Spring caps touching clutch cover

Yellow Meanie · March 05, 2009, 02:12:04 AM

Not long after I got the bike, I took off the clutch cover and cleaned it out.
Since then, I have noticed the spring caps have been rubbing against the inside of the cover.
They aren't cutting into the metal at all, they're just touching the paint.

Is there something wrong here? Or have I just tightened up the bolts too much, which squeezed the cover on closer to the caps?

needtorque · March 05, 2009, 02:57:29 AM

Did you put the rubber spacer back inbetween the cover and the case?

Ddan · March 05, 2009, 04:03:13 AM

Quote from: needtorque on March 05, 2009, 02:57:29 AM
Did you put the rubber spacer back inbetween the cover and the case?

+1 There are brass spacers in the rubber gasket. I had the same problem with an aftermarket cover.

â™£ McKraut â™£ · March 05, 2009, 04:40:45 AM

are you sure you tightened all of the bolts holding the caps on tight enough? it looks like one of the caps isn't scratched...

Speeddog · March 05, 2009, 11:55:15 AM

Make sure that the nut holding the clutch hub on is tight.

I've seen this happen twice.
One, the owner noticed something was wrong before it got too bad.

The second one, on a 996, owner had no clue.
Spring retainer bolt snapped, retainer jammed against the cover, rear wheel locked and the bike hit the deck.
Luckily it was low speed and damage wasn't too bad, rider was OK.
~$1300 repair.

NAKID · March 05, 2009, 06:59:45 PM

Quote from: needtorque on March 05, 2009, 02:57:29 AM
Did you put the rubber spacer back inbetween the cover and the case?

+1, that's my guess...

ShiftSix · March 05, 2009, 11:57:12 PM

I couldnt see that gasket making that much of a diff. I looked at mine and I have a 1/2 inch clearance with that gasket on and I know that gasket isnt taken up a 1/2'' ...
Tho I have the proitalia clutch cover so i am not sure if it has the same depth is the same as the stocker.

wow thats a bad angle and ya cant see the gap but oh well..

Yellow Meanie · March 06, 2009, 12:48:38 AM

Quote from: needtorque on March 05, 2009, 02:57:29 AM
Did you put the rubber spacer back inbetween the cover and the case?

What rubber spacer? $:-\$
I'm pretty sure it never had one.
I'll just space it with some washers then.

erkishhorde · March 06, 2009, 01:14:08 AM

Clutch hub nut. I had it happen to me. It got the point where the clutch hub dislodged itself and froze the clutch. Luckily I was right around the corner about 5 houses from my gf apartment and managed to find neutral before it gave out.

Take off the pressure plate and tighten the giant nut in the middle.

Holden · March 06, 2009, 01:50:09 AM

Quote from: Speeddog on March 05, 2009, 11:55:15 AMThe second one, on a 996, owner had no clue.
Spring retainer bolt snapped, retainer jammed against the cover, rear wheel locked and the bike hit the deck.
Luckily it was low speed and damage wasn't too bad, rider was OK.
~$1300 repair.

Ouch. Sounds like a good reason to ride with an open cover to keep an eye on things. @ OP, too.

Time to upgrade?

needtorque · March 06, 2009, 04:05:04 AM

Don't take the easy route of spacing the cover out until you check and make sure that center nut is tight. Be safe rather than sorry.

herm · March 06, 2009, 06:51:08 AM

i had this problem last time i cleaned the plates...
turned out i had not gotten the index mark exactly where it needed to be, causing the pressure plate to sit out too far.
this in turn caused the spring caps to rest against the (open) clutch cover.

luckily, i figured it out before i fired the bike up

jerryz · March 06, 2009, 07:23:34 AM

Quote from: Speeddog on March 05, 2009, 11:55:15 AM
Make sure that the nut holding the clutch hub on is tight.

I've seen this happen twice.
One, the owner noticed something was wrong before it got too bad.

The second one, on a 996, owner had no clue.
Spring retainer bolt snapped, retainer jammed against the cover, rear wheel locked and the bike hit the deck.
Luckily it was low speed and damage wasn't too bad, rider was OK.
~$1300 repair.

Ditto ..........this happened to me after a dealer did not torque the clutch up enough , set fire to the cover when the paint got red hot .

mitt · March 06, 2009, 07:34:23 AM

Quote from: Yellow Meanie on March 06, 2009, 12:48:38 AM

What rubber spacer? $:-\$
I'm pretty sure it never had one.
I'll just space it with some washers then.

Check out a parts diagram - the stock setup has a rubber gasket, about 1/4" thick, that has brass spacers captivated in the gasket at each bolt location. The spacers are what actually hold the cover up, not the gasket. But, I suspect there is something else happening too, as even without the brass spacers, I don't think my caps would touch.

mitt

erkishhorde · March 06, 2009, 07:39:07 AM

Side question. After looking closer at the picture I noticed that there is no notched spring post. On my '95 m900 there is a notched spring post to show where the marking on the pressure plate should go. Did the later models not have this notched post?

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Spring caps touching clutch cover