The clutch on my 96 is acting strange. Or at least I think it's strange. It's nice and smooth until the lever is just about all the way out, and then it grabs strongly. It seems to shudder a bit at the engagment point as well. I can avoid the shutter by giving it more RPM's but using the friction zone in traffic is not easy.
It's been like this since I bought it, and it seems to be worse when the bike is hot. I've even stalled it a couple of times [:@]
I've completely changed the fluid and bleed the system. I haven't looked at the clutch plates themselves, but at a tick under 12K miles, I wouldn't think that they are bad already.
It's almost like and on-off lever rather then a progressive engagement.
Any ideas?

 

Here's a couple of thoughts;

1. Springs can become weak if under heavy load regularly.
2. Clutch basket can end up getting notches in the outer tabs and create chatter.
3. Friction plates on the inside could have heated up.
4. Clutch pushrod might need adjustment.

I have experienced these on other bikes but not yet on the cbr. Let us know if you find the issue.

 

There's an adjustment for the clutch push rod?
I'll have to look more closely at my manual. I was thinking that I might just go ahead and order up the new plates and springs and replace them all. Any suggestions on where I can get either a full kit or individual pieces here in the states? Other then paying the stealer...er dealer mark up, that is.

 

I think I was thinking about my buddies 97 tl1000s. it has the screw where you can turn the slave rod in and lock it in place. As far as getting the clutch kit, dennis kirk has them (www.denniskirk.com); vesrah for $90 and EBC for $67. Not sure about ebay though. My bike has 11k on it and am always looking for back up general maintenence parts.

 

Those kits are just the friction discs. No springs or plates. I'm thinking that I should probably also get the lifter rod bearing and guide, along with the judder spring as well.
I can get those from www.ronayers.com along with the springs.
If I'm going to open it up, I might as well replace those parts too. Do you think it would be worth while to replace the plates too?

 

Well if your going to tear it all down to do what you noted, just look at the friction discs. Sometimes the inner plates can wear down faster than the outer plates. I have had other bikes and dirt bikes where the friction plates have started to or did end up cracking and some of the material got disinigrated in the clutch basket. In those situations, I have had to replace them. Replacing only one or two plates is silly. I have reversed some of the plates before, like taking the outer 2 or 3 and swapping them with the inner 2 or three, depending on how much wear the plate has experienced.

I can't remember if our plates are made from aluminum or are steel plates. I'm pretty sure there steel plates which wouldn't warp like aluminum one do.

I guess when ya tear it down, you'll find out then. Would be nice and handy to have the discs on hand.

 

The initial symptom here is almost exactly how my clutch operates, smooth until almost fully engaged then ker-klunk it grabs. I've never come close to stalling the bike with this, but it is not a smooth operation all the way through. This is only true when setting off from a standstill, not really noticeable when driving along.

Also, my gearchange is quite clunky, especially when the bike is hot. Not down shifting, but upshifting. I'm wondering if a change of hydraulic fluid might help? I did read somewhere else that the CBR1000F was known for having a clunky gearshift - is that generally true?

Cheers

 

Mine is similar, I have clutch slip when the bike is cold as well.
I was thinking of change the brand/type of oil to see if it would make a diffrents