Does this look like to much metal.
 

I started a teardown of a 1987 xt600 and when I removed the clutch cover I was surprised to see so much shavings, I didn't see any part numbers floating around but the amount of shavings seemed excessive. I haven't gone any further on the engine but plan on spending the winter on this project and hope to ride it to D2D.

I doesnt look to good.

It looks like the teeth under the big nut have some heavy wear. Maybe it is just camera distorting the view.

But if it is the teeth then it is a pretty easy fix.

Thanks for the feedback. I'll get some better pictures and of the shaving. There wasn't any metal in the filter and the shavings were pretty packed in the cover.

Your clutch pack consists of fiber disks and metal disks. They both wear over time and will deposit very fine fuzzy material on the drain magnet and also inside the cover. If that's all it is then I would consider replacing the clutch pack if it shows that it is needed, ( you can find the specs for what their thickness range should be before replacement ).

Your post doesn't say how many miles/kilometers on the engine or if you had any clutch issues before the tear down.

I like to use the KISS principle when dealing with motorcycles. Often it is the simplest thing that is causing the problem.

If you still have lots of room on the clutch adjustment and no slippage, I would just change the oil and you'd be good to go.

The bike has 24k and I don't know any of the history. The metal is more flakes not fuzz its more like shavings, I'm gonna have to dig deeper into the gearbox. I have a lot of free time this winter so it looks like I'm gonna overhaul an xt600 engine. The frame is getting blasted and I should get it back next week, so before I spend any more time or money on the frame I guess I will get into the engine, Its odd that there wasn't any metal in the filter.

Thanks for the input, I might put it back together and put some miles on it, then open i up again to see if the metal shows back up.

That's what I'd do....



You don't know how long it's taken for those deposits to build up.

Deposits are normal. No matter what your lubricant. You have metal grinding on metal thousands of times a minute.

On new engines, it's very common indeed. That's why you have a 600 mile service. To flush out all the crap. New bikes are usually filled with a different type of oil to help this process. (or cheaper)... :cool4:

If you ever changed the oil on a BMW, you get swarf every time. Especially in the gear box and the rear wheel drives even more so. You'd have a heart attack if you paranoid about such things.



However, being an older XT600.. Those 5th gear problems would have me guessing.