Best Dry Clutch Basket for the $ - Lightened Steel or Alloy???

[JoeB]

I'm contemplating purchasing an alloy clutch basket, but I want to be sure before I do, that it will last.

I have just ticked 40K on the bike now, and I'm getting ready to do the belts, valve clearances etc.

The steel basket I have in this bike is a DP one, but it's totally shagged. I have no idea what the previous owners did to the bike in terms of 'abuse' but the frictions and the basket are dire.

I've been reasonably careful with my clutch, but it is way too noisy now. I will say I do ride the bike pretty hard, but I'm not harsh on downshifts etc. The bike has got a problem with finding neutral (always has since I owned it) so I might have to change some internal bits too, but am hoping to delay that a little while if possible.

I've also contemplated a slipper clutch, but then my nice speedymoto pressure plate will have to go. And I like it too much now to part ways.

Anyone used the alloy ducabike basket??

I figure any alloy basket needs to be hardened and only use alloy plates, but I'm looking at the reinforcing band on that, which will stop the fingers spreading at higher RPM.

It's hard to tell if the DP basket was any good, as now it is so far gone it's just not possible to gauge if there is any  quality. Bearing in mind the bike is also 10 years old, so who knows when it was changed.

Failing that I guess I'll go for a lightened steel basket and the sureflex alloy plates, which will last a lot longer and only need friction changes  as opposed to frictions and baskets, so keeping maintenance low.

But I'd like to know what people are running and how long their clutch is lasting (style of riding)

If you can specify what brands you are using that would help.

TIA.

[brad black]

i've been fitting locally made light steel baskets for quite a while with barnett alloy plates.  seems to work well, haven't been informed of any issues.

how long they last and what sort of wear you get tends to depend a lot on how the owner rides, esp when both materials are the same.  how hard you are on and off the throttle has a lot to do with the tang wear ime.

also owner perception too.  i see some things that work perfectly fine that many people on forums would be traumatised by.

[JoeB]

Brad, Is this the same basket you sell to other workshops? (e.g. belt & bevel) I think Michael recommended that particular basket to me a while back.

I must admit I've been a little slack lately, and meant to ring you a couple of weeks ago, but I've been a bit busy with work etc.

I'll give you a call in the morning.

thanks.

[scaramanga]

I replaced my stock basket and clutch with a Pro-Cutting Hard Anodized Clutch Basket and barnett clutch kit.
Been beating it for 2 seasons now without any issues, no more noise and very smooth shifting.

[brad black]

i have sold some to belt and bevel in the past.  currently don't have any.

[ducpainter]

<snip>
also owner perception too.  i see some things that work perfectly fine that many people on forums would be traumatised by.

You must be talking about mine.

[Tricknology]

I replaced my stock basket and clutch with a Pro-Cutting Hard Anodized Clutch Basket and barnett clutch kit.
Been beating it for 2 seasons now without any issues, no more noise and very smooth shifting.

Was that the "kit" available from Desmotimes? I'd been looking long and hard at that prior to him closing up shop for the duration of his deployment. Sounds like it might be worth the wait.

[RAT900]

When I had my old 96 Rat bike I picked up an as-new 999 light weight basket take-off on e-Bay...

loaded it up with a surflex light weight plate stack

used to be a lot of them around as folks upgraded to slipper set-ups....worked fine

[scaramanga]

Was that the "kit" available from Desmotimes? I'd been looking long and hard at that prior to him closing up shop for the duration of his deployment. Sounds like it might be worth the wait.

nope, i just got the basket from desmotimes and the clutch kit from local parts guy.Perfect snug fit resulting in a very quite clutch, i couldn't be happier. Barnett made some mods to their kit also.
http://www.barnettclutches.com/news/news_detail.aspx?news_id=74

[extra330]

Was that the "kit" available from Desmotimes? I'd been looking long and hard at that prior to him closing up shop for the duration of his deployment. Sounds like it might be worth the wait.

I installed the full kit that Desmo times was offering a couple of years ago. I forget the brand at the moment bit was a complete kit including the hub, basket, and all the plates. I've probably only put 4-6k miles on it but so far no complaints other than I've not ridden the s4rs enough. I'm pretty sure LT outsourced all of the components so it should be too difficult to piece together the parts you'll need on your own. I'll look through my records & post up any useful info I may find.

Cheers
Mike

[extra330]

A little googling revealed  this http://www.desmotimes.com/clutch_products.htm

Hope that helps you out a bit


Cheers

[1.21GW]

Bump for follow up:

JoeB, did you end up getting a new basket?

I just swapped out my rusty OEM springs for new stainless steel ones and in the process noticed my basket has some serious wear.  Thinking of replacing it with either the (1) LT Snyder hard anodized one or (2) the EVR 48T one from Monsterparts.  Thoughts?

Also, what are the consequences of running a worn clutch basket too long?

[Speeddog]

I've got 24k miles on a Barnett basket, still looks great.

Consequences of running a basket too long?
They get very loud, and clutch action can get grabby.

[koko64]

+1

I would steer you toward our sponsors, because they are our sponsors.
Kits available from sponsors to consider, not in any order.
The EVR 48 tooth basket and plate kit
Nichols basket and Barnett plates
Barnett basket and plates
Nichols or Barnett basket and choice of plates like Surflex, etc

You can mix and match as long as the teeth number are the same. I'm currently running a Nichols basket, Barnett driven plates and alloy oem friction plates. Beware that mixing and matching plates can create clutch pack height issues and require some fiddling of the stack height.

In what shape is the Drum/Hub?

[1.21GW]

In what shape is the Drum/Hub?

Dunno, actually.  I am going to check take closer look this week and see how bad the basket it.  I might have overreacted since I have no baseline.  Am I able to evaluate the drum/hub without taking apart the clutch?  I assume no and don't really want to take things apart since all is running well currently.