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So when you remove the spring plate, it creates a chattering noise? I cant imagine it being any louder than the rocker box or exhaust? The spring plate is mandated why? (EPA?) As noise reduction? What? I'd say get rid of the spring plate which looks like when those rivets go.... Spring plate was designed to have your bike worked on by their mechanincs. F-that!
Here is the spring plate out of my bike, overlaying a steel:
in this shot you can see the gap (look at the shadow) as well as the 'wave' in the spring;
relaxed it measures in at .203 inch, was likely a little more when new
compressed it measures .187 inch, a difference of .016 (1/64th of an inch) a relatively large amount of 'springiness' compared to the compressibility of the friction material. Your effective friction zone is extended by 1/64th of an inch.
For this to absorb torque would require rotational movement between the plates. If you look at this image, you can see the teeth are the same size and shape of the regular steel underneath it... no room for rotational movement, since all the plates slide axially in the same groves in the basket. The only rotational play I could feel was the few thousands of an inch slop of the rivets in their holes.
That's because the Sportster spring plate was not designed to do that job... at all, unless you think the few thousandths clearance in the grooves and rivet slop would be adequate.
Here is the Barnett extra plate clutch pack that replaced the above components, notice the 2 rings at the top right, those are spring washers that do the same job as the original spring plate. One is concave in shape (Bellville washer)
Here are the Barnett instructions on assembling the pack, with the spring washers installed first
There is no way this type of spring, or the original spring plate would damp any torque forces.
I agree with this post 100% I have the SE clutch and it does not have the spring plate, just an extra disk. It's a tad harder to pull, but not bad at all and now I don't have to worry about the spring plate breaking again. I was always told the sping plate was in there to make the cluch easier to pull in and to also expand the friction zone some.
Yes after seeing that I would agree that it is only to expand the friction zone of the clutch not as the OP stated to absorb torque shock from the driveline.
I imagine it's there to assist beginner riders so they are less likely to stall it at a light but I wonder do the replacement clutches feel more "grabby" than the OEM clutch?
Yes after seeing that I would agree that it is only to expand the friction zone of the clutch not as the OP stated to absorb torque shock from the driveline.
I imagine it's there to assist beginner riders so they are less likely to stall it at a light but I wonder do the replacement clutches feel more "grabby" than the OEM clutch?
These "replacement" clutch packs (Barnett, Energy One and the SE Pack) are high performance clutches. They're designed to handle more horsepower without slipping. As such, they are a bit more "grabby", but it's something you get use to pretty quickly by adjusting your "slip" technique in the narrower friction zone.
I'm using the SE pack, but if I was to do it over, I would go with the Energy One as their setup doesn't appear to increase the clutch lever pull force as much as the SE pack. People running the Energy One pack seem to report a 10-15% increase in pull, while the SE pack is closer to a 40% increase in my experience.
I do realize that this is a VERY old thread but it helped me sort the issue out on my own bike a few years ago. I first tried the two steel/one friction plate substitution for the spring plate and that worked however I got a VERY annoying squeal when taking off in first gear, sounded like a slipping fan belt and learned that some others had the same result. The judder spring setup in the old Barnett clutch diagram above got me thinking and after some research I learned that the XR1200 and Buell XB's use the same arrangement so I ordered those three parts. Five years on the clutch works fine and no squeal. The parts shown replace the first friction plate which is then used along with two steel plates in place of the spring plate. This is just one fix of many, others have used aftermarket clutches or just an aftermarket spring plate successfully from what I have read...
Last edited by 08xl1200r; Feb 10, 2024 at 08:55 PM.
I have one installed. I did the extra plate kit but couldn't get rid of the squeal at take off. I looked into the Buell mod mentioned above but it seemed like a hassle. The Alto plate seemed to be the best option for a little peace of mind.
Last edited by OCSpringer; Feb 11, 2024 at 11:23 AM.
I have one installed. I did the extra plate kit but couldn't get rid of the squeal at take off. I looked into the Buell mod mentioned above but it seemed like a hassle. The Alto plate seemed to be the best option for a little peace of mind.
Yes, with the Alto HD spring plate using stainless steel rivets at around 18,000 miles. I found there was nothing wrong with the factory spring plate when I pulled the clutch apart. I also replaced the 'throw out bearing" ball bearing with a thrust bearing while I was in there.
The bike is now pushing 37,000 miles with zero issues.
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