the oil goes, this topic has been debated on this site so much; I can’t seem to make heads or tails of any of it anymore. :doh: Lol. I have been using the Rotella in the BLUE bottle. Many people recommend it, some recommend against it. I just want my 22 year old motorcycle to keep on keepin’ on, know what I’m saying?

Parts should be here in a week, I will let you know how it goes as soon as I’m done. Thanks again!

Adam :motorcycl

I thought it was the blue bottle Rotella to use too??
Isn't the blue the synth & white dino?

I think it is the one in the blue bottle hyperbuzzin, I think "95VN750" was mistaken. Anyone correct me if I'm wrong here. I went back and read posts on the subject and people were suggesting the blue bottle Rotella T Full Synthetic.

Thats the way I read em too. Blue bottle Rottella T synth. Good stuff. I hope I got it right otherwise I have to drain mine before I fire it back up.

Blue bottle is synthetic... and what I've used in my last bike (GS550) and this one (total of ~20k miles) with no problems. White bottle is dino oil (which I could get away with since I change oil every 2-3k even with synth).

The blue bottle is the syn Rotella. I really can't understand why the manufacturer of the kevlar clutch plates would recommend against syn oil. Unless they're basing their recommendation on syn oil that is "energy conserving", which we all know is recommended against for wet clutches.
Syn oil should be fine in my opinion unless it is energy conserving, which is usually 10w30 oil. As far as I know all "energy conserving" oil has moly additives.

OK..... blue bottle good......... :notworthy I knew there was something said about it..... just had it the wrong way.... :BLAM:

Just be sure to stay away from the oils with the moly.... that stuff is made for sliding!!! we use it on our splines right?! :doh:

Parts are on backorder so it may be a few weeks before I can post my results. Nothing's more annoying than getting excited about a new mod and then having to play the waiting game. :drool:

I have replaced the clutch plates, put everything back together, including the right side exhaust and am about to put oil back in the bike when I noticed something. The clutch lever has no resistance behind it. I can pull the clutch in and the lever just stays resting against the grip. There is no spring back action. Is it supposed to be like this??? I'm thinking not. I don't want to put oil back in until I know what the deal is. Your help is greatly appriciated.

Adam

I decided to put the oil back in the bike and fire it up. As I guessed, no clutch at all. I can put it in gear but the bike doesn't move. I looked around for any missing parts and found none.

Did you have the bike in gear when you started working on the clutch plates (answer should be yes for this one)
Did you back off the adjustment on the release lever before you started on the plates?
Did you move the clutch pushrod?
Whenyou re-installed the clutch springs did you use a criss-cross pattern (like drawing a star)

The clutch release mechaism located on the lower left side of the bevel gear (on the left side of the bike) controls the play in the clutch lever.
If you have a Clymers manual, pg 230 goes through this process. Through pg 233 explains clutch adjustment.

Dianna,

Thank you for the reply.

I figured that must be the problem. I thought the bike was in gear when I started but it was not. I put it in gear during reassembly. I did not back off the release lever either. I did not move the pushrod. I did use a criss-cross pattern, and torque to spec. So the problem must have stemmed from not putting the bike in gear before removing the clutch cover and plates. So the question is, what needs to be fixed/adjusted/replaced now? I couldn't find anything in the manual about this. I appreciate your help.

Adam

Adam,

I suspect that the clutch release shaft rotated forward while you had the plates out and it is now meshed too far back on the release rack inside the housing. You can check by removing the plug on the end of the shift release mechanism and dropping the release lever off of the shaft. You should be able to rotate the shaft CWW (looking from the bottom end) until the rack pops out, then remesh the teeth to engage the clutch push rod at the appropriate angle of the shaft. Alternatively, you may be able to re-clock the shaft so that it engages the clutch pushrod, then re-install the release lever. Sounds a little complicated, but you'll see what I'm talking about when you get the clutch release plug out and rotate the shaft. The goal is to get the release lever clocked on the shaft at the right angle so that the cable pull will depress the clutch release pushrod.

Hope this helps.

Did the cover fit on correctly when you tightened it up?

If not , the pushrod might not be connecting properly. Have no fear, I'm sure its something easy...there is not too much you can break doing the clutch.

Thanks for the tips guys. It sounds like I will not have to remove the right side exhaust and clutch plates again, that’s a good thing. :notworthy

DMAG, I did not have any issues with the clutch cover. I don’t believe that is the problem. I may be, however, it sounds like the problem has stemmed from not having the bike in gear and apparently messing up this “clutch release shaft”.

Unfortunately, I will not have a free morning, noon or night to work on my bike for at least 9 more days. I was bummed last weekend because it was beautiful here and I wanted to do some riding, however, things obviously didn’t go so smoothly.

I didn’t have any trouble doing the clutch plate swap; however, I did have some trouble with the exhaust. I had to cut one of the bolts off because it was striped and rusted out. I ended up replacing all the hardware I took off, painted rusted parts, replaced the crush gasket and clutch cover gasket, etc. When I took out the plates, the last one was broken into several pieces. That would explain my poor clutch performance. I can’t wait to see the difference with these new Kevlar plates. All in good time I suppose. :doh:

Clutch Works Perfectly!

It was the clutch release shaft. I followed the directions in the book on how to disassemble and reassemble and adjust this and now my clutch works fine. The clutch lever is slightly harder to pull in now, due to the heavy duty springs; however, it’s no big deal at all. The clutch engages with authority now and I love it. Excellent, cheap, easy modification! (easy despite my stupidity that is)

Thanks again for the help guys. See you on the road. :motorcycl

Folks, I had a bad experince with Rotella. Shortly I started using it, the cluch started to slip, specially when cold. I went to the Kawasaki Service Rep and was told that these bikes are sensitive to any type oil, specially sythetic, that was best to use the SF, SE of SG API service as recomended. Walmart carries a cheep brand GENUINE that is the same as the Kaswasaki SE brand. That's the only thing I buy from WAlmart..!

Folks, I had a bad experince with Rotella. Shortly I started using it, the cluch started to slip, specially when cold. I went to the Kawasaki Service Rep and was told that these bikes are sensitive to any type oil, specially sythetic, that was best to use the SF, SE of SG API service as recomended. Walmart carries a cheep brand GENUINE that is the same as the Kaswasaki SE brand. That's the only thing I buy from WAlmart..!

I've always used synth oil and never had a problem. Even in my dirtbikes, which get alot harder workout on the clutch.
You sure you didn't use the type marked as "Energy Conserving" , which can cause problems ?

There are tons of folks here and the yahoo group that use and have been using the Rotella syn for a long time with no problems. I used it until my last oil change when I went to Mobil One for the hot summer months. It sounds like there might have been other circumstances that caused the clutch slippage. It's not likely that the Rotella alone caused the problem. Synthetic oil is not more slipery than dyno oil. It's the same.