Slipping Clutch

[MillaMeter]

Hi,

Since the begining of winter last year my clutch has been slipping very badly non stop. Anything over 10k and I might aswell get off and push it. When I took the steels out 2 months ago, they were every colour of the rainbow so I decided to get new 1s (OEM Kawasaki of course) I've also got good condition friction plates in there too with plenty of meat left on them. It came to me it might be the springs, I got 6 new springs sitting on my desk ready to fit at the weekend but if this doesn't solve my slipping clutch...I don't know what will.

just out of interest does anyone know what length these springs has to be? Before you say anything it's for a ZX400 1988 G not ZXR400

Regards

Rich

[mickthemirkin]

Rich,

Have you changed the oil of late? Either old oil or car oil that doesn't have the required additives can cause clutch problems.

Just wondered.

Mick.

[MillaMeter]

Hi,

Yeah using motorcycle oil changed the oil and filter 2 months ago. The clutch stopped slipping for a while and then just came back The clutch doesn't slip when the engine is cold, but as soon as it warms up it gets really bad.

Just really hoping these springs will sort it.

what about using thicker oil?

Regards

Rich

[mickthemirkin]

Rich,

I'm not sure using thicker than the specified oil will cure it. I'd be very interested to hear what difference the new springs make.

Only other thing I can think of is did you abrade the friction plates before putting them back? Sometimes a thick glaze on them can cause clutch slip. Just a thought.

Mick.

[extonyg]

just thought you might want to know, my bike had oil that was too thick in it and when it was in gear with the clutch fully in it used to creep forward very slightly as the oil was thick and pushing the plates together which sometimes made it hard to get neutral. changed the oil for the correct spec and its all good now.thicker oil wont damage anything tho so might be worth a try.

[masterofinsanity]

did you clean the new steels with a high flash solvent before fitting them??

[MillaMeter]

Hi,

Oh yeah I've done all the right stuff properly, I've fitted the new spings today, the old springs were 5mm smaller then the new ones so they were fecked. I checked the measurements in the manual and the old springs were exaclty 38mm (service limit) Went of for a ride today and the clutch is a hell of lot better in the mid range and towards the top end but still slipping after 12k

I think the only thing left to do now is to buy kawasaki friction plates. I think the EBC ones are just crap in genural. I've heard a couple of stories of people saying EBC priction plates for the ZXR400 are naff so I might give cradleys a ring.

Regards

Rich.

[MillaMeter]

Hi,

This problem is now solved, It turnt out to be the springs after all. The old 1s were bang on the service limit (38.1) The bike wont stop wheeling now lol

Bring on the sunshine!

Regards

Rich

[RedexRobB]

so how come it was still slipping after you put the new ones in? But not now?

[MillaMeter]

so how come it was still slipping after you put the new ones in? But not now?

Hi,

Forgot to mention that I forgot to back off the little clutch cable adjuster up by the lever lol

Regards

Rich

[parby81]

school boy error bud!!!

[MillaMeter]

Hi,


Back again and it's STILL slipping. Bear in mind I'm using a non KBATL clutch (standard kwaka ZX400 clutch) so far I've changed the oil, springs, steels and oil filter and still no luck. The only thing it could be now is the friction plates but to be honest they don't look worn at all, still loads of meat on them. They are made by EBC... I heard that EBC plates in the ZXR are skunk after a few hundred miles, I wonder if buying OEM plates would cure it? Somewere on the forum I posted a thread were I was going ahead with fitting a KBATL clutch to my ZX400 engine but didn't because I was told that it wouldn't fit. Would be interesting to know if it does.

Regards

Rich

[cargo]

What oil was in your bike before you changed it ?

What oil did you put in it ?

If it's been slipping over a period of time the fibre plates will be worn just as you steels looked blue and worn/warped