Clutch Basket Mod Part II - Page 26 - Stromtrooper Forum : Suzuki V-Strom Motorcycle Forums

greywolf · #**251** 06-20-2012, 12:53 AM

The 2012 Vee is no different.

mtnairmist · #**252** 06-20-2012, 01:01 PM

My K7 lugged a sidecar for 17,000 of its first 20,000 miles and the chudder had become nearly unbearable as the engine pulled through the 3-4000 RPM range with the extra 350 lbs. of steel and fiberglass. Fully loaded for a road trip meant my total weight was near 1400 lbs. Then the chudder would rattle your teeth as you tried to get up to speed and past the dreaded chudder zone.

Over this past winter the sidecar came off, clutch removed and sent to Terry for the Werks, and all put back together again. I did mine with the assistance of another local Vee owner (K2) and he removed his at the same time and sent it off to Terry. (he had parked his vee and didn't ride it anymore because of the chudder)

After 5,000 miles so far this spring, including a 2500 mile fully loaded trip to Missouri and thereabouts, I am absolutely amazed at my new Vee! I could go on and on, but if this basket mod can withstand the rigors of toting this load around, it's a strong statement of the RealShelby product for our Vee. Thanks Terry, I will report back in about 10,000 miles of abuse to your basket..

P.S. My friend that did his basket said the "new" Vee is now his new favorite ride, his K2 had the chudder from the day he bought it used several years ago.

Mtnairmist

realshelby · #**253** 10-25-2012, 04:35 PM

Many of you have heard of me and owners mention the “WERKS” clutch baskets. I have been building what is more or less the current version for two years now. The name WERKS was used to differentiate the fully modified baskets from the old shim mod stuff I was doing. I have not revealed too many details about the workings of the WERKS baskets on any forums. I have sent detailed info to owners so they would have some idea what they were getting. There has been many, many hundreds of thousands of miles put on the WERKS baskets by owners and none are showing any sign of chudder returning!

Below are some details and highlights of what goes into making a WERKS basket. The same techniques and processes are used on brand new baskets and the SV process is almost identical. There are other things but this is a good outline of the process. ALL machining, welding, fabrication is done by me in my shop.

This picture shows the worn factory bearing surface. The rings in it are wear from the poorly machined bearing surface of the big steel gear. Both sides of the bearing have a substantial bevel that takes away from bearing surface area. This is done to make casting them easier. The width of the bearing is approximately .290”

This picture shows the basket after the new bearing is installed. The width of the new bearing is approximately .355”. That is a significant increase in bearing area which helps support the basket.

The inner plate in the basket is where a LOT of the chudder and vibration originate. When it wears it messes up the timing, spring rates, and can throw the assembly out of balance. This picture shows where the inner plate pushes against the aluminum basket. The shiny spots you see are all that contact the basket and these are from a well worn basket. A new basket has much less area in contact. As it wears it hammers its way in a little deeper till the spring is hitting the aluminum as much as the plate.

I machine 3 bushings to fit into the plate and around the stop posts. Once these are fitted the plate is EXACTLY where the factory design intended. Then I can carefully weld in filler metal to the edge of the plate where you seen the shiny wear areas above. This is across the face of the plate and a little wider than the original plate. This is then hand fitted to the basket for a slight interference fit. This gives many times the surface area to push against the basket and since it cannot hammer back and forth it will stay tight and do its job for a long, long time.

This picture shows the other side of the plate and what it looks like after fitting to the basket. It also shows a very important part of the work done to the basket to replace the rivets that the factory uses to hold everything together. Since the “stop posts” are a critical part of the baskets strength I did not want to take any metal out of them. I chose a fastener that allowed me to tap threads into the existing hole diameter. That way, short of a slight amount of metal removed in the threading process, the full strength of the stop posts are maintained in the WERKS package.

This is a finished inner plate being installed during the assembly process.

One of the unique things about the WERKS design is the shims I use to tune the baskets performance. I machine these and then harden/temper them. They have a raised portion in the center to keep them in place, no welded retainer is required. I have spent a LOT of time developing the right diameter, thickness and design for these!

The factory basket has only one bearing supporting the basket to the steel gear. I engineered a second bearing fitted to the top plate that supports the basket from both sides of the steel gear! This picture shows the freshly machined area where the second bearing rides on the gear.

This picture shows the second bearing fitted to the top plate and has just been machined to the proper height. Other basket components ready for assembly are shown to the left.

Springs and shims shown in installed position.

Completed basket ready for shrink wrapping and packaging.

The top is a brand new SV basket, left is a WERKS package SV basket, right is a DL WERKS package basket.

I hope to bring some more news about my work with the clutch baskets soon!

hunt1moore · #**254** 10-25-2012, 04:48 PM

Is this typical Suzuki clutch basket design? If I remove my basket from my Suzuki M109R (which several are known to have developed chudder) will it look and operate similar?

realshelby · #**255** 10-25-2012, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hunt1moore

Is this typical Suzuki clutch basket design? If I remove my basket from my Suzuki M109R (which several are known to have developed chudder) will it look and operate similar?

I have not had a basket from the M109R at my shop so I cannot say what they look like. The SV 1000, DL 1000 baskets look very similar and have the same design issue that causes the chudder. I do have a basket from a Hayabusa. It shares a similar design as far as the layout and typical parts yet it is completely different in the dimensions. There is nothing about it that is interchangeable as some thought, the clutch discs are similar and that is about it.

After looking at some info on the M109R the clutch is about as different as it could be! I'll look into them some more and see what turns up.

marc99 · #**256** 10-30-2012, 08:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by realshelby

I have not had a basket from the M109R at my shop so I cannot say what they look like. The SV 1000, DL 1000 baskets look very similar and have the same design issue that causes the chudder. I do have a basket from a Hayabusa. It shares a similar design as far as the layout and typical parts yet it is completely different in the dimensions. There is nothing about it that is interchangeable as some thought, the clutch discs are similar and that is about it.

After looking at some info on the M109R the clutch is about as different as it could be! I'll look into them some more and see what turns up.

Which plates are blue in a badly chattering clutch?

Marc

realshelby · #**257** 10-30-2012, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marc99

Which plates are blue in a badly shuddering clutch?

Marc

Marc, the clutch plates won't show anything related to chudder. Chudder develops in the clutch basket assembly or "Primary Gear Driven" as it is called in the manual.

If by shuddering you mean a jerky engagement I would say that there are very few cases of that and even fewer cases of the clutch driven plates (steels) turning blue. The Vee has a very durable clutch overall. I have yet to have an owner say the internal clutch friction components were worn to the point of not being in spec on a Vee even at high mileage. I would think it would take a LOT of abuse to turn the plates blue!

Tumblweed · #**258** 10-31-2012, 12:56 AM

This does happen. I think only from someone off roading the Vee and having to slip the clutch a lot. I have seen it more frequently in the 650. The clutch becomes grabby because the steel plates warp. You just have to abuse your bike real hard.

marc99 · #**259** 10-31-2012, 01:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tumblweed

This does happen. I think only from someone off roading the Vee and having to slip the clutch a lot. I have seen it more frequently in the 650. The clutch becomes grabby because the steel plates warp. You just have to abuse your bike real hard.

How do they warp? How much do the warp? Do they all turn blue? or just some?
Thanks -

louisxander · #**260** 10-31-2012, 02:26 AM

RealShelby, you're doing a great job!!

My Vee I noticed the shudder when I bought it on 17000km, but now at 27000km a year later I do not even notice it anymore...

Hope you can ship to South Africa one day when I need a clutch package!!

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