1000 Clutch Bite Point - Your Views

[sharealike]

The clutch lever on the 1000 engines is adjustable for span but I've never felt very happy with the thing. That small chrome wheel on the lever can be turned to set the lever in the most comfortable position according to the size of your hand (span). This adjustment also makes a very small change in the bite point of the clutch. Set the span to minimum (small hand) and the clutch will feel to bite ever so slightly earlier on its way from the bar to being fully released.

Now for your views - Does anyone think the span adjustment barely noticeable?

Does anyone notice the very, very small change in the bite point?

Seems as if setting to minimum span just means the lever does not move quite as far away from the bar before reaching its relaxed point. Any views?

And setting the span to maximum means the lever moves only a fraction further away from the bar before reaching the relaxed point. Yes or no?

And now to the point, hopefully starting an exchange of views and something for those not happy with the limited adjustment to try. I always found the bite point to be a little late. I mean the clutch starts to bite too late in the levers release from the bar and the distance the lever moves between starting to bite and full bite is far too short. Two issues in one really but you just take care to avoid being caught out. Late bite speaks for its self. Lacks feel means its hard to regulate for a nice smooth take off because the distance between no bite and full bite is minute.

Well last week an owner dropped his clutch off to have the basket damper modified to rid the bike of the chudder vibration while riding. There were two other problems reported with the clutch so I suggested he bring the whole unit in. The owner described both late bite and lacking feel. "It would bite too late and suddenly you were off". Turned out the basket had all the usual chudder vibration problems, but these were not the cause of the bite point and feel problems. The clutch had done over 70,000 miles and everything was still well within specification so we experimented and changed a few things round which we thought could be responsible. After a few days the owner called to say the long standing bite and feel problems were gone. I had the opportunity to make similar changes to my own clutch and my bite point and feel are significantly improved. If anyone suspects they have similar issues then please give me a shout. Would be great if a few more owners tried the same and confirmed the changes worked for more than two of us. Its free, its easy to follow but you will need a new £9.00 gasket.

[VStromDL1000Rick]

Share alike

I am one of your basket mod customers and I would like to have a go with this, can you let me know what's what.
I have tried to adjust with the standard levers and I didn't even notice a change, so I spent out on some adjustable levers of fleabay and although they do make a little bit of difference, the bite is still quite far out and the adjustment is not pulling that closer any really. Anything that gets it more in the mid range of the grip would be great.

Let me know what you need me to do and I will try to do a video on it too.

Rick

[sharealike]

Hello Rick. Would be useful to know your bikes distance from new. Can you confirm its still on its original set of clutch plates? Most should be as I've never see a worn set in all the time of modifying them.

The fact you tried alternative levers suggests you are experiencing the same issue as so many others. Just to be clear - your clutch bites late in the levers travel? Which suggests the feel is not so good as it could be because the distance between starting to bite and full bite must be on the short side?

[VStromDL1000Rick]

Hi,

It's had a new set of clutch plates when I had the clutch mod done last year about 10 months ago, it felt the same before that though, it has a bite at the end of the travel almost and yes it is short once finding the bite zone. The bike doesn't experience the Same chudder as it did but I am getting a vibration around the 3-4000 rev range again so I'm looking to buy a new set of bearings for the basket and thrust as well to see if it needs it. So while I'm doing all this it would be good to improve it further at the same time if possible.

What are your thoughts?

Rick

[sharealike]

The engines create that 3 to 4k rpm vibration. The damper in the clutch basket is one component designed to keep as much of it as possible from the rest of the drive train. It gets out and is felt all over the bike when the damper gives up. Weak or failed dampers actually amplify the vibration. viewtopic.php?f=17&t=3244 Check that other things such as tank mountings, crash bars, exhaust system parts and the like are not vibrating in sympathy with the engines natural frequencies.

We never hear of the needle roller bearing that the clutch basket runs on wearing or if after changing it there is a tangible impact on engine refinement. Suzuki introduced a revised bearing many years ago. They made one of the gaps between the rollers wider which slightly closed the gaps between the rest of the rollers. The revision caused some to think they have a roller missing but it's not. Many tried these before discovering their baskets weak damper was the cause of the harsh chudder. That roller is subjected to the full vibration of the engine as its in the primary drive between engine and clutch before the clutch basket damper does its work.

And back to changing clutch bite point and improving feel.
To avoid any misunderstanding we have never proved any link between the usual clutch basket damper vibration problems and clutch bite point or clutch feel (there are a few instances of very worn or distorted clutch baskets leading to the clutch snatching when trying to get off quickly).
My thoughts on your late bite and poor feel are that they would not to be addressed by the after market clutch kits. None I have seen include a new final plate which is a crucial part of setting the bite point and feel of the clutch. Did you replace with a complete set of Suzuki Genuine or after market? The DL1000 and SV1000 clutches are way oversize for their normal and and not needing loads of clutch slip to get them off the line as you might in a low torque four they hardly wear their clutch friction plates at all. You have to really abuse them to cause any distortion or bluing of the steels which can be the cause of poor feel and changed bite in typically heat damaged clutches.