Clutch Shudder Cure

[DoctorBob]

Recently I had a friend bring me an XR600R with a Clutch Shudder issue that took a little thinking outside the square to resolve.. when I pulled the clutch out the friction plates were worn down but not beyond spec, so my friend asked me to put new clutch pack in which I did, but it didn't resolve the clutch shudder issue.
Further investigation was required so I pulled out the clutch basket & noticed the springs in the back of the basket were all loose & worn (due to revolving in their slot) in length.

So I got to thinking about the problem, new baskets were discontinued some time ago & any second hand baskets had worn springs also..
I cleaned up all the fingers then turned over the basket & worked open the retainers that hold the springs in the basket.

Then work out the spring. Then measure the internal spring dimension & find a solid rivet to cut down to fit into the spring.

Now put you rivet into your bush lathe & use a file to get your rivet down to the required dimensions, in this case I had to thin down the head to 1.5mm thick & take the head diameter down to 16mm dia along with a little off the shaft.
I deliberately chose a long rivet so I could spin up in the drill.. they were 1 1/2inch long but I cut it to 10mm long shaft to fit into the spring.

Now squeeze rivet & spring, then tap into slot with soft faced hammer..

With the 10mm of shaft inside the spring there will never be a chance of the rivet ever escaping & ending up floating round in the gearbox. (Compared to using a plain washer)

By placing the rivets together (at the screwdriver handle end of the springs) isn't as ideal as putting them all the same end that is under load with the engine running, however the pattern I have used does balance the clutch basket.
Now using a punch drive the keepers back down onto the springs to keep them tight.

Once I reinstalled the clutch basket & clutch, a test ride proved that the repair was successful.
The clutch would only shudder after the bike got up to operating temp prior to repair, but now it functions perfectly.
Although this isn't a Goldwing bike repair, the principles still the same, especially for an older bike that parts are no longer available for.. & all bikes wear out. I hope this helps others.

[DenverWinger]

Ingenious fix.

An alternative might be to try stretching the springs some, but that is likely much easier said than done. Look like really tough springs.

[DoctorBob]

I did consider several alternatives to this repair option, but this seemed the easiest solution.

As the springs are reasonably small diameter & fairly heavy coils, trying to find alternative springs wasn't an option.. they are only 16mm OD so trying to find valve springs or the likes wasn't going to happen.

We had a spring maker in town but like a lot of business's of that kind it has closed down.

To stretch those springs would require heating them & then I would have had to re-temper them again afterward..

The most ideal option would have been to grind off the 3 retaining rivets that holds the 3 parts of the clutch basket together, then tig weld up the slots in the basket to retention the springs within the slots..

However the ends of the springs had worn fairly ugly so a large rivet head encompassed the entire end of the spring.
It just seem much easier & more bullet proof using this method.

[landisr]

Most excellent. Very clever. Thank you for sharing.

Ron in AZ