What replacement clutches do you guys like?

otakar wrote:

MentalMike wrote:

otakar wrote:

Are you talking about APE plates or springs? If you are talking about APE springs, than I hope you have a very strong grip. If you are talking about plates than I have not had the occasion to ever have to replace my clutch on ANY of my bikes. Some of my clutches have well over 60,K on them and they are still like new.

This is what I'm talking about.

Not sure if they're available for all models though.


www.z1enterprises.com/detail.aspx?ID=1490

OK that is a street kit. That would be fine for a "J" bike. Once again the question is WHY? when all you need is. This

www.z1enterprises.com/detail.aspx?ID=319

Gotcha!

It will take about 45min to deglaze your existing clutch plates and you will save about $80. I have bought used clutches on eBay for about $12 and cleaned them up fore spare plates. They ALL measured up like NEW.

I think you may be getting ahead of yourself a bit. It sounds to me like you aren't noticing any issues with the clutch, but you just want to see if it is up to spec. If you buy new plates for it and end up returning them, then you will have paid for shipping twice plus there is usually a 20% restocking fee on oem parts. This could end up costing you $20? $30? $50?

If I were you I would hold off on buying a new clutch, and just get in there and check it out. If you do end up needing a new clutch, then put your old clutch back together and ride the bike (it works now right?) until your new clutch shows up.

It only costs you a gasket to take a look in there, and if you do end up needing a new clutch you will probably be able to reuse the one you just put on.

Then again, if the extra cost is worth it to you, then I say go for it and quit worrying about the extra cost to go oem! :woohoo:

what is spec on the thickness of the plates?I have a spare clutch pack I am going to clean up and rebuild for my kz 1000
and if new springs and a cleaning will do it,great.Thanks.bj

hocbj23 wrote:

what is spec on the thickness of the plates?I have a spare clutch pack I am going to clean up and rebuild for my kz 1000
and if new springs and a cleaning will do it,great.Thanks.bj

3.9mm is new anything 3.5mm and over is good. The springs go bad with time under compression are guaranteed to be bad.

Gotcha.Already have a new set of springs so just wanted to be sure the friction plates are ok before I put it all back together.Thanks much-sorry to hijack the thread.bj

I should add, I agree with Otakar, usually the plates measure out near new when I check. It is indeed the springs that I find that need replacement most often. The previous owner let the clutch slip for so long the disks were shot. I don't know how he couldn't tell. When I took them out they were all discolored and possibly warped which is why I tried aftermarket disks.

I also had success with putting a 1/16" spacer washer on the tops of the springs to get just a tad more tension when I was in a bind. It's much harder to find perfect size washers, though. they have to be just wide enough to press on the spring, but small enough to have plenty of clearance around them in the spring bore. The clutch was just as easy to pull in, (that I could tell), but had just enough extra tension to grab even though the springs were worn.

Thanks.When I cleaned the friction discs on the clutch pack I bought off ebay for 20,the discs looked great.Only thing I didnt know was the specs. I have a new set of springs so will mike everthing tomorrow and if in spec,will reassemble and put aside for when my clutch hits the crapper.lol.bj

Takes big cc motors to eat clutches huh?

Guess you've never had the pleasure of running 120-150 hp through the clutches on a 750 Turbo

Barnett clutches suck, they have probably destroyed more 750 Turbo motors than detonation. The current Turbo was bought knowing it had a Barnett clutch in it, first thing we did was pull the oil pan and scrape all the Barnett clutch fibers off the 50% blocked oil pick up screen, and then cleaned the broken Barnett clutch disk bits out of the oil pan.

120-150 hp through the 750 clutch requires OEM frictions, sand blasted steels, and a slight increase in spring tension such as the Vesrah springs.

I could really use a Turbo clutch basket with intact rubber dampers if anyone has one

steell wrote:

Takes big cc motors to eat clutches huh?

Guess you've never had the pleasure of running 120-150 hp through the clutches on a 750 Turbo

Barnett clutches suck, they have probably destroyed more 750 Turbo motors than detonation. The current Turbo was bought knowing it had a Barnett clutch in it, first thing we did was pull the oil pan and scrape all the Barnett clutch fibers off the 50% blocked oil pick up screen, and then cleaned the broken Barnett clutch disk bits out of the oil pan.

120-150 hp through the 750 clutch requires OEM frictions, sand blasted steels, and a slight increase in spring tension such as the Vesrah springs.

I could really use a Turbo clutch basket with intact rubber dampers if anyone has one

Oh yes I agree.
I only use OEM friction plates in my Turbo, by far the best. Its really not worth using aftermarket frictions in any bike in my opinion, the cash saved is not that much. Springs are a different matter though.

For those of you with 750's and are suffering slip you can replace the existing NA frictions with ZX750E (GPz570 turbo) frictions and one extra steel plate for more grip on the clutch. The frictions are thinner and so they run an extra one (and steel plate too) to stop slip. The basket dimensions are the same, its just the big cog on the back thats different I believe.

Steell. The clutch basket rubbers are nearly all shot in most turbos. mine have gone mostly awol too. Its usually as a result of a previous owner running Synth oil, which the rubbers react to and break up.

Once you hit 140 or so HP then it gets very difficult to stop the clutch slipping even with really heavy springs, besides the heavy springs then make riding a pain in traffic. Then you end up spending a lot of money on a Lock-up clutch as I did but the upside is then you can use the lightest springs and still get have not slip.

I have the Barnett with heavy springs in my bike. I've had no issues in the last year (close to 20K miles) I do have a mean grip in my left hand though. At first my limit was about 3 stop lights but I found that keeping the cable well lubed makes a huge difference.

The best clutch springs I've found are KZ inner valve springs

Stay away from those clutch packs with the extra plate on street motors. They'll just pound your clutch basket to death. Then they hang and the clutch drags at stoplights...

You only need friction plates with steel backing in very serious motors that are being raced.

The OEM Kaw plates are good stuff but there have been occasions where the friction plates will break into pieces. If that happens, it's possible for a piece to dislodge and get jammed in between 2 plates. That can explode the clutch basket. Basket explodes...bye bye cases :ohmy:

Not real common on a KZ but believe me, it has happened on occasion over the years on drag bikes.

99% of time OEM KZ friction and steel plates are the way to go