Clutch & Drive line issues

[Sonny]

My 99 standard has 39,000 miles on it.  It has never been apart other than regular maintenence.  I do ride it pretty hard. I don't melt the tire not that kind of hard. But I very much enjoy turning the throttle when I'm getting on the highway or just have the room to do so.

What mileage or time frame has anyone replaced the clutch?  And is it something I can do in my own garage with normal tools?  What all has to come off to get to it?

Drive line, I noticed I get some vibration at higher speeds and durring decelloration from higher speeds.  I have seen pictures on the website of worn out drive shafts, main out put shafts.  Not sure where to look first. I don't mind turning wrenches but do not want to do unnessasary work if not needed.

Would like some input from those who have been there..

[sandy]

Your vibration symptons sound like a U joint going out.

[Airetime]

My 99 standard has 39,000 miles on it.  It has never been apart other than regular maintenence.  I do ride it pretty hard. I don't melt the tire not that kind of hard. But I very much enjoy turning the throttle when I'm getting on the highway or just have the room to do so.

What mileage or time frame has anyone replaced the clutch?  And is it something I can do in my own garage with normal tools?  What all has to come off to get to it?

Drive line, I noticed I get some vibration at higher speeds and durring decelloration from higher speeds.  I have seen pictures on the website of worn out drive shafts, main out put shafts.  Not sure where to look first. I don't mind turning wrenches but do not want to do unnessasary work if not needed.

Would like some input from those who have been there..

Ok, first the clutch, it is a solid built clutch and the only upgrades that I know of is to either buy the Burnett HD Springs or double up on the Honda OE springs. Most of the problems appear not with it slipping so much as the rivets going out (mine was at about 30k) I opted for the Burnett Springs which I like as there is no slipping coming out of the hole. If you do a lot of stop and go, you will build up your left hand grip. If the clutch is toast then check this link  /www.far-riders.com/albums/thumbnails.php?album=68&page=1

 If you do a lot of stop and go, you will build up your left hand grip.

As far as the vibration? Check the U-joint. http://www.rattlebars.com/mtz/ujoint.html

[DFragn]

These clutches [friction plates] are very tough hombres. However, the rivets for the dampener plate don't fair as well.  You'll know that's a problem when the clutch begins to chatter and when you can't pull the clutch lever in all the way to the grip & you'll slowly begin to have problems getting it into 1st. gear.
I did my clutch in the garage. An impact wrench is a good idea to remove the clutch basket nut. And somewhere [I've forgotten for now] there is a writeup of how to compress the clutch spring to replace the plates, a poor mans way sans specific tools.

I was a shade tree kinda guy 'till the clutch. It wasn't bad. It just took some time. I could do it again in a weekend. I won't admit to how long the first time took.

If it's really your clutch, a Honda dealer will charge about $1,400.00 and up. I did it for about $300.00

I would check your drive line first from the u-joint back to the dif.
A few dampener plate rivets have gone out at 30k as reported here. Mine went out at about 60k.

In this first pic you can see the dampener springs piled up on each other and pressed/warped the clutch.
That's the cause of the lever restriction.

[Chrisj CMA]

Are you saying that in 39,000 miles the final drive has never been pulled? 

I wouldnt go far before pulling the final drive and driveshaft, might as well yank the u-joint just to see the whole deal.

The drive shaft should be pulled and a total lube done with every tire (if you get around 10K on a tire) If you get 20K on a tire like me, then you should do it at 10 and then at tire change

Good luck, hope all is well

[Ricky-D]

Sonny, I wouldn't worry about the trouble being anything other that the u-joint. It's an easy fix and a new u-joint is around eighty bucks on-line.

You can easily check the u-joint by sliding the boot off and inspection. You'll have to remove the foot brake assy to do this.

The biggest problem the rear drive will experience will be water intrusion leading to an emulsion of the lubricant. I simply check it occasionally to insure it is not contaminated using the old auto mechanic trick of sticking the pinky in the fill hole.

