M33 6 spring clutch adjustment puzzle

[DAVE BRADY]

Hi,

Generally I have found Surflex to be good but there are those doubts from some quarters.  It is also essential to make sure that the plain plates are completely flat.  Even new ones can be quite uneven so check them and send them back if they are not right.

Dave.

[Rog1]

I've had enough of working on the six spring clutch, so I ordered a four spring clutch from Kidderminster Motorcycles. I've done about 80 miles so far, including a test ride where I accelerated hard (for an M33) out of a roundabout up to about 65mph, 10 mph faster than my usual cruising speed (I was a bit concerned that I'd not tightened the springs enough). I've since been told that if the end of the studs in the clutch are level with the bottom of the screwdriver slot the springs are tight enough. That was what I had done; great, I don't want to take the primary cover again. It was all pretty straightforward, but  there's two parts of the clutch that fit together on splines. I found on my example that they were rather tight. I cleaned the splines thoroughly and applied a very small amount of engine oil. Seems to be alright now.

With footrest corks and a 4 spring clutch puller, it came to £404.98 with P&P. There were a few other bits I needed to complete the job and the grand total was about £430.

Thanks for all your comments.

[Grumps]

Am I right to be thinking about a four spring Triumph clutch?
Easier to adjust?
Less likely to bind
Plug and play or needs extra parts to get working?

I live quite close to Kidderminster so other than the cost it could be an option.

Thanks for any advice.

[Rog1]

Am I right to be thinking about a four spring Triumph clutch?
Easier to adjust?
Less likely to bind
Plug and play or needs extra parts to get working?

I live quite close to Kidderminster so other than the cost it could be an option.

Thanks for any advice.

I've not done many miles on the new clutch, but it does have a nicer action than the old one. This might just be because it's a brand new clutch; I don't know. Others with more experience of the 4 spring clutch might be able to say more. The swap was pretty straightforward. You'd need a puller for the old clutch, and for £12.95 a puller for the new clutch is also a good idea; I offered up the clutch minus the loose rollers first and the puller came in useful to remove it. Those loose rollers aren't too hard to fit. You'd need to cut the supplied pushrod to length, then harden and anneal it.

The clutch came complete, but I also bought a couple of sealing corks for the footrest bar, and a cork gasket for my pressed tin primary cover. It might be that the clutch sprocket and engine sprocket are not quite in line; mine wasn't but that's due I think to some previous machining work since I got the bike; you might find it's okay, but the new clutch has to be assembled before any offset can be measured. BSA made spacers (not very available) and shims to get them lined up and I ended up getting a 64 thou shim, a lock washer for the shock absorber nut and the cover gasket (Kidderminster didn't have the gasket) from C & D Autos. If all else fails the spacer is very simple and a new one could easily be made on a lathe.

Er, I think that's everything.

[Grumps]

Thanks. That's very informative. Cheers