Whobble in my clutch
 

Hi there,

A mechanic in Windhoek (Namibia) just replaced the friction plates of my africa twin. Now there some kind of whobble in the lever and the bike doesn't accelerate smoothly when I drive slowly. It feels the same as when your front braking disc is a little bend.

Also, with a cold engine, it makes a sound of mountainbike brakepads on a wet rim....

What could be the problem (and the solution?)

Blimey that doesn't sound safe!

If i were you i would take a look yourself. I'm not sure how difficult it is to get to the clutch on the AT, but with most bikes it is fairly easy.
Its possible the bolts are not tightened correctly but i really can't say. Hopefully a look inside might shed some light on it.

Good luck
Rob

Hi Corne,

I'm not an expert on AT's but here is a guess: I assume you had to replace the the plates becuase the were worn. May be the clutch slipped a lot in the period just before you changed them and with that the clutch got overheated a little. Changing the friction plates is the normal procedure, but if the other steel plates are bend a little by the heat, they could better be replaced too.
If these plates are bend, this could give you the feeling you describe.

So I guess that because of the bend the clutch cannot come fully clear now and will slip a little alle the time you use the clutch. Except for the feeling, I don't think it really is a problem, but the new plates probably will wear more quickly now.

You probably know how many kilometers you drove with they old clutch and how many kilomters you are going to travel the rest of the trip. Depending on the kilomters and which counties you will be travelling you could order new plates (friction and steel!) to pic up later to be on the safe side.

As replacing clutchplates is not a very difficult operation, I think the chance they made an error while replacing them is not so big. But you could indeed open the clutch and have a look. Take care not to damage the gasket! Be careful while tightening the nuts of the clutch basket, they break of fairly easy when you use to much force.
Maybe an expert on AT's can give you some more advice (as XT's are more my speciality).

cheers

Peter

Hello Buurman,

Just wondering how you were doing on your clutch... IRK again?

Grtz
Meindert