Not Just another DR350 Clutch.........!

[*Ian*]

Definitly will do, and now that im thinking i dont rember having any clearence of that at all. Could that attribute to rough shifting?

[neepuk]

Originally Posted by *Ian*

Definitly will do, and now that im thinking i dont rember having any clearence of that at all. Could that attribute to rough shifting?

Yes, that is a problem. You must have some play in there or the clutch plates will just bind together.

http://www.suzukidr350.com/images/dr...h_Overhaul.pdf

Picture #6 is a visual on clearancing. Read the whole thing, this should help.

[*Ian*]

ok, thatll be the next thing i check. i plan to pull her apart tomarow. ill let you know how it goes, maybe even pics...

[*Ian*]

ok well its quite strange, it has seemed to work it self out slightly. i just went out started her up, first kick ofcourse and rode he around lightly just to shift through and it shifted pretty darn smoothly, not buttery but 100% better, only thing i still encounter is when im sitting still it is rediculously hard to shift through the gears, a task now much easier when riding.

[kp207]

I went through all the same measures. I ended up clearencing my hub 3 times with little success. I then installed the oem friction plates and the issues of the bike pulling in gear and hard to find neutral were gone. Now that you have already clearenced the hub try oem plates, they worked for me. This is my post over at max. suzuki on this topic. http://www.maximum-suzuki.com/forums...c,59352.0.html

[Drif10]

So I had my clutch basket binding after a re-assembly. Some surfing got me this thread, as well as some on TT and Max-zuke, talking about having to shave some off the basket to get the adequate clearance.

The above pdf was no longer available, so I went ahead with the job, and figured I'd add to the knowledge base here.

What happens that when you tighten the clutch basket nut to the proscribed torque (40-60 NM), the inner basket should turn freely. Mine wasn't. As described by others, the inner and outer thrust washers combined with the spacer collar was not allowing things to rotate properly.

Here's the assembly in place:



That's a MotionPro clutch holder, a very useful tool for more than just what it was intended for. Not expensive, but a must have in any bike wrencher's toolbox. Get one now, even if you don't need it right away, you'll find it's really handy for a lot of things.

The holder is clamped on the inner basket, you can see the nut and tabbed lock washer in the center. Minus the holder, that part should spin freely. If it doesn't, here's what you do:

You'll need a couple of sheets of new emery cloth. I taped mine down to my workbench so that I could start slowly polishing down the gear on the back of the outer basket. This would normally face towards the transmission.

Here is the work station, and you can see the gear, end face already shiny after a few passes:





In a random circular pattern, I proceeded to slowly grind down the end face. You're only taking off a few thousand's of an inch, but it's a hardened gear, so it ain't fast.

I would clean it off, re=oil the whole thing, torque it back in place, and see if it was spinning freely. Can't put material back, so I took my time.

I also took a small piece of emery cloth and polished down the face on the other side, where the other thrust washer rides:



You can see it there as the two half moon shapes either side of the shaft hole.


Works great now. Make sure before every check you clean off all the grit and re-oil it generously, so as to not get a false reading. Ain't fast, but this works.

Hope this helps someone.

[AtlantaViking]

Awesome write up Drif10! I've been all over MaximumSuz and found alot of threads but most pointed back to the DR350 site that is gone - so until I found this I was kind of shooting in the dark.

Your pics are great and I just ordered thrust washers because thats going to be my first plan of attack - with clearancing the basket.

I'll post back on here to see let all know if this helped out my neutral finding problems when the bike it idling.