New clutch plates

[bikerboy]

What does everybody think about fitting new clutch plates to a 4 spring clutch. Should I soak them in oil first or not bother? I have had both options recommended

[shuswapkev]

bikerboy
4 spring in a 50 or so a10...
I put mine in dry...??  havent put the dog dish over the top.....and all seems fine...easy shifting...neutral easily selected at a stop...
when I take apart...there is a bit of oil on...
using bonded plates...... certainly aren't as smooth or nice as cork plates...but I couldn't find enough good ones  of those to recork

I have to break the clutch free on cold starts ...for sure...but the same on my shovelhead...    I use about a cup and a half of 30 wt oil in the primary...??

I worked over all my steelys on glass and sandpaper...squared up the dogs...
I also drilled the rivets out of the drum and disassembled..... to be able to file the splines out on the hub...get those all neat...
spent a bit of time getting the pressure plate to release evenly...within about .020
are you using the dog dish??
kind of funny making a bunch of rivets up on my DRO lathe...a bit of the old and new...

[bikerboy]

Thanks for your reply I have a new clutch housing on the way and have not actually seen it yet its a 1956 BSA

[duTch]

 I put new plates in my Rocket Plunger the other week; maybe washed them in petrol, put them in dry- no cover/tophat/dogs bowl, and it works fine... Just need to keep the oil (ATF) in there now. .. .

[edboy]

the oil is there to lubricate the chain and the bearing as well as to spot mark a concrete patch where your bike is usually parked up. the less oil on a friction surface the better in my humble opinion.

[East_Coast_BSA]

It's a dry clutch, you don't need oil on the plates.  The belt-drive conversions run no oil at all (I'm guessing they probably have a sealed bearing under the clutch).  People think that slathering everything with oil is a good thing.  This is not always true.  I know people who soak pistons with oil before installing them in the bores.  Worst thing you can do, but they do it anyway.

[duTch]

 

Just need to keep the oil (ATF) in there now. .. .

 It's ~100ml, for the chain books recons 95ml, but still doesn't come out the level screw hole

[bsa-bill]

my mate tried the no oil theory and abandoned it after a short trial run as the chain was far too hot to touch, I've read here of folks that do run dry it so there must be something they do to dissipate the heat, maybe  drilling lots of holes for airflow.

[muskrat]

I raced my A7SS for 8 years with an open primary, chain driven 4 spring. Just a few second spray of chain lube before each race. For road use a wet primary is a must.
Cheers
ps, unless a belt and sealed bearing are used.

[bsa-bill]

with an open primary,

That would be the difference Musky, after all the rear chain runs just with chain lube (although much slower I guess)
 fast moving primary in an enclosed case ??? ( he did use chain spray by the way - they vary in effectivness as well tho)

[East_Coast_BSA]

Compare the sizes of the two chains.  Just the difference in weight and area alone are huge.  You are basically transferring the same amount of energy through both of them.  That small primary chain is doing a lot of work.