clutch basket?

[Anonymous]

I am going to send the clutch basket for my '82 GS1100E to APE to have the heavy duty kit installed, but first can someone give me an idea of how to tell if there is too much friction disk wear in the basket. The bike only has 13,500 miles on it, but the grooves are visible and can be felt. They have no sharp or rough edges though. The bike shifts fine, but goes to neutral instead of 2nd often.

Also, instead of sending the basket to APE, is it reasonable to have the stock rivets welded to the stock backing plate. The only movement in the basket is the 3 heavier springs in the backing plate rattle. Should there be two different weight springs in the stock backing plate?

Thanks for any input,
Billy Miles

[Anonymous]

Yes, the stock springs are two different size springs. Welding the rivets to the stock plate, is better than doing nothing at all, but not near as strong as the APE backing plate. The heavier you are, and the amount of hot-rodding you do makes the difference in how much mods you need on the clutch.

[cbxchris]

They will also rebalance your hub. If its jumping to neutral you probably have a shft fork issue to deal with.

[gsbill]

See if Jay and the boys can remove the spring on the inside of your hub...then machine the groove off...mill the slots out so then you will have full contact on your first steel/ plate instead of half contact from the factory. You just add an extra steel to make up the difference.

[Planecrazy]

Here's a followup question:

Can anyone describe the difference in "effort" with the heavy duty kit vs. the stock? Although I like the idea of upgrading the clutch (I'm about to replace the GS1100G clutch) I'm concerned that the effort required to actuate it will increase too much for my comfort (long term wrist problems). I'd rather give up the durability for easier operation if there's a large difference between the two.

Thanks in advance for the answer!

Steve 8)

[gsbill]

Ya clutch can get hard to pull with stiff springs. The idea is to find your stack height, then test all your springs at that height for the optimal clutch base setup. Not necessary on a streetbike...Just enjoy it!