BannedCR500Riders.com

I smoked the clutch on my '85 engine. Any advice on which kits to avoid? Which kits hold up well on high-torque engines?

Theres only one...

Barnett CARBON ( Not the kevlar)

I wonder why rekluse recommends staying stock on the fibers?

for the barnett is it just the heavier springs that keep it alive??
im on my 3rd clutch, put 3 heavy ebc springs in there to make this clutch last but the lever is too heavy now...
right about now my basket is shot, pressure plate is probably worn 1/8th of an inch and the hub is getting close

got a spare tusk clutch im gonna try when this one bites the dust, at $50 i can aford to replace them a few times a year

eventualy im gonna go barnett basket and pressure plate, new prox hub and new oem springs
hopefully with the other clutch parts being new it dosent eat discs as bad

my last one the discs had a few thou left till manual spec for shot, but it lit up bad in 5th and 4th gear, stock springs

If it was just the springs the kevlar would do the trick, right?

You must be some kind of hard on a clutch. I was getting a full hard season on a CR250 clutch racing hard in the A class with NO slip at the end of the season.

Hardly ever changed a 500 clutch after I ditched the magura.

heres the deal with plates. if your the type that slips the fuk out of it all day then maybe carbon works better. as for holding power, figured the 550 would of blown apart the tusks by now but aint happened yet. enough proof for me

If you can, upgrade to a modern basket- 85 clutch sucks. That stupid little BB in there doesn't work worth a damn.

nmdesertrider wrote:If you can, upgrade to a modern basket- 85 clutch sucks. That stupid little BB in there doesn't work worth a damn.

Probably not gonna happen on this bike--at least for a while. I'm putting the good money in parts for the af conversion. This bike is just the play-bike, test mule. I might even sell it to finance some of the af conversion.

BTW, I didn't have any complaints with the clutch before it toasted. I had shimmed the stock springs to try to get it to live longer,...but it lasted 4 track rides.

And 100HP, I'm probably tougher on the clutch than I have to be. Still used to riding a 250.

plynn41 wrote:

nmdesertrider wrote:If you can, upgrade to a modern basket- 85 clutch sucks. That stupid little BB in there doesn't work worth a damn.

Probably not gonna happen on this bike--at least for a while. I'm putting the good money in parts for the af conversion. This bike is just the play-bike, test mule. I might even sell it to finance some of the af conversion.

BTW, I didn't have any complaints with the clutch before it toasted. I had shimmed the stock springs to try to get it to live longer,...but it lasted 4 track rides.

And 100HP, I'm probably tougher on the clutch than I have to be. Still used to riding a 250.

If you ride smaller bikes along with your 500 you will ride the clutch.
I've done it myself.
I rode my ancient YZ125A at DD and then got on the 480 and rode it the same way instead of short shifting. Scary.

i would go with tusk if your not wanting to spend much. i dont usually buy cheap parts of unknown qaulity but they been working damn good for me. theyre like any other standard plate though, heavy slippage will probly kill them fairly quick. hondas aint no different. they die fast with alot of slippage. the material aint designed for that. thus the invention of carbon or kevlar. dont confuse this with holding power. tusk grips just as tight as any other plate. difference is how much heat the material can handle

Most every clutch lever I've ever wiggled when checkin' out bikes had near zero freeplay.

Zero freeplay kills clutches

AlisoBob wrote:Most every clutch lever I've ever wiggled when checkin' out bikes had near zero freeplay.

Zero freeplay kills clutches

Hadn't thought of that Bob, and yes, I'm guilty.

And thanks everyone for the input. I may put a Tusk kit in this bike, and spend the money on the carbon fiber kit on the AF conversion, which I expect to race pretty regularly.

Zero freeplay kills clutches

i check pretty often the slave cylinder has freeplay,
then again in the trails its easier to clutch it than to shift

rule of thumb is you should be able to fit a quarter between the perch and the lever for free play. The quick adjusters the Macgrath made popular RULE

I just ordered an EBC drc complete kit for this bike. I didn't find a Tusk kit anywhere for the older style clutch. Could only find EBC, Barnett, and a couple of brands I didn't recognize. As said before, will plan on putting the Barnett carbon fiber in the AF because I expect it to be raced hard and often.

seanmx57 wrote:rule of thumb is you should be able to fit a quarter between the perch and the lever for free play. The quick adjusters the Macgrath made popular RULE

Damm I must really be a tight wad, I always just use a nickel

I stack two nickels together

plynn41 wrote:I just ordered an EBC drc complete kit for this bike. I didn't find a Tusk kit anywhere for the older style clutch. Could only find EBC, Barnett, and a couple of brands I didn't recognize. As said before, will plan on putting the Barnett carbon fiber in the AF because I expect it to be raced hard and often.

http://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/produ ... ilyId=3012 should of asked

some secrets i dont talk about but i will say kx and cr fibers are basically identical in dimension. oem kx have deeper chanells for oil though

UPDATE:
Got the EBC Dirt Racer kit in today, soaked the cork fiber plates for 2 hours, then installed it all. WOW--what a difference!

I had no idea how much performance I had been losing with the old plates--even at low rpms. Bike is faster than I realized . I will have to get used to how hard it grabs now--definitely needs a different touch on the clutch. I 'bout looped it coming out of a turn more than once today. (Fresh rain and tacky dirt might have played a part).

Now to keep the clutch alive...