When replacing the u-joint it's important to follow the correct tightening procedure to avoid a mis-alignment of the drive assy.

No big deal however on any of it and no reason to worry unnecessarily.  Getting a manual is strongly suggested.

***

[Sonny]

Thank you all for your input.  I have a nice ride coming up this week end so she won't come apart until next week. It's not like she's just falling apart.

Looks like I will check the u-joint first and then start at the back and go forward. I have always had the Honda shop install the tires so other than changing the grease/oil it's never been apart. I have pretty decent repair manual so I should be alright. Nice to have input so I don't end up taking apart a dozen things I didn't need to.

Got it home tonight and noticed the fuel petcock is leaking!  I think she's trying to tell me something ??  Stop polishing and waxing and start turning some wrenchs.

I want all to be perfect for the Inzane trip next year!

[mikeb]

if ya do check the ujoint out i have found it's easier to get the boot back on with the bike sitting with the wheels on the ground and on the side stand & i removed the rear master cylinder & cover to check mine just dont push the foot brake while its hanging there ..

[Sonny]

I was looking at the u-joint boot and rear brake set up last night not a problem.

Can I get to the clutch and get it out once the swing arm is removed?   I have read the manual I've got and it shows a nice picture of the cover and how to remove it from the motor but not much info on how to get to it.

Thanks everone for the input...  I'm sure I'll have more questions before I'm done.

[mikeb]

i think you can get to the clutch after removing the swing arm but i think i would realy check out the drive line first inspecting the rear spline . ujoint and the slip joint down by the rear pig .but if its vibe you are chasing please check the rear tire pressure first seen a few take the bike apart just to find out the only had 10 psi in the rear..

[Sonny]

I have it all apart.  U-joint seems to be fine, but not sure about the splines in each end. When I slide it onto the drive shaft it seems to have some play in it.

The bad part is in the final drive unit. The hub side of the pinion ring and the drive flange both seem to have about 20% of the teeth worn off.  I'm trying to get the gearcase cover off the housing with doing any damage.

 Parts will be around $400.00 to fix it.  The service manual actualy says ( the tools will exceed the cost of having the repairs done by your Honda dealer)  not if I can help it!

Has anyone done this?

[Gore]

The service manual actualy says ( the tools will exceed the cost of having the repairs done by your Honda dealer)  not if I can help it!

Yea, that's BS as far as I'm concerened, I'm not the handiest and it was easy. My splines wore out. I found some good as new used parts at Pinwall's. I bought a whole final drive assembly, shaft, driven gear for cheaper than driven gear new.

Worked out great and now I have spares.

[valkmc]

I just did my clutch this summer, rivets went on the way home from Detroit (to Central Florida). I got home and tore it apart because I could not get in in first gear, she was fine on I-75 so I made it back.
I took off the left exhaust and the rear wheel, foot bracket left also. Jacked her up high on my jack and took it apart. The rivets were shot, but the clutch plates were fine. I had a few small nicks in the basket but rubbed most of them out. The bike had 63,000 on it. The only thing I needed help with was compressing in the basket assembly so I could take it apart and out it back together. A local shop did it for me both times $5 each time. I spent just under $300 and that included new dampers for the rear wheel. You can easily do it yourself, just go slow and have a manual handy.

[Sonny]

Thanks Gore for the tip on Pinwall.  

Never heard of them before.  They have several final drive assemblies.  They all look pretty rough but doesn't mean the parts inside are not in good shape.  I'm still not worried about anything but getting the cover off the back of the housing.  It looks like the factory put an epoxy or a dry hard sealer when the two parts were assembled from the factory.

I have finaly gotten it apart.  The inside in excellent condition. So it looks like the gear between the drive hub and ring and pinion is the main problem.  Not enough lubricant from the factory.

Time to order some new parts and get it back together. The VTX is nice but it's no Valkyrie.