I am a moron...

[sefer]

Well if you see a few threads back I split my crank case to do my cam chain. Glad to say that all went well, once everything was back together it fired over pretty much straight away and ran well.. almost..

Two thing stood out that I decided I better check out. Number one, and the big issue in my mind was that while it idled well, and reved fine, as soon as I tried to put it into gear it'd stall (you can figure out the problem at this point..it's pretty stupid, additional hint, I didn't have the engine sprocket on at this stage. I won't tell you what it was just yet...rep points to the first person to get it ).

Above that the clutch was making a pretty bad knocking, thou I suspect this has always been the case and I was just paying more attention than usual.

Anyway I drained the oil, and was half way off with the clutch cover when I clicked on the first problem and thought to myself "you stupid bastard" . Anyway it was half off so I figured I'd check out the knocking.

Took the clutch apart, and here comes the part where I'm a moron, the clutch hub nut was tight as, couldn't get it to move, so I made a brace up to screw into the clutch spring nut pegs and..here it is...broke the pegs off, and if that wasn't bad enough, broke a small section out of the side of the hub

Yes that's right, I broke something that had completely nothing wrong with it, and the really good news..a new one is $700+!!!

Anyway, there is a point to this post apart from telling everyone how dumb I am. Can anyone tell me what other bikes might use the same clutch hub? I figure it'd make sense that more than one bike used each hub to keep the costs down. I know the zxr750 doesn't for sure, but maybe the 400 for another bike completely??? I did consider getting it welded somewhere, but that is likely to stuff up the ballance...yes?

Any help apprecated greatly
(and no I still haven't got it off, impact wrench I'm thinking..)

(I've since decided it's a bearing that is making the sound, should have checked when the case was cracked, but was really not wanting to find additional problems at the time)

[loosebruce]

Your're not a moron mate, Dss3 now thats a moron with his 400 cutting out and bogging in the hairpin at puke, after what he thought fixing the carb problems had fixed, only to have the genuis (used loosely) of WT diagnose the problem of you have no petrol in the tank.

[F5 Dave]

part 1 Sidestand vs gear position on these?

Next up, yup they break easily, but there is a fix by countersinking & fitting a short c/s bolt from the back to go into the thread. The side finger can be welded but only by someone real experienced & will need some cleaning up after.

So you took the clutch apart before? Spacer washer in the wrong place?

To undo the clutch you can use an impact gun (need compressor) or some soft ally in between the primary teeth (sometimes a tough rag will do). Can also put in gear & put on brake, depends on whether can lock up clutch & get to the nut. A couple of old plates bolted together work, or just pressure with the std ones if you can refit the springs, depends on clutch type.

[sefer]

Thanks for the advice. In gear with locking the back brake wasn't working, still too much movement, I can't use a impact gun cause my compressor won't be big enough apparently. Might try the soft metal between gears if I have no luck any other way. Worse case I'll take the whole engine somewhere with a impact gun.

Not the worse thing that can happen sure, just one of those things in the end. I'll try to get a second hand one probably. Welding probably won't save me a lot of cash in the end as I'll have to get someone to do it..

[Ixion]

Jamming the primary drive won't usually work, because you have to take the clutch plates out to get at the hub nut. Thus no connection to primary drive. Even on the rare bikes where it is possible, the clutch will usually slip, or you will damage the gear teeth.

What you can do is bodge the final drive. Either properly, by making a chain wrench out of a bit of old chain welded to a length of bar, or by jamming an foreign object between the chain and the front sprocket (or the rear one, but risk of damage is greater).Or, if you have strong wheels, jam the wheel with a lump of wood through the spokes. All rather risky and no repsonsibility accepted for any damage. Or weld an old set of plates together and weld on a handle. But those nuts can be jolly tight.

[sefer]

Yeah I tried all the above, they're all good ideas, but none worked That nut is F**ken tight. My father has an old work mate who works at SportZone in town, so he's going to take the engine in there and they'll impact gun it off for me.

F5 Dave

part 1 Sidestand vs gear position on these?

Bingo, there is a sidestand cut out switch, try to take off with the stand down and it cuts out the engine. Of course because I had the engine sprocket off to test it it never occurred to me

[boomer]

nice story mate, i feel ya pain.

[F5 Dave]

Ixion
Jamming the primary will always work, just you have to modify the method to suit, you put the plates back in to get a connection, the problem is if the pressure plate is what holds it down doesn’t allow you to get to the nut, haven’t seen many Kawasaki clutches, but my kdx I just put the plates in & pushed against them by hand & rattle gunned it (negates having to jam it but I had one so. . . ). 80/90s Hondas are a doddle as access is clear to the nut once you take the bearing plate out of the way & load the springs up again.

Clutch holder made of 2 plates bolted & jam will work well. Problem is not many people have old steel plates around even if they do have the fibres. I’ve borrowed clutch holders & made ones with old steel plates but you have to be careful with them & there are many different teeth sizes.

Found the back brake method useless on trail bikes as suspension just winds up. One of the big factors is you need to either shock the nut or have a big bar. I used to use an el-cheapo torque wrench which I bought only for this purpose, but the very spring nature was working against me. A long breaker bar really does wonders.

Remember you shouldn't really use the rattle gun to do it back up. Make sure you bend the washer back up, use some multigrip pliers to flatten it. On a nut that consistantly loosens a centrepunch against the side of the nut will make is less likely to loosen, careful not to gack the threads though.

[Motu]

Stripped my XT motor the other day,4 big 32mm nuts...final drive,crank,balance shaft and clutch - 3/4 gun and they didn't know what hit them.I'll use my 1/2 gun to put them on,but you have to know your weapon and have a bit of ''feel''.

[sefer]

Well I lugged the whole engine in to Sportzone Suzuki today and my fathers mate used their rattle gun to take it off, stupidly easy with the right tool

Now I've just got to find a replacement for the hub and I'll be sweet Not proving to be the easist thing to find, but I'll find one at somepoint, hopefully sooner than later.

I'm in two minds about actually looking for further problems now, but I'm busy till Thursday anyway, so I guess I'll re-assess that then. Does seem a little pointless to take all the effort so far and not have it right.