Clutch engagement

SmokinRZ

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My clutch doesn’t engage until the very end of the travel. Also, my downshifts are notchy . Time for a clutch kit? Bike has 44,000 miles. Clutch just bled and shifter pivot greased and fresh oil and filter.


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Checkswrecks

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ballisticexchris

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I too would re-bleed your MC first. Especially if it shifted and engaged into gear good before the bleed.

It is also possible the clutch rod and small ball are worn out. It's pretty hard to check the wear limit on those other than total length. Yamaha recommends replacing the ball whenever servicing the clutch. I replace ball and rod as a set. Also always change out the large nut and washer that holds the basket on. Then it's just a matter of checking basket wear, clutch spring height, push rod bending limit, and wear limit of plates.

I would recommend just upgrading to the new improved clutch pack if anything is worn.

Here are the wear limit specs:

Large friction plate: 2.82mm (2.92-3.08mm)

Small friction plate: 2.80mm (2.90-3.10mm)

Drive plate: 1.90-2.10mm
Warpage limit: .10mm

Cutch spring height: 6.44-6.78mm

Push rod bending limit: .20mm

Clutch basket takes a trained eye to see if its worn. I hold the gear and basket and make sure there is zero play in the dampers. Also check for cracks and grooves/notching in the fingers. The gear segment very rarely worn but still check for chipped off pieces. If the notching in the basket fingers does not catch a fingernail then you are good to go. Otherwise, I sometimes take a file and carefully file them almost smooth to get a little more life out of it.

Here is an example of a basket that needs replacement and clutch plates that are toasted. This is my bike after almost 300 hours of hard usage:

BF42448F-0F26-4758-A962-BA1EBA1DB95F.jpeg

6DC2A3C5-ACCB-46B0-9F9B-A75F1CF3C14A.jpeg
 

SmokinRZ

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I’ve only put 200 miles since buying it. The clutch was just bled with no change. Pivot lubed with no change. And oil changed with no change. The engagement doesn’t really bother me but the notchy downshift does. Rev matching makes it smoother. The clutch doesn’t slip at all and I don’t feel any unusual vibrations. I was hoping to put a OEM clutch kit in for $150 and get that slick Yamaha shifting I’ve come to expect.


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Sierra1

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I remember, back in the day with the KZ, we would put one extra metal plate in the clutch pack. It was counterintuitive to me, but it helped the clutch deal with heat fading a whole lot better. It would almost double the time it took to start fading. I'm not sure if it would help in this situation. . . . 'cuz I'm not sure why it worked in that situation.
 

Bokerfork

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Your notchy downshift sounds similar to a problem FJR owners encountered many years back. Bikes would sit in showrooms for months or even years without ever being ridden. The clutch plates would dry out and stick making for "notchy" downshifts. I remember pulling in the clutch on my FJR and it would take several seconds to disengage.

Not sure if S10's suffer the same problem, someone will chime in, but the solution was often taking the clutch plates out and giving them an oil bath. Just a little food for thought.
 

SmokinRZ

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The bike sat for about two years before I rescued it. Timing chain jumped due to faulty cct. I might ride it a little more before doing anything to see if it improves. The clutch doesn’t slip at all,


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scott123007

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If your clutch is not slipping, it is not worn out. Simple as that. Generally speaking, a clutch has absolutely nothing to do with ease of shifting UNLESS the plates are dragging or warped, AND you are using the clutch entirely for your gear changes. Changing gears in a motorcycle transmission are all about taking pressure off the shift forks. For instance, if you put a little up pressure on your shift lever, and without touching the clutch, roll off the throttle for a second, it will go into the next gear like butter. Down shifting is a little trickier, and takes practice, but if you blip the throttle as you depress the shift lever, it will downshift the same way. My bike has always had slightly notchy downshifting by using just the clutch, so I use the clutch, but also blip the throttle as I downshift, which overrides the slight drag the clutch might have.
 
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Checkswrecks

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The bike sat for about two years before I rescued it.
There's a missing factoid right there.

As Bokerfork wrote, the fix has been pretty simple and cheap. Try taking the clutch apart (the last plate can be hard to see and remove) and cleaning each of the pieces, then re-assemble. While apart you can measure thicknesses to see if any need replacement due to wear but I doubt they will.
Two hours tops.
 

SmokinRZ

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Yep other than notchy shifting and engagement at the end of the travel, no other symptoms. I think it drags on doesn't disengage all the way just enough to make it notchy. I had a Ranger truck that would not down shift or go into first when stationary, only while moving. New clutch fixed it.
 

EricV

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Sometimes a small air bubble will get trapped in the clutch line at the lower curve before getting to the slave cylinder. It's a royal pain and no amount of tapping or bleeding will get it out. What does work, and is easy to try, is remove the reservoir cover and rubber insert, place a rag over the reservoir to keep random stuff out, then slowly compress the lever to the bar and tie it down. Strap, bungie, what ever is handy for you. Now, leave it over night, then button everything back up and see how if feels.

I have had this happen when replacing lines on the Super Ten. I hope it corrects your issue. There isn't much else to go wrong considering your descriptions of everything else working fine.
 

SmokinRZ

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I might give it another shot, but the lever is firm and feels nice with no slack. I bled a lot of fluid through to flush the slave cylinder.
 

MattR

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I took the slave apart on my Zx14r at a similar mileage and both the bore and the piston were completely worn out. I replaced the slave with an Oberon unit and it made a world of difference. Not sure if the S10 would wear its slave out in the same way but sadly Oberon don’t make them for S10s


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OldRider

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If the clutch is not engaging until the lever is let all the way out, it's not totally disengaging which would cause the notching shifting. Like someone else said, if it's not slipping it's not wore out.

The weakest link on these clutches is the diaphragm style clutch spring. Replace it with a Barnett pressure plate kit with standard style springs and you will love your clutch again. I have seen a lot of Yamaha clutch problems over the years caused by the oem spring. The first thing I did when I got my S10 was to install the Barnett kit.

 
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